Jeffree Star reveals “aggressive mental abuse” from Shane Dawson scandal

YouTuber and makeup mogul Jeffree Star has finally opened up about the drama from this past summer, which kicked off after critics accused he and fellow influencer Shane Dawson of attempting to sabotage beauty guru James Charles.

Jeffree Star is a huge name in the influencer world. Starting out as a MySpace icon and music artist, Star later migrated to YouTube, where he cultivated a massive community of fans and even kicked off his own makeup brand.

Now, Jeffree Star Cosmetics is a company held in high regard among makeup circles, but recent drama has placed a shadow over the brand’s owner.

In summer 2020, controversy sparked regarding Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star after rumors began circulating online that the two had orchestrated the canceling of James Charles in May 2019.

This speculation heightened after Tati Westbrook — a beauty YouTuber behind the “Bye Sister” video of viral fame — accused Star and Dawson of feeding her “poisonous lies” about Charles, which had purportedly led her to create the 2019 video.

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The entire scandal was also wrapped up in multiple additional controversies surrounding both Star and Dawson, which even saw the involvement of Jada Pinkett Smith amid the outrage.

However, the summer has come and gone, and Star has now opened up about what it was like being at the center of intense internet vitriol.

“When everything happened this summer, it was just all so… it was just a lot,” Star explained during an episode of the ‘The Sip’ podcast with Dawson’s fiancé, Ryland Adams. “It was so mentally draining and crazy. It was traumatic.”

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“I had never experienced that before,” he continued, revealing that he’d even been told to end his own life by critics. “To continuously hear that over and over and over… it was so crazy. The new normal became aggressive mental abuse. But I’m not trying to say that for sympathy.”

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Star’s statement on the drama has been met with mixed reviews, with some feeling that he is “refusing to take accountability,” while others show sympathy toward the YouTuber in wake of the overwhelming negative reactions he received.

What’s your take on Star’s story? Let us know on Twitter @DexertoTrending!