The Rumors About Kanye West And Jeffree Star Explained
Amidst the swirling rumors that rapper Kanye West and reality-star-turned-prison-reform-advocate Kim Kardashian West are in the first stages of separation and divorce, it looks like another wrench has been thrown into the mix: that West, whose most recent headline-making exploit was a failed bid for the 2020 presidential seat, helped speed up the process by embroiling himself in an extramarital affair. And while rumors of dalliances outside the scope of a traditional monogamous marriage are nothing new when it comes to the lives of the rich and famous, this particular piece of tabloid fodder seems to have a bit of an extra twist — that West's purported paramour is none other than Internet celebrity and makeup magnate Jeffree Star.
As Insider reported on Jan. 6, 2021, Star — who has been accused in the past of engaging in toxic, self-promotional behavior for the sake of monetizing his brand — did nothing to quell the rumors, but instead stoked them by posting a blithe response on his social media accounts.
So how, exactly, did Star deal with the rumor? And how did murmurs of a possible romantic relationship begin in the first place? Read on after the jump to find out.
Jeffree Star's responded to rumors about a Kanye West affair
As Insider put it in their own coverage of a possible dalliance between Kanye West and Jeffree Star, Star himself responded to the rumors "without confirming" and "without denying," as well as using them to "[promote] his own image" through a flip post on Star's Instagram and Twitter accounts. The post in question, which Star uploaded to his social media on Jan. 6, 2021, featured Star posing in a pink bathrobe, accompanied by the following caption: "I'm ready for Sunday Service."
For those even only mildly acquainted with the goings-on in the Kanye-verse, the phrase "Sunday Service" is a reference to a series of Christianity-based concerts that West performed throughout the better part of 2020, all of which were scheduled on Sundays, keeping with the religion's designated day of rest and overt Christian themes. (It also appears that "Sunday service" was also meant as a double-entendre on the part of Star.)
While the rumor of a Star/West affair and Star's subsequent post have incited speculation, Insider later reported that the veracity of the claim is highly suspect — especially due to the fact that there is no evidence that either Star or West have ever met or communicated. The outlet also pointed to a possible source of the unsubstantiated story: a user behind a popular TikTok account.
A TikTok user purportedly started the rumor of an affair between Kanye West and Jeffree Star
According to a piece published by Insider on Jan. 6, 2021, the news outlet offered up the most likely source behind the dubious claim of an alleged affair between Kanye West and YouTuber Jeffree Star: a TikTok celebrity named Ava Louise, who purportedly generated the rumor in response to the news of a possible divorce between West and his wife, Kim Kardashian-West.
Louise, who, as Insider noted, first gained a following on TikTok for a viral which featured the Internet personality licking a toilet seat in an airplane bathroom, first posited the rumor in a January 2021 video posted to her account. In the video, the influencer alluded to reports of a possible (but evidently probable) split between Kanye and Kim, then claimed she was unsurprised by the development and alleged that the rapper was "hooking up with a very famous beauty guru" — a thinly veiled reference to Star — and that Louise had known "for months" about it.
After reaching out to Louise in an attempt to verify her sources, Insider reported that the TikTok user later admitted that there was no "concrete evidence" to back up the story — only that Louise "said she was friends with an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles who she claimed was provided evidence of the affair by Kardashian West months ago," per Insider.
Rumors of an affair with Kanye West have provided Jeffree Star way to deflect more recent controversies
While makeup maverick Jeffree Star's recent social media post might have generated free press for the Internet celebrity, it also might have had a dual purpose. The West controversy was, inadvertently or not, a deflection from some more serious allegations levied against Star: accusations of sexual assault.
Insider reported in December 2020 that they had purportedly obtained leaked documents which indicated that a $45,000 check issued by Star's company, Jeffree Star Cosmetics (JSC), was made out to Gage Arthur, who had previously made claims that Star sexually assaulted him in 2009. Arthur, who was a homeless teenager when the event allegedly occurred, disclosed to Insider earlier in 2020 that Star, who by then was already a somewhat famous personality, had inflicted nonconsensual oral sex on Arthur while he was intoxicated, per Insider. Arthur also claimed that Star had "used a close-range tasing device to shock him hours earlier," which an anonymous source purported to have witnessed the event also corroborated with the publication.
Though Arthur later recanted his statements to Insider in September 2020 after both Star and executives at JSC learned of Insider's intent to publish an investigative piece Star's alleged past sexual abuse, the outlet later reported that the check issued to Arthur seemingly indicated that he had been paid off through the company's account to retract his accusations.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit RAINN.org for additional resources.
Jeffree Star finally put an end to the Kanye West rumors
Whether or not Jeffree Star's posts in response to an alleged affair with Kanye West might have been done to purposely redirect attention from accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse against the cosmetics CEO, it's still undeniably kept the YouTuber in the spotlight. And it looks like Star's most recent message to his fans — a video which was posted to his YouTube page on Jan. 7, 2021 — finally closed the book on the whole debacle, it's done nothing to stop generating headlines.
Titled "Addressing The Kanye Situation," Star began the video by recounting how he himself first caught wind of the gossip to begin with. "I woke up and my phone was blowing up and I'm like, 'Oh my God, what in the scandal is going on today?'" recalled Star. "I honestly had no idea, right? I'm keeping to myself. I'm living in this beautiful state. I'm loving life."
Star then went on to shut the rumors down wholesale, declaring that he is "single" and "not sleeping with anyone" — let alone West, who he denied ever socializing with or meeting. Star added that overall, he found the rumors and the press they subsequently received "really funny," while also criticizing the source of the story, TikTok influencer Ava Louise, for "[making] up a whole lie," as well as calling the theorizing from followers that ensued as "so weird."