Beauty vlogger James Charles is done with internet trolls! On Thursday, March 5, the YouTube star took to Twitter and called out social media users who only slide into his DMs with the intention of publishing their interaction for clout.
It all started when James quote-tweeted a TikTok video made by a supposed fan who posted screenshots of his Instagram direct message conversation with the beauty guru. In the video, the boy explained that he had responded to James’s duet challenge on the app as a “joke,” but then they had started chatting. The fan — who claimed he identifies as straight — also asked his TikTok followers to help him come up with a response after James seemingly asked for a video from the potential suitor.
Once James caught wind of the video, he replied and explained to his 4.8 million Twitter followers that things like this “happen weekly.” He also said people who do this are “queerbaiting” and called them “pathetic.”
This happens weekly at this point. Some guy slides in my DMs or matches with me claiming they’re interested, we talk for a few days, & once they have enough recorded content for a tik tok or tweet, they post it & claim they’re straight. It’s queerbaiting and it’s pathetic. 🤡 https://t.co/6vknQsSJjO
— James Charles (@jamescharles) March 6, 2020
“The funniest/most embarrassing part of this is that almost every single one of them actually flirted, sent inappropriate photos, or came crawling back AFTER their post went viral to apologize and say that they were actually still interested,” James continued in a separate tweet. “Not to bring up old tea, but this shows that this stuff is VERY REAL. It was happening before my scandal and continues to happen even MORE now. Many boys are closeted, curious or clout hungry and will do anything for attention. It makes dating extremely difficult and confusing.”
As fans know, the scandal he was referring to occurred in May 2019 during his fight with fellow YouTuber Tati Westbrook. At the time, she accused James of manipulating straight men into “thinking they’re gay.”
He responded with receipts in a YouTube video and told fans that, “I have never and would never and will never use my fame, money or power to manipulate or get any sexual actions from a guy. That is disgusting, it is not me and the fact that Tati brought this up blows my mind because she knows the real story.”
Although she did not go into specifics, after this particular video was released, Tati claimed that it was filled with “lies and half-truths.”
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