Jeffree Star
Jeffrey Lynn Steininger Jr.[4] (born November 15, 1985)[5], known professionally as Jeffree Star, is an American entrepreneur, YouTuber and singer, and the founder and owner of Jeffree Star Cosmetics.
Jeffree Star | |||||||||||||
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![]() Jeffree Star at RuPaul's Dragcon 2018 | |||||||||||||
Born | Jeffrey Lynn Steininger Jr. November 15, 1985 | ||||||||||||
Occupation |
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Years active | 2003–present | ||||||||||||
Title | Founder and owner of Jeffree Star Cosmetics | ||||||||||||
YouTube information | |||||||||||||
Channel | |||||||||||||
Years active | 2006–present[1] | ||||||||||||
Genre | |||||||||||||
Subscribers | 17.4 million[2] | ||||||||||||
Total views | 2.35 billion | ||||||||||||
Associated acts | |||||||||||||
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Updated June 27, 2020 | |||||||||||||
Musical career | |||||||||||||
Genres | |||||||||||||
Years active | 2007–2013 | ||||||||||||
Labels |
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Website | jeffreestarcosmetics |
In 2009, Star released his first and only studio album, Beauty Killer, which included songs such as "Lollipop Luxury" featuring Nicki Minaj. He embarked on several world tours to promote his music. In 2010, he signed to Konvict Muzik—whose founder Akon described Star as "the next Lady Gaga".[6] However, Star abruptly left the music industry in 2013 due to legal issues Akon was facing between 2007 and 2010.[7]
In November 2014, he founded the company Jeffree Star Cosmetics. In 2018, Star earned $18 million from his YouTube endeavors alone, according to Forbes. That was enough to make him the fifth-highest-paid YouTube star as of December 2018.[8]
Early life
Star was born in Los Angeles County, California,[5] and raised in Orange County, California.[9] His father, Jeffrey Lynn Steininger Sr.,[10] committed suicide when Star was six years old and he was subsequently raised solely by his mother, Marra Shubyann Lindstrom Steininger.[11] As a child, Star alleges he began regularly experimenting with his mother's makeup and convinced her to let him wear it to school when he was in junior high.[12] He moved to Los Angeles following his graduation from high school, supporting himself with various makeup, modeling and music jobs.[13][14] He later recalled spending his time on weekends using a fake ID to attend Hollywood clubs where celebrities would hire him for makeup work at their homes.[15]
Career
![](../I/m/Jeffree_Star_Warped_Tour.jpg)
MySpace
Star used popular social networking website MySpace to further both his music as well as fashion design career.[19] He also used MySpace for blogging about his life, while making social commentary on "self-image and confidence,"[20] fame, beauty, and life. Star had built up a fan base on several websites but convinced many to join him on MySpace, giving his profile a large number of followers from the beginning. His MySpace photoshoots would frequently get over 50,000 comments when posted.[12] Star also gained fame as one of the most popular independent artists, with the daily rankings placing him in the top tier on MySpace.[21]
Music career
Star's music career as an electronica and pop vocalist began when he befriended Peaches' drummer Samantha Maloney, who encouraged him to make music.[12] During the summer of 2007, Star was advertised as a part of the True Colors Tour 2007,[22] which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada.[23] The tour, sponsored by the LGBT Logo channel, began on June 8, 2007, to coincide with Pride month.[23]
Star released his first and only studio album Beauty Killer in 2009, which peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart.[24] The album included songs such as "Lollipop Luxury" featuring Nicki Minaj. He embarked on several world tours to promote his music. In 2010, he signed to Konvict Muzik—whose founder Akon described Star as "the next Lady Gaga"—with plans to release a second album. However, it was never released and Star abruptly left the music industry in 2013 under unclear circumstances. He later described signing to Akon's record label as "the biggest mistake I've ever made."[25]
He appeared in the second version of Kesha's music video for her single "Take It Off" in 2010.[26] Star has worked with several other musical performers, including Blood on the Dance Floor, Deuce,[27] Millionaires,[28] and Larry Tee.[29]
Jeffree Star Cosmetics
In 2014, Star founded his e-commerce makeup brand, Jeffree Star Cosmetics.[30] 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.[31] Star began promoting the brand through videos published on YouTube, leading to the success of his YouTube channel, with 17.4 million subscribers and over 23 billion views as of August 2020.[32] Bustle magazine described Star as "a musician and onetime MySpace celeb that reinvented himself in the YouTube makeup tutorial space."[33] 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 a Morphe Cosmetics store at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey on August 11, 2018.[34] Star has since launched several new collections, such as the "Blue Blood" eyeshadow palette.[35]
Personal life
Nathan Schwandt was Jeffree's boyfriend from ca. 2015 to January 2020.[36] Star claims to not drink alcohol (despite previously tweeting about drinking vodka on multiple occasions[37]), smoke cigarettes or take hard drugs, although he does smoke cannabis (which is legal in California).[38][39]
Controversies
Jeffree Star's quarrels with other media personalities are well documented. These included conversations with tattoo artist Kat Von D, who accused Star of "drug use, racism, and bullying";[40] Tati Westbrook, who accused Star and Shane Dawson of forcing her to upload a video attacking fellow beauty YouTuber James Charles;[41][42] Kylie Jenner, whose products were criticized negatively by Star;[43] Kim Kardashian;[43] and Jerrod Blandino, co-founder of Too Faced Cosmetics.[44][45]
