- On Friday, YouTube star and beauty guru Jeffree Star announced the release of his newest product: an eyeshadow palette called "Cremated."
- The palette, which Star officially unveiled in a YouTube video on Saturday, features "gothic neutral" shades and will be available for purchase beginning May 22.
- While the product received some positive fan reactions, critics are calling the palette's name "insensitive" and "tone-deaf" amid a pandemic that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.
- Star took to his Instagram stories to respond to the range of online reactions to the product, saying that his art comes from "a good place."
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Beauty Guru Jeffree Star is stirring up controversy online after introducing his latest project â a new collection that critics are calling "insensitive and "tone-deaf."
On Friday, the YouTuber and makeup artist took to Instagram to announce the upcoming release of the newest product by Jeffree Star Cosmetics â an eyeshadow palette called "Cremated."
"Get ready to be deceased," Star wrote in the lengthy caption accompanying a photo of the marbled packaging.
The post also teased a YouTube video in which Star would give a "full reveal" of the product.
The initial announcement received praise from Star's YouTube contemporaries.
"I'm so happy for you!!" YouTube star Shane Dawson commented. "I know how much this collection means to you and I can't wait to hold it in my hands."
"uuuuuuuu don't know HOW READY I AM," MMM Mitchell, another beauty YouTuber, wrote. "GET THIS ON MY EYELIDSSSSSSSSSS."
On Saturday, Star posted a 23-minute unveiling video to his YouTube channel (where he boasts over 18 million subscribers).
In the video, Star told viewers that the palette of metallic shades â and the forthcoming collection of the same name â had been scheduled for an April release, but the coronavirus pandemic "had the whole entire beauty industry, of course, as well as the entire planet, SHOOK."
"We were supposed to have a very gothic and dark spring," Star said, "but, of course, things did not go according to plan, but that's okay."
The palette of "gothic neutrals," he continued, is being called "Cremated" to accompany his catchphrase "I'm deceased."
The beauty Guru added that when he and his friends find themselves particularly "mesmerized" by something, they say "B----, I'm cremated."
Star went on to open the palette, revealing an array of "weird" shades, from "beautiful ugly grey tones" to "pure cocaine white."
In less than 24 hours, the video has received over 4 million views and even reached the #1 trending spot on the platform.
Top comments on the video expressed enthusiasm for the release.
"I don't typically wear these shades of makeup but GIRL I JUST MIGHT AFTER THOSE SWATCHES," one commenter wrote.
"I could see me using just this palette on my wedding day," another said.
Despite some fans' enthusiasm for the product, Star is receiving intense backlash online. Critics are calling the collection's branding "insensitive," particularly amid a pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 300,000 people.
Within hours of the announcement, Star began trending on Twitter.
"Jeffree Star rly released a CREMATION themed palette in the middle of a global pandemic in which the bodies of thousands killed by COVID are being cremated," one Twitter user wrote. "And STILL his deranged lil' fans will eat it up."
"J*ffree St*r releasing a palette called CREMATED in the middle of a pandemic is so f------ tone-deaf," another said.
"To those who find a cremation palette launch during a pandemic acceptable, please feel free to let the millions of families who lost loved ones, were unable to have a proper burial, & had no choice but to have a cremation for their loved one why you feel so strongly. quickly," another added.
On Saturday, Star posted a series of Instagram stories in which he addressed the range of reactions to the "Cremated" palette.
Star told his 16.1 million Instagram followers that the new palette was the "talk of the town," noting that there were "a lot of positives" and "a few negatives" in response to the reveal â but ultimately, the feedback had been "amazing."
"There's a lot of talk on Twitter," he said the video. "[The palette] is mine â I created it for the world. It's allowed to be interpreted any way that anyone wants to take it, but I always come from a good place."
Star went on to say that he was "so proud" of his work â and that the product's name was not intended to be "negative."
"My own father was cremated, my two dogs that passed away last year were cremated, so nothing ever comes from a negative place in my life," he said. "So if you take it that way, that's how you articulate things, but b----, not me."
Star did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
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