Beauty influencer James Charles faces backlash over “mugshot” Tik Tok challenge

By Kathryn Taylor
April 21, 2020

James Charles can’t seem to catch a break as he is now facing another scandal. The 20-year old beauty influencer is facing backlash after participating in a viral trend on Tik Tok where people do their makeup to look like a mugshot. Charles posted a photo on Twitter of the makeup look he created using his skills with a bloody nose and a bruised left eye.

The image James uploaded to Twitter. Photo by Kathryn Taylor

Charles wasn’t the only one to participate in this problematic trend yet people seemed to focus on Charles’s participation the most.

Soon after posting, many started criticizing Charles for glamorizing domestic violence. One person tweeted, “This is not ok. I’m disappointed in you again. This is not funny or cute! As a survivor of abuse, it’s not cool.”

“I don’t follow him but I know it triggered a lot of people who have gone through domestic violence,” Breanna Dushkewich, education major, said.

A fan of the beauty influencer replied to the tweet, “I don’t understand why this would be a trend. I love James but it’s not fun having your face bruised and not being able to cover them up. Maybe I’m being too sensitive but this made me feel really uncomfortable because I couldn’t take mine off. It made me feel so dehumanized.”

“Hi babe, I’m so sorry you went through something so awful and traumatic. It’s a Tik Tok trend going around where people post their ‘mugshots’ and has nothing to do with domestic violence whatsoever. Love you,” Charles responded.

One person tried to give Charles a new perspective on the issue tweeting to him, “Not everyone who was uncomfortable with the photo hates you. It’s the whole trend that doesn’t sit right with a lot of people.”

He continued on replying to different people on Twitter, “I do understand that but this dumb trend has nothing to do with domestic abuse. What about action movies? Halloween? Special effects? Simple bloody nose? This is nothing new.”

The trending challenge on Tik Tok. Photo by Kathryn Taylor

One person replied, “You don’t have to jump on every trend just because it’s a trend. You’ve been a person in front of the public eye for a long time and you should have known better that this was going to kick off. Know better. Do better.”

Others on Twitter quickly jumped to his defense saying, “That makes me so mad!! I do FX makeup and people somehow equate it to be romanticizing abuse when it’s a legitimate job & art form.” Another person jumped in too by saying, “People reach so far…they make mountains out of molehills. What matters is the intention behind it, his was harmless. People are twisting it into something it was NEVER supposed to be!!”

“I do not completely think that people should have taken it that far. For Halloween people dress up as beat up prisoners or mugshot like characters and no one has an issue with it. I think that people over reacted a bit and that James just did it because he was bored in quarantine,” Alexis O’Toole, education major, said.

Ultimately the beauty influencer decided to take down the photo by tweeting out, “Despite the fact that hundreds of influencers and artists have done something similar, I deleted the mugshot trend because it was never my intention to trigger anyone and it’s a waste of time trying to have an open discussion with people who hate me regardless.”

Someone then replied saying, “Boy you don’t have to apologize for everything, get some balls!!!” Charles responded, “This is not an apology lol.”

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Kathryn Taylor

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