James Charles says Tati Westbrook’s allegations had implications for the entire gay community.

In May, YouTuber Tati Westbrook released a lengthy video about why she was cutting ties with James Charles. She said, “You are using your fame, your power, your money, to play with people’s emotions. You’re threatening to ruin them. You’re threatening to embarrass them, and you’re doing that to have them behave sexually in your favor, even if they’re straight.”

She also addressed Charles partnering with a competitor to her brand, saying, “You sold out me, but you threw away our friendship. You lied to me, made up a story, you knew this would be embarrassing for me. No our relationship is not transactional. I have never asked you for anything in return.”

Charles sat down with Paper Magazine, and said,”I’m not mentally in a place where I want to be. What’s even harder to swallow is that it’s been six months since all the drama happened. I thought by this time I’d be completely good—back to normal, if you will—and that’s not the case.”

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He also called Westbrook’s allegations “disgusting”, saying, “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.”

He added, “The reality is that the ‘hook-up’ was completely consensual. [The person] told me that he was bisexual and later on told the world he was bisexual. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

The 20 year old said he is now cautious about relationship because he doesn’t know what “people’s true intentions are.” He said, “I’ve gotten really good at seeing those early on. You just never know what people’s true intentions are. With my job, there are so many blessings but a lot of people see them as an opportunity for themselves to either come up, get financial gain, get followers or attention or take me down with them, which has been attempted.”

“I’m just careful…and lonely,” he said.

He concluded, “I want to make sure my fans are looking up to somebody that is making good choices, and is learning from their mistakes.”