Beauty guru Jeffree Star continues to be one of the most controversial personalities in the makeup industry.
Several accusers have stepped forward to allege that Star, 34, has a history of sexual assault, physical violence, racist commentary and bribery.
In a lengthy report by Insider, several people who were close to Star in the early 2000s when he was a MySpace celebrity — prior to amassing more than 17 million followers on YouTube and launching his successful makeup empire — claim that he routinely groped men in his inner circle as well as a man at his Warped Tour performances, and used a close-range stun gun tasing device on those who rejected him or whom he wanted to punish.
Star specifically denied the Warped Tour allegations, saying it was a friend and they were “jokingly touching one another.”
One such alleged incident involved a homeless teen, then-17-year-old Gage Arthur, who rejected Star at a movie theater in 2009 before staying at his apartment overnight, where Star allegedly “gave him Ambien until he was intoxicated and forcibly performed oral sex on him without his consent.”
Star’s attorney called the allegations from Arthur “false and defamatory” and said that Star has never drugged anyone for sex.
According to Insider, more than one witness and accuser — including Arthur — tried to recant their on-the-record stories after Star allegedly offered some of the witnesses $10,000 to do so.
A spokesperson on behalf of Jeffree Star told Page Six Style, “While Insider may believe that generating click-bait is more important than honest reporting, facts still matter. This so-called exposé is nothing but a defamatory collection of long-discredited allegations, misleading hearsay from more than a decade ago and outright lies. Tellingly, all of the key individuals involved have refused to substantiate Insider’s bogus claims, while many, including Jeffree’s representatives, presented the reporter with a mountain of evidence proving that these allegations are false. She, regrettably and unethically, chose to ignore that evidence because it did not fit with her predetermined narrative.”
They continued, “Insider’s article is textbook defamation, rife with malice and demonstrating a reckless disregard for the truth, and, as a result, Jeffree is considering all of his legal options.”
This is not the first time Star has faced accusations of misconduct. He previously apologized for using racist slurs in the past. Most recently, fellow YouTuber Tati Westbrook accused him of manipulating drama about another prominent vlogger, James Charles.
While Star didn’t apologize for any specific behavior, he did say in a video response to Westbrook that he’s “fully admitting [his] flaws” and that “when you accept that you are the problem, you can become the solution,” and apologized to Charles for not connecting offline.
Star was also accused of paying new boyfriend Andre Marhold to date him in August, which he denied; this week, Star revealed that he broke up with Marhold and accused the basketball player of stealing Louis Vuitton purses and other goods. In an Instagram Story, Marhold said that Star is “lying.”