Who knew that a TikTok mascara scandal would be the key to opening Pandoraās Box of Drama? After the viral mascara-gate fiasco starring Mikayla Nogueira that took over TikTok, the internet grew nostalgic for the notorious 2016 beauty guru era of YouTube, including some of its (problematic) creators. For some reason, the internet thought it would be a great idea to awaken the beast, and re-platform Jeffree Star. I shudder.
If youāre unaware of Starās past, Iāll lay it out for you. From 2016 to 2018, Star rose to popularity on YouTube through his makeup reviews, tutorials, and collaborations with other popular creators on the site. However, in 2020, Star became the subject of controversy after videos of him using racist and abusive language surfaced, alongside allegations of assault, to which he denied. (Her Campus reached out to Starās team for comment on these claims, but did not hear back by the time of publication.) Now, in 2023, Star has come under fire yet again after making comments about trans and nonbinary folks during an episode of professional football player Taylor Lewanās Bussin’ With The Boys podcast on Feb. 14. (Yes ā the NFL boyfriend drama was all a publicity stunt. Shocker!)
On the podcast, Star and Lewan got into the subject of pronouns, after Star said he gained a āconservative followingā as a result of his beliefs. āIām not into all the other bullsh*t. The they and them pronouns. And all that extra sh*t that we added during the pandemic because everyone was so bored in their f*cking houses. They just started to make up more sh*t,ā he said to Lewan.
Star said heās been gaining more and more appeal from conservative folks: āThatās why the conservatives like me, because Iām just real. Youāre not they and them. Youāre trans ā youāre male or youāre female. And people get so mad when I say that. How are you a they? What the f*ck does that mean? Itās stupid.ā Yikes. He continued, āBut you need someone like me, that looks like me, to say it. Because if you say it, it turns into, āYouāre homophobic, you hate trans people, you hate gays,ā and itās just how you feel. You donāt hate anyone, you just think itās stupid.ā Her Campus reached out to Star for comment on the criticism heās getting due to these statements but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Naturally, Starās comments have landed him in hot water. However, this isnāt the first time that Star has criticized nonbinary folks and their pronouns. In June 2022, Star appeared on Logan Paulās podcast, Impaulsive, where he also shared his views on pronouns. āIāve been doing this for so long, these terms did not exist when I was a kid,ā Star said, regarding they/them pronouns. When asked for his opinion, he responded, āI think half of itās f*cking stupid.ā
With Star back on social media (full-force, at that), his recent comments have not gone unnoticed by the internet.
Due to his comments, internet users are calling for Star to be de-platformed once again.
However, some Twitter users are wondering why the internet welcomed him back in the first place.
All this to say, bigotry has no place on my following list, FYP, and Twitter feed. You can catch me following unproblematic beauty gurus and learning how to flawlessly apply my foundation in peace.