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Not very demure: Jools Lebron exposes beauty brand that didn't pay her
Jools Lebron seen in New York City.
"You love the divas, and you didn't cut me a check?" the mindful influencer asked.
Jools Lebron popularized one of 2024's most viral trends, but now, she's saying she didn't get paid for some of the work she did.
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On the first episode of her new podcast, Very Demure, influencer Jools Lebron, who popularized the "demure" trend in 2024 has opened up about one beauty brand she says took advantage of her.
Lebron is a trans influencer who's TikToks about "demure" behavior went viral last year, causing the word to become Dictionary.com's Word of the Year.
In her videos, she explained how to be demure, "mindful," and "cutesy" while doing things like applying for a job, getting on and off an airplane, and walking around town.
Due to her success, she was able to pay for gender affirming surgery for herself and was able to help a friend with housing. However, now, she's saying that some of the companies she worked with expected her to do that work for free.
Lebron mentioned a beauty brand and its founder that were recently called out for "not paying Black and brown creators" and shared her own story working with them at a foundation event.
"At the height of the most viral sensation of TikTok of 2024, you got me to fly to New York, for free, unpaid, to essentially promote your foundation?" she asked.
Lebron mentioned that she was excited to work with the brand and creator, who she called "one of my idols," and didn't think anything was wrong until she looked back on it.
"Of course I want to make some TikToks with you," she said, "he was making TikToks with all the divas. Because he was paying the other divas, I found out later."
She wasn't planning on speaking out about this brand not paying her, a "plus size Afro-Latina." But then, Lebron says, the brand made a video asking people who worked with the brand but felt they weren't fairly paid to reach out, and that made her recall how she was treated.
The Very Demure host also noted that one of her fans tagged the creator on a post celebrating her success, saying the creator gave Lebron her first brand deal (which Lebron says is untrue). The creator replied, "We love helping the divas!"
"You love helping the divas, and you didn't cut me a check?" Lebron asked.
In the comments, several people have speculated that Lebron is talking about Patrick Ta. Though this is purely speculative, some fans have also started to tag the creator, and the brand, in the comments.
This story is still developing…
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
