Cult make-up brand Morphe has severed ties with controversial YouTuber Jeffree Star.
The decision was made after multiple influencers from the beauty community came forward to demand action from the company, after Star found himself embroiled in claims of racism.
He has also been accused of harassing fellow YouTuber 21-year-old James Charles.
The statement released last week read: “Today we’ve made the decision to cease all commercial activity related to Jeffree Star and affiliated products.
“We expect this to conclude within the coming weeks. As we look to the future, we will continue to share updates on what lies ahead for the Morphe brand.”
To date, Star has released two collaborative collections with the brand, which are still available on the brand’s UK site.
Beauty influencer and YouTuber Jackie Aina was one of the first to publicly speak out against the brand and distanced herself from Morphe, after its decision to work with Star.
Aina has partnered with Morphe on promotions for its eyeshadow palettes and foundations in the past.
She wrote on Twitter: “Hey boos, as some of you may know as of this week I will no longer be a @MorpheBrushes affiliate. Code ‘EDGES’ has [been] deactivated.
“I refuse to align myself with a company that continues to retail antiblack racist beauty brands. I strongly encourage other influencers to do the same.”
hey boos, as some of you may know as of this week I will no longer be a @MorpheBrushes affiliate.
— Naira Banks (@jackieaina) July 2, 2020
code “EDGES” has deactivated. I refuse to align myself with a company that continues to retail antiblack racist beauty brands. I strongly encourage other influencers to do the same!
Star has remained silent on all of his social media channels since the brand’s announcement was made.
The 34-year-old has a combined following on YouTube, Twitter and Instagram of 40.6 million.
The US vlogger was accused of being ‘tone deaf’ for using ‘RIP’, ‘Life Insurance’ and ‘Inheritance’ as shade names for the line’s eyeshadow palette.
In response, Star defended his collection, on Snapchat he wrote: “To me, it’s not just an eyeshadow palette it’s way more than that. There’s always so many meanings with my art. And that’s what it is, it’s mine I created it for the world.
"It’s allowed to be interpreted any way that anyone wants to take it but I always come from a good place and this palette is fucking sickening.”
