Gypsy Rose Blanchard is weighing in after beauty influencer James Charles faced backlash for publicly mocking a former Spirit Airlines employee who asked him for financial help after losing her job.
Blanchard donated $500 to a GoFundMe created for Amber Lendof Vargas, one of thousands of workers reportedly laid off after Spirit Airlines shut down operations earlier this month.
A message attached to the donation identified Blanchard as “an influencer on TikTok” with 9.3 million followers.
“Hi, my name is Gypsy Rose Blanchard and i am an influencer on TikTok,” the message read. “I have 9.3 million followers and I’m truly sorry for what happened and I’m sending many positives to you.”
Blanchard later told TMZ she believed the message would be sent privately to Vargas rather than displayed publicly on the fundraiser page.
Still, she said she wanted to help after seeing Charles’ reaction to Vargas’ request for support.
“The point that I made was that just because someone has a large following does not give them the right to bully other people,” Blanchard told the outlet. “At the end of the day, I didn’t want it to be about me, because it’s not about me.”
The controversy erupted after Vargas allegedly sent Charles a link to her fundraiser following the layoffs.
Charles responded with a since-deleted video that quickly spread online, calling Vargas a “lazy piece of s***” and “entitled” while criticizing her for reaching out to influencers instead of finding another job.
He also questioned why celebrities or influencers should be expected to financially support strangers online.
The backlash against Charles intensified as clips of the video circulated across social media platforms.
Charles later apologized publicly, admitting his response crossed the line.
“It was rude, it was obnoxious, it was privileged, and most importantly, it was completely f***ing unnecessary,” he said.
Blanchard also shared Vargas’ fundraiser with her followers in hopes of helping raise additional support.
Spirit Airlines’ shutdown left thousands of employees suddenly out of work, including flight attendants, pilots, and ground crew members across the country.
Charles is one of the internet’s biggest beauty influencers, with millions of followers across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram and a long history of viral online controversies.
Blanchard became one of the internet’s most recognizable true crime figures after serving prison time for her role in the 2015 killing of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, in a case tied to years of alleged medical abuse and Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
