Shots fired. Shane Dawson furiously slammed Tati Westbrook after she made an explosive video claiming he and Jeffree Star “manipulated” her into exposing fellow YouTuber James Charles in her “Bye Sister” video in May 2019.
“She is a f—king … I can’t, I can’t. I don’t want to say mean things about people,” Shane, 31, began on Instagram Live on June 30 while watching Tati’s video. “This is insane!” The California native instead claimed Tati was the one being “manipulative” and alleged she was “fake crying” in her video while talking about being a victim of abuse. At the time of publication, Jeffree, 34, has not responded publicly to Tati’s claims.
Last year, the longtime makeup guru accused James of predatory behavior and being a selfish friend after he promoted Sugar Bear hair vitamins, a direct competitor to the MUA’s Halo Beauty supplement brand. On Tuesday, June 30, she addressed the situation again in a YouTube video titled “Breaking My Silence.”
“I’ve lost a year of my life terrified of social media and terrified of speaking up against the people that used, coerced, and manipulated me into uploading my video in May of last year,” the 38-year-old vlogger began. “I did not make my video because of vitamins. I made it as a result of all the poisonous lies that were fed to me by Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star … Allowing myself to be gaslit into making that video is one of the biggest regrets of my life.”
The Seattle native alleged Shane and Jeffree were telling her ‘terrifying” information about James that made her “scared” for her friend. “I thought his career and freedom were in jeopardy. I was trying to get you to put your phone down and seek help because I was told there were a lot of victims that were going to come forward to destroy you,” she explained. The two makeup gurus have since rekindled their friendship, according to Tati.
“Shane said that James Charles was a monster and that he was hurting minors,” she claimed. “Shane said he was planning to interview victims for the docuseries, he told me that something needed to be done to stop him from hurting more people. Eventually, I started believing what they were saying because they said they had evidence. Shane Dawson did not just know about my ‘Bye Sister’ video, he offered to edit it. He even offered to design the thumbnail and help title it. I declined his offer.”
Tati added she was “a fool” for thinking Jeffree was “growing as a person,” which is why she trusted them in the first place. “I thought I could be a good example for him,” she said.
She concluded her video by slamming Jeffree for putting the blame on her during his podcast and called Shane a “coward” for his statements about the past drama. “I am still well within the statute of limitations for bringing a civil action to seek recovery for my damages,” she said, threatening legal action.