When CoverGirl announced its first male spokesmodel in James Charles,
he was hailed as an inspiring figurehead for the diversity-in-beauty
movement. Now, thanks to a racist “joke,” beauty fans are threatening to
boycott the brand.
Headed on a school trip to South Africa, Charles
tweeted the now deleted remarks, “‘I can’t believe we’re going to Africa
today omg what if we get Ebola?’ ‘James we’re fine we could’ve gotten
it at chipotle last year…’”
Having sent out the tweet on Thursday morning, four hours later Charles had deleted it after it was met with backlash.
The 17-year-old replaced the
controversial tweet with a series of apologies, including a lengthy
iPhone Notes app-style apology. “Okay, I’m NOT going to post a bullshit
apology,” he wrote. “I am aware that the tweet was extremely offensive
and degrading… As a white cis male, I recognize my privilege and would
never want to take that for granted.” He continued, “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.”
One problem: The apology refers to Africa as a country. (James then apologized for that with the explanation that his trip is to South Africa only.)
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