Tati Westbrook dropped an explosive video this Tuesday detailing the events that led her to post the consequential video "Bye, Sister" about James Charles.
Over a year has passed since the beauty vlogger's "Bye, Sister" video ignited an unprecedented feud in the YouTube community. Since then, individuals who played varying roles in the controversy have come forward to share their side of the story, with some leveling accusations against Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star.
However, Westbrook herself has not directly commented on any of the developments until now.
In the 40-minute YouTube video titled "Breaking My Silence...", the Halo Beauty owner explained how Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star allegedly "manipulated" her into expressing her opinions that were critical of James Charles, among other claims. While the 38-year-old declined to share "receipts" on the advice of her attorneys, she outlined the events that have taken place over the past year.
Here are the key takeaways from Tati's newest video:
Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson Told Tati Westbrook that James Charles' Alleged Sexual Assault Victims Were Going to "Come Forward":
Among her many claims, Westbrook alleged that Dawson and Star had revealed "a lot of victims" of sexual assault by James Charles were going to come forward in the summer of 2019. She said in statement seemingly addressed to Charles, "The information they were giving me was terrifying. I thought your 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."
"Over the course of the next few weeks [Shane] and Jeffrey fed me so much information that I felt sick. Almost every day there was more information and new allegations," she said later in her video. "Eventually I started believing what they were saying because they said they had evidence by the time the drama around James Charles' promotion of Sugar Bear Hair reached its peak I was beyond gas-lit."
Furthermore, she alleged Jeffree had sent her an "audio file from an alleged victim," which he instructed her to listen to and hear the "pain" in the person's voice. She said she didn't go to the authorities herself because as a survivor of sexual assault she knows "how terrifying it is to think of facing public humiliation and legal proceedings."
Beyond the claims of sexual assault, Westbrook explained that Star planted seeds of doubt about her relationship with Charles, largely pointing to Charles' alleged conduct as the reason why. "It started with him telling me right before filming our collab together for James Charles's channel that James Charles actually didn't want me there that he had wanted NikkieTutorials instead but said he had had my back," Westbrook claimed. "Things further escalated at my birthday. Every time James Charles' back was turned Jeffree would tell me that James Charles was out of control."
She added, "He even texted and called me the following morning to apologize for James Charles's behavior at my birthday dinner and how embarrassed he was for me. I initially dismissed it as jealousy because James Charles's career was on a rocket ship at the time but as the week's went by every time I saw her spoke with Jeffree it seemed to me that James was all he wanted to talk about."
Charles has never been formally accused or charged with sexual misconduct. In his 2019 video titled "No More Lies," he stated in part, "I have never and would never and will never use my fame, money, or power to manipulate or get any sexual actions from a guy. That is disgusting."
Tati Claims She Moved Out of California Because She Was "Afraid" For Her Life:
In the fall of 2019, the star revealed she was moving out of her Los Angeles home to be closer to family. However, she said in Tuesday's video that she actually relocated out of a fear for her safety. Westbrook shared, "I was tormented with sub tweets and innuendo that there was a huge drama around the corner. I felt that I was a liability to [Shane and Jeffree] and that I knew too much, so I put all of my text messages and other files on a hard drive and told a few people that I was afraid for my life and had given everything to my lawyers. I was hoping that information would leak as I thought it might keep me safe."
"Last fall I became so afraid to stay in my LA home that I both filmed a lot of videos and I left town in October to get away from it all," she continued. "I've been terrified for a very long time so much so that I had to relocate again two-months-ago and I have taken serious security precautions to ensure my safety on the advice of my attorneys."
In addition, she warned that those who come to her defense may be cautious to do so as Star allegedly has "blackmail material" on many people in the beauty community. "My opinion? He's gonna go off guys and I don't think anyone–I don't think he will hold back and I think we need to be prepared to understand that we need to forgive the people that he is holding hostage with veiled threats of exposure. We need to be prepared to forgive them. Otherwise this won't stop. So prepare to not cancel everyone," Westbrook claimed.
James Charles and Tati Westbrook Made Amends in Dec. and Realized the Role Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star Had in Feud:
According to Westbrook, she and Charles eventually reconciled in December during a meeting at her home in California. She shared, "After Shane and Jeffrey's series ended James Charles came to my LA home and we compared DMs, texts and stories about what had happened behind the scenes. We apologized to each other, forgave each other and agreed to wait patiently until it was safe for me to share my story. Since that night James Charles has repeatedly said that he wanted to be beside me for this video but I felt it was important that I do it alone because he deserves my first apology."
Westbrook applauded Charles' ability to turn "pain into strength" and reiterated the regretful role she played in this controversy. "I am so sorry that I allowed myself to be poisoned and weaponized against you. I'm sorry that I bought into any of their lies. Believing those lies and allowing myself to be gas-lit into making that video is one of the biggest regrets of my life," Westbrook apologized.
Westbrook said they've made up and now have a greater understanding of what allegedly unfolded. She added, "Over the next few months a few people have bravely come forward with more information and the pieces of what we believe actually happened are coming together. Make no mistake, this is far from over."
Jeffree Star Is Allegedly Part-Owner of Morphe Cosmetics and Stood to Benefit From James Charles' and Tati Westbrooks' Downfall:
Prior to the release of Westbrook's video, Star and Dawson became friends through their YouTube series on Star's personal life. During their collaboration, the two began to work on potentially releasing an eyeshadow palette together, which would be distributed by Morphe. However, in one of the videos they made together there was a minor problem as Morphe intended to release James Charles' palette around the same time. This was avoided by Morphe changing Charles' release date, as Jeffree and Shane claimed in their YouTube series.
Westbrook alleged, however, that this was Star and Dawson's intention all along. "It's now my opinion that Jeffree and Shane were both bitterly jealous of James Charles' success. Jeffere resented that so much of his business was centered around his biggest rival and Shane did not like that James Charles wanted to make a documentary," Westbrook theorized.
She explained that it's her perception "that Jeffree and Shane needed James marginalized and out of the way for their November launch of the Conspiracy palette, along with Shane's merch."
In addition, she claimed, "I've also recently been informed that Jeffrey is allegedly a co-owner of Morphe."
According to Westbrook, Morphe was rumored to be in the process of creating an "entire cosmetics line" with James Charles and are set to launch their own "brand of hair skin nail gummy vitamins." As a result, James Charles' line could've competed with Star's work, while Westbrook's company Halo Beauty would've been a direct competitor to Morphe's new multivitamins.
"I do not think it was just Shane and Jeffrey that stood to benefit from my being silenced. This was just too big. I think there were many players and I have every intention of getting to the truth," Westbrook stated.
Tati Westbrook Is Threatening to Take Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson to Court For Defamation:
In the conclusion, Westbrook revealed that she perceives Dawson and Star's actions to be "defamatory" and stated that she is "still well within the statute of limitations for bringing a civil action to seek recovery for my damages."
"Should I proceed with this course of actions my attorneys will be deposing all witnesses who have information about the truth of what happened here," she warned. "So for everyone else whose hands are dirty that have not yet come forward, be careful of your allegiance. You don't want to be on the wrong side of the truth."
In a since-deleted tweet from Dawson that was shared minutes after Westbrook's video went live, he stated, "This is a f--king lie and I'm losing my mind!!!"
Additionally, he went Live on Instagram and filmed his reaction to Westbrook's claims. Screen-captured videos of Dawson's Instagram Live depict him rubbing his face and yelling at the TV, "You're so manipulative. You're fake crying... That is not real."
E! News reached out to Shane Dawson's attorney, who declined to comment. Jeffree Star's lawyer has yet to respond to requests for comment.