Lifestyle

James Charles made a bad Africa ‘joke’ and his apology is messy

LifestylePublished Feb 17, 2017
By Alle Connell
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james charles africa
James Charles / Instagram

James Charles — the 17-year-old "beauty boy" who went viral for taking a ring light to his yearbook photo shoot, and who was named CoverGirl's first CoverBoy — is getting dragged for a series of insanely insensitive tweets.

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james charles africa
James Charles / Twitter

Yesterday, Charles tweeted a "joke" about being afraid of getting Ebola in Africa.

The tweet — since deleted — says "I can't believe we're going to Africa today omg what if we get Ebola?" "James we're fine we could have gotten it at chipotle last year."

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james charles africa
James Charles / Twitter

This "joke" reinforces the racist, untrue notion that all of Africa is infested with Ebola, but when James' followers tried to explain that, he had a total knee-jerk reaction.

The follow-up tweet, also deleted, says "Block and move on James block and move on."

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James charles africa
James Charles / Twitter

Charles — who represents a major beauty brand — then accused the people his tasteless "joke" had upset of blowing things out of proportion.

This tweet — also now deleted — says "do NOT put words in my mouth holy fuck I cannot wait to not have cell service for 10 days so I don't have to deal with twitter."

Twitter was FURIOUS with James for his insensitive words and immature, it's-your-problem-if-you're-offended attitude. The backlash got so bad that CoverGirl had to issue a statement.

A follow-up tweet from the beauty giant reads "We are an inclusive brand and respect all people and cultures."

Fresh off the plane, and presumably under some major pressure, James then made his own apology.

In case this tweet is also deleted, his apology reads "I am extremely sorry. Regardless of my intentions, words have consequences. I take full responsibility and will learn and do better."

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james charles africa
James Charles / Twitter

He then wrote an even longer apology — which is where things got even messier.

Highlights from his screenshotted Notes app statement include: "I am extremely sorry for my tweet and I feel like shit for saying it. I am travelling to Africa today with a few friends for a school trip, ironically enough, it's an educational trip because we all know very little about the country but are eager to learn."

"I am aware that the tweet was extremely offensive and degrading. I posted it to make fun of my friends' mistake, but did not think about what the tweet as the whole was implying."

"I deleted everything before my plane took off, hoping it would go away, which is completely the wrong way to handle problems such as this."

"I understand why what I said was offensive and ignorant. I look forward to exploring the country and learning much more about the people and culture, because clearly I know very little and have a lot to learn."

But, as countless people pointed out, Africa is a continent — not a country. So now, James had to apologize for his apology.

THIS apology was broken up over two tweets, and says "I misspoke & said country because we are traveling specifically to South Africa only. I know Africa is a continent and wanted to post an ACTUAL, GENUINE, apology as soon as physically possible. I have a million things in my head right now. I am sorry and want to fix it somehow."

Despite the many people calling for James' CoverGirl contract to be terminated, it seems like his apology was enough for the beauty brand.

We'll keep you posted on any further developments on this story.

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