I care for where I shop and whom I buy from. And since I buy from Jeffree Star who is one of the main targets of a Cancelgeddon mob on social media, I want to speak up for him though I do not know him personally and he probably does not even know that I exist. (op-ed, ad because I mention brandnames, not asked for, not paid for, I bought all my Jeffree Star products with my own money; last amended on June 15, 2021
[Most of this blogpost was written in June/July 2020 when Jeffree Star was "cancelled". But since this Cancelgeddon in my opinion could be connected to Tati Westbrook's video "Breaking my silence" I inserted information and opinions about the latest developments respective Dramageddon 2.0, James Charles and Tati Westbrook where these topics are refered to.]
This is not the line of Jeffree Star's haters, enviers and enemies. It is me, more exactly: what I was seing, when in line at the BeautyBay Online-Shop, one of the retail partners of Jeffree Star Cosmetics (JSC), ready to buy the Blood Lust Artistry Palette. For me not only the quality of an eyeshadow palette counts but also the person or company behind a brand. I find Jeffree Star and his products, which are vegan and cruelty-free, are worth the love, wait and the money.
Jeffree Star should not be cancelled - not only because his products are beautiful like this Jeffree Star Cosmetics Blood Lust palette but because he as a fellow human being does not deserve this.
I do not agree with everything Jeffree Star has ever done or said in his life - same goes for anybody else's words or deeds, even my own. But Jeffree Star's past is on images and videos all over the internet and every year someone brings them to public attention again (imho for their personal gains). Jeffree Star has apologized for the things he said or did in his past and tries to move on with becoming a good person and to make his dreams (and those of other people) come true. Imho it is not fair how he is treated these days, and I do not approve of how some media and drama channels follow the narrative of the cancel culture mob (nor false "friends" leaking alleged private conversations for some petty little personal drama), probably all for the clout, some even fueling the flames even more by creating more false narratives.
Has Jeffree Star made mistakes in his life? Yes, I guess. And who hasn't. But what the haters are spreading these days is what they allegedly heard somewhere, allegations without credible evidence, narratives based on a distorted truth (e.g., words said in skits and not even to a person of color, symbols used in what seem to have been kind of art projects), most of it is from more than 10 years ago and what he has explained or apologized for several times anyways. Some allegations and statements are blatant lies. It is so sad to see people just copying what someone seeded for whatever reason without actually knowing anything about the targeted person and not even doing some research whether what they repeat is true at all, what the story around that was at that time, and the reasons why this hate is seeded again and again.
I think Jeffree Star is a good person with a good heart. He is not a saint though.
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Actually, I do not believe Jeffree Star ever was a racist, he may have used terrible swearwords sometimes to snap back when he felt attacked, and he often was attacked and called a f*g. He used a confederate flag, swastikas in pink (!) and himself in makeup as well as the word "lipstick N*zi" in a kind of parodistic art project/performance at a young age (like others used "soup N*zi" at that time in a Seinfeld TV show). It was meant to provoke and to get attention, since we know, real N*zis put non-hetero people in concentration camps. Don't forget, Jeffree Star wanted to be and is an artist and an entertainer, that is one of the reasons why he is so successful in self-marketing! Real N*zis would not promote black owned brands, would not get all emotionally upset because of black people being murdered by police officers, would not speak out in favour of BLM nor give money to black owned business rebuilding after protests. Imho and from what I researched, he did not have a racist attitude, nor did he behave as if he did.
In the campaigns for Jeffree Star Cosmetics people of color (POC) were always included, e.g., see this video from 2016.
And he called the police and the criminal justice system out when he learned how George Floyd died and nobody had been charged for the murder.
Hey #LosAngeles, please educate me on where I can make donations to help rebuild black-owned small businesses that have been destroyed! 💯 Send me links, thank you. I started from NOTHING and will ALWAYS help people who need support rebuilding.
There were so many more tweets and retweets, IG stories etc. about George Floyd, the protests, Breonna Taylor, some with links to petitions or information about probono lawyers for arrested protesters or information for allys etc.
There are many actual racists in this world who are really dangerous: they think they are superior to others because of the tone of their skin and they behave like that, they try to destroy democracy and are all for systemic racism, they do everything to keep their privileges. (Sadly, on the opposite side of the spectrum sometimes can be people who paint someone as a bogeyman who does not deserve this to keep their power over "their people" or supporters/customers they think belong to them).
Jeffree has helped so many people, given hope and brought comfort, given money to people in need, helped people to survive their hard everyday life by bringing creativity to it and by entertaining them daily (what is so missed these days when obviously he felt he had to withdraw from the public for business sake and probably for his own mental health because how much hate can a person take).
And he always gave others, smaller creators of all backgrounds, opportunities to shine in front of his millions of subscribers.
In regards to Jeffree not addressing the current drama publicly: He is a business owner who has to protect his business - with a business not only comes money and a lot of work, it also comes with responsibility for other peoples'/families' income/life. And I assume that he does not address the current drama/Cancelgeddon/Karmageddon publicly not only because he said so last year when Dramageddon 2.0 took place, originally started by Tati Westbrook, but probably also because of his lawyers' advice.
