James Charles sparked backlash on TikTok after responding to a DM from a laid-off Spirit Airlines worker. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Painted)
Getty Images for Painted
James Charles has sparked online backlash after posting a TikTok criticizing a former Spirit Airlines worker who messaged the beauty influencer for financial assistance.
Charles has since apologized and deleted the offending TikTok, but the controversy continues, igniting social media discourse.
Make-up influencer James Charles recently took to TikTok to vent after receiving a DM with a GoFundMe link and a donation request.
The message was sent by Amber Lendof Vargas, who started a GoFundMe after losing her job at Spirit Airlines.
The budget travel company was viewed as something of a lifeline for the working class, but Spirit Airlines collapsed on May 2, leaving approximately 17,000 workers out of a job.
Vargas reached out to Charles via a TikTok DM to request a donation, and Charles posted a video on the platform mocking her message.
In his TikTok, Charles said, “I just got a DM from a girl on here that said, ‘Good morning James, I know you’ll never see this but if you could just take one minute to read it would really mean a lot to me. I’m really struggling right now because Spirit Airlines just filed for bankruptcy, and I just lost my job. Here’s a GoFundMe link. Any donations help.’”
Charles continued, "You know what else would help you? Getting another job. Try that, because in the time it took you to copy and paste the same f**k-ass message to me, who you don’t follow by the way, and to one hundred other influencers and celebrities, you could’ve applied to a hundred other jobs, because you’re a lazy piece of s**t and you’re entitled. Why would I ever help you?”
The TikTok immediately sparked backlash from users of the video-sharing platform, with some reposting the offending clip to other social media sites, criticizing Charles’ response to the DM.
It might be fair to question the authenticity of a random GoFundMe request from a non-follower, but Charles’ response was widely viewed as out-of-touch and unnecessarily hostile by social media commentators.
The audio from Charles’ controversial clip was even reused by TikTokers as a “soundtrack” to posts documenting their own financial struggles.
Charles posted his TikTok at a particularly painful time, as Americans endure increased financial strain, many struggling to cope with rising gas prices, mass layoffs and widening wealth inequality.
However, there was a silver lining to the controversy, as the resulting social media attention sparked a surge of donations to Vargas’s GoFundMe account, raising more than $41,000.
In response to the backlash, Charles deleted his controversial TikTok and reached out to Vargas privately via DM.
In response, Vargas posted the message publicly on her TikTok page, using generative AI to add music, turning the lengthy apology into a song.
Charles wrote, “Hi Amber. I wanted to reach out privately with an apology for the video I made. It was disgraceful and completely unnecessary, and there is no excuse for me yelling at and berating someone for asking for help in a s***ty situation that was completely out of your control.”
Charles went on to describe himself as “disgustingly out of touch” and noted that he was “so glad to see your GoFundMe has exploded, but I also know that getting attention online can be scarily overwhelming, especially when you never asked for it in the first place.”
Vargas captioned her post, “I heard the apology. I just don’t accept it.”
The clip has been viewed more than 2.6 million times on TikTok, and resulted in even more criticism against Charles from TikTokers who relate to Vargas’ financial struggle.
One particular line from Charles’ DM stood out to some commentators, which read, “I’ve spent the last few days reading stories from real people about what it’s actually like losing a job without notice and also learning about the journey to find a new one when so many people are going through the same situation.”
That line sparked mockery on social media, with many viewing the admission as amusingly out-of-touch.
Vargas has continued to post videos on TikTok discussing the viral controversy, with one clip viewed more than 4.3 million times.
This is far from the first online backlash experienced by James Charles—the make-up influencer has seen many high-profile controversies in his YouTube career.
In early 2021, Charles was accused of sending sexually explicit texts to minors, responding to the allegations in a since-deleted video titled “holding myself accountable.”
In his video, Charles admitted to sending inappropriate text messages to two minors, but denied knowing their true ages, and suggested that other claims against him were fabricated.
Charles was also the subject of a viral callout video on YouTube, posted on May 10, 2019, titled “BYE SISTER,” from fellow YouTuber Tati Westbrook.
Quotes from Westbrook’s dramatic delivery inspired many memes—the video is now viewed as an iconic piece of internet history, a seismic cultural shift, some noting that it marked the end of Beauty YouTube.
James Charles and his representatives have been contacted for comment, but have not responded at the time of publication.
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