YouTube star and beauty guru James Charles is no stranger to receiving hate online — and he decided to hit back at the trolls with a hilarious makeup tutorial using their negative comments.
Charles is one of YouTube’s most popular makeup moguls, boasting over 18 million subscribers on the platform — but fame isn’t all sunshine and roses, with the star having undergone intense scrutiny in the past.
His drama with former mentor Tati Westbrook saw him lose thousands of subscribers in May 2019, coming under fire after she accused him of using his fame to manipulate the sexuality of straight men, which he ultimately debunked in a response video shortly thereafter.
While the YouTuber has since recovered from the scandal, he continues to receive a large swath of hateful comments across social media, which he decided to put to good use for an April 17 video in 2020.
As a way to hit back at the trolls, Charles decided to use their mean comments to guide his makeup look, an idea he also used in 2018 — a year before his drama with Westbrook.
This time, the makeup mogul used green color corrector, as per a hater’s suggestion, which he laughingly admitted made him look a bit like Shrek.
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That’s not all; the haters’ suggestions also drove him to use a strikingly white foundation, as though hearkening back to his viral selfie from 2017 that quickly became a meme across the net.
One comment even claimed that “skid marks” looked better than his current contour routine, leading him to mimic tire marks on his cheekbones, while another’s claim that his eyeshadow was “cliche” prompted him to paint the word in rainbow lettering on his eyelids.
Of course, not all of these comments were just about his makeup skills: Charles also received a slew of homophobic insults, drawing attention to the vile vitriol that internet anonymity brings out against vulnerable groups online.
In the end, Charles looked about as ridiculous as can be — proving that haters’ opinions aren’t always worth taking into consideration, no matter how self-important they feel they are.
The beauty guru ended his satirical look by asking commenters to leave positive and uplifting messages to other viewers, ending his humorous clapback on a cheerful and lighthearted note in wake of the seriously demeaning comments from internet bullies.