[Tati Westbrook has changed her story from 2019 in 2020 completely, now blaming Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson in a (in my opinion not credible) video "Breaking My Silence" of having manipulated her. Since she took her videos "Bye Sister" (May 10, 2019) and "Why I did it" (May 17, 2019) down, you can find information about them e.g. here: Daily Parker's Bye Sister Tati Westbrook and Rich Lux' Tati disses James Charles. On Brook Hinton's channel you find I watched Tati's Why I did it. Also Monsters & Critics wrote about Tati's second video Why I did it and Asiaone on the whole situation. But you can also find the original videos by using a normal search engine since people have archived and reuploaded the videos or part of them from 2019. Tati's video from 2020 is still online but I am not giving her a link because this video destroyed my trust in her in any possible way. For the latest developments regarding Tati Westbrook, see New developments.]
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I hope Jeffree Star has good online and offline investigators/lawyers that will find and hold the people accountable for what they are doing and already did to him and his business because this to me is not right: obviously under the pressure of the Cancelgeddon army (which started shortly after or about the same time Tati Westbrook published the "Breaking my Silence" video, that was June 30, 2020 in which she suddenly blames Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson for what she did in 2019 that had started Dramageddon 2.0) and of some known enemies of Jeffree Star Morphe ended the longterm business collaboration with him on July 10, 2020, actually right after a restock and right before the summer collection was to come out and probably all had to be pre-financed with a lot of money (and tied-up capital is expensive) - this is why I do not believe that the point in time for this smear campaign was chosen randomly. Btw afaik, Jeffree had only recently accepted a Morphe code and only to give that money away to charity!).
Why did Jeffree Star get involved in drama?
On a personal level I see a pattern: when Jeffree Star speaks up agitated, like when he attacked James Charles during Dramageddon 2.0 in 2019, imho he did so because he thought he spoke for the alleged victims some of whom had made statements publicly (aexotiic's summary of incidents, Sam Cooke's I, Sam Cooke's II, Gage), others obviously had contacted Jeffree and/or were part of his inner circle anyways. In my opinion, Jeffree wanted to help the alleged victims and to stop what he thought was going on due to what he was told. But when it came to show the proofs in public (or in an older case in a court room) it was the victims' time to speak for themselves, Jeffree's hearsay cannot help them.
Obviously the alleged victims did not speak up (anymore) for whatever reasons and others imho made him not to show what they had texted or voicemailed him before because they were afraid of the public attention and that the subject would stick to them forever (assumptions of mine). For fairness reasons though I personally find it manipulative: James Charles' side at that time (May 18, 2019). I do not see actual receipts that I personally believe. Witnesses can be payed off - though to be fair that alone would not prove guilt, it is often done for business/PR reasons to keep a stigma away and to save the time, money, public attention a trial would cost.
But there are more puzzle pieces to the picture
Katie Joy (Without A Chrystal Ball, WACB) talks in a video uploaded in July 2020 on her YouTube channel about her experience with the Tati Westbrook side of things, e. g. allegedly she had gotten the information by a Westbrook spokesperson that Tati in her Bye-Sister-video from 2019 had spoken about her own first-hand observations and thus did not need any evidences in her video (and obviously there was no mentioning of Jeffree or Shane feeding her with information as she claims in her imho implausible "Breaking my Silence"-video in June 2020). And there was more to come. James Charles allegedly tried to make Katie Joy to delete her videos on the Westbrooks - to me when reading the texts (she showed in her video) it felt like almost in an intimidating way hidden as a friendly warning. [And I wonder: Why does James Charles side with Tati now after what she allegedly did to him? Does he believe the new plot or ...? If this was a novel I was reading and not people's real lifes, the following ideas would come to my mind: Is this James Charles character in the book now a puppet of the Westbrook characters (maybe they have evidence that could harm him)? Or: Are these novel characters James Charles and the Westbrooks planning to side against the richer Jeffree Star character because they want to milk him? But a novel writer could also spin it the other way and the James Charles character wants to sue Jeffree because he seems to be the richest, has the most enemies and can be painted the villain more easily since this was part of his image during his music career, but the James Charles character would need Tatie to do so, so he in the plot would threaten her behind the scenes to sue her if she doesn’t blame Jeffree for what actually Tati brought to the public in 2019 starting Dramageddon 2.0? But this is just my fantasy, nothing more, I used to write a few novels and other books. But it shows how easily possibly defamating stories can come into being. I am curios what might actually be revealed in the future, I mean it has been quite a ride since it started. And can we actually ever be sure what the truth is.]
