"When people show you who they are, believe them the first time," said Maya Angelou. And if there's one thing Jeffree Star has consistently shown us, it's his problematic behavior. Sure, Star has somehow avoided cancel culture, but it's important to call these things out because they say a lot about who we are, what we value, and who deserves to be protected.
So for those keeping score, there's a new addition to the Star problematic list: Star, a white person, is wearing dreadlocks in a campaign photo for his new Jeffree Star Cosmetics Blood Lust collection.
Here's the photo.
Sigh. Here we are, again. We should be past this by now, but *throws hands in the air* white people wearing faux locs keeps happening. Has this discussion not been loud enough? Are people still not getting it? What's Star's excuse here? It's 2020, folks!
The photo comes as part of the rollout for the new Blood Lust collection.
Star posted the photo on his official Jeffree Star Cosmetics Instagram page. For the photo, he tagged celeb hairstylist @hair_by_jay1, who can be seen above applying a different custom lace wig to Star for the photo shoot. Revelist has confirmed that @hair_by_jay1 also created the faux locs wig that Star is wearing.
Hair discrimination is still all too common for people of color.
We can't believe this needs to be said, but Star's dreads are a salient example of cultural appropriation because people of color, especially those of African descent are discriminated against because of their natural hair texture. It happens all too often.
Take the example above. In 2019, Kerion Washington, a teenager from Texas, was denied a job at Six Flags because his locs violated their dress code policy. Another Texas student, DeAndre Arnold, was banned from attending his senior prom and high school graduation over his hair — he later attended the Oscars with the Academy Award–winning Hair Love team.
This is not Star's first time being problematic.
Star has a long history of saying and doing problematic things — including instances of straight-up racism. In 2019, a Twitter thread went viral; it was a compiled list of Star's known racist behavior, such as calling black beauty YouTuber Jackie Aina a "gorilla." He's even been in hot water for wearing cornrows — another example of black cultural appropriation.
Star was quick to get criticized for the hairstyle on social media.
On Twitter, users questioned why Star made this styling decision. "jeffree star w/ dreads … but he’s changed right lol," wrote @sunshowerss, referencing Star's mea culpa about past racist behaviors. Another user, @joyridling, asked the question on everyone's mind: "oh not jeffree star with dreads. please how does he keep doing this."
Revelist has reached out to Star for comment.
