Beauty influencer and popular YouTube personality James Charles is, once again, finding himself in the middle of controversy, this time for a recent makeup look he posted on his Twitter and Instagram accounts on Sunday night.
According to BuzzFeed News, the 20-year-old content creator is finding himself in hot water after he posted his version of TikTok's popular "Mugshot Challenge," an internet trend where people use makeup to show off what their mugshot would look like if they ever took one. In Charles' self-created mugshot, he created a bloody nose and a bruised eye, and people on Twitter took issue with that, claiming he was glamorizing violence and that a look like that could be triggering for people who are experiencing abuse at home.
When a fan reached out to him via Twitter to voice their concern and to let him know that they are a victim of abuse, James explained himself, saying "I’m so sorry that 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."
He later responded to the controversy directly on Twitter, saying "Only I could lazily smudge on some purple eyeshadow and fake blood to recreate a dumb tik tok trend and have it twisted into an actual scandal lol."
Despite his response, many people online were still rightfully upset.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence and abuse and are looking for help, resources can be found at the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
