The make-up brand is finally cutting ties with the beauty influencer
Cosmetics company Morphe has announced it is cutting ties with Jeffree Star and his make-up brand Jeffree Star Cosmetics.
On Friday (July 10), Morphe posted a statement on Twitter saying the company had made the decision to “cease all commercial activity related to Jeffree Star and affiliated products.”
The move comes after growing backlash against Star and his collaborator Shane Dawson in the wake of the revival of the Tati Westbrook and James Charles controversy. Last week, Westbrook posted a video accusing the two of manipulating and gaslighting her into making the infamous “Bye Sister” exposé on Charles.
Amidst this, there was renewed interest from the public in Star and Dawson’s long history of racist and offensive behaviour. Old YouTube videos of Dawson resurfaced showing him making numerous and frequent “jokes” about paedophilia, wearing blackface on several occasions, using the N-word, and “joking” about the death of Trayvon Martin. Jada and Jaden Smith both called out the YouTuber over a video of him pretending to masturbate to a poster of a then 11-year-old Willow.
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.
— Morphe (@MorpheBrushes) July 10, 2020
Star meanwhile, has been frequently filmed using the N-word, making racist jokes including one involving throwing battery acid on a Black woman to lighten her skin to match her foundation, and been pictured with white supremacist symbols inclusing confederate flags and swastikas.
Last month, Morphe appeared to remove Dawson and Star’s make-up collaboration, the Conspiracy collection, from their stores. However, the make-up brand continued to stock Jeffree Star Cosmetics products on their site leading to beauty influencer Jackie Aina – who Star has referred to in the past as a “gorilla” – to cut ties with Morphe.
Morphe had served as the primary brick-and-mortar retailer for Jeffree Star Cosmetics, hosting events with the influencer and collaborating on a series of collections. As of writing, Star’s products remain on the Morphe website, however, the brand states this is expected to change in the “coming weeks.”
In response to the move, Jeffree Star Cosmetics put out a statement saying it was “shocked and extremely saddened” by Morphe’s decision. “Over the past five years we’ve accomplished amazing things together and released iconic products. We are proud of everything we’ve accomplished with them.”
Star himself has not responded to the announcement or Westbrook’s accusations.