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"Spill the Tea": A Case Study of the Dramageddon Scandal and the Effects of
Cancel Culture on Social Media Influencers in the Beauty Community

Article · December 2019

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“Spill the Tea”: A Case Study of the Dramageddon Scandal and the Effects of Cancel

Culture on Social Media Influencers in the Beauty Community

"Just so you know, I know these people a lot better than a lot of you do—let's keep it a hundred
there. I am aware of what kind of person they are. they're [aware that they are] creating that
narrative, and it's obvious. These are my "friends"... I see how they move. So, this isn't just me
misinterpreting things... there was a lot of people online saying... "why is Gabriel the sacrificial
lamb?"
— Gabriel Zamora in “My Truth”

Dramageddon is dubbed as one of the biggest scandals that occurred within the Beauty

Community in 2018, involving Jeffree Star, Gabriel Zamora, Manny MUA (Manny Gutierrez),

Laura Lee and Nikita Dragun (Nikita Nguyen). The drama started1 on the social media platform,

Twitter, when Gabriel Zamora posted a photo of him, Gutierrez, Nguyen and Lee posing with their

middle finger, with the caption “bitches are bitter because without him we’re doing better”, which

was a directed towards Star. Zamora proceeded to accuse Star of racism, citing his problematic

behavior in the past and present, off-camera interactions. This leads to Zamora and his friends

being ‘exposed’ for their own alleged racist behavior. Eventually, after a few written apologies

and being attacked by fans, Zamora released a 48-minute video titled ‘My Truth’ where he

apologized, explained his side of the situation, and marked the high end of the drama and the fall

of certain individuals.

Dramageddon became a milestone in the beauty community. Its effects impacted internet

culture and dynamics and is a subject of interest in many articles and online discussions, which is

why it is worth looking into in an academic sociological perspective. In this paper, I will be

examining the main components of Dramageddon, how these elements interact and how this event

shaped cancel culture and its effect on the influencers and the communities.

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 University of the Philippines Cebu – College of Communications, Arts and Design

A Foucauldian Perspective

I will be using Foucauldian discourse analysis as a theoretical lens to deconstruct and

discuss the elements identified. This theory, formulated by Michel Foucault, defines discourse as

a set of ‘statements’ (Kendal & Wickham, 1998) which is systematic and regulated (Henriques,

1984, as cited by Kendal & Wickham, 1998). It emphasizes that discourse construct meaning in

social practices and define the its limitations and use (Gibbs, 2015).

Power is an important element in Foucault’s work, as it is present in discourse and social

relations (Gibbs, 2015; Powers, n.d). According to a lecture by Gibbs, one who holds information

in the dominant discourse can regulate others in a society and that the Foucauldian perspective

focuses on the power and politics behind discourse on a macro-level, inspecting the dynamics

involved and how the discourse defines certain subjects. Powers, however, believes that power is

a network of interacting, struggling forces, but it is not a mode or structure of subjugation, nor

does it restrain. It is ‘performed’ and described as a strategy, which is akin to the concept of

influence. Powers also introduces the concept of resistance, which is functions as the adversary

for power. Resistance and power co-exist and reference one another.

In this research, the Beauty Community is recognized as a social institution defined by

discourse between active enthusiasts and actors. I have identified three key actors that played into

the conflict and participated in the discourse of Dramageddon: Influencers, Audience, and Drama

Channels.

Influencers and Authenticity

In the hierarchy of the Beauty Community, power resides with the Influencers, who are the

content creators and the fixation of the community. Influencer are defined as well-connected

individuals that exhibit desirable traits such as expertise and credibility and have a large following

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 University of the Philippines Cebu – College of Communications, Arts and Design

they can influence (Bakshy et al., 2011). This label is used liberally in the community, as anyone

with a significant audience can be labeled as an Influencer.

Part of what makes an Influencer appealing is their “authenticity”, a concept tracing back

to the era of television. Schickel (1985), as discussed by Meyers (2009), described the 'illusion of

intimacy' as an integral part of the allure of the celebrities. Their persona, therefore, extend beyond

their professional image, but are combined with more 'intimate', behind-the-scene details of their

private lives. This concept of authenticity manifests as relatability, where the influencers connects

with their audience (Forbes, 2016), fostering a sympathetic and parasocial relationship.

