Cosmetic Brand's Founder Cuts Ties With His Own Sister Over Her Transphobic Remarks About YouTuber Nikkie De Jager
Nikkie de Jager, better known as makeup YouTuber NikkieTutorials, recently came out as a trans woman via a video on her YouTube channel.
Nikkie was being blackmailed by someone who wanted to leak her story to the media, so she decided to take matters into her own hands and tell the world herself.
Nikkie bared her soul to her fans in the 17-minute video.
"Today I am here to share something with you that I've always wanted to share with you one day, but under my own circumstances. And it looks like that chance has been taken away from me. So today I am taking back my own power."
Many of Nikkie's fans were extremely supportive of her coming out, even though the circumstances forced her to share her truth before she was ready.
@NikkieTutorials Oh my god 😭 I love you so much. Grew up watching you. Thank you for sharing this. ❤️— Sanjati 🔮🎮 MASS EFFECT 3 (@Sanjati 🔮🎮 MASS EFFECT 3) 1578947132
Me finding out nikkietutorials is trans and then me finding out someone tried to blackmail her into coming out https://t.co/lvj0vBBlSs— ❄ Local Plague Dr ❄ (@❄ Local Plague Dr ❄) 1579005155
Even after de Jager's heartfelt coming out video, there were still some people who thought it would be a good idea to be transphobic and poke fun at her.
Among these was the sister of cosmetics company Too Faced founder Jerrod Blandino, who also worked for the company.
The post, made from an account where she uses the name Dani California, drew instant ire and criticism from internet users—along with a call to boycott the brand.
I will never EVER support too faced. https://t.co/lN0sM6wItx— literallylewis2.0 - ig 🌈 (@literallylewis2.0 - ig 🌈) 1578970593
She quickly attempted to backtrack after her bigotry was noticed, but to no avail.
@dropdeadlewis She changed her bio at least five times since that screenshot was taken. This is what is written now… https://t.co/msaeEOGADv— ℕ𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕒 (@ℕ𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕒) 1578992540
Jerrod soon released a statement, via the company's Twitter account, condemning his sister's actions and saying that she had been fired from her work at Too Faced.
"I do not tolerate this behavior, and she is no longer an employee of Too Faced. I would like to say how proud I am of Nikkie Tutorials, and how inspired I am for her strength and sharing her beautiful truth with the world. I am sending all my love to her."
A message from Our Founder Jerrod Blandino https://t.co/OdnCT67INK— Too Faced Cosmetics (@Too Faced Cosmetics) 1579030654
Even after Jerrod's apology, many people pointed to a long history of problematic actions as a reason to avoid the company.
@TooFaced Hm... Feels like you only apologized bc people are pissed 🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️ this brand has always been so rude t… https://t.co/SQma2OoMQj— 🖤Skye🖤 (@🖤Skye🖤) 1579031007
@TooFaced Does he really expect us to believe she is off the payroll? She may have lost her title but I suspect tha… https://t.co/MwYlfSeSXa— Stacy (@Stacy) 1579058437
@TooFaced Too late. Lisa publically bullied Nikkie for ages and you guys did nothing about it, while she was the vi… https://t.co/qJuWy95PEf— Shining --- ☆★☆ (@Shining --- ☆★☆) 1579035066
Many folks on Twitter pointed out that this isn't the first time Blandino's sister has posted hurtful, bigoted things on social media.
@TooFaced She should’ve been let go ages ago, she’s been this way and it’s left a bad taste in people’s mouths for… https://t.co/NsqV3k3opG— tea spill (@tea spill) 1579031625
@TooFaced @TeaSpillYT Glad to see this - sad to see she wasn’t fired when she made racist comments to someone on behalf of TF— Max ✨ (@Max ✨) 1579031615
@TooFaced Still makes me sick how awful your sister has been. Going on a bullying spree and representing you and the brand. She’s unhinged— JustAGirlInTheWorld (@JustAGirlInTheWorld) 1579033283
@TooFaced Lisa has been mouthing off on Instagram for a while now regarding Nikkie and others so I’m glad the right thing was finally done.— DramaLynn (@DramaLynn) 1579031844
While his sister's termination and public chastisement were definitely warranted, many makeup fans—both those who are fans of Nikkie and those who just won't tolerate bigotry in the industry—are still questioning whether Jerrod's actions were enough.
