We are officially in dramageddon 4 territory. One common thread I have noticed between dramageddon 1, dramageddon 2, karmageddon, and dramageddon 3 is the recurring cast of characters. In this case it is Shane Dawson, Jeffree Star, and Trisha Paytas with special guest, Hair by Jay.
This tea has been brewing for a while and is finally ready to drink. In 2020 around Valentine’s Day, Trisha had a falling out with Jeffree Star after an all expenses trip to Las Vegas. Trisha alleged that Jeffree and his friends made fun of her for being “poor” because she rented her house rather than owning it and because she asked about the price of a designer bag she was interested in purchasing. She also claims that they blasted her mental health issues, weight, past drug abuse and acne. Jeffree Star has since apologized for the incident, however, Trisha has not accepted his apology, nor does she have to.
On on January 15th of this year, Jeffree Star’s former hairstylist Hair By Jay went on a rant about Trisha on Instagram Live. In Hair By Jay’s Instagram Live, he called her a “walrus” and made several other harsh comments about her appearance. Jay defended his actions by stating that his animosity towards her all stemmed from Trisha accusing him of overcharging her for wigs during the Vegas trip.
Despite all of this, Trisha remained civil towards Jeffree Star, seemingly to maintain the peace since Jeffree loves to run around town saying how he has dirt on everyone. This all changed after Hair By Jay’s infamous Instagram Live video. Trisha then uploaded a video titled, “why I’m scared of jeffree and hairbyjay”. In the YouTube video, she claims that Hair By Jay has threatened to physically harm her. Her security guard has also confirmed that Jay had been outside of her home taking pictures of her cars as if he was waiting for her to come outside of her house.
On the incident Trisha stated: “These are awful people. I have my own problems, I do, I’m not perfect, but I’m not a nasty person to other people like this. I was cool with Jay, I was cool with him. I never mentioned him by name. I did have an issue with him charging me $1,000 more than wigs normally cost,” she alleged. Hair by Jay has since issued a half hearted apology to Trisha, but only after being fired by Jeffree Star.
Now I know you are all wondering, how is Shane Dawson tied up in all of this drama? This kinda seems like a Trisha v. Jay v. Jeffree thing. Well, Trisha ended her 12-year friendship with Shane and his fiancé Ryland Adams over his continued support of Jeffree. She had told Shane about the Las Vegas situation and he told her to simply brush it off because of his business relationship with Jeffree (they collaborated on the Conspiracy collection).
Trisha expected Shane, as her close friend, to reach out to her following Hair By Jay’s Instagram Live. However, he didn’t contact her until she started talking about Ryland’s podcast, The Sip, in which Jeffree has been a guest once and called into the show once for a total of two appearances on the podcast.
Trisha has continuously gone hard in her defense of Shane throughout his many public controversies and being canceled in 2020. However, Shane has refused to defend Trisha against Jeffree Star even once. “I’ve defended [Shane] so hard and that was really why I made the video,” she said on her podcast Frenemies. “I couldn’t defend this person anymore. People hate me for defending him blindly.”
In a YouTube video titled “I just want to move on”, Trisha said she had blocked both Shane and Ryland. She reiterated on Twitter: “Shane and Ryland didn’t unfollow me. Just to set the record straight – I blocked them. There’s no malice behind it, I did it for my own peace. It’s not drama. It’s very personal and I want to move on. So speculation can stop as to why they unfollowed, they didn’t.”
In the end it is disheartening to have your best friend of 12-years do nothing when you are at your lowest point. Shane has seemed to manipulate the situation and tell Trisha the things she wants to hear like that he will “distance himself” from Jeffree or that he is also “afraid of him”. But his actions have always spoken louder than his words. And his silence on this situation, despite his constant posting to his Instagram stories on Animal Crossing and on the anniversary of the Conspiracy Palette, speaks volumes. Trisha has damaged her reputation further by her relentless defense of her friend. And when she needed him most, much like the Avatar 100 years ago, he vanished.
Despite how polarizing of a figure Trisha Paytas is, no one deserves to have a “friend” like Shane Dawson. And it is always painful when you see their true colors.