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Jeffree Star, controversial YouTuber and founder of Jeffree Star Cosmetics, addressed the massive social media outcry over his latest makeup product, the Cremated Collection, on Wednesday.
Many have expressed outrage over the timing and troll-worthy nature of the gray-scale eyeshadow palette, considering that over 93,000 people in the U.S. and more than 328,000 globally have died amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Some pointed out that the names of the shades in the palette ― like “Death Certificate,” “Pallbearer,” “Casket Ready” and “Embalmed” ― seemed especially insensitive.
Star responded to the backlash at the beginning of a YouTube video released on Wednesday, which also showed him using the makeup.
“It takes months and months and months ― sometimes a year plus ― to actually make a product,” Star said, explaining that this collection was well in the works before COVID-19 hit.
“There were some people saying, ‘Jeffree, it’s a little weird timing. There’s a lot going on in the world.’ But, for me, this is art and I never come from a negative place, you guys,” he continued. “My own father, who passed away, and my two dogs, who passed away last year, are all cremated and it is a tradition in my family. Now, nothing ever comes from a bad place.”
“In no way was this created to be offensive,” he added.
Star said that he came up with the idea for the palette a year ago and that it was trademarked in September 2019. He said that if he’d delayed the product any further, it would have clashed with other projects and the collection would have been delayed until fall 2021.
“I never want to give my customers a bad experience,” he said. “I never want to sell expired makeup. So, as a business owner, I was like, ‘We gotta get this out.’”
Star ended his explanation by saying “I’m never discrediting anyone’s feelings.”
“Everyone is allowed to feel how they want and interpret things how they do, so just know that I only come from a good place,” he said, before launching into his own gray-scale transformation with his friend Nicole.
But even fellow YouTuber and beauty vlogger NikkieTutorials, also known as Nikkie de Jager, agreed that the timing of the Cremated Collection was off.
“So many people are passing away because of the coronavirus and we need to take a distance from people. Having a burial and having that ceremony is a very touchy subject at the moment,” she said.
Still, NikkieTutorials gave the palette a positive review.
Star is regularly the subject of controversy and has apologized in the past for racist remarks he’s made, which he later called “disgusting, vile, nasty and embarrassing.”
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