Jeffree Star Criticized for Selling Meat From 'Pet' Yaks
Celebrity

Jeffree Star Criticized for Selling Meat From 'Pet' Yaks

Jeffree Star is major facing backlash over his new food venture.

Last year, the social media star packed up shop to move from his longtime home of Los Angeles in favor of Casper, Wyoming, where he bought a $1.1 million ranch spanning over 500 acres with 40 yaks. Soon afterwards, Star seemingly got the idea to go full rancher-mode with Star Yak Ranch last August after filing a trademark to sell a bunch of yak-related products, including natural yak fibers, clothing and breeding services, as well as yak meat for both pet and human consumption.

As fans were quick to remember though, Star had also previously referred to the yaks as his "pets" and revealed he'd given them names. So when the controversial YouTuber took to Instagram this past weekend to post about his yak meat pop-up, people were less than happy with the pics of yak steaks, ground yak and yak jerky.

Making things even worse was the fact that his eponymous beauty brand is famously vegan, which led to many calling the endeavor "sick" and "hypocritical." However, Star has since responded to the criticism in a lengthy Twitter thread about folks being "concerned about me supplying my local community with food."

"I’ve donated over 1000 pounds of meat to shelters," the online personality said, before telling fans to "stop using the same regurgitated quote from last year when I said 'all of my yaks are pets.'" And though went on to insist the yaks are still a part of the family, Star added that he later "learned how healthy #yak meat is" and "started to appreciate learning where my food comes from."

"When I stopped eating fast food & started to care about my body more, I realized I wanted to take what I was doing to a different avenue as well, and it’s been a beautiful experience," he continued. "Not eating horrible meat from farmers that give animals growth hormones & disgusting additives I see no conflict."

Not only that, but Star pointed out that while he "chose to create a cosmetics line that doesn’t torture and test on animals," he "never claimed to be vegan." Rather, it was about "evolving in the beauty industry & moving past the old ways," a train of thought that he's seemingly extended to his yak business.

"Trust me, I grew up in a huge city and didn’t understand the culture of hunting and providing your family with food for a year," he said. "I never gave a fuck where the food came from that I was putting in my body… I love getting older and expanding my knowledge

According to PopBuzz, Star also later posted a similar message on his Instagram Stories, where he explained he still has 120 pet yaks, including the ones with names that are tagged on his account.

"People are literally making up their own narratives. 'You're slaughtering Swiss Chocolate and Buster,'" Star said. "No, they're actually right here grazing on the grass and I can't wait for their semen to impregnate a lot of the girls and have amazing babies."

Read Star's tweets below.

Photo via Getty / Rodin Eckenroth

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