CW: References to violence towards Black women.
After a month long silence, YouTube beauty mogul Jeffree Star has finally addressed Tati Westbrook’s accusations with a new video that some are claiming “hijacks” the tragic deaths of Black women and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Last month, Westbrook claimed in a new video called “Breaking My Silence,” that he and Shane Dawson fed her “poisonous lies” and orchestrated her feud with James Charles in an attempt to end his career. And now, in a video titled “Doing What’s Right,” the controversial makeup artist addressed why he had taken so long to speak out on Westbrook’s allegations, which he claims are “false.”
“I’m so quick to grab my phone and say what is on my mind in that moment, without really thinking about the ramifications of my words, my actions, and for the first time in a very long time I’m really reflecting on my behaviour,” he said.
“I think we live in a world where people are just so used to doing what people want right away and that’s not good either. I think it’s been very important to stay off social media.”
Star then claims that he “didn’t try to take anybody down” but ultimately did some “dumb s**t.”
“I didn’t try to take anybody down. I’m not a villain. This isn’t a Netflix story with a crazy storyline.”
“Did I mix myself up in drama [or] did I speak on things I shouldn’t speak on? Of course I did. Did I believe certain things instead of asking the source? Did I get caught up in the hype? Did I do dumb s**t and did I not just simply call James Charles and ask him questions myself? One hundred percent and it is my fault.”
“I want to apologise to James Charles for the words I’ve said and my actions.”
Then, things start to take an unusual turn. Halfway into the ten minute clip, Star, who was previously accused of making several racist remarks towards Black people and allegedly threatened to pour battery acid on a Black woman, and also never previously made a statement addressing the Black American victims of police brutality… begins to say that other things are more important than YouTube beauty drama, like demanding justice for the tragic murder of Breonna Taylor.
“Breonna Taylor still has no justice,” Star said. “Black trans women are being murdered every day and the news is silent.”
People on Twitter quickly began to call out his response as “hijacking” the deaths of Black women and criticised him for not genuinely caring about the movement or these women. As one user mentioned, “where are the petition links? [The] donation links?”
In the video, Jeffree Star does not address other allegations about him, including claims by Kameron Lester that he and Dawson treated him like a “token black kid.” You can watch the full “apology” below.
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