[jwplayer mgzBNoPb]YouTube star and makeup mogul James Charles was shocked after discovering one of his fans had faked having terminal cancer as a ploy to get his attention on social media.
Internet personalities know better than most the crazy lengths viewers can go to for an interaction with their favorite entertainers, with some even committing serious breaches of personal privacy for a potential photo op.
However, some enthusiasts take their fandom too far, as seen in the case of beauty guru James Charles, who was tagged multiple times on Twitter by a fan who claimed to have end-stage cancer.
Among the fan’s many Tweets was one particular post that claimed their final birthday was on the horizon and that they’d tried to get Charles’ attention before their death.
“Today is unfortunately my last birthday I’ll ever have, which sucks,” the fan wrote. “I’ve tried my hardest to try and get a notice from James Charles or Joe Woahy.”
“James Charles, I don’t have much longer to live,” they wrote in another Tweet. “Cancer is kicking my a** and I can’t fight it any more. Please remember that you gave me the best thing I could ask for, and I love you so, so much.”
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A later post from the fan’s alleged sibling seemed to confirm their death; a heartbreaking proposition that was later found out to be a total hoax, as evidenced by his response to the matter shortly thereafter.
Although Charles had reportedly interacted with the fan sympathetically beforehand, the YouTuber seemed stunned by the matter after becoming aware of the fan’s lies, noting that his own mother is a breast cancer survivor.
“I just found out that one of my fan accounts faked cancer and their death?” he wrote in a now-deleted Tweet. “I understand people wanting to get noticed by their idol, but my mom’s a cancer survivor and lying about something so serious just does not sit right in my heart.”
Charles’ fanbase was quick to echo his sentiments and condemned the viewer for going to such extreme lengths just to get noticed by him — a situation that marks yet another hugely unacceptable breach of privacy for influencers in an already huge mountain of such instances.
