Celebrity Feuds on Social Media: Delicious or Dangerous?

If you’re unfamiliar with the phrase “spill the tea,” it’s a term, coined from black drag culture, that means dishing gossip, spreading drama—and this week, the kettle was overflowing with the scorching-hot variety. (Cue Mariah Carey demanding, “They told me there would be tea.”) It began with a virtual showdown between two of YouTube’s most influential beauty vloggers, James Charles and Tati Westbrook. Last Friday, Westbrook uploaded a 43-minute YouTube video, titled “Bye Sister,” exposing Charles, whom she had mentored, for various alleged actions that amounted, in her opinion, to him being a terrible friend and person. She essentially “cancelled” him, and the whole world was more than intrigued: the video now has more than 46 million views.

In the video, Westbrook—who has her own supplements brand, Halo Beauty—claims Charles went behind her back by doing promo for a competing brand, SugarBearHair (yes, those gummy #ads you see Instagram influencers hawking everywhere). She also called out Charles’s alleged predatory behavior towards straight men, saying Charles tried to persuade them multiple times, despite her warnings, to sleep with him because he’s famous. “Cracking someone’s sexuality is not an escape room,” she said. “This is shit that will follow them for the rest of their lives.” (Critics of Westbrook have in turn said this accusation could be construed as homophobic.) The supposed truth bomb made the beauty community a war zone, in which lines were instantly drawn and sides taken. Since then, Charles has issued an apology video, but the damage was already done: he has lost more than 3 million subscribers while Westbrook gained almost 4 million. Meanwhile, real-time videos of their respective subscriber counts, dropping and raising by the second, continue to be shared like wildfire.

The celebrity showdowns only expanded from there. On Watch What Happens Live, Paris Hilton revived some bad blood between her early-aughts archnemesis Lindsay Lohan (because, almost a decade later, why not?). When asked to say three nice things about her, she called Lohan “beyond, lame, and embarrassing.” It’s spurred many an Internet meme since, including that iconic “and I oop—” one.

Meanwhile, the most recent battle, one that literally nobody asked for, is between morning talk-show host Kelly Ripa and The Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss. It began when Ripa stated that the successful series “disgusts” her, adding, “I can’t stand the idea of 25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella.” Fleiss retorted on Twitter, “Easy, @KellyRipa . . . #TheBachelor franchise pays your salary!” (Both The Bachelor and Ripa’s show air on ABC.) Grey’s Anatomy actress Ellen Pompeo then got into the ring, tweeting Fleiss, “Your show does NOT pay @KellyRipa salary. Also we don’t attack successful women on our network and men certainly cannot take credit for their success,” she said. “Don’t get me started on your show cuz I’m a savage.” The feud is now continuing to trend on Twitter.

It’s become apparent that the social media world, meaning us, the world, enjoys a good duel. Whether your poison is Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, it’s been virtually impossible to avoid all of these fights this week. Social platforms have turned into breeding grounds for endless conspiracy theories, aggressive “stan-ing,” and, of course, good ol’ hate-mongering. The Shade Room, an entire account devoted to Internet drama, for instance, even has more than 15 million followers. A retweet or like has become the new “pass the popcorn,” a way to participate in a delicious feud without actually being directly involved in it. Call it new-age voyeurism! It’s a bit sick, but this toxic attitude is thriving because we all love to hit refresh on our timeline drama, whether you admit it or not. Our participation is turning small flames into big, burning bomb fires.

Why do we do it? Well, there’s a collective, petty pleasure in escaping our own problems in favor of someone else’s, and social media, filled with endless content, makes it that much easier to do. Why do you think trashy reality shows, such as The Bachelor (sorry, Ripa!), continue to dominate the TV ratings anyway? The messier a fight, the bigger an audience. Social media, of course, has audiences of millions. And the fact that celebrities love engaging in public feuds almost as much as we, the spectators, enjoy taking it in, too, is almost addictive. Charles is a 19-year-old after all, despite his massive brand—do we have a responsibility to deescalate when a fight involves such a young person, even if the tea is delicious? Maybe we should drink more water.