Why is the internet so obsessed with Jeffree Star’s preference for hyper-masculine men?

By Deanna Pearce

Published Feb 5, 2023 at 09:00 AM

Reading time: 3 minutes

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Images courtesy of @JeffreeStar from Twitter

American YouTuber and beauty mogul Jeffree Star has hit the headlines once again—this time, not because of yet another controversial statement. On Friday 27 January 2023, the “queen of makeup” sent the Twittosphere into a frenzy when he posted a picture holding hands with his new “NFL boo,” revealing that the two were leaving Los Angeles to spend time in Wyoming (where Star owns a 70-acre ranch).

This is what us gen Zers like to call ‘soft launching’ your partner, which translates to showing your social media followers you are newly cuffed up without revealing their identity just yet.

Almost immediately, online sleuths took to TikTok and other social media platforms, picking the pictures apart pixel by pixel and scrambling to try and find any clue which might lead them to revealing the mystery sports star.

One netizen tweeted a zoomed-in image of the American football star’s hand—seemingly in hopes that the internet would be able to identify his freckle constellation? Some pretend detectives even went as far to identify the type of plane and its cabin space with the aim of figuring out how tall the player is.

Star has been on YouTube since 2013 and has existed on the internet during the peak of its chaos. In other words, he’s incredibly aware of how an image such as this one would send gen Zers into a complete feral spiral.

And, after already lighting the fuse, the beauty guru dropped a literal bomb on 30 January, posting another image of the alleged romantic interest. Posing next to one another with the mystery boyfriend’s face just out of shot, Star wrote: “His team didn’t make it to the #Superbowl but he’s 6 foot 6 and plays perfect in the bedroom.”

This, of course, only added fuel to the speculation fire. Some people then began to consider all of the NFL teams who didn’t make it to the Superbowl this year, which is due to take place on 12 February. One user thought it could potentially be a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, due to them missing out on this year’s grand event, and also down to the minute clue that an orange heart was included in Star’s caption.

Another netizen, having commented on the mystery man’s brown locks, ultra-masculine build and tall height, pondered over whether or not it might be quarterback, internet heartthrob and newly single bachelor Tom Brady.

It’s not only fans who have been obsessing over the cryptic post either, it seems the news has also been causing rifts in some marriages. Saryn Anderson, wife of Henry Anderson who plays for the Carolina Panthers, personally contacted the YouTuber on Instagram and begged him to stop posting his new boo as she was getting harassed by fans speculating it was her husband.

Star obviously didn’t think twice about sharing the private conversation online with the caption: “OMG now the #NFL wives are coming after me!!! Girl… Don’t be so insecure. I don’t mess with married men.”

This is not the first time that the Jeffree Star Cosmetics CEO has found himself in the romantic spotlight. In August 2020, he received a tidal wave of attention after he revealed that he was dating German basketball player André Marhold.

Oh, and there was also that little rumour about the makeup guru having a fling with Kanye West in January 2021—though it should be noted that this narrative was later disproved. Since Star’s been a person of interest online, his romantic endeavours and relationships have been scrutinised heavily. And after netizens began to notice a pattern in the content creator favouring hyper-masculine men, they started theorising the deeper meaning behind this—because of course, as far as the internet is concerned, everything has a deeper meaning.

Though, for a long time, Star didn’t speak out publicly about how he identifies, stating on on Trisha Paytas’ podcast The Dish With Trish “I’m just Jeffree,” he went on to do so while on Mike Majlak and Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast. Calling out Majlak for misidentifying him at a prior event, the YouTuber confirmed that he goes by the pronouns he/him.

Going back to the debate surrounding Star’s dating habits, TikToker @lucy.thinks.aloud broke down her own theory on the app. “For a lot of straight men, the ability to perceive you as female is much more important than anything you identify as,” she stated.

“That’s why on queer hookup apps, straight men make no distinction between trans women and cross-dressers because for straight men what you identify as is not as important as you being able to turn them on,” the TikToker added.

On the other hand, there have also been countless theories claiming that Star is the one doing all the fetishising, only with straight men. If you ask me, no matter how obvious it is that the makeup expert wants to create controversy, when it comes to his romantic relationships, perhaps netizens should learn to not take the bait and leave him be.