YouTube star Tati Westbrook announced she closed down her beauty brand, saying COVID-19 and her legal battles played a part

• YouTuber Tati Westbrook has closed down her beauty brand Tati Beauty.
• In an eight-minute YouTube video, Westbrook explained the pandemic and a lawsuit had played a part.

YouTuber Tati Westbrook announced she has shut down her brand Tati Beauty. The news came after fans noticed the Tati Beauty website had a message on its homepage saying, "Tati Beauty is now closed."

"Thank you for all of your support and the amazing memories," it read.

Westbrook, who has 8.7 million YouTube subscribers, has been creating content on the platform for 10 years. She rose to fame with her beauty tutorials and vlogs about her life.

But Westbrook's recent years in the spotlight have been plagued by drama. In May 2019 she posted a 43-minute YouTube video titled "Bye Sister," where she criticized her former friend and mentee James Charles of inappropriate sexual behavior and betraying her by advertising a competitor to her vitamin brand. This led to a dramatic drop in support for beauty influencer Charles, who at the time had over 16 million YouTube subscribers. He went on to gain his followers back after posting a response video. The high-profile saga became known as Dramageddon 2.0.

Just over a year later, in June 2020, Westbrook posted a video calling out two more YouTube stars, Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star, claiming they manipulated her into posting "Bye Sister" in the first place.

Westbrook posted an eight-minute video in the early hours of November 4 to explain the "not so exciting news" about Tati Beauty.

Westbrook said the COVID-19 pandemic and a lawsuit surrounding her other brand, vitamin line Halo Beauty, had played a part in the decision to close down. Westbrook and her husband James are facing a lawsuit brought by Halo Beauty co-founder and former business partner Clark Swanson in October 2020. This June, Westbrook said she had to sell her Los Angeles house and condo to support the ongoing litigation.

"COVID hit, and that definitely slowed things down, it slowed the whole world down," Westbrook said. "And then, of course, you guys are aware of outside litigation that really impacted my life in full. So that kind of T-boned everything, and here we are."

"Tati Beauty is closing its doors," she said. "We are no longer selling products online, and I say that with a heavy heart. I have loved creating this brand, I had huge goals, dreams, visions, for the future."

She said she had always loved the artistry of makeup and launching a brand had been a huge goal for her.

"I wish things were different, I wish that I could still be launching, creating, doing the whole A-Z thing for Tati Beauty, it just did not work out," she said. "I'm sad about it, but again, I'm really, really grateful that I had the opportunity to launch what I did."

She added there was "no drama, no weird hard feelings," and "no scandal."

"There's just timing of the world and sadly outside litigation had a huge impact," she said. "And that's just my life right now, and I'm hopeful for better days ahead. "

Insider has reached out to Westbrook's representatives for comment.

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