Insider poll reveals how influencers from Jeffree Star to Shane Dawson came out of YouTube's beauty guru war

James Charles was right at the center of May 2019's chaos, after his friend and mentor Tati Westbrook posted an explosive video titled "Bye Sister" where she accused him of being disloyal for advertising her rival vitamin brand, and claimed he was tried to seduce straight men. Charles lost over 3 million subscribers in the aftermath.

Charles subsequently came out with two apology videos — one where he emotionally apologized to Westbrook, and a second where he explained his side of the story in detail. He posted "receipts" in his video in the form of messages between him, Westbrook, and Jeffree Star, who had inserted himself into the drama.

After speaking his truth, Charles gained back all of the followers he lost and then some. In the many months since the feud, Charles has defied his cancelation, and risen above the friends who betrayed him. He and Westbrook have apparently made up since, and found common enemies in Star and their other former ally Shane Dawson.

Out of those surveyed, 20% knew Charles. 27.3% had an unfavorable opinion of him and 39.2% had a positive one.

Tati Westbrook sparked the fire of Dramageddon 2 with "Bye Sister." She dropped the video seemingly out of nowhere, and the results were so dramatic that many thought she had ended James Charles' career for good. Westbrook told a story of betrayal from one of her best friends, and intertwined it with unfounded allegations about Charles' behavior. Shortly after the video was dropped, Star notably accused Charles of being a predator and a "danger to society," which he never produced any evidence for.

Once Charles set his side of the story straight, many questioned Westbrook's intentions. There were several theories about why she would end her friendship with Charles so publicly, and most assumed there was a lot more going on behind the scenes.

In summer 2020, Westbrook posted a video titled "BREAKING MY SILENCE ...." She claimed Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star "manipulated" her into releasing her initial video by feeding her lies about Charles.

Westbrook's story was met with both amazement and backlash. Many praised her for coming forward against two of the most powerful men on the internet, while others criticized her for falling for alleged tricks that could have ruined Charles' life.

It looks as though Westbrook's actions haven't been entirely forgiven.

Out of the 10% of respondents who knew who she was, 40.4% had an unfavorable opinion of her, and just 17.3% had a positive one.

Shane Dawson's involvement at the start of Dramageddon 2 was unclear at first. He let his support for Tati Westbrook be known, but remained relatively quiet about the situation otherwise. He posted one Instagram story where he said he had "tea poisoning," and hinted that some people in the industry needed to be humbled — which many took to be a dig at James Charles.

It wasn't until Westbrook's exposé in June 2020, which has been dubbed Karmageddon, that people started to attempt to piece together Dawson's role. The timing of Westbrook's second video was, in terms of causing the most chaos, perfect. Dawson had just experienced a mighty fall from grace after several of his old videos resurfaced that showed an array of controversial behaviors. He was criticized for making inappropriate, dark, and overtly sexual jokes about children and animals, and dressing in blackface, among other things.

All of a sudden, Dawson's audience perceived him as someone who could be twisting words and meddling with friendships in private.

Dawson has been mostly absent from the internet since July 2020, and hasn't been met with universally welcoming arms when he periodically appears on his fiancée Ryland Adams' videos and podcasts.

19.6% of respondents of the poll knew who Dawson was. His favorability rating was 19.5%, while 44.4% disliked him.

Beauty mogul Jeffree Star made it onto Insider's list of the 10 most disliked influencers on the internet. Looking at his past, there's plenty of explanations for why this could be.

Star was more than happy to spread further rumors about James Charles in the midst of his cancelation in May 2019, claiming that everything Tati Westbrook was saying was true without providing evidence. He continued to fan the flames, going on YouTube's tabloid reporter Keemstar's podcast, for example, to say he had screenshots and voice notes that proved Charles was predatory. These have never been seen by the public.

In June 2020, Star posted a video called "Doing What's Right," where he vaguely apologized to Charles, and claimed he was taking accountability for his actions by "reflecting" on his own behavior. However, he did not take the opportunity to clear Charles' name, and kept everything open to interpretation.

Neither did Star apologize for his controversial past. Over the years Star has been filmed hurling racist slurs and being violent. One video even seems to show Star and a friend belittling and abusing a vulnerable intoxicated man as he tries to leave their house. Some of this he apologized for in a video in 2017, but again, he didn't go into specifics.

Star was also accused of sexual assault by multiple people who spoke to Insider's Kat Tenbarge in October 2020.

22.5% of the survey's respondents knew who Star was, with 55.7% of them having an unfavorable opinion of him, and 19.6% having a favorable one.

Trisha Paytas has the lowest favorability rating of all, probably because she has been one of the most controversial YouTubers in her 14 years on the platform. She's feuded with nearly every famous influencer and has frequently sparked ire from communities that she says she identifies with.

Paytas was another late addition to the beauty YouTuber drama, only really speaking up a few months after Karmageddon began. She had been a staunch defender of her friend Shane Dawson for many years, and stood by his side when he was canceled last summer. However, their friendship unraveled in January 2021, when Paytas told the story of why she fell out with Jeffree Star a year previously.

Paytas appeared to start seeing her friendship through a new lens, and posted two emotional videos, and appeared on podcasts, to speak about her disappointment and sadness that Dawson did not stand up for her at the time. Paytas said Dawson had chosen Star over her, and had thrown away their friendship for money, when she had been nothing but loyal.

Paytas found new support in the people who had previously considered Dawson — despite his faults — to be a good friend. She received much compassion in telling her story, while it was another nail in the coffin for Dawson's planned comeback.

Results of the poll, which was taken before Paytas' recent involvement, showed 11.3% of respondents knew Paytas, 15.3% viewed her favorably, and 66.1% viewed her unfavorably.