In May of 2026, beauty influencer James Charles posted an explosive video ranting to his TikTok followers. The video was a reaction to a private DM he received on Instagram from former Spirit Airlines employee Amber Lendof Vargas. The fan had recently lost her job after Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy and officially shut down, causing the layoff of over 17,000 employees.
Vargas’ message was polite, simply explaining her situation, “I’m really struggling right now because Spirit Airlines just filed for bankruptcy and I have lost my job.” She sent a link to her GoFundMe page at the end of the message and explained that any donation would help. However, despite her kind delivery, James Charles responded publicly and aggressively, stating, “You know what else would help you? Getting another job.” Charles defended himself by claiming that Vargas most likely sent the same message to hundreds of celebrities and then began to insult his fans repeatedly. Charles finished off his video calling Vargas “A lazy piece of s***.”
Despite James Charles ‘ expectations, the internet was outraged by his response, and popular creators spoke out against him. Many even brought up his underage sexting scandal in 2021, with influencer Trisha Paytas describing him as “an awful person.”
Apart from other influencers speaking out, the general public also seemed disappointed with his response, claiming that if he really didn’t want to donate, he could have simply ignored the message.TikTok user @l.i.s.a_n commented on a TikTok about the scandal, saying, “He shouldn’t have humiliated her like that.” James Charles’s immature and aggressive response only furthered his notoriety.
Following his numerous scandals, the general public appears to be losing support for James Charles, with very few people taking his side in this situation. Despite the internet’s many attempts to cancel him, James Charles is still uploading TikToks daily and currently has a following of almost 40 million. With his support diminishing rapidly, fans ask themselves whether his actions will be excused and forgotten once again.
