Kim Kardashian & Jeffree Star Officially CANCELLED!
Kim Kardashian has been a makeup and beauty icon for years. She (and her makeup artist Mario) catapulted the age-old technique of highlighting and contouring to the masses and launched a makeup revolution. Now you can’t even go to the grocery store without seeing a woman contoured and highlighted for the gods. Yup, you can thank Kim Kardashian for that!
Love her or hate her. She’s a beauty icon. There’s no denying that. So it wasn’t shocking to see Kim dip her toes into the makeup world with her own line of contour kits. However, Kim’s timing was way off. I’m talking light years. The highlight and contour craze hit its peak about 2 years ago when Anastasia Beverly Hills came onto the scene with her signature contour kits. Since then we’ve seen a crap ton of contour kits. Some good. Some bad. Either way, contour kits have been done to death and we’re starting to get a little tired of them. We may have given Kim a cool pass for being late to the party if she came hard and heavy with good quality. But Kim fell flat. Her first release, a dual sided cream contour stick, proved to be a massive, expensive fail. For $50, you get less product than a traditional lipstick that breaks easily. Oh, and a dual sided brush-sponge combo that’s rough, hard to use and falls apart. Not cool, right? 
We were all hoping Kim would soon redeem herself with something new and better. Our dreams appeared to have been answered when she teased the new Bronzing Contour and Highlight Palette releasing soon. Naturally, Kardashian fans and makeup junkies flocked to Kim’s Snapchat to sneak a peek at the swatches before launch. Unfortunately, the swatches were crap. And people took notice. Jeffree Star, a popular YouTube makeup artist, also caught Kim’s Snapchat swatch snafu and decided to blast her on Twitter. Rightfully so, as the upcoming Bronzer Contour and Highlight Palette looked chalky, powdery and quite sheer.
It wasn’t long before the beauty community was in a frenzy. There was lip gloss and contour kits flying everywhere! No, I’m kidding. But things did get a little hectic! First, people began to call out Kim for releasing yet another product that won’t live up to the price tag. People took note just how chalky and sheer the Bronzing Contour and Highlight Palette was turning out to be. Soon, the struggle swatches were all over Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Besides the quality, we also noticed that the Bronzing Contour and Highlight Palette wasn’t inclusive. None of the shades look suitable for brown skin or WOC in general. The undertones are off. The contour shades aren’t deep enough. It’s like Kim completely forgets that there’s more to the world than pale to tan skin.
The struggle begins…
The slander started rolling in immediately. Jeffree Star fans began to praise the YouTuber for his honesty versus him just sucking up to Kim Kardashian for free makeup. On the other hand, Kim Kardashian fans began to flood Jeffree Star’s mentions with reminders of his not so clean (or nice) past.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Jeffree Star is an internet OG who made a name for himself making music on MySpace. He soon got into makeup, started making tutorials and eventually launched his own cosmetics line. I can’t knock anyone’s success. Jeffree Star seems to be living the dream. Sadly, we can’t all celebrate his hustle and his success because Jeffree Star has repeatedly shown himself to be an overall nasty person.
…and continues…
Years ago, Jeffree recorded and posted a video of him and a friend spewing racial slurs and threatening to throw acid on a woman to lighten her skin tone. Since then, there’s been a handful of clips of Jeffree saying “nigger” and referring to black women as “gorillas”, “monkeys” and “rats”. Many people give Jeffree a pass because he makes pretty makeup and has supposedly changed his views and ways. Which is somewhat understandable considering the derogatory videos of Jeffree tossing around racial slurs are old.
However, Jeffree continues to make nasty racially-charged remarks to women of color including other popular YouTubers like MakeupShayla and Jackie Aina. On several occasions, he’s referred to both women as “broke rats” and a slew of other insults. Like any smart business man, Jefree issued an apology and made an effort to include black women in his ad campaigns. I wasn’t convinced. Neither was anyone else. Many people saw right through Jeffree’s antics and his 60-minute cinematic debut complete with tears. Jeffree Star is a narcissist and a racist. Point blank.
Here’s where it gets messy…
Believe it or not, Kim Kardashian has some pretty woke fans. And they weren’t happy to see a known racist take shots at their beloved beauty queen. Fans began to lash out at Jeffree Star and light his mentions on fire. Apparently, the social media attacks were so bad that Kim hopped on Snapchat to actually defend Jeffree.
Um, what??
Now I don’t doubt that Kim Kardashian knows her contour kits are trash. However, I’m completely disappointed by the fact that she would choose to support and seemingly uplift a known racist. Not only did Jeffree Star diss her upcoming contour kit but he’s also disrespected and offended millions of women. Black women. Like Kim’s half-black daughter, North.
I don’t think Jeffree Star should be crucified for his past for his entire life. However, he does need to be held accountable for his actions. It’s one thing to make a silly, immature video as a kid over 10 years ago. It’s a completely different ball game when you’re a 30 year old business owner calling black women hood rats on social media. We’ve got to draw the line somewhere. And that line is here, Jeffree. You’re cancelled. Sorry not sorry.
You’re cancelled too, Kim!
I commend Kim and other white women who continue to uplift and support Jeffree because his racist remarks don’t affect them. I can’t imagine turning a blind eye to such behavior and being morally bankrupt. But I assume it has to be difficult in the midst of everyone being so “awake”.
But you’re cancelled too, Kim.
My thoughts?
It’s bad enough you and your family have a long history of cultural appropriation and exploiting black people for gain. But now you want us to forgive a known racist? And sweep his bad behavior under the rug? Girl, bye! You, Jeffree Star and your chalky, ashy contour kits can beat it.
As a white woman, I don’t expect you to understand why people like Jeffree Star are harmful to society and how hurtful they can be to people who look like me. You see, Kim, you didn’t grow up being told you’re too dark. Or your lips are too big. Or your hair is too nappy.
Or maybe you did.
Maybe that’s why you’ve altered all of your ethnic features to favor a more European aesthetic. But I’m not going there today. My point is, it’s hard being a black woman. It’s hard having to deal with the entire world having malice and ill intent in their hearts towards you merely for the way you look. That’s extremely hurtful, Kim. And I can’t believe you had the audacity to pretty much tell me to get over it because it’s “old”. Look around, Kim. Racism isn’t old news. It’s still very much in effect today!
As a mother of black children, you should be more empathic to black women and their feelings towards racism. I hate to say it. But there will come a day when your children will be faced with racial slurs. I highly doubt your response to North and Saint will be, “Move on and get over the past.”
You should be ashamed of yourself, Kim. The fact that you would rather defend a racist to help sell your makeup is deplorable. It’s sad to know that a few bucks is worth more to you than the feelings of your black children and millions of black women around the world. God bless to you though, sis. I hope this contour kit sells out, too. Because my black ass won’t be buying a single one!
Do you agree with Kim Kardashian?
