Amid the feud between James Charles, 19, and Tati Westbrook, 37, YouTuber Logan Paul, 24, has now chimed in. The internet star weighed in on the debacle during an episode of his imPaulsive podcast on May 15, where he urged fans and celebs to exercise caution when labeling James a “predator.” “Really think about what you’re saying, and really think about what a true ‘sexual predator’ is,” Logan insisted. “The kid is 19. Cut him some slack, please,” he pleaded.
However, Logan was sure to say that he doesn’t want his remarks to be taken out of context. “I don’t like James Charles,” he clearly stated, before adding, “but the crime does not fit the punishment.,” he said, referring to James’ flirtatious messages. He continued, “I’m not defending James Charles, I’m saying, [go] easy when you puff your chest out, put your chin up, and call him a sexual predator.”
The remarks from Logan come after internet celebrity Jeffree Star called James a “predator” in a tweet, which he has since deleted. Makeup mogul Jeffree got into a May 12 Twitter spat with James’ 17-year-old brother, Ian Jeffrey. The 33-year-old tweeted, “Why is your brother a predator?? Why’d you really move back to NYC?” On the same day he also tweeted that “there is a reason that Nathan [Schwandt, 25, his boyfriend] banned James Charles from ever coming over to our home again. There’s a reason why I haven’t seen him since [Tati’s] birthday in February. He is a danger to society. Everything Tati said is 100% true.” Jeffree did not elaborate on what happened to get James banned from their home and we have no knowledge as to whether there is any truth to this statement.
The apparent controversy surrounding James stems from Tati’s May 10, 43-minute long YouTube video, during which she slammed her former friend and mentee. The makeup vlogger alleged that the teenager tried to “trick a straight man into thinking he’s gay.” She also alleged, “You know, it’s really disgusting to manipulate someone’s sexuality, especially when they are still emerging into adulthood and don’t quite have everything figured out.”
While there is no indication that James Charles tried to “manipulate” anyone, on May 11, Swedish singer Zara Larsson, 21, accused James of DMing her boyfriend, Brian Whittaker, 19, multiple times on social media. “I’m cackling cause he hit up my boyfriend in the dms several times knowing damn well he’s straight,” she wrote, in a now deleted tweet. However, as fans run with these accusations, they have spiraled out of control, said Logan. “Be easy with words that hold so much weight,” he warned.
Logan is one of the true few to comes to Charles’ defense. Beauty guru Nikita Dragun did the same on May 14, with an eye-opening tweet. “I heard a situation needed some clarification,” she wrote to her followers. She then proceeded to share a set of text messages from the day that James “betrayed” his long-time friend, Tati, and linked up with her rival company Sugar Bear Hair at Coachella. “My friend was in an emergency and texted me in the moment… unfortunately since @dragunbeauty used all of our marketing budget on the fantasy, i connected him with sugar bear. nothing shady,” she explained.
You can watch the full podcast from Logan above. His remarks that appear to defend Charles start at the 23:00 minute mark.