Who is James Charles? Net worth and makeup career explored years after Tati feud

June 21, 2024

James Charles burst onto the makeup and beauty scene in 2016 after one viral tweet, so let’s revisit his career and net worth so far.

James Charles is arguably one of the most popular male influencers in the YouTube beauty space, along with the likes of Jeffree Star and Patrick Starr. He has secured deals with global brands and won numerous awards for his work on social media, but that hasn’t come without a little drama.

Who is James Charles? Age and height explored

Full name: James Charles Dickinson

Hometown: Bethlehem, New York

Relationship status: Single

Birthday: May 23, 1999

Height: 5ft 8.5 (174cm)

Born to parents Skip and Christine Dickinson in 1999, James had an ordinary upbringing in Bethlehem. His father is a contractor and his mother is reportedly a former actress.

Before achieving fame at 16, Charles attended Bethlehem Central High School, where he was unfortunately bullied.

“I did get bullied a lot in high school and personally, I just ignored it,” he recalled. “I would try really hard to not pay attention and sometimes too, it is important to stand up for yourself. And sometimes I would clap back and they weren’t expecting that,” he added.

Charles came out as gay to his parents at age 12, who were very accepting.

James isn’t the only Dickinson child in the entertainment industry. His younger brother, Ian Jeffrey, is a model who started out as a social media influencer before transitioning into the fashion world. The siblings are about three years apart in age.

James Charles went from hair stylist to YouTube beauty guru

Charles is best known for his flawless makeup tutorials but first entered the beauty industry through hair styling. He discovered his passion for makeup after giving a friend a makeover before a school dance.

The social star slowly built a clientele and an online portfolio before launching his life-changing YouTube channel in December 2015.

His name became known nationwide after CoverGirl tapped him to become their first male ambassador aka CoverBoy in October 2016. It came just one month after his Tweet of him retaking his senior portrait with a ring light and perfectly glammed makeup went viral.

At the time, James was one of the few teen boys who promoted makeup online. Eight years and 499 videos later, the 24-year-old has garnered four billion YouTube views and 23 million subscribers. He is the second-most subscribed beauty creator and has released collaboration videos with various celebrities including Kim Kardashian, JoJo Siwa, and Kylie Jenner.

A beauty empire wouldn’t be complete without his own makeup collection. Unlike many of his peers, Charles has only released product collaborations rather than a personal brand.

His palette with Morphe, named Sisters after his fandom, dropped in November 2018.

James Charles’ net worth as star finally drops own makeup brand

With over 21.5 million followers on Instagram, James is a certified social media personality. He has a net worth of $22 million and we can only see it increasing. The creator will be launching his own makeup brand, Painted, in summer 2023.

James and Tati Westbrook’s online drama explained

April 22, 2019

James Charles was embroiled in one big sister scandal with fellow beauty creator Tati Westbrook starting in 2019. Their relationship began to sour after James promoted the vitamin brand, Sugar Bear Hair on Instagram, even though the company was in direct competition with Tati’s supplement brand, Halo Beauty.

James publically apologized for his “oversight” and claimed he was “devastated that I hurt someone that I truly love and have endless respect for.”

May 10, 2019

Tati remained silent since the apology… until her bombshell 43-minute-long YouTube video titled “Bye Sister”, explaining her side of the story.

Westbrook accused her former friend of not being genuinely apologetic but was more concerned about his reputation.

The now-deleted video also saw the beauty creator allege that James “tried to trick a straight man into thinking he’s gay, yet again.”

May 18, 2019

James responded to all of Tati’s allegations in a video called No More Lies, during which he provided screenshots to defend the “tricking” situation. Charles denied the claims, insisted his relationship with the male was 100 per cent consensual, and included clips from the person himself to justify his case.

By June 3, 2019, Tati deleted her Bye Sister video and never spoke of the situation again – until the next year. She claimed Shane Dawson and Jeffree Starr influenced her to make the initial video as they were “bitterly jealous of James’ success”.

Starr did not confirm or deny Westbrook’s allegations in a response video titled Doing What’s Right, but left the situation to his legal team. Instead, he apologized to James Charles “for the words that I’ve said and for my actions.”

Shane Dawson uploaded a clip on social media of him responding to Tati’s allegation video, where he appeared to be denying them also, before removing it.

He admitted unknowingly flirting with a minor

In February 2021, a teen boy accused Charles of grooming and forcing him to exchange photos on Snapchat. At the time, the beauty YouTuber denied the allegations on Twitter, calling the grooming accusations “completely false”.

The makeup guru clarified that the teen initially told him that he was 18 years old so they continued flirting until the boy admitted he was actually 16 years old. James states that he was “really uncomfortable and apologized” and ended contact with the minor despite the boy insisting otherwise.

Fast forward to April of that year, the influencer admitted to sending sexually explicit messages to two 16-year-old boys but did not know they were underage at the time.

According to the BBC, James admitted wrongdoing in a now-private video called “Holding myself accountable”.

“I was being reckless… these conversations should have never have happened,” he said. “I trusted the information that was given to me rather than the information I could have and should have gotten myself.”

Morphe cut ties with James and YouTube demonetized his videos. It’s unknown if he is still restricted in 2023.