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Influencer James Charles has stirred controversy following a contentious TikTok rant aimed at a woman who claims she was laid off from Spirit Airlines.
The airline ceased all operations last week, resulting in the unemployment of 17,000 staff members.
Among those affected was a woman who reportedly reached out to Charles with a GoFundMe link, seeking financial assistance after losing her job.
Valued at approximately $22 million, the beauty mogul responded with a now-deleted video on his social media, where he harshly criticized the woman, labeling her as a ‘lazy piece of s***’ and ridiculing her plea for support.
In a mocking manner, he recited her message: ‘I just received a DM from a girl saying, “Good morning, James. I know you’ll probably never see this, but if you could just take one minute to read it, it would really mean a lot to me. I’m really struggling right now because Spirit Airlines just filed for bankruptcy and I have lost my job. Here’s a GoFundMe link. Any donations help.”’
Charles didn’t hold back, offering what many saw as biting advice.
James Charles has found himself in hot water after a controversial TikTok rant targeting a woman who allegedly lost her job at Spirit Airlines
The beauty influencer responded with a now-deleted video on his social media, blasting the woman as a ‘lazy piece of s*** and mocking her request for help
‘I’m sure they do, sweetheart. I’m sure they do. You know what else would help you? Getting another job. Yeah, try that. Because in the time that it took you to copy and paste the same f*** ass message to myself, who you don’t follow, by the way, and probably a hundred other influencers and celebrities, you could’ve applied for a hundred other jobs.
‘But you didn’t, ‘cause you’re a lazy piece of s***, and you’re entitled, and you think that influencers and celebrities should fund your life for you. Why would I ever help you?’
A major sticking point seemed to be that the woman didn’t follow him.
‘You’re not a fan, you don’t even follow me, you’ve never supported me, this is your first time DMing. And you think that I’m gonna send you money because you lost your job?!
‘Oh my God, welcome to the real world, sweetheart. People lose their jobs every f***** day.
‘And you’re white, pretty, and able-bodied; you’re in a much better position than a lot of other people out here who are trying clearly much harder to make a better life for themselves. Why would I f**** help you?!
‘I’m not f****** helping you. All you did was lost your job. Welcome to the real world. I could at least understand if you were like, “James, I’m a longtime fan, here’s a trillion years of DMs and my support for you, I love you. I’m suffering with a really rare genetic disease that there’s no cure for, and I’m trying to raise money for myself and other people that have this.” Maybe I would help.
‘This bitch, you lost your f****** job? Ugh! What are we gonna do? Nothing! I’m gonna do nothing, you know what you need to do? Go find a f****** new one girl! Put some effort into the workplace! Ugh!’
‘But you didn’t, ‘cause you’re a lazy piece of s***, and you’re entitled, and you think that influencers and celebrities should fund your life for you. Why would I ever help you?’
Charles returned on Saturday with an apology video following the backlash
The video has since been removed, but screen-recordings are circulating online, sparking widespread backlash from fans who have slammed Charles for his harsh response, calling him ‘entitled’, ‘elitist’ and ‘out of touch’.
Charles returned on Saturday with an apology video following the backlash.
‘This video was f****** stupid,’ he began. ‘It was rude, it was obnoxious, it was privileged, and most importantly, it was completely f****** unnecessary.’
The beauty influencer admitted he could have simply ignored the message, but instead chose to publicly bash the woman.
‘It was obnoxious, and I shamed her for asking for help in a situation where she was clearly really struggling, and this could have been her absolute last resort,’ he said.
‘I feel awful because that wasn’t my intention,’ he continued, ‘and I really hurt a lot of people… I’m super sorry, especially to the woman from Spirit Airlines.’