Jeffree Star Dumped by Morphe Cosmetics Amid Mounting Criticism of the Makeup Mogul
Morphe Cosmetics has severed ties with beauty influencer Jeffree Star.
The makeup brand announced on Friday that they will be professionally parting ways with the YouTube star, 34, saying in a statement: “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,” the statement continued. “As we look to the future, we will continue to share updates on what lies ahead for the Morphe brand.”
Star’s personal beauty brand, Jeffree Star Cosmetics, responded to the announcement with a statement of its own, reading: “We are shocked and extremely saddened by the decision of our former retail partner Morphe Brushes on parting ways with our brand and Jeffree.”
“Over the past 5 years we’ve accomplished amazing things together and released iconic products. We are proud of everything we’ve accomplished with them.”
A rep for Star did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment about Morphe’s decision to sever ties or about allegations of racism leveled against him by beauty bloggers.
RELATED: Jeffree Star Responds to the James Charles and Tati Westbrook Drama: ‘This Has to Stop’
Though Morphe did not disclose specifically why it chose to stop working with Star, the company’s decision comes amid mounting criticism against the makeup mogul from the YouTube beauty community.
In a lengthy video titled “BREAKING MY SILENCE…” posted in late June, makeup guru Tati Westbrook accused Star and YouTuber Shane Dawson of spreading “poisonous lies” and manipulating her into publicly speaking out against James Charles in 2019.
“James, I am so sorry I allowed myself to be poisoned and weaponized against you,” she said in the video, addressing Charles, 21. “Yes, I’m a grown woman. I’m smart. I can usually spot deceit and manipulation a mile away. But my guard was down from being heartbroken and I allowed my self to be worked by Shane, Jeffree and others.”
“There will soon come a day where we will be able to present this evidence and you’ll be able to see why it is that we believe Jeffree and Shane are responsible for so much of the damage that has been caused,” she told viewers.
Westbrook, 38, said in her tell-all that she is unable to share all of the “evidence” she has obtained against Star and Dawson, 31, at the advice of her attorneys, she said there will be a day the entire truth will come to light.
Westbrook also said in the video that she has reason to believe Star is a partial owner of Morphe Cosmetics, though a spokesperson for Morphe later denied the allegation to Insider, saying, “We can confirm that Jeffree Star has no ownership of Morphe. He’s not an investor. He’s not a co-owner. Our only relationship is through retail distribution of Jeffree Star Cosmetics and our 2019 MorpheX collaboration.”
On July 2, beauty vlogger Jackie Aina — who accused Star for exhibiting “blatantly racist behavior” in 2018 — announced that she will no longer be affiliated with Morphe. Though she did not name Star as her reason for cutting ties with Morphe, she wrote: “I refuse to align myself with a company that continues to retail antiblack racist beauty brands. I strongly encourage other influencers to do the same!”
Aina, 32, also retweeted a statement from YouTuber Amanda Ensing that alleged Star “had multiple racist actions + vile behavior from his past up until today, yet morphe will pull everyone but him.”
“You told Business Insider he is not a Co Owner so why is he still being sold a morphe? Is it because of money? Is he held to a different standard than every other brand or Collab?” the statement read. “How can we support a brand who supports this behavior and actions? Your brands are a direct reflections of morphe. Can you please take the time to explain this to the beauty community and your hard working customers.”
Star has previously addressed his past racist comments and apologized for the “really disgusting, vile, nasty and embarrassing things.”
“I am so sorry for my words, I am so sorry for everything that I’ve said in my past. I can never turn back time and take those moments away,” he said in a video published in 2017.
“I look at them and it just makes me sick to my stomach because I don’t know who that person was.”