Marlena Stell Calls Out Fellow Beauty Gurus in New YouTube Video 'Dear Influencers'

After the James Charles and Tati Westbrook drama last month, we were due for another social media scandal. YouTube influencer and Makeup Geek CEO Marlena Stell posted a video titled “Dear Influencers” telling her side of the story regarding her feuds in the beauty guru community.  

“Everyone I mention in this video I have no ill will towards whatsoever — I never have. However I needed to explain my side,” she posted in the video caption. For more than one hour, Marlena walked fans through her drama with Jaclyn Hill, James Charles, Nicol Concilio, and more, sharing receipts and spilling all the tea.  

One major feud that the makeup CEO addressed in the video was her beef with popular beauty guru Jaclyn Hill. According to emails, which Marlena posted as evidence, Jaclyn and the Makeup Geek founder were supposed to collaborate on an eyeshadow palette nearly five years ago. 

Jaclyn had other brand deals that coincided with the timeline for the Makeup Geek partnership and, after a lot of back-and-forth, the deal folded. Unfortunately, Marlena’s company already spent a lot of money producing the first batch of palettes and there was never a contract put in place to legally bind Jaclyn to a partnership. While she was hurt by her friend, she didn’t fully blame Jaclyn as the two never signed a contract.  

However, Marlena did release a video titled “My Truth Regarding the Beauty Community” and called out her (former?) friend explaining that she felt used by Jaclyn. The two beauty entrepreneurs then engaged in a texting feud. Many influencers did not like Marlena’s video, in which she called into question the ethics and integrity of the beauty community. 

In September, Marlena and James Charles engaged in a very public Twitter feud after the 20-year-old got wind that Netflix was filming a documentary special with the CEO. “This woman knows nothing about the industry other than blaming her bad business decisions and personal issues on influencers. @Netflix This is absurd & I’d love to get in a room together to show you the non-bias outline I’ve already made on this subject that documents all sides,” he tweeted at the streaming service. 

Marlena defended herself, tweeting: “@jamescharles I think it would be great to hear about your input from an influencer side as well! I didn’t approach Netflix — they approached me and want to understand everything about the beauty industry. Nothing drama related. DM me privately if you would like.” 

Other influencers started embedding themselves into the conversation surrounding the Netflix documentary, including Nicol Concilio. 

Are you even a social media influencer if you don’t take sides and get involved in YouTube drama? In her latest video, Marlena addressed her relationship with Nicol explaining to fans that she reached out to the 26-year-old following a bad incident she had with a beauty brand. 

She privately messaged Nicol sharing her sympathy and asking if she needed anything. However, when the Netflix drama circulated, the beauty guru stood by her “Sister Squad” leader. “I completely agree with James @netflix this is NOT the way to go about this. I don’t see good intentions from this woman whatsoever after all she has a brand she’s trying to promote as well. Smh what is this right now,” she tweeted at the time.  

After Marlena shed some light on her relationship with Nicol, the young social star tweeted an apology for her previous behavior. “I reached out to Marlena to privately apologize but also wanna make a public apology to you guys. I did tweet that in the heat of the moment when there was SO MUCH craziness going on in the community it was wrong and an emotional tweet that I quickly deleted,” she recently posted after the video.  

She added: “I am very sorry to @MarlenaStell.On right. I’m sorry to YOU guys if I let you down. I’m so incredibly sorry, I take full responsibility. I really have been doing everything in my power for the last two hours to reach out to her and apologize. My emotions got the best of me and it was a mistake.”

Well, this drama just seems like another day in the world of YouTube stardom...