The controversial makeup influencer James Charles is being blasted across the internet after he posted a video in which he labelled an ex-Spirit Airlines flight attendant who lost her job when the carrier fell into liquidation last week as ‘lazy’ and ‘stupid.’
Charles posted a short video calling out the newly unemployed Spirit employee after she sent him a Direct Message (DM) on one of his social media accounts with a link to a GoFundMe page, asking him to donate.
Rather than making a donation or even just ignoring the message, Charles chose instead to address the DM in a video to his millions of followers in the United States and around the world.
In the original, now-deleted video, Charles responded to the Spirit employee’s decision to start a GoFundMe:
- “You know what else would help you? Getting another job!”
- “You could have applied for 100 other jobs, but you didn’t because you’re a lazy piece of shit.”
- “You’re entitled, and you think influencers and celebrities should fund your life for you.”
- “And you think I’m going to send you money because you lost your job? Welcome to the real world, sweetheart. People lose their jobs every day.”
- “I’m not helping you, I’m not f***ing helping you. All you did was lose your job.”
Within hours, however, Charles was facing a fierce backlash, with followers slamming him as privileged and out of touch.
In the wake of the latest controversy surrounding the makeup YouTuber, Charles posted a lengthy apology video, saying that the DM from the Spirit Airlines employee had ‘triggered’ him.
Charles said in the apology video:
“Yesterday morning, I posted a video on this account talking about how a woman had lost her job at Spirit Airlines, and she sent me a message with a GoFundMe link, asking me to donate. And the video was basically me yelling at the camera, being super frustrated because this person had never followed me, never supported me before, and it was clear that she had basically copied and pasted this DM to every influencer and celebrity she possibly could, asking for a handout.
@jamescharleslol responding to the deleted spirit airlines video ❤️
♬ original sound – James Charles Spam
I called her lazy, I said she was stupid, and I said she should have spent the time she spent copying and pasting the message applying for jobs instead. This video was f***ing stupid, it was rude, it was obnoxious, it was privileged, and most importantly, it was completely f***ing unnecessary.”
Charles admits that he often receives messages such as this and could easily have ignored the message and gone about his day. Instead, he chose to ‘bash’ the woman, without knowing her personal circumstances.
The video continued:
“When I saw that DM, I absolutely had the choice to ignore it and say absolutely nothing at all and move on with my day, but instead, I couldn’t even tell you why her message just triggered me, and I decided instead to make a video about it.
And I bashed her, and it was obnoxious, and I shamed her for asking for help in a situation that she was clearly really struggling, and this could have been her absolute last resort. I had no idea what was going on in her life. And I should never have assumed she was copy-and-pasting this DM for an easy way out. I don’t know.
My intention behind making this video in the first place, I get a lot of messages like this every single day, and for me personally, it definitely sucks to receive messages from people who don’t follow you and support you, treating you like a personal ATM or bank account.”
Charles then added:
“But I’m sure f***ing sucks even more is not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from or not being sure whether or not you’re going to be able to put food on the table for yourself and your family.
So it really doesn’t matter what my intention was behind making the video because it came across as super f***ing privileged, and like I was basically shaming anybody that is unemployed for not trying hard to get a job.
And I feel awful because that wasn’t my intention, and I really hurt a lot of people. I know it’s not that easy. I know the job market sucks right now. I have friends who are looking for jobs, and I have my own employees that I try my best to look after.”
Spirit Airlines went into liquidation at 3 am ET on May 2 after a last-ditch attempt to secure a federal government bailout fell into disarray after the carrier’s creditors objected to the conditions of the bailout being demanded by the Trump administration.
In court filings, Spirit has blamed the surging cost of jet fuel for the airline’s ultimate demise. If it hadn’t been for the Iran War, Spirit believes that it would have been able to exit a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process this Spring, with the hope of returning to profit as a smaller and leaner airline.
Instead, after 34 years in business, Spirit Airlines is no more. Tens of thousands of the low-cost carrier’s employees have found themselves newly unemployed, many of whom were based in Spirit’s home state of Florida.
