YouTube makeup artist Tati Westbrook announced she was shutting down her beauty line, citing the pandemic and an ongoing lawsuit surrounding her other brand that sells vitamins.
In a nearly nine-minute YouTube video, Westbrook told her 8.7 million subscribers Thursday that Tati Beauty was “closing its doors.”
“We are no longer selling products online, and I say that with a heavy heart,” she said. “I have loved creating this brand. I had huge goals, dreams, visions for the future.”
Westbrook continued: “Covid hit, and that definitely slowed things down; it slowed the whole world down. And then, of course, you guys are aware of outside litigation that really impacted my life in full. So that kind of T-boned everything, and here we are.”
In October 2020, Westbrook and her husband were sued by Clark Swanson, their former business partner and co-founder of the YouTuber’s vitamin line, Halo Beauty. Swanson accused the couple of fraud, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty in their roles as owners of Halo Beauty.
Westbrook’s lawyer, Douglas Fuchs, denied the accusations at the time, calling Swanson’s claims “meritless” and “absurd,” E! News reported. In June, Westbrook revealed in a YouTube video that she sold her Los Angeles home and condo to support the ongoing legal battle.
The makeup star was thrown into the national spotlight in 2019 after she uploaded a long video accusing YouTuber James Charles of disloyalty and saying he tried to bait straight men into relationships with him. Westbrook said she had been having problems with Charles’ behavior for a while, finding him inconsiderate and often offensive in the now mega-viral video called “Bye Sister…” — a reference to Charles, who calls his viewers “sisters.”
Charles responded at the time on YouTube, denying the allegations, and more than a year later, Westbrook claimed in a new video that YouTubers Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson, former friends of hers and Charles’, had manipulated her and were behind the “Bye Sister…” video. (Star has since apologized to Charles in a YouTube video but didn’t publicly respond to many of Westbrook’s claims; Dawson responded in an Instagram live saying Westbrook was lying.)
In Thursday’s video, Westbrook added there was “no drama, no weird hard feelings” and “no scandal” behind her decision to close Tati Beauty.
“There’s just timing of the world, and sadly outside litigation had a huge impact,” she said. “And that’s just my life right now, and I’m hopeful for better days ahead.”
Westbrook’s representatives did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment Thursday.
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