This dynamic is more emphasized in the age of influencers. Social media allows direct

communication between the influencer and the audience, and most produce vlog-style content

which focus on their ordinary lives. Relatability is the main selling point of influencers, which is

why they are effective as sellers and businesspeople, as their authenticity makes their audience is

comfortable and trusting with the familiarity (Gluckman, 2017).

In Dramageddon, there was a breakdown of authenticity and relatability when these

influencers went against what was socially acceptable. Suddenly, the audiences are aware of an

‘undesirable’ facet of their personality which goes against the wholesome image they try to create,

thus the backlash (Tucker, 2018).

This is especially the case of Manny Gutierrez and Laura Lee. In Zamora’s video ‘My

Truth’, he discussed how Gutierrez treated his former friends and orchestrated their public

apologies, Exposing his ‘dishonesty’. For Lee, her infamous apology video was dubbed as

‘exaggerated and desperate’ and became the subject of mockery.

Their fans found them untrustworthy because of their ‘inauthentic’ actions, which caused

a significant drop from their following and losing much of their influence and power. In contrast,

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Zamora’s final apology was praised for his ‘authenticity’ and garnered more followers. In the

Foucauldian perspective, Zamora’s knowledge of Gutierrez’s private behavior and his willingness

to reveal this to his audience gave him the power to define himself as a victim of the situation, and

shape how the discourse about the scandal is framed.

Audience

Although the audience is subjected to influence and suggestion, their power relies on the

propagation of discourse. Their decision as a collective has a massive impact on the influencers

and are shaped by the trends and social norms that also exist outside the atmosphere.

At that time, woke culture and political correctness (PC) dominated online discourse. The

term woke originated as an African American Vernacular English (AAVE) slang, which, according

to a New York Times article written by William Melvin Kelley in 1962, meant ‘well-informed,

up-to-date’ (‘woke adjective earlier than 2008’, 2017). In social media, #StayWoke was first used

in 2009 on twitter (Minamore, 2017) and slowly gained attention and usage over the years. Now,

‘woke’ is associated with activism and social justice, now used broadly to encompass issues

outside Black Culture (Stay Woke, n.d.). To be woke is to call out and denounce racist, sexist, and

homophobic behavior.

Zamora and company’s racist and problematic tweets dated back to 2012. Going back to

Gibbs’ lecture, discourse is “historically and culturally situated”, meaning a subject is discussed

differently when put in different periods, and one would assume that their behavior was not called

out because (a) they did not have the level of fame and relevance back in 2012 and/or (b) the

discussion on ‘wokeness’ and political correctness was not as prevalent as it is now. The tweets

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only resurfaced as a result of Zamora bringing up Star’s racist past, almost like a form of

retaliation.

In a paper about call-out culture, Tucker (2018) likened this phenomenon with the concept

of surveillance. By bringing up past tweets, the audiences demonstrate their power to access

information through monitoring and observation. Surveillance, according to Tucker, breeds fear,

leading to discipline and the self-consciousness in a subject, who will try to align themselves with

what is desirable. After Dramageddon, Influencers feel the need to be more politically correct and

careful with what they put out, and the audiences (and drama channels) act as regulators.

Drama Channels

Drama Channels produce content that can be likened to gossip news structurally. White

(2003) discussed the six stages of writing gossip as news, based on the analysis of Eggins and

Slade (1997), which are:

o Third Person Focus. The subject and the misdemeanor committed is identified

o Substantiating Behavior. Factual evidence or information that proves the misdemeanor

o Pejorative Evaluation. The evidence is used to create a negative evaluation

o Defense. Statement or justification for the subject to counter the pejorative evaluation

o Wrap Up. Thematic summation of the news; and

o Probe. A speaker invites another to offer further substantiation or evaluation.

Videos from drama channels incorporate most, if not all the stages. Despite its likeness to

a journalistic format, they have subjective slants and have a tendency to frame the situation

according to their personal biases (Wischhover, 2015). A unique aspect of most drama channels is

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their use of creativity when it came to presenting their content, such as animated intros, catchy

background music and on-brand introduction.

While there are drama channels that feature the creator’s presence by appearing on camera,

most of them are faceless, only using voiceovers or text to deliver the news. This means the do not

rely on relatability for their appeal, but instead, they thrive because of the information they provide.

Drama channels take deleted tweets, document responses, screenshots of conversations and report

them to their audiences, which allows the audience to better understand the narrative of the drama.

However, as previously mentioned, the tendency of drama channels to lean to their biases might

affect the consensus of the audiences.

