Exactly one year ago today, Kat Von D shocked the world by publicly ending her 10-year friendship with Jeffree Star. What started with a single shady Instagram post has since spiraled into a multi-platform feud between the two that shows no sign of ending.
But one year later, the question is: When it comes to the great Kat Von D vs Jeffree Star war, who won?
I decided to tally up the destruction and declare a winner.
So who won the initial battle? Kat’s video has been viewed 8 million times, while Jeffree’s video has been watched nearly 10 million times. Sorry, Kat — when you come for the digital queen, you better not miss.
WINNER: Jeffree.
I can’t speak for the entirety of the beauty media, but in the hours, days, and weeks following this feud, I learned that my audience REALLY cares about Jeffree Star. Love him or hate him, stories about him get read like crazy — and I know I’m not the only editor who made that discovery. This fight has effectively turned Jeffree Star from a niche digital personality into a household name. There are stories written about him on major sites almost daily. He is, for better or worse, a force to be reckoned with in this industry.
By comparison, Kat isn’t in the spotlight as much. She doesn’t regularly make videos or give interviews. Instead, she maintains her personal Instagram, works with the Artistry Collective, and travels the world introducing KVD Beauty to new international markets.
So Jeffree definitely gets more attention — but the TYPE of attention Star and Von D get varies, too. Media coverage of Jeffree tends to be focused on his personality and his tendency to get into online fights. Coverage of Kat tends to focus more on her products and the causes she supports.
But, you know, Jeffree was just on the cover of Paper. That counts for something.
WINNER: Jeffree.
Based purely on search results, there’s just MORE on the internet about Kat Von D: 2.86 million search results to Jeffree’s 1.95. But that’s like the simplest, most base-level analysis I could give — and you KNOW I’m not into that. So I turned to Google Trends to look at how interest in these two personalities — and brands — has changed over time.
You COULD look at this graph and assume that Star is more “popular” than Von D online, but it’s not that simple. Kat Von D is already an almost-household name, but a lot of people who weren’t on MySpace aren’t quite sure who Jeffree is, so they Google him. That may have affected this set.
Additionally, the search TERMS around the two personalities are very different. The terms people most often search for in conjunction with Kat’s name are “lipstick,” “palette,” and “foundation” — Jeffree has “cosmetics,” “Kat Von D,” and “Kylie Jenner.”
This says that people are searching for information about Kat’s products, while they search for info about Jeffree’s drama. HMM.
WINNER: Messiness tie.
Jeffree released a summer collection, a Halloween collection, his Androgyny palette, a holiday collection, new Skin Frost shades, a collab with Manny MUA, and another, even bigger summer collection.
Kat went ahead and released a rainbow of lip liners, expanded her liquid lipstick line, dropped blotting powders, collaborated with Too Faced on one of Sephora’s bestselling palettes of all time, released the Alchemist, Pastel Goth, and Glimmer palettes, and re-released her two fragrances. Plus, she’s currently teasing new brow products, lip toppers, and all-new highlighters. And because all of these products are sold in Sephoras around the world, she’s playing the game on a level that J.Star can’t even imagine.
WINNER: Kat by a goddamned mile.
Jeffree continues to pal around with the A-list of YouTube. Right now, his best friends include Manny MUA, Laura Lee, Tati, and Nikita Dragun. But he’s also gone through some VERY public friend breakups this year — Nikkie Tutorials, anyone?
Meanwhile, Kat has assembled a squad of goth queen avengers in the form of the KVD Artistry Collective: Kelseyanna Fitzparick, Stephanie Strazzere, Tara Buenrostro, and Leah Carmichael. Together, they create amazing looks, film videos, and do live tutorials together.
Oh, and BJ Betts — the tattoo artist at the center of the original KVD vs JStar controversy? He created the logo for Kat Von D’s Artistry Collective. So he’s clearly picked a side.
WINNER: Kat.
It’s hard to quantify this, honestly — both Jeffree and Kat live insanely luxurious lives that they both share extensively on social media. But for the sheer extravagance of his wardrobe, home, cars, and habits, it’s J.Star who comes out on top… his vacation nudes are enough to make any ex-BFF jealous.
