James Charles Issues Apology for Criticizing Unemployed Spirit Airlines Worker

James Charles has apologized after publicly criticizing a woman who reached out to him following her layoff from Spirit Airlines.

The 26-year-old content creator posted a video on his backup TikTok account expressing frustration over a message he received from someone who had lost her job when Spirit Airlines shut down operations last week, resulting in 17,000 layoffs. The woman had sent him a GoFundMe link requesting a donation.

In the video, Charles called the woman a "lazy piece of s–t" and suggested she should have spent time applying for jobs instead of sending messages to influencers and celebrities.

The backlash was swift, prompting Charles to post an apology video on Saturday, May 9. "That video was f–king stupid. It was rude, it was obnoxious, it was privileged, and most importantly, it was completely f–king unnecessary," he said, walking through his initial reaction to receiving the message.

Charles explained that upon seeing the direct message, he had a choice to ignore it entirely but instead felt triggered enough to create content about it. "I bashed her, and it was obnoxious, and I shamed her for asking for help in a situation where she was clearly really struggling and this could have been her absolute last resort," he reflected.

He acknowledged that he had no insight into the woman's circumstances or whether she had indeed mass-messaged multiple public figures. "What I'm sure sucks even f–king more is not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from and not being sure whether or not you're gonna be able to put food on the table for yourself and your family," Charles said.

The influencer pointed out the disconnect between his position and that of someone facing unemployment. He noted hearing stories from friends and employees about the challenging job market, including companies ghosting applicants and people going months or years without hearing back from recruiters.

"My method of figuring it out and getting by was making makeup videos online. I just happened to get really lucky, and now, years later, I'm in a blessed and privileged position," Charles stated. He emphasized that his platform comes with responsibility to remain humble and grateful.

Charles expressed regret for the tone and message of his initial video, saying he spoke from "a very privileged, obnoxious, ignorant standpoint." He extended an open invitation to the Spirit Airlines employee to reach out directly if she wished to do so, while respecting her privacy if she preferred not to contact him.

"It was completely inappropriate to make a joke out of somebody just trying to provide for themselves and their family," he concluded, acknowledging that he sometimes loses sight of how many people are watching his content.