Her hurtful comments about de Jager in an especially vulnerable time were completely unacceptable to fans, and part of a pattern of behavior that had not been addressed until now.
Vlogger Nikkie de Jager—better known as YouTuber NikkieTutorials who specializes in makeup tutorials—came out to fans as a trans woman in an emotional 17-minute-long post to her channel.
The video came after she received blackmail threatening to out her to the press.
De Jager explained her journey to her audience in the video below.
I'm Coming Out.www.youtube.com
She began:
"Today I am here to share with you something that I always wanted to share with you one day, but under my own circumstances. It looks like that chance has been taken away from me so today I am taking back my own power."
By the time de Jager was 6, she already knew she was ready to start taking steps to transition.
"By the age of 6, I grew my hair out. ... By the age of 7 or 8, I fully wore girls' clothes only and it felt amazing."
@NikkieTutorials Cis female here. Due to flukes in my design I cant have children. Ive been assured by many that it… https://t.co/KJhKRpiv6z— CelestialSpider (@CelestialSpider) 1578946176
@NikkieTutorials so proud of you Nikkie <3— YouTube (@YouTube) 1579027235
NikkieTutorials coming out as trans is a big moment for trans people. She's someone that cis women of all political… https://t.co/Es71eqOXbG— Erin, Trail Mom (@Erin, Trail Mom) 1579014395
Sadly, de Jager explained why the chance for her to come out was "taken" from her:
"I have been blackmailed by people that wanted to leak my story to the press....I've always wanted to share this."
I love you @NikkieTutorials ❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/wYim9PLjVm— V△LKY BARLOW (@V△LKY BARLOW) 1578984516
When the name of the person who was blackmailing Nikkietutorials finally gets dropped https://t.co/Cp46PW7v0e— Department of Just-Ass (@Department of Just-Ass) 1578999851
to whoever blackmailed nikkietutorials.. you tried it https://t.co/prw9GLXKOE— LAPP (@LAPP) 1578996027
Me finding out nikkietutorials is trans and then me finding out someone tried to blackmail her into coming out https://t.co/lvj0vBBlSs— ❄ Local Plague Dr ❄ (@❄ Local Plague Dr ❄) 1579005155
The way she told her blackmailers to shove it is so ICONIC. Proud of @NikkieTutorials for taking her power back. https://t.co/Trfdlo0Vi1— ♡ (@♡) 1579005600
Many of Nikkie's fans had no idea she was a trans woman...
At first I thought Nikkie was coming out as a trans man like Trisha paytas but she's a trans woman omg 😍 proud— Sam Avery 👑 (@Sam Avery 👑) 1578948785
Nikkie: I’m coming out Me: Oh cool she’s bi? lesbian? ... wait I thought she was engaged? Nikkie: I’m transgender… https://t.co/j0W2n1f4kU— L💜 (@L💜) 1578954947
...but that didn't affect their support for her...
.@NikkieTutorials is number one on trending as she should be 👏🏻 https://t.co/2kaQnXYlci— Dustin Dailey (@Dustin Dailey) 1578987420
...or their ire for the people who threatened her.
Me after watching nikkietutorials coming out video https://t.co/4eWC5hl2Jk https://t.co/TBr2prWVrX— traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns (@traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns) 1579000983
The overwhelming support of Nikkie has far outweighed the negativity.
All her stans made it clear that blackmail was a completely unacceptable way for her to be scared into coming out.
I don’t wanna hear “I never would’ve guessed Nikkie Tutorials is trans! I’m shook!” I wanna hear “who the fuck thre… https://t.co/GhRbZ0OuRu— don’t worry, darling (@don’t worry, darling) 1578944753
@KatiePepperoni/Twitter
nikkie tutorials was just forced to come out as trans due to blackmail... cis people are literally weaponizing our… https://t.co/P3AiPdwCha— sofie halili (@sofie halili) 1578948225
@remembersolo/Twitter
The decision to come out is an individual choice for many reasons, including the safety of the person. Forcing someone to come out is a despicable attack against the person being targeted.
Nikkie de Jager has not revealed the identity of those who threatened her.
Yet.