Mega Beauty Influencer James Charles is no stranger to drama, controversy, or the need to make an apology video, and that is just what the four remaining contestants on YouTube Originals’ new hit reality show, Instant Influencer, had to do for episode three’s ‘Compact Challenge.’ However, James may not have been expecting that an episode featuring apology videos might actually require an apology.
Apology videos have become commonplace on social media, so much so that the overly serious and emotional videos are often lampooned by viewers, subscribers, and trolls. In episode three of the record-breaking, reality-competition series, the contestants had to create their own faux apology video for randomly assigned minor scandals, such as being called out for over-editing, missing a meet and greet, or having to film a second apology video to make up for a mistake in the first one.
Based on personal experience, James explained, "As an influencer, when you grow a following, you will either say or do something that people might not like and might not agree with, and, eventually, you might have to apologize." For the challenge, the contestants had 15 minutes to create a one-minute apology video with no editing. The winning video was made by 18-year-old Benny Cerra, who James noted showed dedication by ruining his make-up with fake tears.
As reported on PopBuzz, the challenge though sparked quite a bit of backlash online, as critics questioned the message that such a challenge sends, especially when contestants were rewarded for inauthentic emotions and fake tears. One Twitter user wrote, “I have so much to say on this but let me just end this with this is why cancel culture is not real. This sh*t really be a joke to them, which is why most of them don’t show growth at all.”
It also brought up questions regarding the sincerity of James’ own previous social media apologies, especially the one following his derogatory tweet from 2017, wherein he wrote, “I can't believe we're going to Africa today omg what if we get Ebola?" The same Twitter user added, "The way [James] just confirmed that when white [make-up artists] are being called out on their racism or any form of bigotry that the apology videos are not as sincere as y’all really want us to believe. He should be the last one poking fun about this Mr. Ebola jokes."
As many of the 10-million-plus viewers defended James, the show, and the challenge, James responded to the above-referenced negative commenter, in particular, writing, “This challenge was a lighthearted way to poke fun at cancel culture (hence the stupid scandals) and was in no way meant to invalidate actual bigotry." He went on to clarify, "I’ve had scandals that I have taken very seriously and addressed, such as the ebola joke, but I’ve also been involved with stupid “scandals” due to cancel culture where I’ve had to laugh it off.”
With over 32-million views and counting across the first three episodes of Instant Influencer and with the finale still to air and dropping next week, James’ popularity and provocative methods appear to be working well for his brand and the series.
Source: PopBuzz