YouTuber James Charles has come under fire for participating in the viral “mugshot” TikTok challenge.
For those who missed it, with the use of makeup and prosthetics, various influencers have been creating mock mugshots and posting them online. But when James participated in the challenge and shared a photo which showed him with fake black eyes and a bloody nose, some people felt it glorified domestic abuse.
“Only I could lazily smudge on some purple eyeshadow and fake blood to recreate a dumb TikTok trend and have it twisted into an actual scandal,” he wrote in a now-deleted tweet after he started to receive hate online for it.
But when one fan opened up about her past abuse and admitted the trend has made her feel “dehumanized,” he explained, “I’m so sorry that you went through something so awful and traumatic. It’s a TikTok trend going around where people post their ‘mugshots’ and has nothing to do with domestic violence whatsoever. Love You.”
“This dumb trend has nothing to do with domestic abuse. What about action movies? Halloween? Special effects? Simple bloody noses? This is nothing new,” the 20-year-old continued.
“Despite the fact that hundreds of other influencers and artists have done something similar, I deleted the mugshot trend because it was never my intention to trigger anyone,” he wrote in one final tweet. “It’s a waste of time trying to have an open discussion with people who hate me regardless.”
As fans know, this isn’t the first time James has received backlash online for his actions. Just last week, the makeup mogul faced criticism over the lack of diversity in his new show, Instant Influencer. After announcing the contestants for the upcoming competition series, some people were not happy with the people he had chosen.
“Now I’m not surprised by this in the least but y’all really said f**k black beauty boys,” one person posted on Twitter, with another adding, “I’m bummed because this isn’t diverse. It look like a very specific type of person from one age range. But I’ll wait [until] I see the show. I would have loved to see like an 80-year-old, someone who was disabled, but oh well.”
“No dark girls? No dark men? No plus size people? Having one black girl does not all of the sudden make it ‘so diverse.’ There needs to be more,” a third fan quipped.
According to Variety, the show will feature seven aspiring makeup artists — Benny Cerra, Ashley Strong, Christian Perez, Norvina, Britany Renteria, Kailin Chase and Gabriel Garcia — as they show off their skills and compete for the grand prize of $50,000. Not only will James act as the host of the upcoming reality show, but he also directed it and serves as executive producer.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Youth Crisis Hotline at 1-800-448-4663.
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