James Charles sends woman private apology after publicly outing her for money request
Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment, Jobs, Social Media, TikTok, GoFundMe
Madison Burgess
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@jamescharleslol
Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment, Jobs, Social Media, TikTok, GoFundMe
Amber Vargas, the Spirit Airlines worker whom James Charles publicly slammed, has shared a screenshot of the private apology he sent her and savagedly said she ‘doesn’t accept’ it.
The 26-year-old beauty influencer came under fire this week when he lashed out at Vargas, who asked him for help after losing her job after the airline shut down its operations on 2 May, making about 17,000 employees redundant.
She sent him a DM with a GoFundMe link, asking for his help; however, he brutally called her a ‘lazy piece of s***’ in a expletive rant posted to his TikTok page.
As reported by The Independent, in the video, which has since been deleted, the influencer said: “I just got a DM on here from a girl that said, ‘Good morning, James. I know you’ll probably never see this, but if you could just take one minute to read it would really mean a lot to me. I’m really struggling right now because Spirit Airlines just filed for bankruptcy and I have lost my job. Here’s a GoFundMe link. Any donations help.”
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Laughing, he responded: “I’m sure they do, sweetheart. I’m sure they do. You know what else would help you? Getting another job. Yeah, try that.”
“Because in the time that it took you to copy and paste the same f*** ass message to myself - who you don't follow, by the way - and probably a hundred other influencers and celebrities, you could’ve applied for a hundred other jobs.
“But you didn't, 'cause you're a lazy piece of s***, and you're entitled, and you think that influencers and celebrities should fund your life for you. Why would I ever help you?”
Following an outcry of backlash on social media and a mass unfollowing of over 137,000 people, the beauty influencer posted a second video to his spam page, apologising and saying his original TikTok was ‘f***ing stupid, rude, obnoxious, privileged, and most importantly, it was completely f***ing unnecessary’.
He said the message ‘triggered him’ and admitted he ‘shamed her for asking for help in a situation where she was clearly really struggling’.
“I have no idea what was going on in her life, and I should have never assumed that she was just copy and pasting this DM as an easy way out,” he said in the video.
Charles added, “I get a lot of messages like this every single day, and for me personally, it definitely sucks to receive messages from people that don’t follow you and don’t support you, treating you like a personal ATM or bank account.
“But what I’m sure sucks even f***ing more, is not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from and not being sure whether you’re going to get food on the table for yourself and your family.”
He apologised and said he tried to get in touch with Vargas but couldn’t find her message, and urged that if she wanted to come forward, he would ‘help her out a bit’ and say sorry directly.
Charles also appears to have donated $5,000 to her GoFundMe page, which currently sits at $39,900 at the time of writing.
But, it looks like the former airline worker has been left unimpressed with his efforts to make amends and posted a screenshot on TikTok of the apology message he sent her privately.
Vargas wrote: “You apologized in private after embarrassing me publicly. But some damage doesn’t disappear just because you finally feel guilty. I heard the apology. I just don’t accept it.”
In her screenshot, it showed a message that said: “Hi Amber, I wanted to reach out privately with an apology for the video I made. It was disgraceful and completely unnecessary, and there is no excuse for me yelling at and berating someone asking for help in a sh***y situation that was completely out of your control.”
Charles said he was ‘so sorry’ for ‘adding to what was already a distressing time’ and admitted he’s ‘so ashamed, not only for the video but also for being so disgustingly out of touch’.
The influencer continued: “I was sent your video today, and so glad to see your GoFundMe has exploded but I also know that getting attention online can be scary and overwhelming, especially when you never asked for it in the first place.
“I’ve spent the last few days reading real stories from real people about what it’s actually like losing a job without notice and also learning about the journey to find a new one when so many people are going through the same situation.”
He told her that he donated to the fundraiser and asked if there’s ‘anything else he can help with or do,’ before wishing her the best and admitting he ‘fully understands’ if she never wants to hear from him again.
Tyla has contacted a representative for Charles for comment.