James Charles canceled his American tour yesterday (25 May) due to time restrictions and poor mental health after recent drama with fellow YouTube star Tati Westbrook.
The 25-city tour was due to start 26 June in Philadelphia and end a month later in Los Angeles.
‘I’m still not doing well,’ Charles said in a lengthy 40-part Instagram story. ‘The main reason why I’m deciding to pull the plug on the tour is because the next few weeks and months, I said that I wanted to take time for myself and for the people that love me and focus on things that make me really, really happy, which is makeup and being with friends and family and getting my head back in the game up to where I’m inspired to keep working.’
YouTubers Tati Westbrook (left) and James Charles aired their laundry in a public way | Pictures: YouTube
He then added: ‘Obviously the past few weeks have been a rollercoaster.’
Charles said the drama with Tati Westbrook set him back two weeks behind with planning, set design, rehearsals, goody bags, production and merchandise.
‘Right now, I just don’t feel as though I can deliver what was promised,’ he said. ‘And that sucks! It really, really sucks to admit.’
‘Obviously this has been very, very stressful and embarrassing for myself and my team to deal with,’ he said.
James Charles said the venues he was supposed to appear at have all been very understanding about the situation. They have begun to call and email ticket holders to inform them about the situation.
‘But you don’t have to call or email to get a refund,’ he assured his fans. ‘All of the refunds will be fully automatic and you will get them in the next business week.’
Charles then promised to reschedule another tour, including hinting at taking it international.
‘All that being said, I still want to go on tour,’ he said. ‘It’s still going to happen and I promise you that. I’m not sure when.’
He then reiterated: ‘This is not something that I’m happy about either. But it was a decision that needed to be made.’
The feud started two weeks ago, when a now-deleted YouTube video entitled Bye Sister.
In the video, Westbrook blasts Charles over his collaboration with a rival hair vitamin product, despite the two being good friends. She said she felt ‘betrayed’ and ‘lost’ by the collaboration.
Westbrook also took the opportunity to show her disgust in Charles allegedly trying to ‘turn’ straight men gay.
Tati Westbrook and James Charles. | Photo: Tati Westbrook / YouTube
After the very public call-out, Charles lost millions of subscribers to his YouTube channel. He immediately posted an apology video entitled Tati.
A week later, he then posted a video with ‘receipts’ on the feud and addressed the numerous allegations in a video entitled No More Lies. It has more than 40 million views, at the time of writing.
Jeffree Star also inserted himself into the drama.
