Jeffree Star is Under Fire for Using Breonna Taylor and Elijah McClain to Deflect James Charles Drama

Photo credit: Rosdiana Ciaravolo - Getty Images
Photo credit: Rosdiana Ciaravolo – Getty Images

From Seventeen

Following his apology video, Jeffree Star is being hit with a massive wave of backlash for using the deaths of Breonna Taylor and Elijah McClain to divert attention away from his own problematic behavior.

On Saturday, Jeffree responded to Tati Westbrook’s accusations that he used “poisonous lies” to manipulate her into creating her infamous take-down video about James Charles. In his video, Jeffree discussed his past statements about James, before briefly touching on the Black Lives Matter movement, a choice that some are calling “hijack-tivism.”

“Now, Breonna Taylor still has no justice. Black trans women are being murdered every day and the news is silent. Elijah McClain has no justice and the countless other people who are murdered every day, while everyone just goes about their business like nothing’s happening,” Jeffree said.

“And I think that drama and the beauty world – which I have definitely been a part of – it all has to stop. Now, six months ago, before COVID and everything hit our world, it was such a different place for all of us. And including myself, it’s really time to reflect on the big picture,” Jeffree finished.

Immediately following the 38 seconds spent discussing BLM, Jeffree moved on to defend Shane Dawson (who is under fire for making sexual comments about children), then used the remainder of the 10-minute-long video to discuss what’s in store for his cosmetics brand.

Viewers were furious that Jeffree, who hasn’t tweeted about social justice issues since June 15, would use the tragic deaths to avoid accountability. Twitter exploded with outrage.

Though he discussed his feud with Tati and James, Jeffree still has not addressed his falling-out with Morphe. The brand publically cut ties with Jeffree after Jackie Aina called on them to remove his products from shelves, due to his history of racist comments about black women.

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