Beauty Youtuber and entrepreneur Jeffree Star is making headlines again. This time not for starting drama with Shane Dawson and Tati Westbrook or saying and doing racist sh*t. It would seem that his business dealings are coming under scrutiny.
According to Insider, several months after purchasing a $14.6 million home in California, Jeffree took out up to $2 million dollars in PPP loans for his two companies, Killer Merch and Jeffree Star Cosmetics. Here’s more on the story via Jezebel:
Jeffree Star, Beauty YouTube’s preeminent villain known for his makeup line, merch company, and expert ability to cause enough drama to distract from his own alleged racism, has given detractors another reason to hate him. According to ProPublica’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans database, Star took somewhere between $350,000 to $1 million on May 3 for his merch company, Killer Merch, where he sells products for fellow YouTube demons Ninja, Shane Dawson, and sister James Charles. As you may recall, PPP loans are part of the CARES act, created by the federal government to help small businesses keep employees on payroll during the covid-19 pandemic. Star’s Killer Merch company listed 59 employees at the time.
According to Insider, Jeffree Star Cosmetics, Star’s makeup line, also received between $350,000 to $1 million in PPP loans on May 3, listing 21 employees.
I got roped into watching Jeffree Star on Youtube several years ago by one of my roommates in California but I could never take to him. His mean girl, messy ass persona rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn’t even shocked when he was exposed for saying some racist sh*t back in his stand up days. The fact that he has never truly apologized and is often using Black people to shield and prop him up is unsurprising. A few months ago, after several beauty influencers dropped Morphe Cosmetics for carrying Jeffree Star’s Cosmetics brand at the height of BLM, he thought it was a great opportunity to show off his new very Black boyfriend. The eyeroll that collectively took place, including my own, let me know that BIPOC were not here for Jeffree at all.
Learning that Jeffree took out PPP loans when many Black-owned businesses couldn’t get them makes Star even more despicable. Especially since I am constantly seeing him on Twitter giving away money to people who are supposedly in need if they follow him. Makes me wonder what those funds were actually used for.
I’m going to give away $10,000 to 3 random people who retweet this tweet AND follows me! (If you don’t follow me, can’t DM you the money) Much love 💗
— Jeffree Star (@JeffreeStar) September 22, 2020
All I will say is people would like Jeffree and give him the benefit of the doubt if he would just work on himself and stop being a sh*tty person. Otherwise, we ain’t buying what he is selling.
The original article has a bunch of commenters that are saying, “What’s the big deal?” The big deal is that so many actual small businesses didn’t get a cent, and we keep hearing how millionaires and billionaires jumped the line and got so much money while being able to reinvest in their own companies out of their own pockets and the expense accounts of the business they run. Most of these ppl shouldn’t have even applied for the loan in the first place.
There was actually a ton of money leftover in PPP so anyone who didn’t get money had their head in the sand or didn’t qualify due to their biz structure. The money was there! Show me the articles with the businesses who didn’t get money?
Yeah, it was a money grab during a time of crisis. I will say, I don’t blame businesses for applying because NO ONE KNEW how the shit would play out. VC-backed stuff should not have been allowed to apply. I will say that. Let the VCs take the L there.
I wrote about this in more detail below, but without naming businesses I know several who did not receive loans, and know this due to working for a trade association and working closely with the SBA in my region to help our members. Yes, there was a lot of money left over but because the program was administered through banks, and not every bank, if a business didn’t have an existing relationship with the bank many were reluctant to approve/service those loans.
There were other ways to apply without using a bank. Kabbage, even PayPal. Other semi-banks jumped on board.
My company banks with a small community bank and they were so overwhelmed in the first round, our application was never submitted. We went through Kabbage in the second round and were approved and received funds in just a few days.
The money has strings attached. If a business can’t prove the money was spent on payroll and rent, they have to pay it back.
Ugh, of course he did, while 4 of my friends couldn’t even get 10k to help their small businesses. Fuck this system, I’m so sickened by all of it! Trump not paying taxes, huge corporations getting bailed out yet again, all while the little people are the ones who end up paying. My husband was trying to defend the bigger companies getting loans and said well they don’t “save up” for rainy days or situations like this like small business owners are supposed to do, my question is why tf not?! The executives at my company make millions, they fly in on private jets but they can’t save up for emergencies?!? They also got millions in PPP loans, of course it’s a bunch of white men as well.
