James Charles Bio

James Charles was working as a hairstylist when feeling bored and creatively constricted, he decided to delve into the world of cosmetics and share his pictures and videos on social media. He created his YouTube channel on December 1, 2015, to share beauty and makeup videos with his subscribers. He soon gained popularity as a male beauty guru and since then has managed to amass over 23.8 million subscribers to his channel. He is equally popular on Instagram and Twitter, with 21.8 million and over 7 million followers respectively. He has also made waves on TikTok where he has amassed over 37.6 million and 1.1 billion likes. However, what made him instantaneously famous on the internet is his tweet on September 5, 2016, in which he shared pictures with his followers stating that he took his own ring light to his high school prom to have popping highlights on his pictures. His story soon went viral and cosmetics brand CoverGirl subsequently chose him as their first male spokesmodel.

In 2018, he made his television debut in the American sitcom ‘Alone Together’ where he played the role of ‘Jasper.’ That same year, he also made an appearance in the web series ‘The Secret World of Jeffree Star.’ In 2020, he came out with the reality series, ‘Instant Influencer.’

Within his stint in the limelight, James Charles has already courted controversy a number of times. In February 2017, while preparing for a trip to South Africa with his school friends, he tweeted a highly insensitive racist joke about the Ebola disease. He was immediately overwhelmed by criticism and deleted the tweet soon after. However, the damage was already done; not only people were surprised by his disgustingly racist joke, but even fans urged CoverGirl to drop him from the brand. Realizing the severity of his actions, he eventually issued an apology stating that he was extremely sorry for his actions and that he had learned from his mistake. Following that, CoverGirl issued a statement saying that his tweet doesn't represent the brand, which respects all people and cultures, and added that they were glad that he had apologized for his actions.

Unfortunately, the very next month he got entangled in another controversy after it was revealed that he had lied about the very incident that made him famous in the first place. Following an altercation with him, his friend and fellow beauty guru Thomas Halbert, also known by his online alias 'ThomasBeautyy', exposed him by showing proof that he did not actually bring a ring light to the photo session and that the pictures were Photoshopped later to make his makeup look amazing. However, Halbert later apologized for his actions stating that the pictures were out of context and also added that while James did retouch the photos later, he also did retake them.

In April 2018, he shared one of his unfortunate experiences after being asked by fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson about the rudest celebrity he ever met. He named pop star Ariana Grande, stating that she had followed him on Twitter after he posted pictures and videos from one of her shows he had attended. While she was very sweet initially, she unfollowed him three hours later, crumbling to pressure from fans who were angry that she had followed him right after the Ebola controversy happened. In May 2018, he teamed up with controversial YouTuber Tana Mongeau and shared personal experiences with TV personality Tyra Banks, claiming that she had done 'shady' things for fame.

In 2021, a 16-year-old boy named Isaiyah came out on TikTok and accused James of sending him naked photos and coaxing him into sexting despite knowing he is a minor. In his response, James refuted all the allegations and further stated that Isaiyah had claimed to be 18. However, soon after, some more boys also accused James of sending them nude photos and forcing them into sexting. James later released a video where he apologized for his behavior but denied having the knowledge that they were minors.

James Charles Dickinson was born on May 23, 1999, in Bethlehem, New York. He has a younger brother named Ian. He studied at Bethlehem Central High School, from where he graduated in June 2017. James, who is a spokesmodel for cosmetics brand CoverGirl, had its slogan 'Easy, Breezy, Beautiful' emblazoned across his graduation cap. He first came out as gay at the age of twelve, while in middle school. His parents are very supportive of his sexual orientation as well as his interest in makeup. His father, a contractor, converted their basement into a glam room for his use.