The beauty expert is facing a serious problem on YouTube.
James Charles' feud with former mentor Tati Westbrook has taken a toll on his YouTube popularity.
The 19-year-old beauty vlogger -- whose week began at the prestigious Met Gala -- found himself in hot water on Friday when Westbrook posted a video in which she explained that she was ending their years-long friendship.
In the days since, Charles, who had as many as 16 million followers on YouTube before Westbrook's video, has been unfollowed by more than 1 million accounts. His subscriber number sits just above 14 million, but continues to fall. Westbrook's numbers, meanwhile, are climbing fast, having grown by nearly 3 million subscribers since Friday, to over 8.5 million.
In a 43-minute long video on Friday, Westbrook claimed that Charles had been spreading unflattering lies about her. She accused him of selling her out after her years of investment in building his YouTube presence and criticized his off-camera behavior. He posted an 8-minute apology video to Westbrook later on Friday.
The pair's feud reportedly heated up in April, when James promoted the supplement company Sugar Bear Hair Care, which is a rival to Tati's company, Halo Beauty. She accused him of betraying her, and he apologized on his Instagram Story.
According to Newsweek, those who have unfollowed Charles since Friday include Miley Cyrus, Kylie Jenner, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Tana Mongeau and Shawn Mendes. Charles opened up about his friendships with many of the celebs during a November interview with ET.
"He's super sweet," Charles said of Mendes, who cleared up the pair's supposed feud last year. The YouTuber meanwhile called Kylie and Kris Jenner and Lovato his "icons."
"I've met and like Kim [Kardashian]. I've met all of them," he stated, adding that Lovato would be his dream collaborator. "When she is OK and back in her game, I would die to do a video with her. She's like, my favorite person in the entire world."
See more in the video below.
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