WINNER: Jeffree.
For sheer quantity of drama generated per square inch, nobody starts shit like Jeffree. He’s since gotten into extended beefs with blogger John Kuckian, former friend Nikkie Tutorials, and Jackie Aina — but he generally picks fights with people on his level. Star did make an attempt to punch WAY above his weight class by going after Jerrod Blandino of Too Faced — a company now owned by M-Fing Estee Lauder — but after insinuating that the brand had taken legal action against him, he dropped that feud quickly.
That said, surprisingly, Kat starts even MORE shit than Jeffree does — she just picks her targets a little differently. Star tends to go after individuals he feels have wronged him personally, whereas Von D starts fights with entire brands over idealogical issues.
In the last 12 months, Kat has called out makeup giants like L’Oreal and MAC Cosmetics over their animal testing stances, she called out the entire beauty industry over the common (but shady) practice of “dupes,” she scrapped with the vegan community — which she’s part of! — over the ethics of wearing fake fur, and she called on all of her fans to shame and boycott NARS Cosmetics after the brand announced it would begin animal testing to expand into China.
As Nicola said, Kat is Wonder Woman, out trying to end the concept of war forever. Jeffree is Steve Trevor — he’s just gotta stop that ONE plane.
WINNER: Messiness tie.
Since the initial fight, Jeffree has continued to slap at former friend Kat. He’s made videos about their friendship and tattoo history, he’s publicly criticized palettes she’s created, and most recently he’s called her a “dumb whore,” all while insisting that he’s over it, he’s done, he doesn’t think about her anymore.
Kat hasn’t said a single word in public about Jeffree, and has quietly gotten on with her many businesses.
WINNER: Kat.
Seriously. It’s a dead tie between them.
I guess we’ll have to see what Kat and Jeffree do next to determine the ultimate winner of this ongoing beauty war.
title: “Kat Von D Versus Jeffree Star One Year On Who Won The War " ShowToc: true date: “2024-09-25” author: “Carlton Massengill”
Exactly one year ago today, Kat Von D shocked the world by publicly ending her 10-year friendship with Jeffree Star. What started with a single shady Instagram post has since spiraled into a multi-platform feud between the two that shows no sign of ending.
But one year later, the question is: When it comes to the great Kat Von D vs Jeffree Star war, who won?
I decided to tally up the destruction and declare a winner.
So who won the initial battle? Kat’s video has been viewed 8 million times, while Jeffree’s video has been watched nearly 10 million times. Sorry, Kat — when you come for the digital queen, you better not miss.
WINNER: Jeffree.
I can’t speak for the entirety of the beauty media, but in the hours, days, and weeks following this feud, I learned that my audience REALLY cares about Jeffree Star. Love him or hate him, stories about him get read like crazy — and I know I’m not the only editor who made that discovery. This fight has effectively turned Jeffree Star from a niche digital personality into a household name. There are stories written about him on major sites almost daily. He is, for better or worse, a force to be reckoned with in this industry.
By comparison, Kat isn’t in the spotlight as much. She doesn’t regularly make videos or give interviews. Instead, she maintains her personal Instagram, works with the Artistry Collective, and travels the world introducing KVD Beauty to new international markets.
So Jeffree definitely gets more attention — but the TYPE of attention Star and Von D get varies, too. Media coverage of Jeffree tends to be focused on his personality and his tendency to get into online fights. Coverage of Kat tends to focus more on her products and the causes she supports.
But, you know, Jeffree was just on the cover of Paper. That counts for something.
WINNER: Jeffree.
Based purely on search results, there’s just MORE on the internet about Kat Von D: 2.86 million search results to Jeffree’s 1.95. But that’s like the simplest, most base-level analysis I could give — and you KNOW I’m not into that. So I turned to Google Trends to look at how interest in these two personalities — and brands — has changed over time.
