It was the YouTube drama heard across the internet.
In May 2019, beauty influencer Tati Westbrook publicly criticized James Charles, a fellow makeup artist and former close friend. A particularly pointed part of her statement was, ‘and you did it at my birthday dinner.’
The video became incredibly popular, racking up over 30 million views and quickly becoming one of the platform’s most-watched. As a result, Westbrook gained over four million new subscribers in just one week.
Charles, meanwhile, lost more than one million in just 24 hours.
However, after six years, Westbrook’s popularity has declined. The 43-year-old has faced several difficulties, including a four-year legal fight and the closure of her beauty business, which we’ll discuss further.
Some people who follow Westbrook have noticed a change in her online content. She’s recently moved away from traditional beauty advice and started sharing ideas related to ‘wellness’ – a field often promoted by figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is known for controversial health views.
And, in a particularly bitter irony, Charles has more than bounced back.
At just 17, he made history as CoverGirl’s first male ambassador. Already a social media star, he’d reportedly earned $11 million through his popular YouTube makeup tutorials before a highly publicized falling-out with James Charles in May 2019 – a dispute captured in Charles’ video, ‘Bye Sister,’ where he addressed his followers (whom he calls ‘sisters’).
At 26 years old, he’s already a successful entrepreneur, owning a $7 million home in Los Angeles. His cosmetics company, Painted, recently launched in the UK, marking a significant expansion for the brand.
His makeup was a hit – Beyoncé even used his products during her Renaissance tour in August 2023!
So what happened to Westbrook?
Many people consider her the very first major beauty influencer on YouTube, and she started her channel way back in 2010.
She quickly became popular thanks to her friendly approach, clear how-to videos, and honest product reviews. People also appreciated her openness about her personal life, which made her stand out as a truly authentic influencer.
Because of everything happening, it was especially hard to watch her so openly and forcefully confront Charles.
Looking back, the age and career stage difference between them was probably a factor. I mean, she was 37 and already well-established in her field, while Charles was just 19 and starting out. She really took him under her wing, mentoring him and helping launch his career – they were incredibly close. It was such a testament to their bond that she even asked him to do her wedding makeup back in January 2017! It really shows how much she trusted and valued him.
So in other words, it seemed to some that she was now punching down.
Beauty YouTuber Gabriel Zamora, who supported Charles in 2019, told the Daily Mail this week that she was a major figure in the beauty community.
Watching her get caught up in drama made her seem strange to many people. When the situation backfired, it only made things worse. Ultimately, the video left a negative impression on viewers.
The video did, in fact, go viral. Russell Westbrook’s now-removed video, originally 43 minutes long, began with him discussing a business issue before escalating.
That April, while at the Coachella music festival, Charles promoted SugarBearHair on Instagram. This vitamin supplement competed with Halo Beauty, the vitamin brand owned by Westbrook.
She described the advert as a professional betrayal.
The argument became deeply personal when Westbrook accused Charles, who is openly gay, of harmful and predatory behavior. Specifically, Westbrook claimed Charles intentionally misled straight men into believing they were attracted to men.
The public reacted very strongly, and Charles himself later described it as the worst time of his life. He was losing followers at an incredibly fast rate – hundreds every minute – as the story became international news.
Almost immediately, the story changed. Charles responded with a video called ‘No More Lies,’ where he addressed the accusations and strongly denied claims that he had pressured straight men into relationships with him.
In a video that’s been watched 58 million times, Charles stated he has never used, and will never use, his popularity, wealth, or influence to pressure anyone into sexual activity.
Honestly, seeing that was just… awful. It doesn’t even remotely represent who I am, and I’m still reeling that Tati would even bring it up. She knows what really happened, so why would she do that? It’s just… unbelievable.
The online feud, nicknamed ‘Dramageddon’ by fans, escalated with a series of videos exchanged between Westbrook and Charles, and sadly led to the permanent end of their friendship.
But it was Westbrook who seemed to emerge worse.
In a surprising turn of events, Westbrook apologized to Charles and claimed that YouTubers Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star had tricked her into originally posting the “Bye Sister” video. Both Dawson and Star have refuted this claim.
But the damage was seemingly done.
According to beauty industry expert Dwight O’Neal, the recent YouTube controversy happened, at least in part, because many people involved had large egos, as he told the Daily Mail.
According to O’Neal, co-founder and co-CEO of Rose Neal Collective, the real focus of the [Dramageddon] controversy wasn’t the conflict between the influencers themselves, but rather a clash between authenticity and carefully constructed public personas.
It made people realize they’d been misled by a carefully constructed image. Many had fallen for the illusion that influencers presented, believing it was genuine when it wasn’t.
After facing some criticism, I decided to take a step back from YouTube for about a year. It was a tough time, and I realized I needed to re-evaluate things, so I also ended my collaborations with a lot of the beauty influencers I’d been working with. It felt like the right thing to do for my own well-being and creative direction.
Zamora, now 32, was one of those influencers. ‘I personally believe I deserve an apology,’ he said.
