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“Welcome to the real world, sweetheart. People lose their jobs every f—ing day," influencer James Charles said in a now-deleted video.

Spirit Airlines planes sit parked at the Phoenix Goodyear Airport on May 8, 2026 in Goodyear, Arizona. Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

A Spirit Airlines employee working at Logan International Airport in Boston lost her job when the airline shut down suddenly. But, her plight got viral attention when a high-profile social media personality disparaged her for asking for funds.

After receiving a direct message from the employee asking for donations to her GoFundMe, make-up artist and social media influencer Jame Charles called her “entitled” and “a lazy piece of sh–” and told her to just get another job.

“Why would I ever help you? You’re not a fan, you’ve never followed me,” Charles said in a now-deleted video. “Welcome to the real world, sweetheart. People lose their jobs every f—ing day.”

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Amber Lendof Vargas, a 30-year-old based in Lawrence, said she’d been working as an operations agent at Logan for years.

“I suddenly found myself unemployed with no warning,” she wrote on the online fundraiser, with a listed $35,000 goal. “Like many others in aviation, I showed up every day, worked early mornings, long shifts, and gave everything I had to my job. I never expected to be in a position where I’d need to ask for help.”

About 17,000 people lost their jobs with Spirit after the low-cost airline announced it was going out of business after 34 years and ending operations almost immediately.

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Charles, who has 40.5 million TikTok followers, immediately came under fire for the video.

“Very jobless behavior on James Charles’s part,” said Jackie Aina, a beauty influencer with 3.5 million TikTok followers. “I don’t think he’s ever clocked in. I don’t think he’s ever had a W-2. I don’t think he’s done any of that. The way you’re talking to this person shows, and it’s very disgusting and it’s very inappropriate.”

On Wednesday, Charles appeared to have donated $5,000 to the GoFundMe, making up nearly 20 percent of the fundraising so far. He also apologized in a video earlier this week.

“It was rude, it was obnoxious, it was privileged, and most importantly, it was completely f–king unnecessary,” Charles said. “When I saw that DM, I absolutely had the choice to ignore it and say absolutely nothing at all and move on with my day.”

Gypsy-Rose Blanchard, who served prison time after she conspired with her then-boyfriend to kill her abusive mother, spoke up for the former Spirit Airlines worker in a video posted to TikTok and appeared to have donated $500 to the GoFundMe.

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“I’m truly sorry for what happened and I’m sending many positive vibes to you,” Blanchard wrote in a donation note.

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Molly Farrar

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.

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