In 2019, YouTubers Realized Controversy Costs Coin

The Internet loves piping hot tea, but this year, the tea was too hot. A number of fiascos rocked the beauty influencer community in 2019. First, there was James Charles and Tati Westbrook, which started as backlash over vitamins and devolved into allegations of sexual harassment. Next up was Jaclyn Hill, whose cosmetic brand’s launch went awry. Manny Mua, who was collectively “canceled” by the Internet in 2018, returned to social media to announce his first product collaboration with Morphe. And finally, there was the YouTube docu-series on the most successful influencer launch of the year: Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star, whose warehouse was robbed in the spring. Controversy is inevitable fodder for social media, where users are apt to sensationalize stories both true and false. At its worst, social media becomes a courthouse with an endless amount of judges and jurors. And, as the aforementioned YouTubers saw this year, the verdict has real-life ramifications: their businesses are at stake. In the case of Charles vs. Westbrook, the Internet collectively took Westbrook’s unsubstantiated statements and ran with them, canceling Charles, who lost 3 million YouTube subscribers. Charles also canceled his tour, prices for which went as high as $336 on SeatGeek, and took

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