Added October 29, 2020 and later:James and Tati Westbrook are sued by their Halo Beauty business partner for defrauding money and the complaint could be revealing the motivation behind Tati Westbrook's YouTube video "Bye Sister" and the (in my personal opinion not credible) accusations against Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson one year later in the "Breaking my Silence"-video telling a whole different story. Please note: this is all "allegedly" since all the claims in the complaint have yet to be confirmed in court or otherwise, before we should name anything facts. And the assumptions how they could be related to Dramageddon 2.0, to Tati's new video, and to Cancelgeddon 2020 have to be facts-based - though they still would be assumptions as long as they are not proven to be true. For more about these developments and how they might be connected to Tati Westbrook's videos, Dramageddon 2.0 in 2019, and Cancelgeddon in 2020, see Katie Joy's YouTube Channel Without a Crystal Ball. Also see Emily D. Baker's Lawyer Reacts: to Tati Westbrook Halo Beauty Lawsuit Drama. New new: The Westbrooks now sue Katie Joy and her Without A Crystal Ball channel with her 140,000 subscribers (Tati still has more than 9 million) - in my opinion to paint WACB a person on a mission to harm the Westbrooks and Halo Beauty to distract from their own handling of things (though in my opinion, WACB is on a mission to grow her YouTube channel, like most of the drama channels, and maybe sometimes too naive, sometimes too unconcerned and maybe sometimes too wicked (attention is clout is money on YouTube) to not doubt things she reads somewhere claimed by someone or full of unconfirmed assumptions). Emily D. Baker explains legal aspects in a YouTube live how a lawyer could read the subjects in the complaint against WACB. New statements, new names (lawyers, people involved) and new complaints pop up every day. And everybody is now suing or threatening to sue everybody else. Is it just me or do others feel irritated as well when lawyers encourage people on Twitter which is kind of a war zone anyways to provide information about their client's opponent, the opponent being a nobody compared to the client, the same when lawyers enjoy imho too much to be part of the "cool" YouTuber drama gang? All this in my opinion went out of control on all sides. NEW: The Tati and James Westbrook's defamation lawsuit against Without a Crystal Ball was dismissed in Washington in March 2021. Of course they can file her in another state but in my opinion that is ridiculous, because even if they could prove that Katie with her little audience caused a few people not to buy from her, Tati herself harmed her brand way more by not putting out new and inspiring content on her Youtube channel with millions of subscribers and by her third video 'Breaking my Silence' painting Jeffree and Shane as the villains, saying they fed her with information and manipulated her (and thus more or less implicating she had not been speaking the full truth before when she was painting James a villain in her Bye Sister video and did not mention Shane or Jeffree, apart from having said in a video or in an IG story, can't remember, how well Jeffree and her grandmother got along at her birthday party and how sweet Jeffree was while James was embarrasing because of his sexual language and how he allegedly treated a waiter at the restaurant. I would like to know what or who really made Tati make that third video or any of these three videos. Was it a motherly love for James Charles? Or envy, ambition and greed because she in her opinion should be getting the attention and subscribers the three men had before her making Bye Sister? Was she pressured into making the third video by James Charles maybe allegedly threatening her with legal actions so she now says she was manipulated into making the video by Shane and Jeffree? But why would Jeffree even want that, James was a Killer Merch client and made him money, Jeffree had every reason to want him to be big. And he supported him until he heard from the alleged victims about how they were allegedly treated by James and how miserably they felt.
On June 6, 2021, Katie Joy alias Without a Crystal Ball published a video, announcing that after a mediation process a settlement between her and the Westbrook was reached, also revealing that her source had been the Westbrook business partner himself, whom she had believed everything (understandable in my opinion) and about whom she says now, that he had manipulated her (again this word "manipulated"). Katie deleted all her old videos regarding the Westbrooks and vice versa.
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Regarding Dramageddon 2.0 When I started writing this blogpost I guessed we would never know what really happened before, during and after Dramageddon 2.0 behind the scenes, who manipulated whom for what reasons (if there was a manipulation at all or just tittle-tattle and a promise to support Tati because her fandom was rather small at that time compared to James'). I also assumed we would never know what the truth of the alleged victims really is since all of them are quiet now (for whatever reason). But after the latest developments I think there is a possibility that the truth will be revealed. I remember Jeffree and James seeming to be friends, e.g., Jeffree went with James when he bought his first car! At that time I found James was using Jeffree for clout and business advices and unfollowed him way before Dramageddon 2.0 happened. But I have to admit that to collab and create win-win-situations and learn from each other is a normal thing to do in many businesses.
Tati in her video "Bye Sister" stretched how much she had cared about James Charles, like a second (better) mother. So why, as a grown woman, did she not suggest to come together as a group of friends in private and have a private intervention with James Charles? I mean how could Tati, 37 years old, or anyone who knew about her planning a video even think that a public video could in any way be helpful to James Charles or the alleged victims - whatever the truth was? It is a mess. Added November 9, 2020: For the latest developments regarding Tati Westbrook, see New developments.
So last year Jeffree Star after Dramageddon 2.0 decided to not involve himself in drama of others ever again and people called him a liar then for not showing receipts for what he had said about James Charles, they claimed he had none. But imho he did not want to out the alleged victims which was the right thing to do in my opinion. After it now came out, that he actually had receipts, he is called a manipulator and a blackmailer for not having shown them and not showing them now to the curious public. I think that he is and was right: only the alleged victims should out themselves and take measures if they want to and when they are ready to! In Keem's Mom's Basement podcast with Jeffree this year, Jeffree offered James Charles to show him what he had in a private meeting, so he might understand what agitated Jeffree to call him out during Dramageddon 2.0. But obviously James was not interested afawk or had other reasons. So everyone not personally involved should accept this as an end of Dramageddon 2.0. (note: I wrote that before the latest developments in 2020).
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Jeffree using his power for good purposes
Jeffree often has used his voice for others, he called brands out for not being inclusive with their shade range discriminating people of colour. BTW, in the description of the following video from 2018 he had a link to Beauty Bakerie, a black owned brand, at that time quite small yet. And it was Jeffree Star who stood up for Beauty Bakerie very loudly when her design concept was stolen by a big brand.
Jeffree Star often used and recommended other brands, often from POC, already years ago before everyone woke up and painted BLM on their homepages and ads.
Here Jeffree Star introduces Fenty Beauty by Rihanna to his audience (YouTube Video from 2017).
In the following video he checks out makeup from Juvia's place, another black owned brand, buying tons of their products for his review with his own money at Ulta.
