Jeffree Star's Climb to Multi-Millionaire Status

Early 2000’s stardom:

During the early 2000’s, when MySpace was all the rave and the internet was a place of discovery and innovation, Jeffree Star rose to the top.  He created an online persona through MySpace, gathering a big fan base. His eccentric style and “I don’t care” attitude attracted people to his profile. He would go out dressed in drag, and attracted the attention of some famous people at clubs in Hollywood. These people would later come to appreciate his makeup skills, allowing him to do their makeup.

Music Career Breakthrough:

After gaining attention from his fan base in the early 2000’s, Star decided to launch a music career, which at first did not go so bad. In 2007, he began working on his album Beauty Killer which was later released in 2009. He created a massive fanbase, getting features with Nicki Minaj and rock band Hollywood Undead. His music videos accumulated over 25 million views.

New Beginnings: Jeffree Star Cosmetics:

After Star’s music career fell off, he decided to give his all to his passion — makeup. He claims that he put all of his life’s savings into his brand and it was launched in 2014 — a cruelty-free, independent brand that would later make him millions in revenue. The first product Star launched was his Velour Liquid Lipsticks which now has over 70 shades available. After launching his first product, which soared in the makeup community, he decided to launch eye shadow pallets, skin frost (highlighter), lip scrubs, clothing and more recently he has been selling grinders through his makeup brand. Yes, your favorite YouTube star and makeup connoisseur is pot friendly.

His most recent collection, released on March 29th of this year — Blue Blood Collection — has nearly sold out, with only a few individual products left available, but this is no surprise, considering each of his collections always sell out quickly.

YouTube Following:

Along with launching his makeup brand in 2014, Star decided it was time for him to promote his makeup and create a bigger name for himself within the makeup community. He created a YouTube channel initially to promote his brand but it turned into something way more. From makeup tutorials to “Get Ready with Me in My Rolls Royce,” Star became a star. His creative videos landed him on the top of his career, where he has now accumulated over 14 million followers. His videos have gathered over 1.5 billion views within the short time of five years.

He has done collaborations with multiple makeup influencers such as Manny MUA, Kim Kardashian, Laura Lee, James Charles and more. His YouTube followers — including me — are an extremely loyal fan base that follow Star’s every move.

Controversy Everywhere:

Every star has their scandals and rumors but for Jeffree Star, it has become the norm. From controversies with long time friend, Kat Von D to issues surrounding old leaked footage of the stars’ racial slurs, Star has made a few mistakes along the way. Kat Von D, Star’s old friend and owner of notorious makeup brand Kat Von D Beauty had a few comments to make about Star in 2016. She called him out stating that he had stolen his label for his makeup brand from a friend she recommended to him in a YouTube video (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wzu5NzgxNwg) that accrued nearly 10 million views. The entire controversy made headlines and landed Star in a sea of backlash from Von D’s fanbase and other people following the feud

. Star, of course, could not help himself and had to make a response video (https://youtu.be/pSoaHF0s1Rs), in which he displayed private text messages between Kat Von D and himself to clear his name and debunk any rumors she had exposed.

Apologies - Jeffree Star:

The biggest controversy in Star’s career created a lot of backlash for the star and made him lose a lot of fans. RACISM — the title of Star’s apology video which he released in June of 2017 — puts all of the rumors on the table. Videos from a decade prior that resurfaced of the star, landed him in hot water when people all over Twitter, Instagram and YouTube began to bash him and call him a racist. In his video (https://youtu.be/Su6FeI7lHVg), he began by apologizing for any statements he had made in the videos and recognized that he was a changed person. He describes the struggle he went through in the past, within himself and how he went about certain situations stating “...and it makes me sick to my stomach because I don’t know who that person was...the person that said those horrible, vile things…was depressed...angry at the world...felt like they were not accepted...was seeking attention.” He directly apologizes for his mistakes stating, “I wanna look everyone in the eyes and let you know that everything that you have seen is so, just wrong. It’s upsetting. It’s nasty. It really makes me sick to my stomach to watch those old videos because what I was saying is not what I represent.”

A Direct Attack:

After creating a successful brand, Star was hit with a big blow this past month. On March 16 Star’s warehouse was broken into. Over $2.5 million dollars of products were taken.(https://www.seventeen.com/beauty/makeup-skincare/a27020485/jeffree-star-cosmetics-break-in/).

What Now?:

As of now, Star is continuing his career with YouTube and Jeffree Star Cosmetics and has a net worth of $50 million.