About

Breaking My Silence Thumbnail refers to a series of parody thumbnail videos mocking the original 2020 post by YouTuber Tati Westbrook in which she alleges she tried to end James Charles's career. Her video thumbnail was photoshopped by fans of other celebrities and the phrase "Breaking My Silence" was used as a humorous reaction image on X, dedicated to expressing an unpopular opinion regarding the celebrity who was edited in the YouTube thumbnail.

Origin

On June 30th, 2020, Tati Westbrook uploaded a video "BREAKING MY SILENCE …" amidst the Karmageddon controversy, which is a series of events and resurfaced videos leading many to call for the cancellation of Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star in late June 2020. Westbrook video has since been deleted from her channel but was reposted on July 1st, 2020, by @MSFOLKSTrendingToday^[1]. The 40-minute video (shown below) describes how Westbrook was gaslit by Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson into thinking that she needed to end James Charles's career, which accumulated 3,200 views and 37 likes in three years.

Spread

After the video was published, X users began making memes about the video's thumbnail, replacing the influencer for other celebrities. For instance, on May 25th, 2021, X^[2] user @lovingalore uploaded the thumbnail paired with a picture of American singer SZA. The post (shown below, left) amassed over 89 likes and 227 retweets in three years. On August 8th, 2023, X^[3] user @bookgirlie_ uploaded a version of the thumbnail replacing Westbrook with a picture of American singer Olivia Rodrigo. The post (shown below, right) amassed roughly 78 likes and 4 retweets in four months.

Template

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References