He released his own Magic Star Concealer line 2019 with 30 shades in different undertones for all skin colours from light to dark plus color correctors for red spots or dark undereye areas (see here at Beautylish). Cancelgeddon, Karmageddon
From my personal point of view: what the Internet mob working on cancelling Jeffree Star is spreading these days about him imho is not some opinions, it seems more like a defamation campaign. I wonder who could be behind this. Allegedly there was information sended out to the drama channels - imho to get everyone's attention - before Tati published her latest YouTube video (the one that twists her own story from last year). Jeffree Star has enemies and always has harsh voices against him but this started a giant wave of hate, old videos, pictures, and accusations surfaced, his enemies used this to make him look bad, and the Cancelgeddon army people with the intention to harm him flooded his platforms, they were there before anybody else. Some of them haters even said they want to "bring him down" in a way he cannot ever recover from, others said that they don't want him on the Internet, some even said he should go and kill himself, wished him to burn dead when there was a fire in Hidden Hills, where he lives in California, and said his car should have flipped over more often until he was dead when he and one of his best friends survived a horrible car accident due to black ice in Wyoming, where he lives parttime, in 2021. Imho that kind of behavior should be sued, these people should be banned from all platforms and be forced to have psychotherapeutical counseling. What in my opinion also indicates that this is/was a staged campain to harm Jeffree Star's brand and company: the people who started and/or fanned this and/or still hold the strings of the puppets made this mob they created demand that everybody stops supporting Jeffree, stops working for him and not buy from him anymore, calling Jeffree names, repeating false narratives and spreading lies (e.g., that he never supported the Black Lives Matter movement which is not true, just check his Twitter timeline from May 29 and following, in his Instagram stories he started even earlier) should be sued. These people bullied him, his fans and supporters, other MUAs, his customers, business partners and employees.
Many of the owners of the accounts flooding Twitter, Instagram and company boards with hate and negativity seemed to be very young and do not know him for a long time - if at all. Some of these cancel culture people even confuse whom they are to blame with what alleged wrongdoing, so Jeffree is made the culprit for things actually Shane or even James Charles are or were accused of having done.
Some of these cancel culture people claim that Jeffree and Shane wanted to harm James Charles reputation because they feared him as a competitor. That imho is so ridiculous: Jeffree and Shane both had helped James Charles to become bigger and since James Charles had his merch with Killer Merch, co-owned by Jeffree Star, a successful James Charles meant more money in Jeffree's pocket. Jeffree had always supported him but was so agitated by what alleged victims had told him that he wanted this kind of behaviour to stop and he did not care that he would lose money - he had to speak out for what (he thought) was right.
Is this Cancelgeddon really just a huge shitstorm that randomly happened? I can't believe it. But who could have been behind it? People who may have thought they would benefit from a defamation campaign against Jeffree (and Shane, because the two of them had been so successful together the year before): old enemies of Jeffree, some beauty brands who worry about their claims or wanting a revenge for Jeffree not giving them a good review, new enemies like James Charles and Tati Westbrook? But would they really start something this disgusting? I don't know but I hope time will reveal the truth.
Jeffree Star has millions and millions of fans who love him for his creativity, boldness, entertainment value, his looks, for who he is and stands for. But he also has all kind of enemies. But unlike the artwork on the cover of his Cremated eyeshadow palette showing him dissolving into ashes despite all the hate and the accusations (mostly old or false) he fortunately is alive and well in his Pomeranian Palace in Hidden Hills/California, making beautiful products, giving people jobs and hope, and taking good care of his seven adorable doggos.
It could all be about money ... my conspiracy theory
To me (my conspiracy theory) this bullying mob might be brainwashed by people who have their own agenda and reasons why they want to harm Jeffree Star and his businesses.
Makeup sales stimulated on Social Media platforms by brand owners, makeup artists, other reviewers etc. is a multi billion dollar business. Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson have had two unbelievable successful years (2018 and 2019) gaining subscribers and views with a lot of engagement on Social Media, and thus Jeffree Star Cosmetics and Killer Merch were able to sell huge amounts of makeup products and merch in the USA and word wide, just think of the products from the Shane x Jeffree collab.
There are old and new companies who are not happy about the powerful competitor and trade rival that Jeffree Star Cosmetics has become and they also do not like how much weight Jeffree Star's approval or disapproval among makeup consumers has, when he reviews their products on his YouTube channel. He is trusted by his subscribers and viewers because he is not paid by makeup companies for reviews contrary to most "normal" influencers who do brand deals or get a commision when their code is used to buy the product. Jeffree did afaik only two collabs with makeup brands (Morphe, Jouer) and he gave his code money from his Morphe code and the profit he earned with the Jouer collab to charity.
Some influencers and brand owners think, their target group should listen only to them on their channels, should shop with them (using their codes) or buy their products and not with or from a white guy, not with or from a non-heterosexual person, not with or from a non-conform beautiful unicorn that Jeffree is. They want to be the gatekeepers of a targeted circle of customers (may it be a particular age range, persons of a certain gender, people of their skin color, of a certain sexual orientation, or whatever (is trending)). For this reason they bring up old accusations and stir the pot over and over again.
Other influencers on YouTube or Instagram imho support the narrative of his enemies because they begrudge his success, to distract from their own failures and wrongdoing and/or to gain clout by going with the mob (that applies also to some tabloids and other media as well as Internet forums).
