After a nearly month-long break from social media, James Charles has officially returned to YouTube.
On Tuesday, the beauty mogul uploaded a 27-minute-long video in which he explained what he's been up to during his hiatus. Rather than directly addressing the camera, Charles created a rainbow-colored makeup look while speaking, and announced that he'll be making donations to The Trevor Project, an organization that focuses on suicide prevention within the LGBTQ+ community.
Of course, Charles also addressed the elephant in the room: his public feud with Tati Westbrook. Not only did he title his video "Hi Sisters," which is likely a reference to Westbrook's "Bye Sister" video that began their fight, but he also opened with a statement about his social media break.
At the beginning of his video, James Charles addressed speculation surrounding his social media break
While Charles hasn't been entirely absent from social media since the end of his latest scandal, the beauty mogul did take time off from filming and uploading YouTube videos.
"When I said that I was taking a social media break, I kind of just meant from being so in it," Charles said at the beginning of his video. "For the past three years, I have been literally addicted to filming videos and checking my social media, and it was so much fun, but it got to a point where it was incredibly toxic for me and my mental health."
"After everything that just went on on social media, I just needed some time to detox, slow it down — of course, still do what I absolutely love, which is handling business, playing with makeup, and seeing my friends — but just do it on a little bit of a lower scale," he continued.
"I'm really excited to say that after the last month, I've done a lot of growing and thinking and am now able to leave my phone in another room and walk out and, like, enjoy life."
Charles also announced that he'll be donating profits from his new video to The Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that serves LGBTQ+ youth
During his video, Charles shared a quick update with fans about his clothing line, Sisters Apparel. The brand was previously sold online through a merchandise company owned by Jeffree Star, but was removed from the site following Charles' public feud.
Read more: YouTuber James Charles' online store appears to have been taken down following his explosive feud with former mentor Tati Westbrook
According to Charles, he was forced to delay his upcoming clothing launches, which included a Pride Month collection, as a result of "everything that has gone on."
"One thing that I do want to tell you guys is that I was planning on donating a huge chunk of the Pride Month proceeds to The Trevor Project," he continued. "When it does launch, I will still be donating a huge chunk of the proceeds to The Trevor Project, just obviously, a little bit later on."
"Since however, the donation wasn't able to be made right now, I do want to do something special for Pride Month, so I've decided to donate all proceeds from this video on AdSense directly to The Trevor Project," Charles said.
In a statement sent to INSIDER, Charles said The Trevor Project is "unlike any other organization" that he's "come across in the LGBTQ community."
"Their dedication to protecting and saving the lives of our youth is unmatched," Charles said in the statement. "I've been so incredibly inspired by their work and the safe space they've created for those in the early stages of self discovery and self love."
"No one should ever feel alone during their journey, and The Trevor Project works tirelessly to ensure that young LGBTQ members know they are loved and supported," he continued. "I genuinely wish I knew about the Trevor Project when I was first coming out, but I am so grateful to now have a platform to spread awareness and help out in any way that I can."
The YouTuber received tons of praise on Twitter for his latest video
Online, many fans expressed excitement about Charles' return to YouTube.
—Rachel (@Rachel35522547) June 19, 2019
—char🍋 (@char_lira) June 19, 2019
—bren (@brenduhisgay) June 19, 2019
However, some people seem to dislike Charles' video
While some said his video is only trending on YouTube because he's friends with someone at the company, another accused the makeup artist of "ripping off" another makeup artist's rainbow look.
—All the Teaz (@Tea_forGinger) June 19, 2019
—Elisabeth.Ünicørn (@Youtube_fannn) June 19, 2019
Charles took to Instagram on Tuesday to address his critics
In a series of videos on his Instagram story, Charles addressed those who criticized his new video and donations to The Trevor Project.
He first began by saying that while he was "nervous to film a video and come back after everything," he felt he would be able to "get back into the swing of things" by giving himself "time, and with patience, and with hard work, and with not getting involved in any ridiculous drama."
Charles then said that reactions to his donation to The Trevor Project have been "super, super positive," though some people have shared negative responses.
"Of course, there are still a few people that think they are literally just geniuses, theorizing that this is one big PR stunt to try to save my career," Charles said. "This donation was already planned, literally months, and months, and months ago for the June pride collection, which is now obviously being pushed back."
"I simply wanted to do something during Pride Month to celebrate while it's still Pride Month," he continued. "So that is what I came up with, it's literally not that serious."
Charles previously faced backlash for a public feud with fellow YouTuber and mentor, Tati Westbrook
On May 10, Westbrook released a now-deleted, 43-minute-long video explaining why she ended her friendship with Charles.
In her video, titled "Bye Sister," Westbrook said Charles "completely blindsided" her when he advertised Sugar Bear Hair vitamins on Instagram in April. The vitamin brand is the top competitor of Westbrook's supplement company, Halo Beauty.
Westbrook also accused the makeup mogul of "manipulating someone's sexuality," which led Jeffree Star to share a tweet in which he claimed Charles is a "danger to society."
The video, which resulted in Charles losing millions of YouTube subscribers and the cancellation of his US tour, has since be re-uploaded by a fan to YouTube.
However, the feud was publicly put to rest on May 18, when Charles released a video titled "No More Lies" about the scandal. Star then followed with a video of his own, in which he said he is "not going to come for James."
Westbrook also released a statement about the situation, and said that in an agreement with Charles, she would no longer speak publicly about their feud.
—Tati Westbrook (@GlamLifeGuru) May 19, 2019
Representatives for Tati Westbrook did not immediately reply to INSIDER's request for comment.
- Read more:
- People are destroying their James Charles makeup following his feud with fellow beauty YouTuber Tati Westbrook
- YouTube beauty star James Charles is at war with his former mentor Tati Westbrook. Here's the story of his controversial past.
- A complete timeline of James Charles and Tati Westbrook's explosive feud that tore their relationship apart
- James Charles went to Kylie Jenner's party for her new skin-care line, even after she unfollowed him during the Tati Westbrook drama
