Watch: Bretman Rock Explains Departure from 'Beauty Influencer' Role
Bretman Rock says that his decision to step away from being a beauty influencer comes down to the "ick" factor of how other influencers' scandals made it an "ugly" occupation, Buzzfeed News reported.
Rock discussed his departure from his former career in an interview with Them in which he promoted his new memoir, "You're That Bitch," and looked back on memories of his early career.
In the course of the interview, which is part of Them's YouTube series, Rock commented "on his beauty girlie era, which truly defined the makeup culture of the 2010s," saying, "I really just was like, 'Damn, all these Asian girls are beautiful and I'm beautiful as well.'"
"Firmly marking the shift from beauty guru to bona fide celebrity, Rock was named to Forbes' 30 under 30 list in Asia in 2018," Them noted. "Rock has gone on to make a reality show 'with four brown people' who are 'queer as hell,' win an MTV Movie & TV Award," the article continued.
The ex-"beauty guru" told Them that when he announced his decision to leave that role in 2021, "The girls were not happy with this video," but added, "Ultimately, I said what I said, and I meant what I said. White people ruined the beauty community, and I'mma go."
BuzzFeed recapped that Rock said "the scandals from predominantly white creators made the genre 'ugly.'"
Among those scandals were "resurfaced old racist tweets from Jeffree Star, Laura Lee, and Gabriel Zamora," the article recalled, as well as allegations against James Charles that included claims of him "exchanging sexual messages with minors" and Insider's report about alleged sexual assaults by Jeffree Star, along with revelations of "messages in which the makeup guru offered $10,000 to two of the victims for their silence."
"Rock said the frequency of scandals and infighting was the reason he felt he had to leave," BuzzFeed said, as well as the rise of "an entire genre of memes around apology videos..."
"It's as simple as addressing what you did, saying sorry, and never doing it again," the article quoted him as saying. "But you bitches are gon' cry, make up excuses, not say sorry, and still do the shit you say."
Rock summarized: "The beauty industry became the sorry industry."
Watch Rock's interview with Them below.