Some of the influencers, makeup artists, models etc. joined his enemies because they were not able to turn the opportunities he had given them by presenting them to his millions of subscribers into a longlasting success. They were dissapointed that Jeffree Star did not carry them right to the gold pot on his own arms. Instead of realizing that they should have worked on being more exiting and outstanding, actively looking for their opportunities, be less in self-pity and just show some more perseverance they blame Jeffree. Publicly stating something that contains the name Jeffree Star and something negative in the headline guarantees attention and the support of Jeffree's above-mentioned competitors and enemies.
And some people want revenge because they did not get what they wanted from him on a business or personal level (never underestimate a rejected person).
Some people are hurt because Jeffree can be brutally honest, which can be difficult to process on a business level and on a personal level even more.
And then there are drama channels, tea channels, commentary channels and some online media - many of them very aware that if you use a celebrity's name like Jeffree Star's with some outrageous allegations, you can gain clout and that means fame and money. The more disgusting and the more revolting the allegations the better. So they pretend they knew the truth and have the right to judge Jeffree, Shane and everyone who does not cancel them though these people do not have evidence for their allegations (snippets of satirical sketches from ten years ago are not evidence about a person's character) they twist the reality by leaving out the context. Here Nactor calls out one of them.
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Maybe Jeffree is not always nice and polite to everyone for whatever reasons, though he seems to be from my perspective as a subscriber and customer: to the waitresses and cashiers we see him with in vlogs, to the grandmas, to the struggling single moms, to upcoming MUAs of all skin tones, poor teachers, all kinds of people in need, to everybody we see him with in videos and on Social Media - but we cannot know for sure, he is very good in online-PR (success does not come from nothing), we are not with him every minute of his life, so though he used to speak over snapchat and instagram to us subscribers five times a day and we know all of his bathrobes, how each of the seven puppies is doing, how he gets his legs waxed, even the tattoos on his butt ... He still might have secrets and his character could be completely different from what we see... Really?
Jeffree Star in my opinion is a beautiful unicorn doing makeup magic. On top of this, he has these rockstar vibes, is an artist, an entertainer and an extremely succesful business person.
But even if he is/was not so nice and polite to everyone all the time every day of his life this is not a crime, it is human.
I nevertheless can imagine that it is not easy to live and work with him everyday because he loves attention, his brain works fast and he might not always be patient (though trying). He dominates the days of all around him since he is the employer and the moneymaker: his creativity, his visions, his decisions, his perseverance and his self-marketing make projects, products, jobs and money for all around him. I guess it is not easy to sustain that situation and dependency every day no matter how adorable someone is. This and the constant judgement of everybody on the Internet that comes with being close to him.
It is not that Jeffree hides his own imperfections, he shows us disgusting filler stuff being cut out of his lips on video, his esophagus getting widened, he talks about his horseface or says that he looks like a wet rat, that Nate found he eats too noisily (yes, I have a good memory) and he stretched more than once that he tends to be a control freak, and so on.
Nevertheless, in my opinion Jeffree may not be a saint but he still is adorable, creative and inspires millions of people to be better, to have faith in themselves, to grow as a person. He - like everybody - has the right to be forgiven for his past and present mistakes that he owned. I totally respect if someone cannot forgive words he said if the person still hurts, nevertheless, it is not right to destroy someone in revenge for words spoken years ago in an upset mood after being or feeling attacked.
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People who feel or felt hurt by something he said or did should talk to him personally and in private (or maybe even go to court), not instigate an Internet army who follows a narrative without evidence.To campaign against someone with false accusations on social media with the intention to destroy the person or business and gain from it is disgusting and in my opinion a criminal behaviour (I did not go to law school).
From Dramageddon OG (2018) and Dramageddon 2.0 (2019) in the beauty community everybody knows now what can happen when someone with a relevant number of subscribers drops a trigger word or a picture out of an impulse on Social Media. This time (Cancelgeddon), nobody can say, oh I made that YouTube video or that Instagram post or story out of an impulse and I did not know what would happen. No, they who imho started and fuel this Cancelgeddon towards Jeffree Star knew/know. They are grown-ups using easy to impress teenagers and others as a Cancelgeddon army. They, from what I heard, allegedly informed the drama channels in advance. They set the table, statements were scripted ... What happens right now imho is what they prepared, seeded and maybe are still orchestrating. Grown-up people fully aware of what they were going for, that is to destroy Jeffree Star and his business (and thus destroy everyone who has a job thanks to him) by using teenagers as a an army. This imho is not a trivial offense or something forgivable because done out of an impulse. These people imho are trying to ruin someone well planned and for everyone to see.
The Internet is a rough place nowadays.
Everyone should form their opinions in the fairest way possible. This is challenging on the Internet with campaigns, and bots, and fake accounts. But it is crucial to always look at the alleged "evidence" and by whom a certain narrative is presented: What is their reason to paint someone in a certain way? Do they want to harm/destroy a competitor because they want his customers, influence, power in the community? Do they want the attention to sell a story to certain kinds of media for money? Do they want clout, e.g., to promote a product they are coming out with soon. Is it to distract from their own failures (or their boringness)? Do they want to distance themselves from that person to get on another one's PR list or into a certain "friend" group or gain new customers by jumping on the cancel campaign? Or is it pure revenge?
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Jeffree is not the enemy!
I am on this earth for 63 years and on the Internet for 26 years and one thing I have learned: never trust the obvious.
