YouTube star and Beauty Artist James Charles recently shared a photo of himself with an artificial silicone baby bump to promote his new video 24 hours being PREGNANT across all of his social media platforms. This video features his close friend and influencer Laura Madello – who is currently pregnant with her second child. She challenged the influencer to experience life as a pregnant woman for 24 hours and to complete a series of tasks which included simulated labor contractions in order to test his pain tolerance.
According to Charles, the video was intended to be light hearted and fun – not to mock pregnancy or to disrespect women. To support this, he pointed out that he began the video with a disclaimer and also disclosed that a portion of the video’s revenue would be donated to charities dedicated to helping women with pregnancy complications. Despite this, the influencer found himself at the center of controversy and faced severe social media backlash – especially amongst his female audience.
Fans have angrily flooded the influencer’s comment section – calling out his ignorance and his lack of respect towards women. Here are some of the reactions:
this is actually gross and offensive to all women as a whole lol
— 444 (@trustissued_) February 13, 2021
The social media backlash that Charles has received demonstrates the increasingly sensitive landscape that influencers must navigate on their platforms. With ‘cancel culture’ on the rise, one wrong video or remark can tank a social media influencer’s entire career. For this reason, it is important for influencers to understand their audience and to approach topics in culturally-sensitive ways.