Russell Westbrook’s YouTube subscriber count has decreased significantly following recent controversy, falling from over 10 million to nearly 8 million as of today.
Charles now has 24 million followers on the platform, a significant increase from the 13.8 million he had after the allegations against Westbrook came out.
Russell Westbrook’s videos aren’t performing as well lately. She used to consistently get over a million views per video, but this month her videos have averaged only 120,000 views over the last 15 she’s posted.
And then there had been the bitter legal woes for Westbrook to contend with.
In 2018, she and her husband, James Westbrook, started the vitamin company Halo Beauty with their business partner, Clark Swanson.
Five months after posting her popular ‘Bye Sister’ video, Westbrook released her own cosmetics brand, Tati Beauty.
A year later, Swanson sued Westbrook and her husband, claiming they committed fraud, were negligent, and didn’t fulfill their responsibilities to Halo Beauty. This came after Westbrook launched her own makeup line independently.
At the time, her lawyer called Swanson’s claims ‘meritless’ in a statement to E! News.
The fight took a heavy toll on Westbrook, who revealed she had to sell her condo and Los Angeles mansion, worth $4 million, to cover her expenses.
‘We sold our house in LA. I moved out of my condo,’ she said in a 2021 video.
I’ve significantly simplified my life so I can fully focus on and handle the challenges of this legal case.
In the same year, Westbrook was forced to close Tati Beauty, citing the Covid-19 pandemic and her ongoing conflict with James Charles (Swanson) as the reasons.
The legal issues also strained Westbrook’s marriage, and she shared in a YouTube video that she almost got divorced.
‘During this very, very stressful time in my life, James and I almost got divorced,’ she said.
We weren’t able to spend time together, so he moved out and we spent the holidays apart. It was a really difficult period.
Westbrook explained he genuinely believed he’d lost everything, recalling a moment of isolation where he thought his life was over.
The legal dispute with Swanson, which had been ongoing for four years, was resolved in August 2024 with an out-of-court settlement. As a result, Westbrook and her husband resigned from their positions at Halo Beauty.
After a legal dispute and strained relationships with other YouTubers in Los Angeles, Westbrook and her husband decided to move to Texas for a more peaceful lifestyle.
Okay, so I was digging through public records, and you will NOT believe this! Back in February 2022, they bought this incredible mansion just outside of Fort Worth – seriously, five bedrooms, five bathrooms! It cost almost $2 million, and they took out a $1.3 million mortgage to get it. I’ve been tracking their every move, and this is just… amazing. It’s everything I dreamed they’d have!
Westbrook explained on YouTube that her move to Texas followed a year of major changes. She described a personal and spiritual journey that helped her navigate a lawsuit, difficulties in her marriage, and the end of her beauty brand, Tati Beauty.
She also began to speak more openly on YouTube about her recent ‘wellness’ journey.
Her health journey took an unexpected turn after years of eating only plants and avoiding gluten. She switched to a diet consisting solely of meat and began using unusual products like beef fat as a moisturizer and castor oil for many different purposes. She also prioritized natural products, opting for toothpaste without fluoride and unpasteurized cheese, and actively avoided artificial red dyes, plastics, and certain oils she considered unhealthy.
This apparent shift in Westbrook’s messaging didn’t go unnoticed by fans.
As a lifestyle expert, I’ve seen this happen a lot. A former follower recently shared with me that a creator they used to love just became…unrelatable. They explained it perfectly: they were looking for practical advice – like makeup tips, in this case, wanting to know how someone achieves a flawless under-eye look – and instead got swept up in a lot of unsubstantiated theories and trends they’d picked up elsewhere. It’s a common frustration – people want actionable content, not just someone sharing every new idea they encounter.
Another commenter claimed Westbrook’s recent videos feel as if they’re backed by ‘pseudoscience’.
Beef tallow, which is simply rendered cow fat, is gaining popularity with some online influencers as a natural alternative to beauty products containing synthetic chemicals.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. strongly advocates for using beef tallow for cooking, arguing that seed oils, such as sunflower oil, are a major contributor to rising obesity rates.
He’s also supported stopping the addition of fluoride to toothpaste and drinking water, citing possible health concerns.
Scientists haven’t yet reached a conclusion about whether using beef tallow instead of seed oils actually provides long-term health benefits.
Beauty industry expert O’Neal believes Westbrook is changing her content because she’s trying to stand out in the increasingly crowded beauty market.
According to O’Neal, it seems like she’s chasing current trends as part of an effort to revamp her public image. She’s likely searching for what makes her unique, but my suggestion would be to always stay true to yourself, whatever path you choose.
Russell Westbrook’s genuine personality used to be a key part of her popularity – whether she was giving honest opinions about makeup or publicly criticizing someone she used to mentor on YouTube.
It’s disappointing that when the Daily Mail reached out for a response, Westbrook’s team dismissed the situation as outdated and no longer of public interest.
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2025-11-19 07:36