Seperating Art from Artist

Anticipating a new product, whether it be a movie, tv show, makeup/clothing line, album, gives people a great rush. But what happens when the person releasing their content is problematic? A few months ago, I had been constantly following makeup artist Jeffree Star on social media, stalking his website to see when he’d restock his makeup line. He had easily become one of my favorite ambassadors of the beauty industry, but that soon came to a full stop after numerous videos leaked of Star being racist to customers and fans.

Being able to not give someone your money is easy. That’s typically the route people go for when they find out their favorite curator has a problematic past. That gives them the option to still admire the work from afar.

Of course, my plans of spending money on his indie brand were abolished due to his racist views. The hard part was completely separating myself from his content, not just financially.

I firmly believe that the moment you know someone intentionally does something against your morals, you should avoid them.

Although the statement seems harsh, if someone is using their influence negatively, I will try and exclude myself from their presence. Others may disagree with me because the content the artist provided may be too good to give up. But sticking to my morals is always my top priority. Although I knew that the racism surrounding Jeffree Star’s media present is his own wrongdoing, I still found myself holding on. I admit that I can’t deny how great Star’s makeup line is (cruelty-free and vegan) and it would be wrong of me to discredit the amount of effort he puts into his videos. These variables really made me struggle with letting go of the brand. I had to then realized the type of person I was supporting.

Despite running a great brand all on his own, I refuse to support someone as ignorant and racist as Jeffree Star. Especially since I am such an advocate for racial equality, it was very unsettling knowing my money was fueling a corporation that did not treat ALL of their customers with the same amount of respect the overall brand was receiving.

But the question is, can you detangle creativity from its creator? As stated before, many people separate the art from its artist because of the gratification they get when the artist/content creator releases more of their work.

The answer, to me at least, is no. We should teach people not to look at the content and its creator separately because, at the end of the day, it is the creator that holds all of the influence, not the content.