Writing about the “apology video genre” for Vice, journalist Bettina Makalintal says: “On YouTube,
apologies ... have become just another product. With high-profile stars always selling something, the
apology video is a necessary step of damage control. And if the scandal blows up enough, the apology video
can be a way of reeling in new viewers, too – plenty of people, I’m sure, hadn’t heard of Tati Westbrook or
James Charles until explainers of their situation ended up everywhere.”
Indeed, Charles’s eight-minute now-deleted response video, somewhat gauchely titled “Tati”, did little but
add fuel to the fire, and gave viewers further fodder to ridicule him. Grey hoodie-clad and make-up-free, he
emphasised how distressed he was by the situation, and at one point rather bizarrely even spoke directly to
his mother to apologise.
The ‘No Mores Lies’ video, in which Charles
breaks down Westbrook’s allegations (James
Charles/YouTube)It seemed like it couldn’t get any worse for Charles, and people speculated that his career was over.
Then, on 18 May, just over a week after this all began, Charles came back with a vengeance in a second
video about the scandal.
In flawless make-up and with a crisp white backdrop and not a tear in sight, Charles calmly and respectfully
spent 41 minutes breaking down Westbrook’s allegations and – crucially – he provided “receipts” –
evidence to back up his claims. Westbrook’s original “Bye Sister” video offered no such proof, and relied on
the credibility of her personal brand to back her up. While this initially worked, now followers had
questions. Suddenly, a second wave of criticism started to boil up on social media, this time towards
Westbrook, who her followers began to feel was more calculated in her original video than they originally
believed.
Charles quickly gained back more than a million subscribers, while Westbrook’s began to fall. At the time of
writing, just over two months after it all began, Charles’s Social Blade is consistently green (meaning he’s
gaining followers rather than losing them), and he stands at over 15.9 million subscribers – almost as many
as he had before the fateful SBH sponsored post.
“James Charles turned himself around very quickly, and I thought it was very interesting to see how he
handled it,” says Brooks. “A lot of people probably expected him to stay silent for a very long time – but for
him, that would mean admitting guilt which he didn’t think he had – or to really hit back in this really
extravagant, dramatic, almost bitchy way that we’re used to seeing James do.”
After his video was posted, both Westbrook and Star (who had been publicly lashing out against Charles and
threatened to post a tell-all video “exposing” him) gracefully backed down, saying they would no longer be
addressing any of the allegations.