Makeup artist Jeffree Star is one of the most popular characters on YouTube, who already has his million-dollar cosmetic brand and millions of teenage followers on his social networks.
He is one of the 5 highest paid youtube rs, with about $ 17 million a year in revenue coming from the platform alone, during 2019, according to Forbes.
Star, now 34, built his beauty empire from the success of an earlier career as an electropop musician, during the Myspace era of the internet, in the late 2000s.
The character brought to the internet today is unlike Jeffree in his twenties, when he looked shocking, violent, and often filmed in racist videos.
An Insider internal investigation says that all this was not just a character acting.
Some former Star associates say he has been involved in violent and abusive behavior, in some cases during the late 2000s, including multiple counts of sexual assault.
Four people spoke to Insider and said Star touched other men without their consent.
Five people say they have personally seen Jeffree use stun guns or other devices to hurt and intimidate people around him.
They also say that in 2009, Star took a homeless teenager to his home and then drunk and abused him.
In several letters to Insider, Star's lawyer denied allegations of physical and sexual violence and questioned the credibility of the magazine's sources.
After Insider detailed the allegations against Star and his lawyer, several people who had made recorded claims about Star's conduct contacted Insider to change their stories.
An accuser and two alleged witnesses, who had given recorded testimony to Insider, in which they said they saw or experienced Star involvement in the violence, eventually changed their stories after being offered $ 10,000. (According to Insider)
Star, whose full name is Jeffrey Lynn Steininger, Jr., has previously faced waves of backlash over the racist person he created to draw attention to Myspace and the 2000s live broadcast platform, Stickam.
Në disa klipe në epokën e MySpace, Jeffree tallet me gratë me ngjyrë dhe sugjeron të hedhin acid për “të ndriçuar pak lëkurën”. Ai ka nxitur shpesh debate me komentet e tij raciste dhe seksiste.
Në 2017-ën, Jeffree pranoi disa prej këtyre akuzave dhe kërkoi falje, duke mohuar se ishte racist.
Në një klip të qarkulluar gjerësisht, Star duket se ngacmon një burrë, në një ndalesë të Warped Tour 2009.
Në një letër për Insider, avokati i tij tha se videoja ishte e Star dhe e një shoku dhe se "me shaka, po preknin njëra-tjetrën". Videoja, më pas u ngarkua në kanalin e YouTube të Star "thjesht për argëtim".
Ish-menaxheri i tij, Zach Neil, u shpreh se kjo “është gjëja e tij” dhe ai mund të prekë kështu dhe vajzat dhe djemtë.
Sources and other people accuse Jeffree of sexual abuse, as well as bribery, to alter the evidence given.
