On Sunday, model and beauty YouTuber Laura Lee issued an apology for a racist tweet from 2012. But the drama didn’t end there.
According to Nylon, more makeup and beauty YouTubers have been exposed for their past racist tweets since vlogger Gabriel Zamora tweeted out a photo with Lee and fellow YouTubers Manny MUA and Nikita Dragun earlier this month. The photo, captioned “bitch is bitter because without him we’re doing better,” was a subtweet allegedly aimed at Jeffree Star, a popular makeup artist whose own racist comments and harassment have been called out.
Shane Dawson, a YouTuber who has also apologized for old racist videos, did a five-part series on Star earlier this month, which might have been the igniting factor.
Gabriel Zamora on Jeffree Star
Gabriel speaks candidly about J*
Star’s fans started digging through Lee’s tweets, which brought about her tearful video apology. The others in the photo aren’t getting away unscathed. People pulled up Dragun’s tweets about Black people from 2012. One states, “imagine being black? i could never.” Elsewhere, she joked about pedophilia.
The Internet lives forever. Why is Nikita Dragun getting off so easily? I'll never understand. pic.twitter.com/2A8whmXMlO
— April Pucci ???? (@AprilPucci) August 14, 2018
Everyone going crazy about old racist tweets from @gabrielzamora and @Laura88Lee but @NikitaDragun is literally the worst of them all! You’re all hypocrites. Hope you’re all enjoying your karma pic.twitter.com/68Aw1XKcsC
— Siana Mcilwain (@Siana_Mac) August 14, 2018
Zamora was also called out for a 2012 tweet in which he used the N-word, and earlier this week he posted a 49-minute video apology. In the video, Zamora claims he has cut ties with Manny MUA, who was criticized for comments about a young girl’s mental health. Manny MUA responded with his own 25-minute “reality check.”
Laura Lee and Gabriel Zamora are so fucking hypocrite. Jeffree Star can't relate. pic.twitter.com/5CdopYgd5i
— ? (@saiesaie) August 12, 2018
Though Lee, Zamora, Manny, and Dragun have posted apologies, they’ve lost followers, which equals lost revenue and sponsorships. On Wednesday, Lee lost her partnership with Ulta. All of the apology videos follow the same format, and all show the vloggers getting emotional. But the focus is mostly on the drama of interpersonal relationships, not so much remorse for what they did or the bigger issue of racism in the YouTuber community.
H/T Nylon