Screenshot YouTube/Tati
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Tati Westbrook released a new video claiming that Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star “manipulated” her into making the “Bye Sister” exposé about James Charles in 2019, known for starting an explosive war in the beauty community.
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Westbrook’s video sparked what many on the internet call “Dramageddon 2.0,” which revolved around unsubstantiated allegations that Charles was “predator.”
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Star notably inserted himself into the controversy to make allegations that he never provided evidence for.
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Charles lost millions of subscribers at the time but has since regained them, and Westbrook says they have forgiven each other and that making “Bye Sister” is one of the biggest regrets in her life.
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Tati Westbrook released an explosive video on June 30 apologizing for her role in the feud between herself and James Charles, expressing that she feels as though Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson “used, coerced, and manipulated” her into making the “Bye Sister” video that sparked the events known as “Dramageddon 2.0” in 2019.
During that explosive feud, Star would publicly accuse Charles of being a predator and a “danger to society,” claims Charles denied in his “No More Lies” response video. Star recently resurfaced the claims in an April podcast.
Westbrook says in December 2019, after the release of Dawson and Star’s YouTube series about the making of the Shane X Jeffree Conspiracy Collection, Westbrook met with Charles to share DMs, texts, and other “receipts,” or evidence, of what really went down “behind the scenes.” She said she loves Charles and that never changed.
“Since then, James Charles has repeatedly said he wants to be beside me for this video. But I felt it was important to do it alone because he deserves my first apology,” Westbrook said. “I’m really sorry James. And I’ve said that privately, but I want you to hear it publicly.”
Westbrook opened her video by saying she has missed her audience and had prayed a lot while building her case for the video. She said she doesn’t wish harm against anyone and said it’s very easy to go online and “make terrible choices” based off what people see “in the media” and the desire to “follow the herd.”
She described how she has “lost over a year” of her life worrying about how people perceived her and her reputation on social media following “Bye Sister” and said Dawson and Star pushed her into uploading the video about Charles. Westbrook said she had concerns about Charles acting inappropriately but her concerns were elevated after she “talked to Shane Dawson.”
“I did not lie in that video. I never called James Charles a predator,” Westbrook said. “I never said James Charles was a a ‘danger to society.’ My video was not made with any malice. I did not publicly air any of the horrific accusations that were being made behind the scenes.”
Westbrook explained how she says Dawson and Star manipulated her, and Dawson has already denied her version of events
Westbrook said she can usually “spot manipulation and deceit from a mile away,” but her “guard was down” because she was upset that Charles had done a sponsorship for Sugar Bear Hair Care, a competitor of Westbrook’s Halo Beauty brand. Westbrook said she allowed Dawson, Star, and “others” to manipulate her after that.
She also said she was never served a lawsuit or any cease and desist letters, but she privated the video at YouTube’s request because the platform stated it was “a bad look for the platform.” Westbrook said she was “gaslit” into making the video and it was one of the biggest regrets of her life.
Westbrook also said that Charles and Star shared what Westbrook was led to believe were accusations that would ruin Charles’ life. She said she thought she “could be a good example” for Star, who she believed was growing from past mistakes — mistakes Star has apologized for, such as racist statements and behavior toward BIPOC individuals. Westbrook also apologized to beauty YouTuber Jackie Aina, who publicly severed ties with Star over his racist past.
“I got it twisted that you provoked Jeffree because you were angry that I had filmed with someone who had a history of being labeled by others as a racist,” Westbrook said. “Jackie, I’m sorry that I did not do the right thing and walk away from him then.”
Westbrook said the original “Dramageddon” should have made her walk away from Star. She says Star has “blackmail” that Westbrook believes he will release, and asked that her audience not “cancel” those people.
“My opinion, he’s gonna go off guys. And I don’t think […] he will hold back. And I think we need to be prepared,” Westbrook said, referring to Star. “We need to forgive the people that he is holding hostage with veiled threats of exposure, we need to be prepared to forgive. Otherwise this won’t stop.”
