It all kicked off when Twitter user @toulouselatte tweeted that his friend had come across the beauty mogul's profile...
"y’all. my guy friend just found James Charles on tinder when he was in LA?? classified as a female, ??" they wrote alongside screenshots.
As can be expected, the hate immediately rolled in.
"If you identify as a gay man do not set your tinder settings to female for straight men to find you. That's all," one user wrote.
One even replied to photos James shared on his Twitter with makeup and a long wig, "Sweet! New tinder profile pics!"
James didn't take the backlash lying down, addressing it pretty quickly with a lengthy bunch of posts.
"I'm so sick of people talking about this.
1. My identity on dating apps was listed as 'androgynous' - someone who expresses themselves in both feminine & masculine ways. NOT a female to 'trick' anyone.
2. Every time someone said they were straight, I unmatched right away.
3. Having simple conversations with people that swipe right on you on dating apps is NOT predatory.
4. As a gay man, you know that 'curious' men use feminine gays as an outlet to experiment. I stopped allowing myself to take part, but let's not pretend like it doesn't happen.
5. I've went on many awesome dates with either gay, bisexual or closeted men over the last 6 months. I have gone on 0 dates with 'straight men' - LITERALLY EVER.
6. I deleted dating apps from my phone last week because although I've CONSTANTLY met some great people from them, unfortunately, I receive a lot of harassment from people who only match to take screenshots or make videos & a spectacle of me, thanks to people like you who will not let these FALSE ACCUSATIONS die down. I have received this treatment from ALL men of ALL sexualities."
The backlash is a continuation of accusations about James that stemmed from his feud with ex-best-friend Tati Westbrook, who accused the young YouTuber of preying on 'straight men'.
In November, he chatted with Paper Magazine about how a waiter from Tati's birthday dinner falsely accused him of trying to hook up with him.
"The reality is that the 'hook-up' was completely consensual," James said to the publication. "[The waiter] told me that he was bisexual and later on told the world he was bisexual. There's nothing wrong with that."
James discussed how the accusations were highly damaging to the LGBTQ+ community.
"What that statement implies is that gay men are all predatory, which is disgusting, not true and very dangerous to put out there. The whole situation was scary for the LGBTQ+ community and paints a really bad picture of gay men."