Though they thrive on their knowledge they could report, drama channels would not exist

without drama. Drama is “performative, interpersonal conflict that takes place in front of an active,

engaged audience (Marwick & Boyd, 2014)”, and it allows participation, especially when done on

social media. Drama channels are by-products of drama, thriving at its performative nature and its

entertainment value, which is then consumed by the audiences who want to participate in the event.

Aftereffects

As discussed earlier, Laura Lee and Manny Gutierrez took most the most damage out of

Dramageddon. Lee reportedly lost up to 500,000 subscribers and her makeup line, Laura Lee Los

Angeles, was dropped by major cosmetic stores like ColourPop and Morphe (Prinzivalli, 2018).

Gutierrez’s fall came after Zamora released his apology and lost 250,000 subscribers (Weiss,

2018). Both took a hiatus from their social medias. As of writing, Lee and Gutierrez are back on

their YouTube channels, though their views are significantly lower than what it was before. Nikita

Nguyen lost 75,000 subscribers (Sommer, 2018) and is still plagued with controversy and

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criticism, but for different reasons. These losses are not only devastating socially, but also

financially.

Gabriel Zamora the instigator of the conflict, publicly apologized to Star, which was

accepted by most. He gained subscribers and was respected again in the community, until he

participated in another drama dubbed Dramageddon 2.0, where he opposes Star again (Lawler &

Aggeler, 2019). Jeffree Star, an already controversial figure, seem to be unaffected by the drama

career-wise at the time of this writing.

Audiences became aware of their power to “cancel” public figures, but this susceptible to

bias, either based off their favorite influencer or from the drama channels. Aside from audiences,

drama channels act as a check on influencers, turning it into a lucrative section in the community.

Influencers, witnessing the horrors of Dramageddon, strive for authenticity, relatability and

political correctness to avoid similar backlash.

Conclusion

It is fitting to conclude this discussion by synthesizing a definition of cancel culture through

the analysis of Dramageddon. I consider cancel culture to be a successor to call-out culture, as they

both resemble witch hunts and condemnation over a perceived problematic behavior. However,

while call-out culture exposes a subject’s behavior and demands accountability, it seems that

cancel culture aims to de-platform and for the subject to face punishment. This approach, however,

is counterproductive as it ostracizes the influencer instead of educating them (Tucker, 2018).

Perhaps the reason why Dramageddon is a fixation of the media is because of it is dramatic.

The opening quote, taken from Gabriel Zamora, mentions a “creation of a narrative”, reflecting

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the performative nature of the event, which means that the audiences are not only invested to

deliver social justice, but also for its entertainment value.

Aside from being a phenomenon, cancel culture is a symptom of how the beauty

community works. It reveals that the discourse is strong within the active participants in the

community. Influencers, who would be viewed as more powerful in a traditional sense, are at the

mercy of the audiences’ judgement. Drama channels are manifestation of this surveillance-like

environment, feeding off the negative actions of the influencers and perpetuating the culture of

drama and feuds within the community.

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 University of the Philippines Cebu – College of Communications, Arts and Design

End Notes
1.
The animosity between Jeffree Star and the other influencers have existed before (and

have fueled) Dramageddon. Star is a controversial figure in the Beauty Community

and was once close friends with Manny Gutierrez, Laura Lee and Nikita Nguyen.

Though none of the parties reveal why their friendships ended, it is rumored that Star

pulled out his investments from their makeup line (Stiegman, 2018), thus, Gutierrez

cut off their friendship, though he denies these allegations. Star has also called Lee

“evil”.

Most importantly, it is important to know that Star’s reputation at that time was high

because of “The Secret World of Jeffree Star”, starring him and Shane Dawson,

which revealed his personal life and his struggles, which made him look more

sympathetic and relatable. In fact, this documentary was one of the reasons Zamora

tweeted against Star, and he acknowledged this in his apology video. The Beauty

Community in general leaned towards Star, so the audiences were eager to against

Zamora and friends.

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References

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Forbes, K. (2016). Examining the Beauty Industry’s Use of Social Influencers. Elon Journal of

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Gibbs, G. R. (2015, May 6). Discourse Analysis Part 2: Foucauldian Approaches. Retrieved

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Kendall, G., & Wickham , G. (1998). Using Foucault's Methods. Sage.

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 University of the Philippines Cebu – College of Communications, Arts and Design

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