Another year, another James Charles controversy. The YouTube makeup guru, who rose to fame in 2016 as the first male spokesperson for CoverGirl, ran afoul of Twitter users for raving about the phrase “the house” in a recent video… and mentioning neither the rest of the phrase nor its significance in ball culture and the drag community.
“This is by far my favorite thing to say right now,” Charles says in the March 22 video. “Me and my friends are all obsessed! I heard about it from another YouTuber named Rich Lux. Basically, any time something is very something else, you can say it is ‘the house.’”
lgbt community i’m so sorry pic.twitter.com/4zAH9fDBdQ
— dani (@dcagiunta) March 25, 2019
The 19-year-old then uses his version of the phrase in some example statements: “Oh my gosh, it’s very, very cold outside! It’s cold, the house. Ew, that outfit is so ugly. That outfit is ugly, the house. ’The house’ is the new best way to put emphasis on anything.”
While some users dinged Charles for missing a word or two — the phrase is actually “the house down” “the haus down,” with “boots” added for extra emphasis — others criticized him for not knowing the phrase’s origin.
How about we take this to the next level?
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when he said “new” my little gay heart broke a little. so many young gays barely know some great shit in our history. I know he’s not being malicious but like damn boi
— ashley (@kinsey_six) March 26, 2019
As a gay person, I am disgusted. The phrase is “the haus down boots” and was coined by the late, great Erica Andrews. You’re gay, and whether I like it or not, a fairly famous gay guy. As representation for the community, you’re responsible for knowing your shit. https://t.co/DDyEwNTzjI
— paris? (@ntertrom) March 26, 2019
If I hear a str8 white girl say “the house” and it’s cause of James Charles and not black trans women and drag culture….., im gonna go feral
— lukas ? (@flouncy_magooo) March 26, 2019
James Charles: T is for The House. That make up is good the house.
RuPaul: pic.twitter.com/9O7UQeiqsi
— austin ???? (@austxnh) March 26, 2019
By the way, Drag Race alum Manila Luzon gave a crash course on proper usage back in 2012.
According to We the Unicorns, Charles eventually responded to the backlash in a since-deleted tweet, saying, “hey @ gays i’m aware that the full phrase is “house down boots” from erica andrews/drag culture! in my vid i simply shared a short version that i’ve been hearing a lot. glad many of you chose to drag me for likes instead of educating me/other lgbtq kids that may not have known!”
Aside from his 2017 Ariana Grande diss and his 2018 feud with the cast of It, Charles previously sparked controversy with a 2017 joke referencing the Ebola crisis in Africa.
I will no longer support your company as long as he's on the campaign. This was stereotypical & degrading to Africa. @COVERGIRL @COVERGIRL pic.twitter.com/RpgMp1lqfg
— HTX MUA PARI$ HEELTON (@ImTheBombDotCom) February 16, 2017
tuckerj574
This isn’t news. It’s only a controversy because you labeled it that way.
bowlingbutch
Geesus! Another queen needing more 15 minutes in the spotlight by riling up other gay men and women. Stop giving notice and maybe they will stop being so STUPID!
Vince
Oh no. More news from the eternally outraged machine.
Hdtex
Stop making stupid people famous
Terrycloth
What kind of magic marker does he use for those eyebrows ?
dilemmax
I believe they are Crayola markers.
Toofie
Oh, this truly is a non story. People are always going to be outraged by some nonsense. This is nonsense.
TheMarc
Yep, pretty sure this the worst thing that has happened to the LGBTQIA community this week, or maybe, ever. Such a controversy, such a tragedy. So f’ing ridiculous.
I’m so sick of these non-stories and manufactured controversies. People are getting outrage fatigue and that’s dangerous. Continuing to put focus on this type of BS distracts from the multitude of ACTUAL stories that should be a focus of our attention and ARE in fact controversial.
Godabed
He “seems” like an idiot, then his response was “why aren’t you teaching me things?” Really? Way to sit on your privilege there. I am sure you use google for looking up makeup tips, porn and god knows what else, how about you educate yourself.
If these are modern day roll models for this generation, this makes me sad.
Morrisson
This is the kind of article that should only ever be written by 16 year old girl for her high school newspaper.
jjose712
Sorry but this is ridiculous.
Nowadays you can’t breath without spark a controversy on twitter
supernaut
He used a phrase? Shit, let’s end his career.
redzebra1
He’s rude and a snob towards @ethanisupreme and does not deserve publicity. He is a disgrace
oz1967
So FETCH, and no it aint gonna catch on either
nitejonboy
He wears way too much makeup, he looks like some sort of cross between a butch male and a drag queen.
KiwiJello
He is stupid, granted, but there was no intent to be racist or demeaning to anyone else. INTENT is key in these situations. If you want to boycott because he said something stupid, you are the real problem. Give the kid a chance to make amends before you crucify him. FFS people. Everyone wants a reason to rip someone else down. It’s sickening. This could be a GREAT educational experience but all I learned was that people suck.
Artie Hach
He is 19 years old, if he did not know what he was saying was “Pier Queen Lingo” then teach him the history without getting your panties up in a bunch. Absolutely ridiculous. It’s not like any of the Houses are know for their manners and etiquette!
Roan
That’s exactly what they did. He responded with his tantrum of being dragged. Poor him.
Roan
Oh bless his heart. I bet he and his friends think they’ve invented HIV and dying from AIDS too.
DCguy
Mic Drop
ElPillo
CoverGirl needs to drop him. At first, I was happy a male had that job, now I’m imbarrassed. He just needed to pose and shut up.
justgeo
just a nasty little piece of fame grabbing piece of unidentified shit. Crawl back into the bottle and shake.
Tombear
There are some extremely famous male man up artists. This guy does not qualify as a great gay make up artist like Max Factor or Aucoin.
LilMesican
When you are at that level of celebrity, representing a company and influencing young gay kids. You really should know your history.
dean089
This speaks to the whole nonsense of ‘influencers.’ The people influencing our children should be fire fighters, people who run soup kitchens or volunteer at animal shelters, people who work hard their entire lives and mind their own business. These silly internet fools shouldn’t be influencing anyone.
Polaro
Truth.
CanadianGuy62
I’m officially embarrassed to be gay…where can I turn-in my Gold Star Gay membership card?
Ashke113
Amen and Halleluyer……
ZUMMY
This kind of nonsense AND everybody making a big deal out of it makes me want to watch football, eat Buffalo wings, and fart.
Karrnal
Children, children. Anytime you gotta give tutorials on slang you’ve recently made up to show you’re hip or in with the hip crowd, it ain’t hip at all.
Ashke113
So is that idiot transitioning or is he just wearing drag makeup to be “someone”. Don’t see why he is even a pseudo somewhat if you want to call it celebrity……
DCguy
The reason why he keeps getting in trouble is in his response….
““hey @ gays i’m aware that the full phrase is “house down boots” from erica andrews/drag culture! ”
Except…..no you aren’t and no you didn’t know that.
CobraPowers
Stop making low IQ people famous
Yooper
This twit passes for some type of pop culture flash-in-the-pan? The kid is a blatant imbecile.
redzebra1
That photo is like 2 years old too. Use a recent one!
scotty
better yet, NEXT!
CurtisIsTheOne
And here I thought that only psilocybin mushrooms grew out of cow poop. I guess YouTube influencers do as well.