celebrity

Bankrupt to millionaire: Behind the YouTube documentary with 63 millions views and counting.

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He’s famously feuded with Kylie Jenner and Kat Von D, and now, he’s the subject of YouTube’s most talked about documentary series.

Yep, we’re talking about the ever-controversial Jeffree Star.

The makeup mogul and beauty guru recently welcomed fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson into his home to film a documentary series for YouTube titled ‘The Secret World of Jeffree Star’.

Now, in just a week, the five-part series has gained a whopping 63 million views – and it’s easy to see why.

Visiting the 32-year-old’s Calabasas mansion (Khloe Kardashian is actually his neighbour) and his cosmetic company’s factory, Shane provided a unique insight into Jeffree’s lavish Californian lifestyle with his long-time partner Nathan Schwandt and their five dogs.

But although he now owns three homes, a pin-protected $7 million wardrobe and over 100 arcade machines, life hasn’t always been easy for Jeffree Star.

In fact, as Shane’s documentary reveals, just a few years ago, Jeffree was living in a small Californian apartment, bankrupt and alone.

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Before making a name for himself as the man behind Jeffree Star Cosmetics, he was well known on Myspace for his music and of course, his makeup looks.

In 2010, Akon even signed Jeffree Star to his label.

But Jeffree’s music career didn’t exactly take off as planned, and once the money dried up, he was left bankrupt and sleeping on friends’ couches across Los Angeles.

“How it ended, with me quitting my dream career besides makeup and having it not work out how I envisioned it from day one, it was heartbreaking,” Jeffree told Shane.

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Jeffree also opened up in the series about his tough childhood.

After his father died of suicide when he was just six years old, Jeffrey struggled with his own mental health, revealing to Shane that he has covered his body with tattoos to hide self-harm scars from his teenage years.

He also owned up to his past mistakes, apologising for a video that resurfaced from over 10 years ago, in which he used racist slurs.

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“Those videos were 12 years ago and I look at them and it just makes me sick to my stomach because I don’t know who that person was,” he said.

Just years on from couch-surfing, the beauty mogul is now a multi-millionaire, reportedly worth a mind-boggling $20 – $30 million.

Although he has over nine million YouTube subscribers and a successful makeup brand (which he claims has an annual gross revenue of $100 million+), Jeffree’s fortune comes from a combination of business ventures.

Besides his cosmetics company, he has invested in property and the marijuana industry, and he owns a shipment and fulfilment centre and a merchandise company.

You can watch the full Secret World of Jeffree Star series on YouTube.

Watch: Take a peek inside Jeffree Star’s $7 million closet.