Beauty maven James Charles is under fire after he posted nude photos of himself from a “maternity” photoshoot on his Instagram with a prosthetic baby bump. The snap shared on Instagram promoted his latest video aptly named, “24 Hours Being PREGNANT!!” where he pretends, well, to do just that after his friend, Laura Mellado, who is expecting her second child said he wouldn’t be able to last 24 hours being pregnant. “Challenge accepted,” Charles says in his video.
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A post shared by James Charles (@jamescharles)
“Surprise… 🤰🏻💕 new video out now,” the Youtuber wrote on Instagram. Charles’ video follows him strapping on a fake belly and completing a series of challenges and tasks planned by Mellado. From simpler tasks like putting on shoes to experiencing “contractions” with a stimulator, the beauty guru laughs off the ~struggles~ of it all.
While the video is meant to be a fun lighthearted challenge for his fans to see him complete, many slammed the star for being offensive to those who are unable to have children or who are facing sensitive issues relating to pregnancy.
Perhaps, anticipating the backlash, Charles has a disclaimer at the start of his video. “This video is not being made in any way, shape, or form to make fun of, to make light of pregnancies and the sensitivities and the complications that come around it,” he said.
Adding, “It’s obviously such a beautiful, beautiful thing that women go through with their bodies and it takes a whole lot of strength as well. I know firsthand from watching Laura do it twice now. This is just a lighthearted video to see if I can last for 24 hours experiencing some of the ‘challenges’ that are even possible for me to actually experience today.”
“a lot of you are missing the point – pregnancy is an incredibly sensitive subject for women and a difficult journey but men are here ‘being pregnant for 24 hours’, treating it as a trend,” one tweet read by @HollyIfTrue.
Others angrily called out the fact that at his maternity shoot one of his team members offhandedly says he looks, “very Halsey,” who just announced that she is expecting her first child after being vocal about her prior problems with endometriosis.
One fan defended Halsey in the comments and wrote, “james please don’t be insensitive saying ‘that’s very halsey’ when she has endometriosis and she has to work hard to have this baby. please watch your words.”
At the end of his video, Charles announced he would be donating a portion of the proceeds from the video to different charities that help women through pregnancy complications. The Youtuber has yet to apologize or comment on the backlash, but it’s clear he has offended many, his own fans included.
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