YouTuber and makeup influencer James Charles had a very special surprise for his parents this holiday season: The 21-year-old decided to pay off the mortgage on their home.
Charles grew up in Bethlehem, New York, but is now based in Los Angeles, where he earlier this year bought a $7million mansion for himself. Charles’ fortune has been amassed since he launched his makeup focussed YouTube channel in 2015.
Charles came out to his parents at the age of 12 and says they were very supportive, both about his sexuality and his wanting to start beauty vlogging at the age of 15. In his most recent video, posted on Christmas Day, he revealed his gift to them.
Related: James Charles asked the Internet why he’s single; the Internet did not hold back
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He spends much of the first ten minutes of the 14-minute clip talking about his parents and family life.
In brief, his dad’s a self-employed contractor and has been badly hit by the economic impact of COVID. Pops has previously turned down lavish gifts, such as the offer of a new truck, from James. Mom and dad also previously turned down an offer from James to buy them a place in California.
James, with three friends, jets from Los Angeles to New York – assuring viewers he’s had not one but two COVID negative tests in the previous 24 hours – for the big reveal (some might still point out a Zoom call would have been safer…).
To skip to it, go to the 9.50-minute mark in the video below.
His dad bursts into tears and it’s actually pretty moving. Who wouldn’t want to lavish such a gift on those we love?
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Charles’ rise to fame has not been without controversy: most notably his feuds with other internet famous figures such as Tati Westbrook and Jeffrey Star.
Then there was making a joke as a 17-year-old about Ebola in Africa (for which he quickly apologized) and being accused of having a “straight boy fetish” that led him to declare he’ll be examining his behavior around men going forward.
Related: James Charles hits out again at “disgusting” comments on his sex life
None of the controversies appear to have badly dented his popularity. He now has 24.9million subscribers and was recently estimated to be worth around $22million. His latest video has had almost 600,000 upticks on YouTube and over 6million views.
Roy Ajax
This guy is absolute garbage. Filming himself doing something nice for a change shows you exactly how self-interested he is.
Cam
The right wing troll account ALWAYS attacks any LGBTQ person that is out.
Sweetie, give it up, your game is tired and boring.
Roy Ajax
Cam
Nice that you take the side of a sexual predator.
Cam
@Roy Ajax
Awww, sweetie, you had your chance to claim the reason you were attacking him. But as always, you rushed to get the first comment on any thread about someone who is out so you could throw a tantrum about them.
Your game is old and tired.
Chipster
Bring your own trash to the dump often?
From what I saw, the video went out of its way to highlight the greatness of HIS PARENTS, not himself.
Your reaction puts him in a lose/lose position (he’s damned if he does, and equally so if he does not!)… and that’s unfair.
I don’t know ANYTHING about whether he’s a nice person, a good vlogger, or even a decent fashionista… what I DO know is that he cares about his parents and wanted to do something nice for them.
Whether he’s bad (even awful) in other areas of his life is immaterial – he wanted to tell the world what great parents he has, and wanted to do something for them.
Mischief managed.
Roy Ajax
He could’ve done that in a video post tell everyone how great they are, but he made a spectacle out of it. Me me me generation. Whatever happened to keeping family business private? This guy is just obviously an attention seeker.
thiesan
I must agree with Roy here, I have not seen this guy do anything that was not about drawing attention to himself and how great he is.
radiooutmike
Some people like to drain the joy out of everything.
Can everyone here attest that they did not do something shitty or stupid between the 15 and 21…? You can’t only call out the shitty things people do, while not acknowledging the good deeds as well.
Who cares if he did it for self-promotion? We should be so lucky to people in our lives who care for us so much, especially in this economy.
ScottOnEarth
I absolutely love James Charles. People love to criticize but, guess what – he’s TWENTY-ONE years old and has already made a major success out of his life just by following his vision and passion. He’s a great role model for self-love and determination. Yes, he has made mistakes but who hasn’t at that age? He has battled much older, vile competitors like Tati Westbrook and vulgar, low-rent Jeffree Star and always comes out ahead. He’s a visionary who has a bright future. I really love that his parents have been so supportive of him as a gay man and a cosmetics mogul. They deserve any gifts James wants to offer.
yaletownman
I don’t know a lot about him and it’s obvious that he’s ruffled some feathers from this “article” and some commenters. He also may have a lot of narcissistic traits but isn’t that what drives most of these Internet personalities? It’s just that you don’t have to make it in the entertainment industry anymore to feed it with things like Youtube.
All that said it’s nice that he’s made life easier and less worrisome for his parents. They supported and accepted him for who he is and now he has a chance to support them when they need it.
Creamsicle
These comments sound way too invested in a young makeup youtuber to be real. It seems suspect, especially after the allegations that Charles loves chasing and grooming str8 boys.
His schtick was cute when he was a teenager, but I think his genderqueer aesthetic isn’t going to last him much longer. Unlike the food product they’re named after, twinks have an expiration date.
Terrycloth
After buying a $7 mil home for himself…paying off parents morgage Cars. Well..when most people tire of you and you have gotten older..and the money isnt coming in like it was, you can sell your home for cash..hope you saved for a rainy day.
D_Bro
I guess you missed that he has a reported worth of $22m? And remember, Realestate is a good investment.
screwtop
I never understand why so many people on the internet can’t think of anything nice to say about other people.
I’m a total introvert – I’d never do anything like that in public. But that’s not a criticism of Charles – it’s just marking a point of difference.
If he lives his life publicly (which I don’t), I imagine being proud of his parents, and happy for them, is part of doing that.
The article makes the point that he’s tried doing heaps of things for his parents before, and his dad wouldn’t accept them. This time he’s done it anyway. I don’t see anything to criticise in that.
And I don’t go round criticising everyone one the planet anyway – I reserve that for the “few” – the garbage at the bottom of the street, like crooked politicians, xenophobes, homophobes and other sneering members of the population.
Openminded
I’m proud for him and his parents. In this world of social media where too many people think it’s necessary to post something every time their kid takes a poop, or they make a trip to the grocery store, I don’t find it too unusual that he posted this video. Maybe it was for publicity, IDK, I don’t care. He has been blessed financially in life and he passed a bit of that blessing on to his parents whom he obviously cares about and appreciates. If I had to find any faults in this story, it would be that this crazy world we live in supports a kid peddling make up and creates a business where he can profit 22 million in just a hand full of years. It’s mind blowing what our society will throw huge sums of money at, yet claim to be underpaid and trampled on. Like I first stated, I’m proud for his successes. If he’s a morally bad person, that’s his to live with. I suspect we all have people in our lives that would say we are morally bad people. Doesn’t mean they are right, anymore than those posting here are.
CityguyUSA
That’s how they make their money from getting attention. It’s absurd to think the won’t click-bait everything they can. I wonder how he’ll feel when he’s no longer young enough to attract a crowd and he wished he wouldn’t have spent that money on his parents because he has no money for his retirement.
HankHarris
PR team: how can we rehabilitate your image? Let’s do something really nice and film it and release it on social media. Totally genuine stuff, right?
GentlemanCaller
I think it’s a lovely gift, but I would be more impressed if he hadn’t turned it into being all about him and his generosity. If he had done the same thing but not videoed and published it, it would have been a truly loving and selfless gesture. As it is, he just still looks like a fame whore.