This weekend, the world of YouTube beauty exploded into drama. Shane Dawson, 31, and Jeffree Star, 34, two of the platform’s biggest stars, faced renewed backlash after accusations of racism, child sexualization, and stabbing in the back. The public appeal has resulted in a stop following campaign that has led to both losing hundreds of thousands of followers.
Dawson and Star have been two of the most powerful and influential YouTubers for almost 10 years. Star is also the CEO of Jeffree Star Cosmetics, a popular makeup brand, which started in 2014.
Until recently, Mr. Dawson was a beloved creator who has been called the “King of YouTube”. He has been a regular on the platform since 2008 and is connected and friendly to many other top YouTubers. Last year, he produced a docuseries about Mr. Star, which has nearly 150 million views; the two also released a makeup palette together.
But the offensive statements and videos that Star and Dawson released in previous years are receiving renewed attention.
Dawson has amassed billions of views on YouTube, often engaging in offensive humor. She has posted several black-face videos, taunted people with disabilities, joked about bestiality, sexualized minors, and once talked about “figuratively killing someone.” On June 26, Mr. Dawson posted a tearful apology on his channel, in which he attempted to make amends for his past, declaring that he deserved “to lose everything.”
As soon as his apology video was posted, a clip of him purporting to sexually gratify himself with a photo of Willow Smith, then 11, re-emerged and began to be widely shared. Jaden and Jada Pinkett Smith spoke against Mr. Dawson immediately. “For Shane Dawson … I’m done with the excuses,” Willow’s mother Pinkett Smith tweeted.
Mr. Star, a close friend of Mr. Dawson’s, also faced cancellation last week. Like Mr. Dawson, Mr. Star has been a regular on YouTube since the early days. But while Mr. Dawson cultivated a good-friend image for everyone, Mr. Star has been called a YouTube “super villain” and is considered duplicity by many fans.
Beauty experts have speculated that both Mr. Dawson and Mr. Star played a big behind-the-scenes role in stoking backlash against James Charles, another beauty YouTuber, last year.
Mr. Star’s close contact with the beauty community and broader relevance on YouTube have begun to wane, as has Mr. Dawson. In the past few months, various channels documenting the drama have published investigations into Mr. Star’s past, reviving old content in which Mr. Star posed for a brand that was slated to start called the Lipstick Nazi and supported a fellow music artist Dahvie Vanity, who was accused of sexual misconduct.
Star also allegedly gathered damning information about other YouTube stars to blackmail them over their heads.
Neither Mr. Star nor Mr. Dawson responded to a request for comment.
While many of these incidents have arisen before, repeated accusations against the two YouTubers at a time when the general culture is confronted with rampant racism and problematic behavior could lead to permanent changes in the beauty world.
Already, Dawson and Star are bleeding from hundreds of thousands of followers and face a storm of criticism online. Target has removed Dawson’s books from their shelves, according to Insider.
“Jeffree and Shane have long been untouchable,” said Will Larkins, a 15-year-old who provides comments on the drama online and has been documenting these events on his Twitter account @OhMyGodExposeU. “They have gotten away with it. I think people are finally fed up and realize that we can’t continue to give people like this a platform. ”
Outside of Mr. Star and Mr. Dawson, fans have begun to look at a whole generation of millennial influencers in a new light. Jenna Marbles, another YouTuber who had been on the site for a decade, recently resigned after a backlash to an old video in which she appeared on blackface.
YouTubers David Dobrik and Liza Koshy have also faced strong criticism for old videos, imitating the Japanese language. “I hope that one day people can learn, change and grow before they make millions of dollars with their black faces,” Akilah Hughes, a YouTuber, wrote on June 26 on Twitter. “My tears are reserved for all black people who will never try to have a career on YouTube because they don’t want to be subjected to racism all day every day for a lifetime.”
As many millennial white beauty influencers lose relevance, a group of newer and more diverse creators are stepping in. “Said Ashlye Kyle, 35, who runs a beauty drama-focused YouTube channel.” I think they are going to gain more influence. “
Even if Mr. Dawson and Mr. Star struggle to overcome this backlash, Ms. Kyle and others in the YouTube beauty world believe that they will never regain the influence they had. “Do I feel like Jeffree will always have his stans and his next makeup release will be sold out?” Mrs. Kyle said. “Absolutely. And will Shane’s upcoming docuseries continue to receive millions of views? Yes. But the beauty community itself is finally seeing its true colors.”
Will Larkins said: “This pyramid system where Shane and Jeffree are kings and everyone else is under them is over.”
He added, “The next generation of beauty influencers will be about art, not just drama. People are realizing that we need more representation of people of color, Asians and all minorities. The world of beauty is a place to express yourself. The younger generation understands this better than the older beauty gurus. “