To the hateful teenagers and others mad at Jeffree: Be better! Fight for social justice, the Black Lives Matter movement, adress pressing environmental issues, help women and LGBTQ+ rights ... there is so much to do. Jeffree is not your enemy - he spoke up for inclusiveness years ago, called out big brands deceiving small (black owned) brands, he supported small creators and MUAs of all skin colors, gave money to teachers whose schools cannot afford needed classroom equipment or books, also gave money to people who struggled to feed their children and pets after they lost their jobs because of the Corona virus, he spoke up to bring justice for the killing of George Floyd before everybody jumped on the BLM-bandwagon ..., oh, and last year he even paid for the funeral of a fan, whose parents had to open a go-fund-me-account because their savings did not cover the expenses.
Choose wisely whom you trust, maybe none of them above, but choose the battles you fight yourself. Do not waste your energy on Jeffree Star (or anyone) to destroy this person because someone tells you something on the Internet. (Of course, if you yourself are a victim of anyone, you should seek protection and help to stop that person).
If you do not like Jeffree Star just don't buy from him, just ignore him. But do not jump on a bandwagon to fulfill someone else's revenge plan or whatever. You might be called out for this mercilessness one day.
Be brave, research yourself and join a group in real life who actually does positive things for society, for victims, for the environment, for whatever you think should be better in this world. Bringing more hate and negativity to all of us makes the world only worse.
Example:
Like many others who work with Jeffree Star Jonathan Wright, a well-known hairstylist, got backlash, for doing Jeffree's hair for a photo shoot. The bullying Cancelgeddon army people do not care that he would loose income. And Jeffree can never win. When he hires POC the haters say, he uses them. If he would not, of course their narrative would be he hates them. Imho both is not true. What is he supposed to do?
Ein Beitrag geteilt von J.Wright (@iam_jonathan_) am
I love Chinwendu Ramsay's rant about people constantly dming and telling her that she should unfollow someone (she does not say the name) on social media.
Speaking for me: I am all for giving people second chances.
I believe that people can change if they can acknowledge their wrongdoings and/or misperceptions. Jeffree Star is no saint but I see so much growth and change for the positive. Has he done and said bad things? Yes. But he is also a blessing, showing people that transition and success is possible if you work hard. He is a victim and a survivor himself, but yes, he has hurt people with his words - some of them hated him anyways and had attacked him, others loved and trusted him and had felt a connection. Yes, like he said in his latest video, he has a problem with impulse control.
Jeffree imho should - like the rest of us - keep on working sincerely on becoming a better person because money can't buy love, true friends or real self-esteem. But by destroying him self-righteously just because you can as a huge Cancelgeddon army you take away the hope and confidence that transition, fulfillment or any change for the better is possible from all of us (and thus the reason to even try, for some even the reason to live) as well as the good that he does and the money he used to freely give to charity, environmental and other projects - e.g., the LA LGBT Center and MrBeasts Tree Planting Project just to name two.
I personally cannot thank Jeffree Star enough for bringing new inspiration, energy and light into my life! I am so so so grateful for that. Keep on going to become the best version of yourself and creating beautiful things.
Some more thoughts and opinions of mine
I hope James Charles has learned from all that has happended (in 2019) too and sought help - may it be for his alleged behaviour towards straight men and/or for his own mental health during the Cancelgeddon 2.0 crisis.
Tati - I am not sure - ... She imho tends to stage herself the victim (first betrayed by her friend James Charles, now allegedly by her former friends Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson). She even is the victim when her videos are not watched as much as she wants. I do not see that she is ready yet to own her shit she rather blames others. No matter if at all or how deep Shane and Jeffree really were involved: she was the one who made and uploaded the video in 2019, speaking about her own alleged experiences - everybody who saw the video knew, and she was the one who gained millions of subscribers who bought her vitamin pills after that making her probably millions of Dollars. What drove her? Business had seemed to be going good for her before the drama, but compared to James Charles, Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson - though she had been working hard - she only had a fraction of their fandom on YouTube - imho it has to do with the demographics of the YouTube users interested in makeup and, to be true, Jeffree (the crazy "Pop/Rock Star" presenting himself as a new piece of art every day in another way), Shane (the "King of YouTube") and James Charles (the ambitious boy with an inbuilt puppy licence) were and are more exciting and entertaining and attract a broader and more engaged audience. She gained about 5 million subscribers on YouTube after she uploaded the video starting Dramageddon 2.0., James Charles lost 3 million. James Charles gained the subscribers back very fast and more, he is now the top beauty guru by number of subscribers on YouTube. But Tati, after some time had passed, started to lose subscribers, very slowly but steadily - because of beforementioned reasons (I am boring myself, why would I watch someone boring and with a vibe of snobby on YouTube). Now, one year later, she has made another video, again she being the victim with teary eyes, but now she is accusing Jeffree and Shane and making James Charles the nice boy. By now I wonder whether she is just playing the men off against each other like in a soap opera (by the way, she used to be an actress). This time it does not work, she is losing subscribers - probably because she has lost her credibility). I do not know what to think of her and her real intentions. I hope she is not one of those people who threaten to bring someone to court or talk about them in public media in order to make this someone accept a costly composition (often accepted to only avoid the spotlight that could be harmful for business opportunities). We will find out - may be. Added November 9, 2020: For the latest developments regarding Tati Westbrook, see New developments.
