5 years ago, Tati Westbrook 'cancelled' James Charles. Let's examine that more closely.

With two simple words, "Bye Sister", beauty influencer Tati Westbrook broke the internet in 2019. The catchphrase, "Hi Sisters" had been made popular by a then 19-year-old James Charles, who used the iconic phrase to greet his millions of adoring YouTube subscribers.

The phrase was now being weaponised by Westbrook, who used it in the title of a 43-minute-long YouTube takedown of her former friend.

The video, which quickly amassed over 33 million views, changed the course of internet culture forever and sent Charles' follower count plummeting.

But what was it all over? It's hard to believe but the catalyst for one of the world's biggest influencer feuds, dubbed 'Sistergeddon', was vitamin gummies.

Westbrook, who owns the vitamin company Halo Beauty, met Charles before he made it big on YouTube. The then 37-year-old had become a mentor to the teenager, playing a pivotal role in his YouTube success.

The pair were so close, that Charles referred to the OG beauty influencer as his 'mum' and even did her wedding makeup in 2017. But a single Instagram story spelt the end of their friendship.

Tati Westbrook and James Charles. Image: YouTube.

Whilst at Coachella, Charles had shared an Instagram story promoting Westbrook's rival vitamin brand, Sugar Bear Hair. A tearful Westbrook told her Instagram followers she felt betrayed by Charles and labelled him "unsupportive".

Charles was quick to apologise on his Instagram story. He denied taking any money for the promotion and told followers the brand had provided him with security at Coachella in return for the post. 

But that wasn't the end. After rumours that Charles had given statements about the vitamin drama to YouTube gossip channels, Westbrook took matters into her own hands, dropping a 43-minute YouTube call-out video.

Nothing was off limits. Westbrook claimed Charles had lied about the sponsored vitamin post and declared they were no longer friends.

"I don't want to be friends with you. I don't want to be associated with you and I need to say that very publicly so this chapter can be closed," she said.

"How entitled do you have to be to think that you have it rough? You are a 19-year-old millionaire. You do not get to wake up and stress out about 'how unfair your job is'. Like that's just so ridiculous to me," she continued.

Tati Westbrook calling out James Charles in a now-deleted video. Image: YouTube.

She also accused Charles of using his fame to coerce straight men into having sex and claimed he made inappropriate and overly sexualised comments about hooking up with a straight male waiter at her birthday dinner. 

The call-out video gifted the internet with arguably the best meme of all time when a snippet of the audio went viral.

The clip in question was Tati saying, "Like it was, just like no big deal like sucking dick and c*ck. Like I'm just like, oh my god, time and place. And you did it at my birthday dinner."

The sensational claims led to Charles being unfollowed by three million subscribers, which included big names like Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Kylie Jenner.

Attention soon turned to Charles' much-anticipated response, which came in the form of an eight-minute YouTube video, which he later deleted. While Charles apologised for the hurt he caused, he was slammed by followers for not directly addressing Westbrook's claims and was labelled as "inauthentic". 

Days later he tried again, releasing a new video entitled "No More Lies" where he addressed the claims about his inappropriate behaviour.

Watch: A snippet of James Charles' response to Tati Westbrook in his uploaded video, "No More Lies". Post continues after video.

"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," Charles said.

Westbrook was declared the winner of the feud after gaining 3.5 million followers. Whilst Charles still holds the record for losing over one million subscribers in a day. The total damage to the James Charles brand was three million unsubscribes, which five years on he's managed to recoup.

A year on, Westbrook uploaded a video entitled "Breaking My Silence". She claimed YouTubers Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star had manipulated her into making the original video calling out Charles and alleged they'd "gaslit" her into believing allegations against him.

"James, I am so sorry that I allowed myself to be poisoned and weaponized against you," she said.

"I'm sorry that I bought into any of their lies. Believing those lies and allowing myself to be gaslit into making that video is one of the biggest regrets of my life," she continued.

Five years on and James Charles is as big as ever, which has raised questions about whether an influencer can actually be 'cancelled'. The fallout didn't decrease Charles' influence. Instead, his power grew, with the feud making its way to the mainstream media, with the pair featured in the New Yorker and on CNN.  

Since then, Charles has been no stranger to controversy. He was accused of sending lewd photos and inappropriate sexual messages to a 16-year-old fan. Charles claimed he was led to believe the boy was 18 years old and blocked him as soon as he discovered the truth. He was temporarily demonetised by YouTube following the scandal in 2020.

The controversy continued when he was forced to publicly apologise for attending a party at the TikTok Hype House in the middle of the pandemic and he made headlines after Instagram model Gage Gomez accused him of pressuring him into 'sexual situations', despite Gomez saying he wasn't attracted to men. Charles claimed everything had been consensual.

Whilst the scandals grow, Charles' star continues to rise, which proves no one's a loser when it comes to the attention economy. Especially not Charles, who has now racked up 23.9 million subscribers on YouTube.

The Charles and Westbrook saga has paved the way for influencer feuds, with fellow creators quickly recognising how easily clout can be gained. The scandal even prompted a big change to YouTube with exact creator subscriber accounts removed after they were weaponised in order to prove who was "winning" the scandal.

Listen to The Quicky where we we find out what happened and why the drama isn't an unusual occurrence in the world of beauty YouTubers. Post continues after podcast.

For Westbrook, her rise hasn't been as big as Charles'. She still has over eight million followers on YouTube but she and her husband have spent the last four years locked in a nasty legal stoush with their Halo Beauty business partner, Clark Swanson.

Swanson is suing for alleged breach of contract, gross negligence and fraudulent inducement. His biggest issue relates to Halo Beauty's company structure.

According to Swanson, when they first launched in 2018, he asked for a 50 per cent stake in the business. However, he agreed to give Tati and her husband two-thirds if they promised to release all future products under the Halo Beauty umbrella.

Things turned sour when Tati launched a separate beauty brand in 2019 called, Tati Beauty, which Swanson claims was set up behind his back, with the plan of selling additional products such as perfumes and makeup.

He also accused the couple of transferring money from Halo Beauty to other accounts in order to receive more of a profit. But the juiciest claim is that Tati told her business partner, her famous friends would support anything she released, which may be why she got so angry when she saw James Charles promoting their rival company, Sugar Bear Hair.

Tati's lawyer, Douglas Fuchs, released a statement at the time, slamming the accusations as 'meritless' and told the media Tati and James would vigorously defend this lawsuit.

With a reported net worth of $12 million for Westbrook and $22 million for Charles, both are proof that drama pays and no one can truly be 'cancelled'.

If you're keen on knowing what being an influencer is really like, read our top suggestions:

• 'I had 60,000 followers on TikTok. Here's why it never paid the bills.'
• 'It makes me want to cry.' Why influencers are going back to their 9-5s.
• The results are in from a life in the public eye, and the influencers are not okay.

Feature image: YouTube.

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