The YouTuber tells ET that he sympathizes with Charles' situation.
Joey Graceffa is glad that James Charles, Tati Westbrook and Jeffree Star have cooled off after their recent scandal.
ET spoke with Graceffa as he promoted his new jewelry line, Crystal Wolf, at RuPaul's DragCon LA 2019 on Sunday, where he opened up about the latest feud to rock the YouTube community -- and said he sympathized with Charles' situation.
"I mean, what he went through is something that no human should ever have to experience, like, that level of intensity," he said of the negative comments directed at Charles amid his feud with Westbrook and Star. "It's surprising that he didn't like, kill himself. And I feel like it's going to get to that point where someone who isn't as strong as James is going to get to the point where they believe what people are saying."
"I remember when I had my scandal, I had those thoughts too -- 'Oh my god, people really hate me, maybe I should kill myself.' So, I feel like it could get to that point and cancel culture needs to tone it down," he added.
Charles lost millions of YouTube subscribers after his former friend and fellow YouTuber, Tati Westbrook, made pointed claims against him in a 43-minute video earlier this month. He responded, she responded, and then Star got involved. Charles ended up taking a brief step away from social media and decided to cancel his upcoming Sisters Tour, and he, Westbrook and Star have since agreed to stop the fighting.
"I was like, 'What happened to this safe platform?' YouTube used to be a place where all the nerds and weirdos would hang out, and there was barely any drama. And now, it's become a place where the cool kids have found our secret hide-out, and they've bashed it in and they've taken over, and they're like, 'This is our place now.' And it's no longer my safe little haven," Graceffa told ET.
"I'm surprised I haven't been dragged into drama more, because so many of my friends have been canceled that it's like, 'How come I'm not looped into that?'" he continued. "I think it's just because I'm so non-problematic at the core that people are like, 'Regardless if he's like, friends with that person, Joey's like, a cute, sweet boy. Whatever could he possibly do?'"
Graceffa has continued to be friends with Charles, and attended his recent 20th birthday party. "Coming out of that, it's going to take a while to re-balance, but he was surrounded by a bunch of his family and friends," he shared.
For now, the 28-year-old is focused on Crystal Wolf and other projects.
"I'm over stimulated," he said of his day at DragCon. "It' pretty crazy. I've done VidCon and stuff like that before, but it's really cool to be here at DragCon and a totally different demographic than I'm used to. A lot of older people are here, so I feel like I'm aging up my brand, so it's fabulous."
As for any advice he has to fans and fellow vloggers to avoid the drama, Graceffa said, "Just don't get yourself in that situation, b**ch!"
Patrick Starrr also weighed in Charles' on recent feud while speaking with ET at RuPaul's DragCon. Watch below.
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