'They are two-faced ticking time bombs': YouTuber Shane Dawson lashes out at the beauty community in lengthy Twitter post
“I feel like we all lost a bit of our soul during dramageddon,” the YouTuber says
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Your support makes all the difference.YouTuber Shane Dawson has lashed out at the beauty community in a series of tweets addressing his involvement in the feud between beauty YouTubers Jeffree Star, Tati Westbrook and James Charles.
Last year, a YouTube saga known as "Dramageddon 2.0" broke out. The argument occurred after Westbrook and Star accused Charles of using his wealth and status to manipulate people's sexuality. Charles strongly denied the claims and lost millions of followers on social media following the dispute.
Dawson, who has 23 million subscribers on the platform, and is a close friend of Star's, denied the recent claims that he “orchestrated” or “planned” last year’s feud, in a Twitter post which he has since deleted.
While Dawson didn’t have a public role in the dispute between the three beauty moguls, his critics have accused him of influencing the argument behind the scenes.
The YouTuber made a docuseries in 2019 detailing the process behind his make-up collaboration with Star’s brand, Jeffree Star Cosmetics.
In the trailer for his YouTube series with Star, Dawson alluded to Westbrook's controversial video in which she accused Charles of predatory behaviour, but he was criticised for not addressing his involvement in the argument.
In his Twitter statement, Dawson wrote: “Putting drama in the trailer was something i regret more than anything in the world and I'm mad that I chose tea over my morals [sic].”
Dawson also admitted that he knew Westbrook was “thinking about making a video” back in 2019, but denied any involvement in its creation.
The YouTuber faced backlash for supporting Westbrook and Star in his statement. Addressing the viral video, he said: “Looking back, I still believe her on a lot of what she said and I believe she felt it was what she needed to do at the time.”
But in a follow-up post to his original post, Dawson clarified that his support for Westbrook did not equate to him believing Charles deserved the backlash he faced. “We all know collectively that the internet was too mean to james [sic],” he said.
The Twitter post went on to focus on the toxicity of the beauty community on YouTube. Claiming that the scandals always involve the same beauty gurus, Dawson said: "They are all attention seeking game playing ecocentric narcissistic vengeful two faced ticking time bombs ready to explode. And Im OVER it. [sic]”
He condemned the “side of the internet that is obsessed with looks, money, power, fame, screenshots and subtweets,” claiming he would never engage in such behaviour.
Despite showing his support for Star and their collaborations, Dawson does not exclude the beauty mogul from his post. “Yes, jeffree is in that list of dramatic gurus (and he would admit that) and he will always be family to me and I love him despite those characteristics. [sic]”
“He’s VERY aware of the fact that I don’t agree with many of the ways he approached situations and I have been very honest with him about needing to make some changes.”
Star has been at the centre of previous YouTube feuds, notably with Manny MUA, Nikita Dragun, Gabriel Zamora and Laura Lee in 2018. The beauty influencer also has also previously been accused of racist comments online, which he has publicly apologised for on YouTube.
This month, an resurfaced image of Star posing with a confederate flag went viral online, which he addressed on Twitter. In a lengthy post, he said: “I was asked to be in that photo for shock value because I was “gay” and obviously not what the flag represents, I was mocking the flag but now see how ugly and wrong it is to be next to it.”
Dawson has also been accused of racial insensitivity in the past, including claims that he dressed in blackface on YouTube. In 2014, he uploaded an apology video, saying: “I’m sorry for anyone offended by my old videos. I have no hate in my heart and I hope you can forgive me.”
Concluding his statement on Twitter, Dawson announced his departure from the beauty community: “I love what I was able to create with Jeffree and I'm sure people are going to assume I only did it for money but thats not true. I just am choosing to no longer be apart of that world. [sic]”
The Independent has reached out to Shane Dawson, Tati Westbrook, Jeffree Star and James Charles for comment.
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