Beauty YouTuber Tati Westbrook is calling for the “abuse” against James Charles to stop following the pair’s public feud.
WATCH BELOW: Who is YouTuber James Charles? This is what you need to know
Less than a week ago, Westbrook released a 43-minute video about her feelings towards Charles’ recent actions in a video titled, Bye Sister.
The drama began between Charles and Westbrook on April 22 when Charles posted to his Instagram Story promoting Sugar Bear Hair Care vitamins, which is a competitor to Westbrook’s hair supplement company, Halo Beauty.
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In her new video, Why I Did It, Westbrook discusses her perspective on the drama between her and the 19-year-old beauty blogger and why she never thought the drama between them would reach “this magnitude.”
Westbrook, who used to mentor Charles, told her followers to stop picking sides.
“I do, really, want the hate to stop. I want the picking sides, and the abusive memes and language, I really hope on both sides, it can stop,” she said. “I don’t want you guys to subscribe, I don’t want you to feel bad for me. I don’t want you to feel sorry for me. This is not about me. I don’t need ‘Team Tati.’ I don’t need any of that.”
Westbrook also said that if she really wanted Charles to be “cancelled,” she could have said “yes” to the interview offers she was receiving from many different networks following the feud going public.
She explained to her followers that her original video about Charles was her “last ditch effort to be really loud and vocal” to “wake up someone that I really love —and still do— before they go and make some serious mistakes.”
She said that she tried to set up a meeting to clear the air with Charles at a Google office but she is “losing the ability to reach” him.
“I really hope that you guys see that this is a cut that is much deeper than vitamins,” Westbrook said to the camera.
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She said that Charles had “zero respect” for their friendship and she is not hopeful that one day they can mend their bridges.
“I don’t hate James Charles. I don’t want you guys hating on him… It’s painful to watch someone that you have cared for be dragged and to know that this started because of me. I don’t think anyone deserves that. I think people deserve a wake-up call and people deserve to be called out for actions. I think someone’s got to do it. I hope that this inspires parents to have more conversations with their kids, because we are losing that.”
“I can’t say this enough,” she later added, “I love James Charles. I loved him from the moment I met him. He was like this underdog kid that everyone took a sh*t on. That’s how I felt for a long time. So I felt like I needed to help him somehow, like I needed to help him because it was helping me. I know a lot of people aren’t going to understand, or they think this is fake, or that they think that there was this big agenda or anything. There’s not.”
“If I could give all of the new success back, and the new subscribers back, I would,” Westbrook explained.
The 37-year-old beauty blogger closed her video by saying that she “needs distance” from Charles and their relationship. She also said that she plans to take a break from posting videos on her YouTube channel.
“I am taking a time-out and just needing to not be on social media because it’s a really dark place for me right now and I need to figure out what my next move is spiritually for me, and what this means to me, because if it’s all about money, I don’t want to do it.”
She continued: “So, yes, I am hurting, but so is James and so is our community and a huge audience and I guess I just pray that we can all just be kind with each other through this. I’m going to take a time-out and I’m going to come back and I’m going to continue to play with make-up because it makes me the happiest and I promise you, I am going to hold myself to an even higher standard because this is forcing me to really look at what really matters, and is working so much really worth it?
“And is doing all of this at such a speed really worth it? And so, there’s just a lot changing and I am so grateful for this whole journey because it’s made me a better person, and I owe that to YouTube and I owe that to you guys,” she concluded.
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Charles responded to Westbrook’s first YouTube video on Saturday in an 8-minute video.
“To Tati and James Westbrook, I’m sorry for everything that is going on, everything that I’ve put you through over the past few weeks,” Charles said.
“What sucks the most is that I know there’s nothing I can say or do to ever earn that friendship or trust back but I don’t blame them for it,” Charles added. “A lot of the time when I’ve had to address things in the past, I’ve acted out of impulse and I’ve gone off and tried to pull receipts or facts or screenshots and play the victim and I’m not doing that today, I’m not. That is all I have to say, I’m sorry.”