Westbrook also said that in 2019, Star “started talking a lot more crap about James Charles than usual.” She said that “doing so had become his biggest obsession,” starting with Star telling her before their collaboration on Charles’ channel in January 2019 that Charles “actually didn’t want” Westbrook there and that Charles had wanted Nikkie Tutorials instead. Westbrook said things “escalated” at her birthday that year in February, and that every time “James’ back was turned” Star would tell Westbrook that Charles “was out of control.”
She then said that Dawson began reaching out to her over text and Instagram DM asking Westbrook to be a part of his and Star’s documentary series, complimenting her and asking Westbrook to teach him “all about makeup.” Westbrook said she hoped Dawson might help her make a documentary about her own journey to YouTube, and ended up spending “hours” with the pair while they told her “horrific allegations” about Charles that she believed.
“Over the course of the next few weeks he and Jeffree fed me so much information that I felt sick. Almost every day there was more information and new allegations,” Westbrook said. “Eventually I believed what they were saying because they said they had evidence. By the time the drama around James Charles’ promotion of Sugar Bear Hair reached its peak, I was beyond gaslit.”
Already, Dawson and his fianceé Ryland Adams have spoken out against the video.
Shane Dawson / Twitter
Westbrook went on to say that Dawson didn’t just “know” about her “Bye Sister” video, but that “he offered to help edit it,” help design the thumbnail, and help title it. She says she declined his offer, along with his offer to film her the day after the video uploaded. Westbrook also says she shared her concerns about Charles “hurting himself” once “Bye Sister” came out, and she says Dawson responded that Charles was “a narcissist” and would not hurt himself.
She also said that the last time she spoke to Dawson and Star was before Star’s “Never Doing This Again” apology video came out. Westbrook said that she was not informed that the drama would be a part of the trailer for Dawson’s next documentary series.
“I felt that I was a liability to them and that I knew too much, so I put all my text messages and other files on a hard drive and told a few people that I was afraid for my life and I’d given everything to my lawyers,” Westbrook said. “I was hoping that information would leak as I thought it might keep me safe.”
Westbrook said her mental and physical health suffered, as well as her businesses as she launched her beauty brand Tati Beauty. She said “this is far from over,” and she “has taken serious safety precautions.” Westbrook said on the advice of her attorneys she is not sharing her evidence right now but said she will at some point.
“I can tell you this. It’s now my opinion that Jeffree and Shane were both bitterly jealous of James Charles’ success,” Westbrook said. “Jeffree resented that so much of his business was centered around his biggest rival, and Shane did not like that James Charles wanted to make a documentary. Neither of them were happy with standing in his shadow on YouTube anymore.”
Westbrook said that she believes Charles was gaining more views, more press, and more attention at a quicker pace than anyone else had before on YouTube, and she said she believes that Star and Dawson wanted Charles “out of the way” for the launch of the Shane X Jeffree Conspiracy Collection. She said she’s been informed that Star is “allegedly a co-owner of Morphe,” the cosmetics company, and Westbrook said she was told that Charles was planning on developing an entire cosmetics line with Morphe.
“This opens up a Pandora’s Box of speculation but I’m just not sure anyone counted on this drama spreading like wildfire,” Westbrook said. “It’s my opinion that everyone involved and their plan changed multiple times as I refused to play along or engage with drama over the next several months. A year later, it is now my opinion that James Charles was not their only intended target. I believe that there are many different people who have unclean hands in all of this.”
She went on to say that she “doesn’t think it’s a coincidence” that Morphe is planning to launch vitamins similar to those Westbrook markets through Halo Beauty, and she thinks the plot is “too big” to involve just Dawson and Star. Westbrook says she thinks Star’s statements and Dawson’s statements about what happened in 2019 involving her are “defamatory.” She threatened possible legal action against Star, Dawson, and unnamed co-conspirators.
“I’ve told you everything I can right now. The remainder will be handled privately or at a time when I choose publicly to speak on it again,” Westbrook said. “I’m so sorry that this situation caused so much pain and frustration.”
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