I know you've been waiting for this with bated breath, and here it is: the fourth act in the neverending internet feud between Kat Von D and Jeffree Star. In today's episode — Jeffree Star finally responds to Kat's allegations, and takes a few slaps at the cosmetics queen in the process.
If you're not caught up on all the drama, here's where you can read up: ACT I, wherein Kat "breaks up" with Jeffree on InstagramACT II, where she then drags him to hell on YouTube; and ACT III, where he responds to said dragging on Twitter.
I now bring you to ACT IV: Jeffree's video response.
Our scene opens with this tweet from BJ Betts, the tattooer and artist at the center of the logo design dispute.
This is a very lawyerly statement, but it established that something big was coming.
Jeffree then confirmed that BJ has been paid for the work that he did.
As for what that work actually entailed, Jeffree explains it in his video statement — which dropped a couple hours later.
His video statement, tellingly titled "DEAR KAT VON D: IT’S EASIER TO TELL THE TRUTH," is a true magnum opus, clocking in at 23 minutes.
You can watch it here if you have the time — I'll also pop it in at the end of this post.
"At first," Jeffree says, "it was really shocking to see someone I’ve known for 10 years do something so aggressive. It really saddened me because there were so many things in that video that were not true."
"Kat, I can’t believe that you would post something knowingly, and calculating it, where you knew the response it was going to get," he says, directly addressing his former friend. "You said […] you didn’t want your fans to attack, but you knew exactly what was going to happen."
"You are not some random friend of mine, you are a celebrity. You have paparazzi after you. You are a big name, and for you to use such a huge platform to say things that are not true, is so disheartening and so vicious."
"I think there’s a lot of malicious underlying intent, and I think that’s what breaks my heart the most."
Let's begin with The Case of the Stolen Logo, something that a lot of people — me included — found really distasteful.
Jeffree explains, "When I was developing my line I reached out to Kat and said, 'Hey, do you know anyone who could help me with artwork.'”
"My brand was non-existent at this point. It was an idea. I had started working on my liquid lip formula and that was it. So I asked if she knew any artists and she put me in touch with BJ Betts."
He also says that he put every cent of his life savings into producing his first three liquid lip shades, so there was a lot on the line.
"[BJ] did start an idea, but he did not design my entire packaging," says Jeffree. "At the time, I wanted him to design my entire packaging for my liquid lip," which did not end up happening. Star says that BJ started to design a logo for his brand, but that's as far as it went.
"The screenshot that Kat held up, that’s like 20 logos that he had quickly sketched up."
Here's that screenshot for reference.
Here's where the issue began: After seeing those preliminary logo sketches and (presumably) receiving a pricing estimate, Jeffree realized that he couldn't afford BJ's services.
"This guy is an amazing tattooer," says Jeffree. "He’s a respectable artist. He’s worked with [Kat] and done so many things, I’m like oh my god… I had no manager, no lawyer, no business advisor to help me. I’m this person who doesn’t have a lot of money left, I’m trying to start my brand, and point blank: I couldn’t afford him. When I found out what he charged, I was like, 'I can’t afford that. I’m so sorry, I’m gonna have to step away.'"
He then turned to a designer he'd previously worked with to design his logo and packaging. "On all my merch since 2007, I have had a star logo with a J in it. My name’s Jeffree Star, I got my name legally changed 10 years ago, I put stars on everything."
"My graphic guy did the logo for me — it’s a star. I said I was very inspired by the classic designers like Gucci, Louis, and Chanel. So he did a mirrored J, put it in there."
"Does it look similar?" says Jeffree, of his now-infamous star logo. "A hundred percent, it does. But did I steal the logo? A hundred percent, I did NOT."
And while Star admits that he fucked up the handling of all of this, he says it was through ignorance — not because he was deliberately trying to screw over a working artist.
"At the time, I didn’t know what I was doing," he says. "I definitely learned my lesson. If ANYONE out there is doing business with someone, make sure you have a contract or an agreement before you start working on ideas. Because this is how things turn ugly.
File this under: Nobody likes lawyers, until you need a lawyer.
Then it's back to Von D's role in the dramas that ensued. "What Kat did, which she shouldn’t have done, was speak for someone who never asked them to."
"She didn’t know that my current manager and lawyer were already talking to HIS manager and lawyer, and were working something out," Star explains. "Because, long story short, now my brand is successful. I wanted to take care of somebody who was work for hire, and who had helped me in the beginning, and inspired something."
Maybe it's just me, but I would KILL to know what that "long story" actually is here. It seems unlikely that you'd get lawyers and managers involved to try to pay someone for "inspiring something." Maybe Jeffree DID try to pay BJ out of the goodness of his own heart — we'll never know. Sounds like this resolution had a pretty tight "don't talk about this in public" clause in it.
Jeffree also accuses Kat of trying to sabotage his career — by bad-mouthing him within the beauty industry, including telling the president of Too Faced Cosmetics that he was stealing ideas from Kat Von D Cosmetics.
This is a really serious thing. The beauty world is incredibly small — we all know one another — and stories like this can be REALLY damaging. Kat is, as Jeffree has pointed out, a big name. She's collaborating with Too Faced, and it's common knowledge that Kat and Jeffree's brands share a lab.
Accusing someone of stealing ideas or product samples is a BIG DEAL. Like, life-ruiningly big. This is context you need for what comes next.
"Two weeks prior, I was at an event hosted by Too Faced," Jeffree says. "That is a huge makeup brand […] I think their owner is amazing, and their products are top notch. So someone very high up at Too Faced told me some strange things."
"Kat told the owner of Too Faced, Jared, that I tried to steal an idea from her from the lab that we both use," says Star. "I felt like somebody had slapped me across my face."
"Someone that I had known for so long, betraying me? And lying about me? She’s never done something like that before, that I’m aware of. I was devastated."
"So when she texted me out of nowhere, talking about something she knew nothing about, I was like, Is she for real? After that, my emotions were really messed up. Kat, I have never judged your character online. I have never said one bad thing about you, and I don’t plan to now. I am just really hurt that you are telling people that I stole from you, and that I stole from BJ. I think that’s the main issue here."
He also calls out his former friend for acting like she "invented" him — even though he was one of the first social media influencers.
"Who is so egotistical that they’re going to sit there and say that they created somebody?" he asks. "When I met her, I was huge on Myspace. I had millions of followers, I was touring the world doing music. So for somebody to act like they invented me, I find that SO offensive."
Which, fair.
He also calls her out for being a raging hypocrite when she judged his over-the-top luxurious lifestyle.
"[I don't understand] why she’s trying to make it seem like a bad thing that I have nice things, when she has had a Bentley, a Tesla, and a closet full of a million dollars of clothes that she has shown off for the last five years online."
"I may show off a car or two. I love designer handbags — I’ve been collecting bags even when I was broke. I would put in half a tank of gas and buy a Louis bag, and that’s how I live my life. I have never judged how you spend your money, Kat — please don't judge how I spend mine."
His entire video is very long, and it covers a lot of ground — including drug use allegations and a vegan controversy that I didn't even know what happening. You can watch the entire thing right here.
But even though all of this has been really traumatic, Jeffree ends on a positive note.
"Even though all of this has [been] public, Kat, we have been friends for so long, I still have love for you. I’m not are what you’re going through personally, but I wish you the best. Case closed."
And this is where we are now. Hopefully, now that both sides have had their say, this entire saga has been resolved.
Are you taking a side here? Where do YOU think the truth lies?
