Jeffree Star

About

Jeffree Star is a American makeup artist, entrepreneur, musician, YouTuber and owner and founder of Jeffree Star Cosmetics.

Online History

Jeffree Star got his start in music and beauty on Myspace in 2006. On the site, Star would share blog posts and songs with fans.

In 2007, his song "Plastic Surgery Slumber Party" reached #1 on the iTunes dance charts.^[1]

On June 19th, 2010, Star posted his first video on YouTuber. The official music video for the song "Beauty Killer" received more than 14 million views in eight years.

Three years later, on November 4th, 2013, Star published a video of his makeup artist applying "Halloween Skull Bandana" makeup. The post (shown below, left) received more than 789,000 views in five years.

The following year, in 2014, Star launched an e-commerce makeup brand called "Jeffree Star Cosmetics." To coincide with the release of the brand, he began posting makeup tutorials as a means of advertising the products.^[2]

On November 5th, he published a "behind the scenes" look at the company and products. The post (shown below, right) received more than 500,000 views in four years.

On June 20th, 2015, star posted a commercial for Velour Liquid Lipstick. The post (shown below) received more than 1.1 million views.

Feud with Gabriel Zamora and Laura Lee

On August 1st, 2018, Shane Dawson released a five-part documentary series on Jeffree Star. In the documentary, Dawson explores Star's releationship with other members of the online beauty community, depicting his former friends as using him for as leverage for their career. Star said, "Half of the people still think I'm the bad guy, when I only loved and cared about all these people, boosted them up and gave them all my connections, but I'm still the fucking bad guy."

The first part of the documentary (shown below, left) received more than 20 million views in less than one month.

Several days later, on August 12th, one of those friends, Gabriel Zamora, another beauty-focused YouTuber, tweeted":/memes/sites/twitter/ a photograph of himself, and fellow YouTubers Laura Lee, Manny MUA and Nikita Dragon holding up their middle fingers. The photograph (shown below, right) was captioned "Bitch is bitter because without him we're doing better."^[3]

When Star's fans responded to the tweet, Zamora responded, "Imagine stanning a racist? I could never." The tweet referred to a previous controversy involving racially insensitive tweets by Star, which was discussed in the documentary.^[4]

That day, Twitter user @pettymexicant tweeted^[5] a series of screenshots of Tweets from 2012 by Gabiel Zamora and Laura Lee making racially insensitive jokes and using racial epithets. The tweets (shown below) received more than 380 retweets and 1,700 likes in two weeks.

That day, Gamora apologized on Twitter.^[6] He captioned the apology, "I’m reposting it because the responses got dark and ignorant. I’m taking a break from twitter. I now remember why I didn’t like it. People want you to be honest but don’t always wanna hear the truth ❤️" The post (shown below, left) received more than 140 retweets and 4,100 likes in less than two weeks.

The following day, Laura Lee also apologized on Twitter,^[7] receiving more than 900 retweets and 13,000 likes.

Several days later, Laura Lee published an apology video on YouTuber. Within a week, the since-deleted video has received more than 7.5 million views (mirror below).

On August 23rd, Redditor ^[8] phedre posted a timeline of the controversy in the /r/OutOfTheLoop subreddit. The thread has received more than 850 points (82% upvoted)_ and 140 comments in 24 hours.

Cornrows Controversy

On September 27th, Jeffree Star tweeted^[9] a photograph of himself with "platinum blonde feed-in braids with green tips"^[10] and the caption "Money Honey." The tweet received more than 1,200 retweets and 28,000 likes in two weeks.

Some users took issue with Star's use of the cornrow hairstyle, accusing him of cultural appropriation. Twitter^[11] user @FluffyEmmaPie tweeted,^[11] "Using others cultures (in this case a hair style) as a makeup look and image that will be used to promote his brand and make sales is cultural appropriation if i have ever seen it. It would be different if it was for appreciation and raising a voice to a community Who gets looked down on and called unprofessional/dirty for having natural hair, wearing dreads, and wearing braids" (shown below, left).

Twitter uyser @Melljoee tweeted,^[13] "It is appropriation. It's my culture. If I have to kill my hair with heat and chemicals to be accepted, but watch people wearing braided hairstyles, that originated from my ancestors, make money off of it and I get rejected for it… Something isn't right." The tweet received more than 90 likes in two weeks (shown below, center).

Others disagreed. Twitter^[12] user @asantebaemua tweeted, "Girl it’s not cultural appropriation. I’m black and I don’t have an issue with it and neither does anyone in my family or my friends. All I see are white people having an issue with it. It’s HAIR. There are people dying in other countries and you’re mad about HAIR? #cantrelate." The tweet received more than 60 retweets and 1,600 likes in two weeks (shown below, right).

The following day, Star responded by agreeing with those that did not feel the style culturally appropriation. He said, "Hahaha preach!!! young kids trying to be mad at something always." The tweet received more than 1,200 likes in two weeks (shown below).

Several media outlets covered the controversy including Teen Vogue, The Daily Dot^[14] and more.

Aaron Carter Merch Controversy

On November 28th, 2019, Jeffree Star Cosmetics launched a five year anniversary line and holiday collection complete with tie-dyed hoodies.^[18] On December 1st, Aaron Carter^[15] tweeted "Hey @JeffreeStar your merch looks a lot like my custom pieces I do by hand? 🤔 tsk tsk" (shown below, left).^[17] The tweet gained 740 likes in five days. After numerous Jeffree Star fans began responded to Carters comment on Twitter Carter^[16] tweeted "Listen Linda @JeffreeStar isn’t going to clap back at anything there’s nothing to CLAP BACK AT calm down sweetie. I’m sure @JeffreeStar sees right through all the bullshit just like I do. BOTS TRYING TO CREATE WARS. BAM!! exposed. It’s amazing how many INTERNET THIGS THERE ARE." (shown below, right).

Along with several other tweets in which he defends himself, Carter posted a video with the caption, "I’m sorry but @JeffreeStar everyone has seen me make this stuf you have two of my colors. Not sure who on your team did that but I’m honered. Love you still 🦁👑" (shown below). The video accumulated over 300 likes in five days. Jeffree Star did not public respond to his accusations.

Search Interest

External References