Laura's apology lacked a certain something.
Like genuineness.
Humbleness.
Real tears.
An actual apology.
Exhibit 1: Laura Lee's Apology
Laura does everything but take responsibility for her actions. She uses her age and her Alabama roots as an excuse for her ignorant previous Twitter posts. She seems to genuinely be sorry that she is losing followers (and credibility), but she doesn't seem to care as much about her past and present mistakes.
The Twitter posts in question were not recent and she could very much be a changed person, we just wouldn't know it from this video. Note: the posts were not "retweets" as she says in her apology. She wrote and sent them.
The frequent cuts in the video were distracting and added to the feeling that the whole video was (not academy award worthy) acting on Laura's part. Turn on English subtitles for the entertainment factor.
Laura Lee's written apology
Special note to Laura:
Many, many people are from Alabama and somehow manage to avoid making hurtful racist comments. Please grow up, m'dear.
Exhibit 2: Gabriel Zamora's Truth
This is how to make a genuine apology.
When you own your mistakes and verbalize why you were wrong and how you will do better, it clears the air so that everyone can begin to move forward.
Gabriel goes a step further and explains his role in the situation that was created by his posting of "the photo" and provides additional background information that fills in some of the blanks in the Manny vs Jeffree situation (hint: everything is not as it appears). He also explains how PR associates got involved to help prevent damage and how it backfired.
He apologized to Jeffree and is making amends to everyone who has been hurt by the situation.
Exhibit 3: The photo that started everything
This picture was intended to recreate the photo that Kylie Jenner and her sisters made at her birthday party. It became problematic when Gabriel posted it to Twitter with the included tagline. It was obvious he was throwing shade at Jeffree.
The internet threw a little shade of its own and soon tweets from years ago were pulled up to prove that these beauty influencers had indeed made racist, fat-shaming, and generally impolite tweets. People who live in glass social media houses shouldn't throw rocks.
The cyber sleuthing did not disappoint.
Neither did the myriad of reaction videos. Trisha's reaction was gold.
Exhibit 4: Manny's apology
In his apology, Manny talks about an experience with a fan and how this turned his perspective on its head.
His apology seems genuine on the surface, but as the comment section reveals, his followers are not buying it.
People who have been following Manny for years now expect an apology to Jeffree since Gabriel reviewed more details in his truth video. Will he follow through? I suppose we have to stay tuned to find out.
Or not. Manny's number of YouTube followers has steeply declined over the last 5 days.
Exhibit 5: Shane reveals the real and raw Jeffree Starr
The entire series (linked above) is fascinating and worth watching even if you aren't a fan of Jeffree.
In Shane's "Secret World" series, you will find more details on Jeffree's past racist comments. This relates to the Manny/Laura/Gabriel situation.
You will also see that the accusations against Jeffree are not exactly what they seem.
Jeffree also reveals some of his past experiences with dear friends. While he did not say names, it is clear by the details he provided that he was very hurt by his relationship with Manny and others.
Maybe Manny didn't like the implication that he was a bad friend? Maybe Laura and Manny are jealous of Jeffree's success? Maybe they forgot how much Jeffree helped them?
Maybe these YouTube stars are human like everyone else and they make mistakes?
What we can all take away from this is that words matter. Actions matter. When we make mistakes, apologizing, owning up to our shortcomings, and verbalizing how we will do better matters.
Keep it real, friends.
Update 9/5: Nikita learned absolutely nothing.
And the drama continues...