You COULD look at this graph and assume that Star is more “popular” than Von D online, but it’s not that simple. Kat Von D is already an almost-household name, but a lot of people who weren’t on MySpace aren’t quite sure who Jeffree is, so they Google him. That may have affected this set.
Additionally, the search TERMS around the two personalities are very different. The terms people most often search for in conjunction with Kat’s name are “lipstick,” “palette,” and “foundation” — Jeffree has “cosmetics,” “Kat Von D,” and “Kylie Jenner.”
This says that people are searching for information about Kat’s products, while they search for info about Jeffree’s drama. HMM.
WINNER: Messiness tie.
Jeffree released a summer collection, a Halloween collection, his Androgyny palette, a holiday collection, new Skin Frost shades, a collab with Manny MUA, and another, even bigger summer collection.
Kat went ahead and released a rainbow of lip liners, expanded her liquid lipstick line, dropped blotting powders, collaborated with Too Faced on one of Sephora’s bestselling palettes of all time, released the Alchemist, Pastel Goth, and Glimmer palettes, and re-released her two fragrances. Plus, she’s currently teasing new brow products, lip toppers, and all-new highlighters. And because all of these products are sold in Sephoras around the world, she’s playing the game on a level that J.Star can’t even imagine.
WINNER: Kat by a goddamned mile.
Jeffree continues to pal around with the A-list of YouTube. Right now, his best friends include Manny MUA, Laura Lee, Tati, and Nikita Dragun. But he’s also gone through some VERY public friend breakups this year — Nikkie Tutorials, anyone?
Meanwhile, Kat has assembled a squad of goth queen avengers in the form of the KVD Artistry Collective: Kelseyanna Fitzparick, Stephanie Strazzere, Tara Buenrostro, and Leah Carmichael. Together, they create amazing looks, film videos, and do live tutorials together.
Oh, and BJ Betts — the tattoo artist at the center of the original KVD vs JStar controversy? He created the logo for Kat Von D’s Artistry Collective. So he’s clearly picked a side.
WINNER: Kat.
It’s hard to quantify this, honestly — both Jeffree and Kat live insanely luxurious lives that they both share extensively on social media. But for the sheer extravagance of his wardrobe, home, cars, and habits, it’s J.Star who comes out on top… his vacation nudes are enough to make any ex-BFF jealous.
WINNER: Jeffree.
For sheer quantity of drama generated per square inch, nobody starts shit like Jeffree. He’s since gotten into extended beefs with blogger John Kuckian, former friend Nikkie Tutorials, and Jackie Aina — but he generally picks fights with people on his level. Star did make an attempt to punch WAY above his weight class by going after Jerrod Blandino of Too Faced — a company now owned by M-Fing Estee Lauder — but after insinuating that the brand had taken legal action against him, he dropped that feud quickly.
That said, surprisingly, Kat starts even MORE shit than Jeffree does — she just picks her targets a little differently. Star tends to go after individuals he feels have wronged him personally, whereas Von D starts fights with entire brands over idealogical issues.
In the last 12 months, Kat has called out makeup giants like L’Oreal and MAC Cosmetics over their animal testing stances, she called out the entire beauty industry over the common (but shady) practice of “dupes,” she scrapped with the vegan community — which she’s part of! — over the ethics of wearing fake fur, and she called on all of her fans to shame and boycott NARS Cosmetics after the brand announced it would begin animal testing to expand into China.
As Nicola said, Kat is Wonder Woman, out trying to end the concept of war forever. Jeffree is Steve Trevor — he’s just gotta stop that ONE plane.
WINNER: Messiness tie.
Since the initial fight, Jeffree has continued to slap at former friend Kat. He’s made videos about their friendship and tattoo history, he’s publicly criticized palettes she’s created, and most recently he’s called her a “dumb whore,” all while insisting that he’s over it, he’s done, he doesn’t think about her anymore.
Kat hasn’t said a single word in public about Jeffree, and has quietly gotten on with her many businesses.
WINNER: Kat.
Seriously. It’s a dead tie between them.
I guess we’ll have to see what Kat and Jeffree do next to determine the ultimate winner of this ongoing beauty war.
