2025 AMAs Appearance by Polarizing YouTuber Sparks Instant Backlash: 'Seriously?'
Last night (May 26), the 51st Annual American Music Awards — hosted by Jennifer Lopez — took place at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. On the surface, the night was seemingly smooth sailing, but an award show would be nothing without a splash of drama...
The 2025 AMAs were no exception.
While all of our favorite artists, actors, reality television personalities and more were in attendance at the 2025 AMAs, representing the social media world were individuals like Tara Yummy, Alix Earle, Ben Almeida and more. Also representing the social media world was one controversial character, James Charles, causing quite a bit of backlash from the moment he walked the red — or should we say purple? — carpet.
For those who need a refresher, James first achieved notoriety for being a young, male makeup artist, with his makeup tutorials gaining quite a bit of traction via YouTube. With his newfound social media stardom, the New York native went on to become the first male brand ambassador for CoverGirl, launch his own makeup line, Painted, and more.
While he has achieved a great deal of success throughout his time in the limelight, James has also found himself in quite a bit of controversy. His first scandal stemmed from his feud with fellow YouTuber Tati Westbrook — who publicly "accused him of disloyalty and attempting to seduce a heterosexual man with the knowledge of the man's sexuality" in 2019 — and to follow, he was accused of child grooming in 2021.
More recently, James found himself in yet another scandal, this time involving TikTokers Kayla Malec and Evan Johnson in April 2025. While Kayla accused Evan of domestic violence — which was eventually taken to court, with Evan pleading guilty and being sentenced to one and a half years in prison — James was accused of supporting Evan, going so far as to have sexual relations with him. Yikes!
Nevertheless, Entertainment Tonight shared a video via TikTok of James at the 2025 AMAs, rocking an all-black ensemble that consisted of a double-breasted blazer, bermuda shorts and more. To accompany the look, the YouTube sensation wore dainty silver earrings and rings, as well as a rainbow eyeshadow look that brought a pop of color to the overall outfit.
With his attire aside, almost instantaneously, the comment section of the TikTok video was flooded with negativity, with fans wondering why such a controversial character was invites to the 2025 AMAs (especially since the Kayla and Evan controversy is so recent). "Seriously? They invited even after his latest allegations on top of the other allegations?" one fan wrote, while another added, "The nerve." A third dished, "After everything… he was still invited??"
James also shared a video via TikTok getting ready for the award show, which also amassed a great deal of hate comments. "So are we all just gonna move on?" one fan wrote, while another added, "Who invited him?" A third dished, "You do not deserve to go."
While James' attendance was quite polarizing, the award show was a success nonetheless. To see it for yourself, Paramount Plus subscribers in the United States can stream the 2025 AMAs today (May 27) via the platform.
2025 AMAs Appearance by Polarizing YouTuber Sparks Instant Backlash: 'Seriously?' first appeared on Parade on May 27, 2025
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'You could see level-headed people say, 'Hey, this is one opportunity for us to put a feather in our cap and say that we're working on a bipartisan basis with our constituents,'' he said.A Senate staffer working on the bill, who requested anonymity to more candidly discuss their plans, said their intention is to move the bill through normal order and attach it to a must-pass legislative package. Both Hawley and Kaine sit on the Senate HELP committee, which holds jurisdiction over the bill. Rep. Golden, who is working on preparing the House version, said they're hoping to introduce their bill within the next week or two.'While some debates over what that should look like can be complicated or contentious, this idea is simple and powerful: Pregnancy and childbirth are normal parts of family life,' he told Vox. 'So, insurance companies should treat it like the routine care it is and cover the cost, not stick people with huge medical bills. That's the kind of simple, commonsense reform that anyone can get behind. '
