Clickbait is nothing new. Especially in the YouTuber world, where clicks equal dollar signs. And while most of the time, it's nothing more than a little irritating, when it's at the expense of others — in particular an entire race of people — it's downright unacceptable.
But clearly beauty blogger Gabriel Zamora missed that memo when he used one of his most watched and highly sensitive videos as a pawn to lure viewers in. The newly discovered again bestie of Jeffree Star and model for his new concealers just found himself in hot water yet another time.
But it's not Star fans who are coming for his neck this time — instead he's on the other side of the drama, and people are over it.
Who can forget Gabriel Zamora?
He's one of the many people who at one time were putting their own careers on the line to expose Jeffree Star's racist and problematic ways. He created a firestorm that ultimately resulted in Star stans attacking Zamora, his page going private, and him ducking off the map for a little while. And though it gained him quite a few haters, it also gained him many supporters who admired his speaking up.
So you can imagine people's confusion when Zamora popped up as one of the models for Star's new concealer and setting powders.
Though many knew that the two had at least settled their differences, who would have thought that they were the best of pals again? And considering it wasn't small claims Zamora was making previously, the idea of Zamora helping to further Star's brand had us all scratching our heads. But then again, money, clout, and fame will make you do a lot, even if it's moving forward the agenda of someone you once blasted as hateful racist.
However, even after popping up as one of the faces of the campaign, it's his most recent video that felt the most like a giant slap in the face.
Using the exact same thumbnail, and the exact same title as his previous video, Zamora baited viewers into watching what was actually a video praising and advertising the same person whom he once ostracized. People were pissed about the way he went about it.
Twitter erupted after one user brought to light just how insensitive Zamora's video was.
It brought to light once again the issues of POC who are not black or affected by Star's past comments trying to tell black people what to accept and not accept.
"Why non-black people have absolutely zero right to tell black people when to forgive a known racist," one Twitter user commented on the video.
The fact that he used the likeness of such a sensitive video to clickbait and, in turn, praise that same person was backwards and thoughtless.
"Sat up here and made a 30 sumn minute long video with 'your truth' aka associating with a violent racist across years and only choosing to separate when the smoke is under your tail…. to use that same title and thumbnail as click bait to promote said racist’s products?" another user questioned.
Zamora was called "a snake."
"He and js literally became best friends after that bullshit last year. I unfollowed straight away. How you gonna be the one who posts the controversial photo and then end up bffs with the person you hated. A snake," wrote another.
The irony of it all is truly ludicrous.
"Girl, i said the same thing when I saw him all over the campaigns. how are you gonna call someone racist trash and then be in their beauty campaign the next year? Dummy," someone else agreed.
But money and fame talks, and that's clearly what Zamora is after.
One Twitter reply notes, "Instead of standing by his words and using his platform to call out Janice Racist Stamp he apologizes so Janice’s racist-sympathizing fanbase would stop coming for him. Money speaks, and sadly the racist, pasty, musty white youtubers get cash. I saw through him too."
For now though, we'll just sit back and watch this all continue to unfold.
If clout and attention is what he's after, he's sure doing a good job. But his constant inconsistencies are sure proving to have lost him many black beauty lovers who had once supported him. We'll see how long he keeps this energy.
The beauty sphere is a messy, messy place.
For now, we'll continue to stick with our unproblematic faves such as Jackie Aina, Alissa Ashley, and the good Starrr (Patrick). Keeping up with all this vlogger drama is truly exhausting.
