Jeffree Star just dropped one of his most-anticipated products EVER but it’s already causing some ~serious~ controversy.
Last week, promo images for the Jeffree Star Cosmetics Androgyny Palette were released, which showed fellow beauty blogger Nikita Dragun rocking some super bronzed skin.
And they did NOT hold back!
UPDATE
Nikita has since issued the following statement to Seventeen regarding the backlash:
“It’s very unfortunate that a section of the community is choosing to interpret and liken my image in Jeffree Star’s campaign to blackface. The message of this campaign is intended to welcome all gender identities, sexualities, and races to enjoy the makeup line.”
“Additionally, the creative design for the imagery called for high contrast between light and shadow, and low lighting, which lends itself to creating a mood for the imagery. This campaign is so exciting and so disruptive; I’m proud to be featured in it as a Transgender Woman of Mixed Race (my mother being Mexican and my father Vietnamese). I’m disappointed that anyone would choose to critique the creative design of this incredibly inclusive campaign, rather than celebrate the diversity in it.”
EARLIER
Other fans came to Nikita’s defence and Jeffree obviously had her back, tweeting and retweeting his support and calling the haters “mean and sadistic.”
Some fans have even pointed out that this isn’t the first time Jeffree has been called out for racism. In an early video (which has since been deleted), he joked about lightening a woman of colour’s skin with battery acid.
“Maybe if she wasn’t wearing the wrong foundation colour, I wouldn’t have had to splash no battery acid to lighten her skintone,” he said. Last year he issued an apology over the incident once it started to blow up on the internet.
What do you guys think about all this?