There is one influencer who never fails to find himself in controversy, who loses supporters by the second and is constantly out of touch. This said social media beauty creator is no other than the infamous James Charles, and he has found himself faced with backlash… again.
After Spirit Airlines shut down their business and let go of their staff, one desperate ex-employee sent Charles a direct message through Instagram. The message simply asked for donations after unexpectedly losing her job. Rather than showcasing sympathy for the employee or completely ignoring her plea, Charles decided to rant to his not-so-private “secret” TikTok account. In this video he shamed the woman for her attempt to receive a donation. The viewers did not in fact laugh along and agree with this outburst, and they found his assertive remarks to be extremely out of touch.
While Charles expressed that he felt taken advantage of by the message, fans became aggravated by his blunt and unqualified position on how she should approach making money in these struggling times. With his platform, Charles has become a millionaire, making his perspective seem out of touch. Some people agreed with his message but despised his approach. Others despised everything about his belief regarding the Spirit Airlines ex-employee. Any other opinions were far eclipsed by the negative responses overflowing in his comment section.
To try and reverse the damage, Charles attempted to make an apology video, yet its existence didn’t land well, and it was deleted shortly after. Many believe that the main reason was because he never explicitly said he was sorry and the tone was rather defensive than apologetic. After the deletion of the first apology, he created another, more genuine sounding TikTok to communicate well with his fans. This time, he acted in a more remorseful manner as he tried to sincerely address and apologize for his actions.
Ever since this debacle arose, Charles has been losing followers by the millions, and none of his apologies were able to halt this rapid decline. Once again, he dug himself in a hole that not even his most loyal fans could bring him out of for the time being.