Jesus I’m so over this bullshit.
@jess THANK YOU
Ugh, this is just disgusting. It’s really sad that the government allowed thing program to be abused but it’s not surprising
Also, ugh, I just wish Jeffree Starr would close his mouth in pictures more. Yuck!
this not thing! sleepy this morning
It wasn’t abused, IMO. It worked exactly as they intended it to – propping up the wealthy at the expense of everybody else.
I don’t get this generation’s adulation or how this trash goblin got rich and famous.
But I’m old.
omg I love your comment! “trash goblin” is hilarious and I am filing that one away to use later.
I also couldn’t agree more!!
Lol! Trash goblin is the perfect description! I was thinking of he’s like a mean drag bridge troll. He definitely doesn’t look warm and inviting. I wouldn’t want to look like him so I’ll be skipping everything he has to offer. Plus everyone is saying he’s a racist dick, so there’s that too.
Back in the Myspace days, he was known for being a racist and overall hateful piece of shit. I look at him today and wonder how he managed to become so successful without people dragging him for his racist past, especially since ‘cancel culture’ has been a thing for the past few years. There’s nothing “alleged” about his bigotry.
The beautyguruchatter board on reddit definitely despises him and lets newcomers know about his problematic record.
I certainly don’t wish anyone to be out of work, and I’ve stayed in terrible jobs for money – but is the company in trouble because of the pandemic or because JS’s past has again come to light?
If we vote with out wallets then all the bailouts in the world won’t keep it afloat.
He could have easily sold one of his luxury cars instead.
Right? He has to have 2M in just custom, luxury cars. His handbag collection is probably in the millions as well.
Don’t forget he also allegedly covered for alleged child predator Dahvie Vanity.
I only know who Jeffrey Star is because someone I follow on IG swears by his lipsticks, did not recognize another name in this story.
For PPP, the banks the loans went through ultimately approved or declined. Also, for the first round of PPP, the big banks set up programs that essentially allowed them to upload something like 15,000 applications an hour (can’t remember the exact stats), which supposedly was fixed in the SBA system for later rounds. I worked for a trade association and many small businesses had issues with securing loans because not all banks were approved for the program, and we found if you didn’t have an existing relationship with the bank your businesses needed to go through loans were getting declined or delayed so long funding ran out. A overall PPP was a good program, but in the haste to get it in place a lot of safeguards were missed, esp in the early rounds. Also, there have been so many changes to what is required for PPP loan forgiveness, many businesses who got the loan thinking it would be forgiven are regretting it.
Person with a literal million dollar car with a hideous paint job and a matching hideous wig is taking PPP loans. This is why people hate America.
What incentive does he have to stop being a garbage human being? It’s made him a ton of money playing the mean boy. Fans of people like him shouldn’t be surprised if they’re willing to consume the products of these individuals and then act surprised when they turn out to be just as trash as their personas. 😂 Unless they’re acting in a show, most people don’t stray that far from their own personality.
I was under the impression that he also had a marijuana related business, or at least I think that’s what he hinted a few years ago. I used to watch his tutorials and remember him saying that the makeup brand and everything related to youtube was actually a “side job”. I could be wrong.
When he and his ex split, I believe his ex got the dispensary he owns in Michigan.
This is petty, but the contrast of his completely tattooed body with his foundation-caked, eyebrow-less face is terrifying.
The photo shoot wearing just a thong that he did to promote a release recently was even worse.
I hate that these funds were meant for actually small businesses, but the face that a business has few employees does not equal small business. I work with not-for-profits who got $200k… I hope that Jeffree Starr has to repay these loans. Keeping them as ‘payment’ for himself is just disgusting.
how old are they? they photograph to look like a 47 year old reality housewife on acid.
not too worried about his loans, the Irs will go after the scammers and make them pay back loans…it’s not free money…
I won’t buy KVD and I won’t buy Jeffry. He’s just so horrid. Mean girl is right.