The beauty community of Youtube has been suffering serious backlash after the influencers have been revealed to be lying to the people they promised to be honest to and they have been arguing among themselves. Beauty gurus, as they are formally known, have been facing harsh critiques from viewers as their secrets have been exposed.

It started with icon Jeffree Star, who had done a collaboration with fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson called “The Secret World of Jeffree Star,” where he slandered four other gurus: Nikita Dragun, Manuel Gutierrez, Laura Lee and Gabriel Zamora.

Zamora had released a photo on his Twitter account with the other gurus with the caption: “B**** is bitter because without him we’re doing better.” The tweet was directed towards Star but Zamora confirmed it with a subtweet saying, “Imagine stanning a racist? I could never.”

Star has admitted to making racist comments in his videos from years back and has apologized for it.  He may still not be a trustworthy person, but he has striven to prove others wrong by recently releasing eight liquid highlighters meant for a variety of skin tones as part of his cosmetic line.

The drama didn’t stop when Dragun, Gutierrez, Lee and Zamora released a video in which they did not filter themselves as they said nasty comments about other Youtubers. Dragun had commented negatively in a video about another Youtuber, Trisha Paytas, saying “Let the real Asian girl do the real mukbang right.” The video centered around the four gurus being hypocritical, since they complain about how toxic the beauty community is, but continue to make rude comments about others in the community, eventually leading all of them to suffer severe backlash.

Fans of Star and those who opposed the four gurus took the opportunity to look through their old tweets and posted that all four had also previously made racist comments.

Zamora uploaded an apology video, confirming that none of the other three were aware of the B**** tweet. He had apologized to Star as well. Before the video came out, Gutierrez had discussed with Zamora that he should take full responsibility and admit the other three were not involved, despite the fact Gutierrez liked the tweet in question. Zamora had revealed all of this in his video and called out Gutierrez for being a backstabber and throwing him under the bus.

Gutierrez was the first to apologize. The apology video was mainly for Star and Zamora, about being too prideful and that he was at fault as well. Zamora has not knowingly forgiven him, and for good reason too.

When Lee apologized for the racist tweets, many were upset that her video was only four minutes long. Many were suspicious about Lee’s video, as there were many cuts that made her crying seem fake. She was fine in one cut, and in the next, a single tear rolled down her face. She had apologized for retweeting racist messages, but did not take responsibility for the racist tweets she created. Since then, she has taken the apology video down and her subscriber count  dropped from 5 million to about 4.6 million. Big makeup companies, like Morphe, no longer sell her products.

Dragun had apologized on social media, but has not followed in her friends’ footsteps and made a video explaining her side of the drama. She has also not mentioned any of the other makeup artists since the fallout and she has continued to make videos. Many viewers have criticized her for continuing on with her channel when her friends’ careers have been failing.

The Youtube beauty community is small when compared to others, and only few are well recognized because of the brand deals they are able to make, but still, these icons should know that because of the popularity level they’re at, they cannot act so carelessly childish and not expect to lose viewers

The drama may occasionally be entertaining, but this much toxicity should not exist. These creators are paid immensely well, and it’s all thanks to their subscribers. Despite the pedestal they are put on, fans will continue to hold them accountable. Beauty gurus should focus on being truthful to their fans and being good role models instead of focusing on who they need to use next to climb to the top.