Zurück nach oben Back to the Cancelgeddon situation targeted at Jeffree Star (July 2020): Follow-up on speculations and assumptions
In the comment section of one of April L. Butcher's very interesting YouTube lives at that time about Morphe dropping Jeffree her subscribers brought up that maybe Morphe wanted Jeffree to cancel the collaboration with his friend and collab partner Shane Dawson, who also is in the focus of drama for his old YouTube content, and that Jeffree would not do that. April L. Butcher had also brought up interesting business aspects in another one of her (recorded) lives on YouTube (which she unfortunately deleted since she is resetting her YouTube channel(s)). Her assumption was that maybe Morphe wanted to replace Jeffree with a younger person, that could be James, anyways, and that the hate storm provided a good opportunity. Jeffree on the other hand might be better off without them, since he can give more JSC products to Beautylish (one of his big online retail partners) to sell and he can finally come out with his own foundation without stepping on Morphe's toes. I agree with the second, but I am not sure about the first.
Though James also attracts a huge crowd at Morphe openings as does Bretman Rock as far as I remember seeing on Instagram. But I am not sure if James really wants a long-term collab with Morphe. I am not even sure whether James really wants to be that deep in makeup products long-term. In one of their last videos together, James tells Jeffree, that he does not see himself creating (more) makeup or have his own brand (and that was not to please Jeffree, who looked rather uncomprehending, because he loves makeup, to have his own brand and to create it in his own special way). If I remember correctly James said in an interview he sees himself rather as a PR consultant working with the really big brands. But I mean, he is young, he can change his mind. From the Morphe perspective: James also always was in drama since he started YouTube - it used to be kind of his business model to make well known professional makeup artists, beauty company owners and celebrities angry to get everyone's attention (and sometimes a collab out of this). The other aspect: Jeffree Star Cosmetics has always brought additional consumers into Morphe stores, who then would buy some brushes or other Morphe stuff with the JSC products. I think it is Morphe's loss that they cancelled the collab with Jeffree. On the other hand they (Morphe) have this Coca Cola collab now - could be that they were too scared that all this drama could keep Coca Cola or other big brands from future collabs.
[Very interesting what the CEO of Beautylish Nils Johnson had to say about Jeffree Star: tremendous demand for the products from all types of customers, international customers, great products, great partner, super inclusive, proactive and very outspoken (concerning inclusivity and BLM) and giving back to the community]
Follow-up:New Morphe strategy aiming for Gen Z. I just now (07-21-2020) read in WWD, a fashion industry trade journal, that Morphe launches a Gen Z sub brand, Morphe 2, partnering with the TikTok famous Teenager girls Carli and Dixie D'Amelio and moving away from the "Instagram aestethics". Gen Z stands for Generation Z ("Zoomers"), by most researchers and media Gen Z are people being born between (about) 1997 and 2012. So Morphe now is going for a younger audience and the TikTok users. We shall see how this will work out for Morphe since they probably lose the core Jeffree Star fans who saw them giving in to a haters army and to the pressure of his known long-term enemies/competitors when they should have been a supportive family with the money and success he brought them. In the long run this might frighten away the other money making influencers since they can built their own brands and sell them over the Internet (that was the way Jeffree started). Also: TikTok is said to be possibly banned by US government since it is Chinese. And: those girls, the faces of Morphe 2, are not known for using makeup at all and their fandom is not as diverse regarding age and income as Jeffree's. But what do I know.
Zurück nach oben Follow-up: Jeffree Star published a video on YouTube after weeks of silence: Doing What's Right.
My personal opinion and assumptions about Jeffree's video
From a business point of view it was necessary to make that video and not wait any longer. It would have made him look weak, and I assume there are makeup collections in the pipeline that were probably planned a year ahead and that people had been waiting for for months (and the launches had been postpones due to the Coronavirus pandemic and probably some more because of Cancelgeddon).
I think, he also knew his fans needed him in these difficult times of Corona, quarantines, joblessness and the cancel culture people spreading hate.
But in my opinion, he was not ready emotionally (can you ever be in a situation like this knowing there are people out there with the intent to destroy you no matter what you say). He seemed hurt (his Snapchat and Instagram stories were more closeup than the video), seemed even a bit scared and for that reason maybe in a fierce mode to hide it (but I am not a psychologist, maybe the eye makeup look of the day made him look like a fierce Amazon from the Greek mythology). Yes, he always tells us, how he is a tough bitch - but who would not be hurt seeing this explosion of hate not only towards him but trying to destroy what he built from nothing, and also his employees, fans, customers and business partners being bullied.
But he is not someone to avoid pain when action is needed and not someone to give in to fears long-term, so here we are.
In his video Jeffree sincerely reflects on his own mistakes that is mainly his impulsive behavior, not to fully think things through before he opens his mouth, his listening to others and getting caught up in the hype. He apologized to James Charles (again) at least twice in the video for not having just called him and talked to him at that time. He also said that he got caught up in the drama again though he had wanted to be better. I think here he speaks about letting one or two people hear the voicemail(s) of an alleged James Charles victim a few weeks ago (though afaik in a way they could not record it and thus not giving the receipts away to not enable others to out the alleged victim against their will). But, yes, I agree, that was not a good thing to do, but understandable from a human point of view though: The past year he had been called a liar over and over again, accused that he had made things up and had no receipts. I think he could not resist to prove them wrong.
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(Trainingsgeräte bei Amazon.de)
Actually he had offered James Charles only a few months ago to show him/let him hear what he was told (though James Charles himself should know anyway since he had made the names of his own alleged victims public in 2019 when he put a private text from Jeffree - being mad at him because of the alleged problematic behavior - in his video addressing the accusations. I still do not fully understand why Jeffree had to apologize to James again, maybe because Tati had painted him a villain. He already had apologized in 2019 for not having been a better friend (and called him to talk about the things) and stretched how sorry he was that he had been mean to James' brother who had gotten some heat from Jeffree due to a misunderstanding and had done nothing wrong).
