James Charles slammed fired Spirit Airlines worker for asking for help but regretted it within days

A few days after Spirit Airlines permanently shut down, James Charles (@jamescharles) took to social media to lash out at Amber (@a_rebmaa), a former Spirit Airlines employee. The woman had sent Charles a link to her GoFundMe page, which led to a full-blown rant about "getting another job" from the makeup guru. Two weeks later, Amber shared a screenshot of Charles DM-ing her with a lengthy apology. The story was also shared by Complex (@complex) on Instagram on May 15, 2026, a day after Amber shared the screenshot. The post received 56,400 likes and 2,800 comments.

An entitled stance

In the now-deleted video, Charles was reading out Amber's message asking for a GoFundMe donation in an extremely dramatic voice. He pointed out the fact that Amber did not even follow him and dared to ask for a donation. He even called her an entitled "lazy piece of sh*t." The video went viral, and what he thought would be relatable turned against him, and he received a lot of backlash for being out of touch.

A private apology

He penned a lengthy apology message to Amber, saying the video he made was "completely unnecessary." He apologized for yelling at her when she was just asking for help. He also mentioned that he made a donation to her GoFundMe page and was happy to see how much attention it was getting. Charles accepted his ignorance and added that he is educating himself to do better.

Facing the public

On May 23, days after messaging Amber, Charles posted an official apology video on his TikTok account. He said that his first video was "terrible, nasty, and disrespectful." He had no excuse for what he did and did not understand why he thought it was okay to post such a hurtful video. He explained that the first video was posted on his spam account, where he often posted his "crash-out" videos, but the video targeting Amber was out of line.

He also admitted that the comment about getting a new job was insensitive because he did not know how tough the job market was. He assured his fans that for the past two weeks, he has been listening to stories from other people, reading messages and comments, and doing all he can to bridge that gap.

Painted Project

After the apology video, he mentioned that he was starting a project called the Painted Project, where he would dedicate his time and money to help those in need, especially people who lost their jobs due to situations out of their control. He admitted that he knew how this would look, but he could not undo what he said or erase the hurtful words. "Painted Project" is his way of turning it into something helpful and positive.

Apology not accepted

In a now-deleted video from Amber, she expressed that she would not accept Charles' apology. She said, "I do not accept his apology. H*ll no, especially because he was very public with what he said, and [he] thought it was okay to message me privately. He apologized in private after embarrassing me publicly. Some damage doesn’t disappear just because you finally feel guilty. I heard the apology. I just don’t accept it."

The silver lining

However, the good thing that came out of this whole ordeal is that GoFundMe created a community page for all Spirit Airlines employees who were affected. For those who wish to donate, the link is available on Amber's TikTok account. So far, 484 donations have been made, raising $36,000, along with 24 fundraisers. A public statement from Captain Jason Ambrosi revealed that more than 2,000 ALPA pilots and about 17,000 Spirit Airlines employees lost their jobs.

Viewers react

The comment section was divided into two — people supporting Amber, and the other half defending Charles, saying he did not say anything wrong. @biancambeemer, who was on Amber's side, wrote, "'Welcome to the real world' from someone who doesn’t live in the real world is hilarious." @trimble.john added, "I didn't hear anything wrong with what he said."

You can follow Amber (@a_rebmaa) on TikTok for more personal content.

More on Scoop Upworthy

He tried to buy Spirit Airlines with a website — strangers pledged $22.8M in hours

25 people reveal the nicest celebrities they've met in real life

Therapist shares 10 best ways to respond to an apology when it actually isn’t okay