Star was accused of racism due to derogatory remarks about minorities. He later apologized for the remarks.[46][47] A satirical skit between Star and a drag queen was posted on MySpace, in which Star states he wants to throw battery acid on a black woman to lighten her skin so it will match her foundation.[48] Star has used racial slurs on multiple occasions.[49]
In 2010, Star called BOTDF member Dahvie Vanity, who was arrested in 2009 on sexual assault charges, a "child fucker", tweeting that he "saw ... Dahvie bring under age girls to his hotel room. 100% ILLEGAL."[50] Later tweets show Star telling people to "get over the negativity" against Vanity, and promoting a BOTDF album. He was accused of associating with Vanity despite knowing about sexual assault allegations to profit off Vanity's continued success.[51] Following a HuffPost report detailing sexual assault – before and after 2010 – against 21 individuals (many of whom were minors), Chris Hansen of To Catch A Predator started covering the story.[52] Speaking to Hansen on YouTube, Star said he had no knowledge of any inappropriate activity between Vanity and underage girls while they were worked together, and that his tweets were just based on hearsay.[51]
In June 2020, Star apologized after images and an archive of his former website ‘Lipstick Nazi’ resurfaced. The website featured swastikas alongside photos of Star engaging in self-harm.[53][54][55]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007, 2011 |
LA Ink | Himself | Aaron Krummel Fred Villari |
Recurring role; 2 episodes |
2015 | What Now | Victoria | Ash Avildsen | Feature film |
2017 | Shane and Friends | Himself | Shane Dawson | Podcast |
2018 | The Secret World of Jeffree Star | Shane Dawson | Docu-series; 5 episodes | |
2019 | The Beautiful World of Jeffree Star | Docu-series; 9 episodes | ||
2020 | The Dish With Trish | Trisha Paytas | Guest appearance |
Discography
Studio albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||
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US [56] |
US Elec [57] |
US Heat [58] |
US Indie [59] | ||
Beauty Killer |
|
122 | 7 | 2 | 22 |
Extended plays
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US Elec [57] |
US Heat [58] | ||
Plastic Surgery Slumber Party |
|
— | — |
Cupcakes Taste Like Violence |
|
6 | 8 |
Virginity |
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— | — |
Concealer |
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— | — |
Mr. Diva |
|
— | — |
Singles
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Lollipop Luxury"[60] | 2008 | Cupcakes Taste Like Violence |
"Prisoner"[61] | 2009 | Beauty Killer |
"Prom Night"[62] | 2012 | Non-album single |
"Mr. Diva"[63] | Mr. Diva | |
"Love to My Cobain"[64] | 2013 | Non-album single |
References
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- https://socialblade.com/youtube/user/jeffreestar
- "jeffreestar Monthly YouTube Statistics - Socialblade.com". socialblade.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- "https://www.whitepages.com/address/3420-Cordova-Dr/Calabasas-CA/33IGzoTSJAD0LLLcU52MC3". www.whitepages.com. Retrieved August 15, 2020. External link in
|title=
(help) - "The Birth of Jeffrey Steininger". California Birth Index. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
Jeffrey Lynn Steininger was born on November 15, 1985 in Los Angeles County, California. His father's last name is Steininger, and his mother's maiden name is Lindstrom.
- Bose, Lilledeshan (November 18, 2010). "Jeffree Star On Being Dubbed 'the Next Lady Gaga' by Akon, Why Ke$ha is Not a Singer, and Being the First Gay Artist to Work in Hip-Hop". OC Weekly. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- Dawson, Shane (August 2, 2018). Becoming Jeffree Star for a Day (YouTube). The Secret World of Jeffree Star. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
- Robehmed, Natalie (December 3, 2018). "Highest-Paid YouTube Stars 2018: Markiplier, Jake Paul, PewDiePie And More". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 21, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
- "About". Jeffree Star Cosmetics. Archived from the original on December 15, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- "Jeffrey L Steininger - Amerikaanse overlijdens index (SSDI) - MyHeritage". www.myheritage.nl. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- "Marra Lindstrom - Historische gegevens en stambomen - MyHeritage". www.myheritage.nl. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- Immediato, Linda (May 9, 2007). "Jeffree Star – The fairest one of all". LA Weekly. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
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- "SOME TRUTH FOR YOU..." Buzznet. Jeffree Star's Official Website. Archived from the original on May 17, 2010.
- Star, Jeffree (July 20, 2007). "Jeffree Star's MySpace profile". MySpace. Archived from the original on September 11, 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2010. (Interview transcript; original source uncredited)
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- "Deuce Nine Lives". sputnikmusic.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
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- "Larry Tee Club Badd review". allmusic.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
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- Dyer, Gabrielle (March 15, 2019). "PSA: Jeffree Star's new Blue Blood Palette is en route". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/a30482049/jeffree-star-confirms-split-boyfriend-nathan-schwandt/
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- Capon, Laura (April 23, 2017). "Jeffree Star and Too Faced are in a bitter feud over unicorn makeup". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
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- Juzwiak, Rich. "A Guide to the 24-Hour Kim Kardashian Kerfuffle Over Makeup Swatching and Also Racism". Jezebel. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
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- "Blood on the Dance Floor's Dahvie Vanity Accused of Sexually Assaulting Multiple Women, Many While They Were Underage". MetalSucks. August 1, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
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