James Charles and the Power in Social Networks
In the past, a rise to stardom outside of television and film was rare and often unheard of. However, in the past few years, Youtube has become a notable platform to launch young teenagers into wildly successful careers. One notable Youtuber is James Charles, a popular beauty guru who received a lot of negative media attention this past May. Youtube witnessed one of its biggest feuds yet between beauty Youtubers Tati Westbrook and James Charles. Twenty year old millionaire James Charles rose to fame through his beauty tutorials on Youtube, as well as being featured on a talk show for yearbook photos that depict him as a makeup artist. Tati Westbrook is also a popular makeup artist and the owner of a hair vitamin company, who had served as a long time mentor to James Charles. In a video that has now been been made private on Youtube, Westbrook had accused her longtime friend of betraying her by supporting a rival to her vitamin company on social media. Charles defended himself by saying that he had received no money for the act. He only endorsed the rival company in order to escape mobbing fans at music festival Coachella, as he would receive an artist’s pass in exchange that would grant him protection from the public.
In Westbrook’s video, she explains how she helped James Charles negotiate a million dollar deal with Morphe, a popular beauty retailer. Westbrook’s husband drew up a contract that would give Charles much more leverage when negotiating his brand deal with Morphe. Her statements highlight the importance of having outside options when striking deals with companies, emphasizing the power of social networks. Without Westbrook’s negotiated contracts, Charles would not have been able to earn nearly as much as he did as a young and upcoming makeup artist, as he would have had little bargaining power on his own. One could examine this relationship as a three node path between the outside contractor, James Charles, and Morphe, in which James Charles has the strongest bargaining power because of Westbrook’s contract. Without Westbrook’s support, it is unclear whether James Charles would be at the level of success that he is at today. While it is unknown whether their relationship has recovered, Charles continues to launch new videos sponsored by Morphe, indicating his professional success still remains. Truly, a supportive social network goes a long way in furthering an individual’s level of success in their career.
Source: https://graziadaily.co.uk/celebrity/news/james-charles-tati-westbrook/