MONDAY 19 AUGUST 2019Video killed the superstar
In May, YouTuber James Charles lost 1 million subscribers in one day.
But has his rise, fall and rise again turned the tide on influencer
culture, asks Sirena Bergman, or shone a light on how much we love
watching celebrities fall from grace?
The 20-year-old built a multimillion-dollar beauty vlogging empire in under three years, but has been plagued by controversy at every
turn (Rex)
Last month, Time magazine released its list of the 25 most influential people on the internet. Nestled among
politicians, royals and activists of household-name status are hugely popular YouTubers many may not have
heard of. The endlessly relatable Emma Chamberlain, with over 8 million subscribers, features. As does 16-
year-old tween sensation and former Dance Moms star JoJo Siwa, with almost 10 million followers.
And then you come to the name James Charles, who up until this spring was relatively unknown to the
masses, despite more than 16 million people subscribing to his YouTube channel. Like many influencers, he