Cosmetics company Morphe will “cease all commercial activity” with Jeffree Star and his brand Jeffree Star Cosmetics, amid growing backlash against both him and his friend / co-collaborator Shane Dawson. It is the beauty YouTube apocalypse, and there will be no survivors.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Morphe said:
“Today we’ve made the decision to cease all commercial activity related to Jeffree Star and affiliated products. We expect this to conclude within the coming weeks. As we look to the future, we will continue to share updates on what lies ahead for the Morphe brand.”
It comes just weeks after Morphe ceased selling the Shane X Jeffree Conspiracy Collection. This move is a big one: Morphe has served as the main retailer for Jeffree Star’s line, and has hosted him at a bunch of launch events. (There were even rumours Star was an investor in Morphe, which the company has denied.)
So why now? So far, Jeffree Star has largely escaped the backlash that’s been coming for Shane Dawson, whose history of pedophilia jokes is coming back to bite him. The latter has been rebuked by Jada Pinkett Smith, Jaden Smith, Morphe and more, and had all three of his YouTube channels demonetised.
As the backlash around Dawson swelled, customers asked Morphe why it was still stocking his collab line with Star, a.k.a. the aforementioned Shane X Jeffree Conspiracy Collection.
The Conspiracy Collection Reveal | Jeffree Star x Shane Dawsonhttps://t.co/CsPFWJQqtY pic.twitter.com/SQPWnLiA5b
— Shane Dawson (@shanedawson) October 30, 2019
“We do not condone or agree with the actions and behaviour of Shane Dawson, and they do not in any way reflect Morphe’s beliefs. At this time, we are no longer carrying the Conspiracy Collection on morphe.com or in Morphe stores,” the company said.
It also noted that “Jeffree Star has acknowledged mistakes made in the past and has apologised, taken accountability, and worked hard to make amends within the community.”
Star, if you recall, has been criticised in the past for being straight-up racist, for which he has apologised.
“I will always agree with cancelling the Jeffree from 10-15 years old,” he said in a recent statement. “That person is long gone. But I’m also extremely proud of owning an inclusive makeup brand where I celebrate all races and genders.”
ADDRESSING LIPSTICK N*Zi AND OLD PHOTOS: pic.twitter.com/Y3El8gXr3g
— Jeffree Star (@JeffreeStar) June 18, 2020
However, recently claims of racism and harassment have been levelled against him by other YouTubers. Kameron Lester accused Star of making him feel “manipulated”, like the “token Black kid” and “uncomfortable”; Tati Westbrook said she was “beyond gaslit” by Star and Dawson, and was fed “poisonous lies” by the pair.
Looks like Morphe did a risk assessment and decided it didn’t want any more of the mess.
Star – who has largely stayed silent in all this – has yet to make a comment. Everyone else is getting pretty loud on his behalf, though.
https://twitter.com/MsStormcrow/status/1281678611859124224
https://twitter.com/Jessicam3ndoza/status/1281687419218059264
