"[James] Charles and [Tati] Westbrook, two stars of the YouTube beauty and makeup community, had long been friends, with Charles referring to her as 'like a mother.'"

"Then, in May 2019, Westbrook released a 43-minute video in which she accused him of using his fame to 'manipulate someone’s sexuality,' referring to straight men. Charles vehemently denied this charge in a video of his own, and for a while, the two continued releasing videos about each other, centered on their fraying friendship."

I'm trying to read a damned near incomprehensible WaPo article about YouTube withdrawing advertising from some popular vloggers. You might not know the name Tati Westbrook, but her video that came out yesterday already has nearly 6 million views. Here, try to watch it — I tried but clicked it off at the 3-second mark because that stare and series of mouth noises utterly grossed me out:



I know I wrote about this controversy — whatever the hell it is — back when it was in the news last year. Ah, here it is, May 17, 2019: "I'm reading 'James Charles, Tati Westbrook, and the feud that’s ripping apart YouTube’s beauty community...' and I cannot understand it...."

Yeah, I still can't — and won't — understand it. The reason I'm blogging it today is because I was interested in the phrase "manipulate someone’s sexuality" — in "she accused him of using his fame to 'manipulate someone’s sexuality,' referring to straight men." Is it wrong to "manipulate someone’s sexuality"? Isn't that what people do when they have sex with another person — manipulate each other's sexuality?

If it's wrong to "manipulate someone’s sexuality," then it would seem that the only ethical form of sex is masturbation. A good theory to propound on the internet!

But I don't know what Tati Westbrook is really talking about. Something special against gay men? I don't know, and I'm not going to put up with Westbrook's grotesque mouth smacking to find out. Presumably, she fascinates other people with that strange, slow-talky facial action... manipulating their sexuality.

"James Charles Posted A 41-Minute Video Of Screenshots And Receipts. We Broke It Down For You."

I actually watched that entire 41-minute video (and had a long conversation about it), so I'm really glad Buzzfeed broke it down for you, because I wanted to blog about it, but I didn't want to do the work of explaining it. This is a continuation of the complicated matter I blogged about 2 days ago under the post title "It's just all feeling, like, really intense...." I just gave you a 25-second clip from a 43-minute video and said "it conveys the drama and my mystification" and "Something very big or very small appears to have happened." Not many of you commented on that post, but, whatever, I wanted to show you the next step in the drama. I do feel sorry for this 19-year-old guy who has millions of observers as he's hit by some mind-bogglingly flimsy allegations from a 37-year old woman.

Excerpt from the 32-point explanation at Buzzfeed:

8. Responding to a clip of Tati saying he manipulates straight men, James said, "I am a 19-year-old virgin. I have never and will never use my fame, money, or my power to manipulate or get any sexual actions from a guy. That is disgusting. That is not me. The fact that Tati brought this up blows my mind."

9. He said at Tati's birthday dinner, the conversation never got inappropriate. He said the "I'm a celebrity" quote that Tati claimed James said about the waiter was an inside joke between him and his friends, and that Tati even participated in it (shown in texts). He said he uses the word "famous" to describe anything that's good — like a good Insta or good buffalo wings.

10. James said the waiter from the dinner slid into his DMs and even said he was bisexual, refuting Tati's claim that he tries to trick straight men....

That's slang — "slid into." I just learned it. Now, I'm reading "How to Slide Into Someone's DMs Without Being a Creep" (Lifehacker). I think the title means How to Slide Into Someone's DMs Without Being Perceived as a Creep. (Yeah, how do people who can see each other on line find a way to each other in real life?)

"It's just all feeling, like, really intense...."

I'm reading "James Charles, Tati Westbrook, and the feud that’s ripping apart YouTube’s beauty community/The feud between two giant stars, explained (for people who don’t follow the YouTube beauty community)" (Vox), and I cannot understand it because I was born before 1995. So I just took that 25-seconds out of that 43-minute video — a 43-minute video with over 47 million views — because it conveys the drama and my mystification. Something very big or very small appears to have happened.

"I wish you guys could just be inside my head and understand, like, really, truly, like, what YouTube means to me."