For all the ways they entertain and inspire people on a daily basis, beauty vloggers still do and say some messed up shit on a regular basis — and this year, it felt as if everyone's favorite YouTubers fueled the flames of internet drama a little bit more every single day.
Sometimes, that YouTuber drama is a just a minor slip-up, but at its worst, it can perpetuate dangerous societal ideologies in the most blatant ways. These 19 instances are the biggest of 2017:
When Jeffree Star tried to leak Nikkie Tutorials' contract with Too Faced Cosmetics.
In the biggest beauty feud of the year, Jeffree came after Too Faced co-founder Jerrod Blandino by claiming he severely underpaid Nikkie for her bestselling collaboration with the brand. He threatened to reveal the contract itself, but what followed was merely a series of vague tweets about payback, then nothing.
The amount Nikkie was paid was never confirmed — all Jeffree's threats achieved was a storm of drama that only made Nikkie look naive and vulnerable. Meanwhile, she stayed quiet, likely for legal reasons.
When Patrick Starrr wore a "Solange-inspired" wig.
Patrick raised eyebrows when he decided to dress as Solange for Jackie Aina's 30th birthday party — natural wig and all. Though his portrayal was meant to be flattering, the internet still deemed it cultural appropriation.
He quickly apologized for any offense taken from the wig and clarified his intentions. That was pretty much the end of that.
When Gigi Gorgeous and her sister made an entire video about being "homeless and broke" — for one night.
In a vlog with sister Tiffany, Gigi recalled a visit to Los Angeles in which the duo accidentally spent all their money, left their host's house for the night, and instead opted to stay in a seedy motel. This is what Gigi really meant by "broke and homeless," and she was rightfully roasted by the internet for it.
When Manny Gutierrez and Jeffree Star used a familiar logo on their collaborative collection.
Just before Jeffree and Manny launched their makeup collaboration in the spring, Black Moon Cosmetics filed a lawsuit against them claiming they'd stolen the brand's logo, a holographic moon. Black Moon even provided receipts proving Manny had prior knowledge of the brand's packaging, and the case settled out of court.
Jeffree was also sued by Lunatick Cosmetics this summer for allegedly copying the brand's bullet-shaped lipstick packaging.
When Jeffree Star bought a $1,300 Chanel boomerang.
Jeffree became a worldwide news topic when he posted this photo of his extraordinarily expensive Chanel boomerang, which was immediately criticized by Australia's Aboriginal communities.
His excuse for owning the boomerang — the cost of which makes up a whopping tenth of an Aboriginal Australian's annual income — was that boomerangs were already quite common leisure items.
When James Charles tweeted an Ebola joke.
Just before taking a trip to Africa, James tweeted this "joke" suggesting the entire continent was infected with the Ebola virus, which immediately earned intense scrutiny. He made multiple messy apologies for the tweet, but it was too late — Covergirl had already distanced itself from him.
When Amanda Ensing 'blatantly' stole merchandise ideas from an indie designer.
Beauty and lifestyle vlogger Amanda released her first line of merchandise this year, only to be called out for one shirt's undeniable similarities to another brand's design. Amanda denied all allegations of theft, threatened legal action, then almost immediately retracted her statements.
No one's sure if any legal action was taking by Amanda or the shirt's original designer — in the end, she referred to the entire thing as "a mistake."
When Gigi Gorgeous made everyone think she had a baby.
In November, Gigi and girlfriend Nats Getty both posted photos of themselves with a newborn baby that thanked "our beautiful surrogate." Fans rushed to congratulate Gigi on her new mom status, but a couple days later, she uploaded a video and issued a statement to clarify the child wasn't actually hers.
When Jaclyn Hill Snapchatted Kathleen Fuentes using the N-word.
During a drunken night of makeup and video games, Jaclyn accidentally videotaped Kathleen saying the N-word. As Jaclyn tells the story, Kathleen realized what she had said at the time and asked Jaclyn not to post the video, but Jaclyn put it on her Snapchat story, not realizing the weight of the situation.
Jaclyn and Kathleen both issued extensive apologies.
When James Charles tweeted that he hated "IT" — DURING the movie.
In probably the most hilarious beauty drama episode of all time, James got blasted on Twitter for saying he hated the movie "IT" while he was still in the movie theater. One of the film's stars, Finn Wolfhard, sassed him for tweeting during the movie, and the actor's fans got so heated, James had to film an apology.
When Jeffree Star called Kat Von D a "dumb whore" on a podcast.
This summer, Jeffree appeared on fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson's beloved podcast "Shane & Friends." When asked about his own tattoos, Jeffree said, "Kat Von D did most of my tattoos. Even though me and that dumb whore aren't friends anymore, I still appreciate her artwork."
When Jeffree Star called Jackie Aina an "irrelevant rat."
Back in June, Jackie discovered she's been blocked from viewing Jeffree's Instagram. When she brought it up on Twitter, a beef was instantly born. During an argument with a third-party YouTuber, Jeffree referred to Jackie as a "rat," a term historically used to degrade Black women.
When Gigi Gorgeous filmed a Walmart haul.
In a recent video, Gigi "challenged" herself to wear a full outfit from Walmart every day for a week. During her shopping escapade, she mocked the store to no end, and the entire thing came off as a total insult to the brand's shoppers who live on a budget.
When Huda Beauty allegedly pandered to Black women to compete with Fenty Beauty.
Jackie Aina questioned the intentions behind Huda Kattan's inclusive foundation line after noticing her (and her brand's) Instagram page was severely lacking in representation of Black people. And she was right — when Revelist looked through Huda's feed, we found a direct correlation between Huda's product launch and the amount of Black makeup artists she featured.
When Jaclyn Hill wore an afro wig on Halloween.
The internet became infuriated with Jaclyn after her Halloween party, where she wore this pink afro wig that had literally nothing to do with her costume. She never addressed the backlash or apologized for cultural appropriation.
When Gigi Gorgeous' Israel vlog went wrong in every possible way.
After promoting her documentary in Israel, Gigi uploaded a vlog titled "Becoming Jewish," which featured her skipping across sacred land, using an offensive accent, and calling herself the "princess of Israel" — all of which was inaccurately set to Punjabi music.
When Nikita Dragun was accused of black face in Jeffree Star's Androgyny campaign.
The advertising campaign for Jeffree's Androgyny eye shadow palette featured photos of Nikita Dragun that appeared so heavily edited, the internet called it digital blackface. Jeffree and Nikita defended the photos, which were later quietly removed from all of their social media accounts.
When Jeffree Star swore off hateful Twitter drama then immediately created more.
In his infamous racism apology video, Jeffree said he would quit Twitter drama cold turkey. Still, only months later, he's continuing to pick fights with other brands and YouTubers — Laura Lee, Jaclyn Hill, and Kylie Jenner are just a handful.
