Whoa! Tati Got Real About Who *Actually* Caused Her Drama With James Charles
On June 21, Shane Dawson revealed he was leaving the YouTube beauty community after fans accused him and Jeffree Star of helping orchestrate Tati Westbrook's 45-minute "Bye Sister" exposé video on James Charles in May 2019. In his statement, Dawson admitted he knew about Westbrook's video, but said neither he nor Star were involved with its actual release. Now, Tati Westbrook's apology video for the James Charles drama calls out Star and Dawson for supposedly "manipulating" her into posting the tell-all video. Dawson and Star's teams did not immediately respond to Elite Daily's request for comment on Westbrook's claims made in the new video.
Fans had a feeling Westbrook wouldn't stay silent about the situation when she mysteriously returned to social media following a nearly two-month break a day after Dawson announced he was leaving the beauty community.
Sure enough, on June 30, Westbrook posted a 40-minute video called "BREAKING MY SILENCE" that specifically called out Dawson and Star for supposedly igniting her feud with Charles.
Westbrook began her video by explaining how much this drama has weighed on her. "I have been praying every day over this event, scandal, whatever you want to name it," Westbrook said. "I’ve lost over a year of my life terrified of social media and speaking up against the people that used, coerced, and manipulated me into uploading my video in May of last year."
To fans' surprise, Westbrook revealed she and Charles reconciled in December 2019. She said Charles actually offered to be by her side when she filmed her video addressing the drama, but she declined. "I felt it was important that I do it alone, because he deserves my first apology," she said. "And I am really sorry, James. And I've said that privately, but I want you to hear it publicly. I'm sorry."
Addressing what set off the original drama, Westbrook claims she filmed her "Bye Sister" video after being fed numerous "poisonous lies" about Charles by Dawson and Star.
Westbrook revealed she started up her friendship with Star in 2017 despite being wary of his history of drama within the beauty community. "He would frequently comment about how much dirt he held on other brand owners and members of our YouTube community. I believed that he actually held blackmail material on many people and was capable of destroying the entire community," she shared. Westbroook claimed that badmouthing Charles was a regular occurrence when hanging out with Star, but that her "twisted sense of civic duty" made her stick around. "This worried me, [but] I stayed and tried my best to be a positive influence."
Westbrook claims she connected with Dawson through Star, and she had actually been looking forward to connecting with him in hopes he might be interested in doing a documentary with her about her rocky past that ultimately led to starting her YouTube channel. But once they got to know each other, she claims that, like with Star, conversations regularly turned to Charles.
She claims Dawson called Charles "a monster" who was "hurting minors," and told her "something needed to be done to stop him from hurting more people." (Charles responded to these claims, shutting them down, in a May 18 vlog titled "No More Lies.") Westbrook even claimed Dawson offered to help edit her "Bye Sister" video, make its thumbnail, and even asked Westbrook if he could film the aftermath of her posting the video for his channel (all of which she declined).
Soon after Westbrook posted her video, Dawson took to Instagram Live to address her accusations, which he called a "f*cking lie."
"You are so manipulative!" Dawson shouted as Westbrook's video played in the background. "You are fake crying! That is not real."
Star has yet to address Westbrook's claims directly.
Considering this drama has been going on since May 2019, it seems like it won't be over any time soon, especially with all these new accusations that have surfaced regarding Dawson and Star's involvement.
