Jeffree Star (bornJeffrey Lynn Steininger Jr., November 15, 1985) is an American makeup artist, media personality and singer-songwriter. He is the founder and owner ofJeffree Star Cosmetics.
In 2009, Star released his debut studio album,Beauty Killer, which included songs such as "Lollipop Luxury" (which has a remix featuringNicki Minaj). He embarked on several world tours to promote his music. In 2010, he signed toKonlive but abruptly left the music industry by 2013 citing legal issues the label’s owner faced between 2007 and 2010.[3] Star returned to the music industry in 2024 announcing a re-release of his albumBeauty Killer featuring 3 new songs.[4] In November 2014, Star founded the company Jeffree Star Cosmetics. In 2018,Forbes revealed that he had earned $18 million from his YouTube endeavors alone, making him the fifth-highest-paid YouTuber that year.[5]
Early life
Jeffrey Lynn Steininger Jr.[6] was born inLos Angeles County, California, on November 15, 1985 and grew up inOrange County, California.[7] He says that he began experimenting with his mother'smakeup as a child, and convinced her to let him wear it to school when he was injunior high.[8] Star attendedPacifica High School[9] inGarden Grove, California, from which he graduated in 2002.[10] After high school, he legally changed his name to Jeffree Star[11] and supported himself with various makeup, modeling, and music jobs in Los Angeles.[10][12] He recalls his early years, spending his weekends using afake ID to attendHollywood clubs, which is where celebrities would hire him as a personal makeup artist.[13]
Career
Star in July 2009
MySpace
Star usedMySpace to further both his music and his fashion design career.[8][14][15][16] Using MySpace like a blog, Star shared his personal life, while also providing social commentary on "self-image and confidence",[17] fame and beauty. Due to his use of several websites, Star already had a built-up fan base who signed up to join him on MySpace, giving his profile a large number of friends from its inception. His MySpace photoshoots would frequently gain over 50,000 comments.[8] He also gained fame as one of the most popularindependent artists, with the daily rankings placing him in the top tier on MySpace.[18]
Music career
Star's career as anelectronica andpop vocalist began when he befriendedPeaches' drummerSamantha Maloney, who encouraged him to make music.[8] In 2005 he was featured on theHollywood Undead songTurn Off The Lights. During the summer of 2007, he was advertised as a part of theTrue Colors Tour 2007,[19] which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada.[20] The tour, sponsored by theLGBTLogo channel, began on June 8, 2007, to coincide withPride month.[20]
Star released his first and only studio albumBeauty Killer in 2009, which peaked at number seven on the USBillboardTop Electronic Albums chart.[21] The album included songs such as "Lollipop Luxury" featuringNicki Minaj. He embarked on several world tours to promote his music. In 2010, he signed toKonlive with plans to release a second album. However, it was never released and Star abruptly left the music industry in 2013 under unclear circumstances.
However, on September 15, 2024 Jeffree announced a 15 Year Anniversary release of his 2009 album Beauty Killer alongside a mini-eyeshadow palette of the same name through his YouTube channel. The release saw a new album cover with 3 new songs and with some tracks remastered. A Digital EP called 'Lollipop Killer' was also announced. The anniversary album was released in both CDs and several versions of Vinyls. The album was available for pre-order after the announcement.[26][27]
In 2010, Star calledBlood on the Dance Floor member Dahvie Vanity, who was arrested in 2009 on sexual assault charges, a "child fucker", tweeting that he saw Vanity "bring underage girls to his hotel room [...] 100% ILLEGAL".[35] Star had said he had witnessed Vanity's actions in 2012.[36] Other tweets show Star telling people to "get over the negativity" against Vanity, and promoting a Blood on the Dance Floor album. He was accused of associating with Vanity despite knowing about sexual assault allegations to profit off Vanity's continued success.[37] Following aHuffPost report detailing sexual assault – before and after 2010 – against 21 individuals (many of whom were minors),Chris Hansen ofTo Catch a Predator started covering the story.[38] Speaking to Hansen on YouTube, Star said he had no knowledge of any inappropriate activity between Vanity and underage girls while they worked together, and that his tweets were based on hearsay.[37]
In 2014, Star founded hise-commerce makeup brand, Jeffree Star Cosmetics.[39] In a five-part docuseries by Shane Dawson, Star stated that the end of his music career had left him essentially bankrupt, and that he had used his remaining savings to start his makeup brand.[better source needed] Star began promoting the brand through videos published onYouTube,[40] leading to the success of his YouTube channel, with 15.8 million subscribers and over 2.5 billion views as of December 2023.[41]Bustle magazine described Star as "a musician and onetime MySpace celeb that reinvented himself in the YouTube makeup tutorial space."[42] His first cosmetics release was a collection of velour liquid lipsticks, which were followed by highlighter palettes, lip scrubs, eyeshadow palettes, clothing, and accessories, such as mirrors and make up bags. The first East Coast location to carry the cosmetics line was aMorphe Cosmetics store at theWestfield Garden State Plaza inParamus, New Jersey on August 11, 2018.[43] Star has since launched several successful collections, such as the "Blue Blood" eyeshadow palette.[44]
Personal life
Star was in a relationship with Nathan Schwandt from 2015 to January 2020.[45] He also says that he avoids cigarettes and hard drugs, although he does smokecannabis.[46]
Star was accused ofracism due to derogatory remarks about minorities. He later apologized for the remarks.[48][49] A satirical skit between Star and a drag queen was posted onMySpace, in which Star states he wants to throwbattery acid on a black woman to lighten her skin so it will match her foundation.[50]
In June 2020, Star apologized after images and an archive of his former website Lipstick Nazi resurfaced. The website featuredswastikas alongside photos of Star engaging inself-harm.[51][52][53]
In an October 2020 report by journalistKat Tenbarge, Star was accused of multiple instances ofsexual assault,assault, and paying $10,000 inhush money to accusers. An attorney for Star denied all the allegations.[54] Leaked documents later appeared to show one of Star's accusers being paid $45,000 by a Jeffree Star Cosmetics executive.[55]
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