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YouTuber James Charles accused of plagiarizing Teddy Fresh's color-blocking design, fans say 'pretty embarrassing'

Ethan Klein of a rival brand and host of H3 podcast wrote, 'We didn't invent color-blocking but I'm having a hard time with James Charles merch, it's the same exact design as Hila's'

Beauty YouTuber and make-up artist James Charles is making headlines again after the launch of her new range of merchandise featuring color-blocking as the CEO and the co-founder of the clothing brand Teddy Fresh accused him of plagiarizing their designs. 

It all started on Thursday, when Ethan Klein, the co-founder of the rival brand as well as the Host of the H3 podcast tweeted, "I know we didn't invent color-blocking but I'm having a hard time w the new James Charles merch, it's the same exact design as Hila's. Combined with the fact that his audience is so huge, many people will assume he designed it and start accusing us of plagiarism. What do you think?" adding a side-by-side picture comparison of Charles' design and similar-looking products from his own company. In a separate tweet, he gave more photographic evidence, stating, "It's possible it's all a totally cosmic coincidence but he used pretty much the identical colors here too, he at least moved me around a little bit" 

The CEO, Hila Klein, backed Ethan's claims by tweeting sketches of her designs with the caption, "I guess I might as well share some behind the scenes. This is my first sketch of the color block hoodie from 2017 before we had a logo for TF, and in the other pic is the pink one, this is usually how I work on our color pallets."

Charles, whose fallout with a former friend and beauty guru Tati Westbrook played out very publicly on social media in 2019, reached out to Ethan, after reading his tweet. "When you DM’d me yesterday, I sent you the original photo that inspired my collection, explained I’ve never seen your brand, but also asked what you wanted me to do... You didn’t reply. After last year, I vowed to keep conversations private and create solutions, not drama," he wrote, to which Ethan replied, "I give you permission to share our convo. You told me you were going to sell them anyway. You also admitted that the similarity wasn't a coincidence. I dm'd you because I wanted to keep this private but I found your response combative and dismissive." 

Charles made it clear that he did not want to feud with Ethan on a public platform. "If you’d like to continue our conversation and find a solution, my DMs are still open!" he wrote. 

Social media weighed in on the unfolding drama and many of them sided with Ethan and believed that Charles had stolen the designs."The people who don’t think or have a problem with James Charles copying Teddy fresh are the same people who think it’s okay that Revolution copies every large makeup brand and resells at a lower price," one wrote, while another commented, "It's practically the exact same thing, there's no way this is a coincidence. If he wasn't a youtuber then maaayybe, but even then"

There were also memes created to befit the situation by innovative users. One caption read, "James Charles trying to ignore the fact he copied Hila’s designs for his own gain..." Another read: "Not James Charles pulling some horse piss move like blatantly plagiarizing the Teddy Fresh brand." A third opined, "Dude, it's basically plagiarism. Yes you didn't invent color blocking but you definitely popularized it, it's your signature style. He even used the same colors but just lighter. He didn't even try to make it look different like wtf"

But not all people were ready to charge Charles with plagiarism allegations. Some of his loyal fans stuck by him. "I acc feel so sorry for James Charles everyone’s just out to get him" one wrote, while another said, "I'm sorry but b***h you yelling at James Charles for that, when the Sidemen legit have their own colour block hoodie... You gonna scream at them too? Please sit back and take a seat. Stop getting mad cause James is gonna make more sales from merch than you :)"

There were also those who did not understand what the fuss was all about and why Ethan was accusing Charles of using a design technique that has been around in fashion for ages. "People who complain about "Teddy Fresh" from "Hila" design how James Charles copied them are dumb. There are other brands that copy the same concept it's not plagiarism your just dumb," one person wrote, while another said, "Ethan and Hila Klein and James Charles beefing over color blocking when the 90’s is over here calling them to invent something new".

A third said, "Teddy fresh obviously didn’t invent colorblock dumb**s but james charles stole the same exact design and colors? must be embarrassing to be this f**king stupid" one person wrote."