James Charles defended Charli D'Amelio and compared her massive follower loss to his own 2019 scandal
- Charli D'Amelio is the most-followed person on TikTok, but the 16-year-old dancer lost over a million followers after people thought a YouTube video made her look ungrateful.
- In the video, which showed the D'Amelio family eating dinner with YouTuber James Charles, the younger D'Amelio sister said she hoped she'd reach 100 million TikToker followers within a year of surpassing 1 million followers.
- Charles sarcastically asked, "Was the 95 [million] not enough for you?" The back-and-forth sparked a massive backlash against D'Amelio, who some perceived as ungrateful.
- As D'Amelio began losing followers en masse, Charles defended her on Twitter, writing that it "feels familiar" in comparison to his own explosive 2019 subscriber loss during his feud with Tati Westbrook.
James Charles is stepping in to defend Charli D'Amelio as the teen TikTok star faces a massive wave of people unfollowing her.
16-year-old D'Amelio is the most-followed person on TikTok, while 21-year-old Charles is best known for his beauty YouTube channel. The two are close friends and collaborate frequently, including in a recent YouTube video that's causing the drama between D'Amelio and her fans.
People are calling D'Amelio "rude" and "entitled" after a video on her family's new YouTube channel showed her, her parents, and her older sister Dixie (who is also TikTok-famous) eating dinner with Charles. During the meal, D'Amelio shared that she hoped she would hit 100 million TikTok followers within a year of surpassing 1 million followers.
"Was the 95 [million] not enough for you?" Charles asked sarcastically in response, and D'Amelio replied, "Well, I was just saying, like, even numbers."
The clip of the exchange has since gone viral, and in retaliation for her desire to hit 100 million followers, D'Amelio's TikTok followers are now unfollowing her en masse. She's lost over 1 million so far.
People are also complaining that Charli and Dixie were "bratty" toward their private chef, who included snails in the dinner for the video, which both D'Amelio sisters responded to with disgust. But the chef has also defended the sisters and said everything in the video was for "fun and games."
The situation is similar to when James Charles famously lost over 3 million YouTube subscribers in one day in May 2019 after his then-YouTube mentor Tati Westbrook accused him of being a disloyal friend and of sexually pursuing straight men, which Charles denied. Westbrook later apologized.
Charles tweeted in defense of D'Amelio and said it "feels familiar," referring to his May 2019 scandal, which started when Charles was 19 years old.
"This charli situation is NOT sitting right with me... 100M followers in one year & y'all expect her to know how to be a perfect role model? death threats because she's a picky eater & made a joke about a milestone? 30+ year olds dragging someone half their age? feels familiar," he tweeted.
D'Amelio also addressed the situation in a tearful livestream and said it was all a "big misunderstanding." But that hasn't seemed to slow down the unfollowing spree, live counters show, as she continues to lose followers.
- Read more:
- Charli D'Amelio cried in a livestream after nearly 1 million TikTok users unfollowed her over a video controversy
- TikTok star Charli D'Amelio's family was accused of cheating on trivia questions after winning a $300,000 charity competition between influencers
- The 19-year-old TikTok star who kissed her 13-year-old fan commented 'I miss you' on his livestream
- The controversies of 19-year-old TikTok star Zoe LaVerne, who apologized for kissing her 13-year-old fan