Whatever, Jeffree seemed very dissapointed with himself because he did not measure up to what kind of person he in his core truly is or wants to be.
There was an elefant in the room but he did not mention Tati Westbrook's latest video (blaming him and Shane for what she had started in 2019) by name but said that the world does not work like that that if you were not successful in taking one person down you instead take some others down with you.
Jeffree also said that what he was recently accused of was mostly not true, e.g., he never blackmailed anyone. But he himself would not entertain those things brought up against him anymore by going off publicly but his lawyers will entertain them beind the scenes (and public statements can jeopardize a law case, so he must not speak about things publicly).
He spoke about his friendship with Shane Dawson and that he does not approve of some of what Shane had done in the past but that he loves the person he is now and that Shane is one of his best friends, and that also Shane would not approve of everything Jeffree did in his past.
He went on saying there are more important things than beauty community drama happening right now, such as people getting killed and that nobody is talking about that. He especially named Breonna Taylor and Elijah McClain, both of them killed by police officers, also that black trans-women are murdered every day and the media would not talk about it. He said he would continue to speak up for what is right.
Obviously addressing his makeup loving fans he said, that there will be new makeup tutorials etc. on his YouTube channel soon and that in August new Jeffree Star Cosmetics makeup products will be launched.
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Reaction of others to Jeffree Star's video
The majority of his fans are true to him. Many said, they were happy that he did this video "Doing What's Right" and how he did it. Others had expected more details. Nevertheless, according to Socialblade by July 29 Jeffree has lost about 0.8 of 18.2 million subscribers on YouTube. In my opinion this suggests that the majority of the Cancelgeddon army mainly are people who have not been his fans.
The Cancelgeddon army people are still full of hate and turn everything against him. E.g., since he mentions the Black Lives Matter movement in his video they say, he misuses BLM to distract from himself and that he should just shut up since he was a racist - though he had stood up for the prosecution and then for a higher indictment of the police officers that killed George Floyd from the very beginning on his platforms informing millions of people, and also had shared information on the killing of Breonna Taylor and other POC killed by police and how allys can help POC. He also had demanded other brands to speak up with POC as well. With most of them haters you cannot even have a conversation. If you suggest to research a certain subject, they say they don't have to, they know Jeffree is a horrible person. They do not mind the truth or giving people a second chance or even that they would take away hope, help, income and more from others if they succeeded with their merciless intention to destroy him permanently just because of the adrenalin rush. The drama is far from being over since the cancel culture people are still everywhere, they have the notification on Jeffree's posts on to be the first to comment it spreading more hate, trying to poisen everyone's attitude (but who wants to be like them, merciless self-righteous bullies).
Some people did not like that in the video Jeffree sits in a nice room on a beautiful massive new couch. I mean... that makes me speechless. Those people who bring that up in my opinion are jealous or just want to provide another reason for others to hate him. And they obviously did not know him before Cancelgeddon: He had had an old brown couch forever in his living room in Calabasas before they moved to the bigger house in Hidden Hills and that couch was always taken by all the dogs. Let the man have a new big couch!
To the people who say that this was not a good apology video I want to say: He never said, that this was an apology video, and in my opinion he did not owe anyone an apology. But in the video he repeats his apologies to James's brother and to James for not having confronted him in person or on the phone instead of going ballistic on Twitter (though James Charles had brought things to public attention that Jeffree had messaged him in private).
I think Jeffree did good. The situation was difficult. Being the CEO of Jeffree Star Cosmetics and the co-owner of Killer Merch, he had to do it, though I think he was deeply hurt by people who had profitting on him now backstabbing, and he had other things on his mind (like his long-term friend from music times fighting cancer). But Jeffree could not hide or, like Cardi B, stand in a pretty white dress and high heels next to a pool and say, look what I am wearing to this year's CardiBisover party, then jump into the pool and end the video. Might be an option for next year, he has very pretty dresses too.
Follow-up 14 August 2020: Jeffree Star Cosmetics will be revealing his new "Orgy" collection today. At the center of it is a palette of nude colors ("nudes").
Ein Beitrag geteilt von Jeffree Star (@jeffreestar) am
The Jeffree Star Cosmetics Orgy collection will be available at jeffreestarcosmetics.com and his retailers's shops (e. g., at beautylish.com and beautybay.com) on 21 August 2020, 10 am pst (time California, that is 19.00 o'clock in Germany, UK 18 o'clock). The Orgy collection consists of the Orgy palette (30 matte nude shades from light to dark), a Mini-Orgy palette (9 shimmery nudes), new Orgy lip glosses, new Magic Star Luminous Setting Powder, new accessories (mirrors, cross body bag, makeup displays) and merch (pullovers, shorts).
Follow-up 15 June 2021: Jeffree Star addresses his mental health and changes in his personal life on YouTube.
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* The truth about me
I want to let you know that I am not "unbiased". I started researching on YouTube and on other social platforms for new trends professionally years and years ago but gradually and unplanned I became a fan of some influencers, e.g., Jeffree Star. But still I try to stay true to the facts as far as I know them. Nevertheless this post is mainly my opinion and my thoughts, you should form your own and make your own decisions.
Look what was in the mail today: the Blood Sugar Palette - a lovely emergency case I bought from Jeffree Star Cosmetics. It is perfect to blend away any thoughts of trolls and bullying haters.
