Jeffree Star’s ex-boyfriend André Marhold is finally opening up about his infamous relationship with the beauty mogul earlier this year.
In a new tell-all interview, the basketball player sat down with Jason Lee from Hollywood Unlocked, revealing how they met, why they split, and what *really* went down with those robbery allegations.
How they met
André explains that he and Jeffree met through Instagram, and that it was actually André himself who made the first move.
After a photo of the YouTuber appeared on his explore page, André says he went to Jeffree’s profile and liked multiple photos because he was genuinely attracted to him. The controversial star apparently noticed and as a result, he slid into André’s DMs. The two messaged back and forth for about a month until Jeffree offered to fly André out to L.A.
André didn’t know who Jeffree Star was
Despite his massive social media presence and wildly successful career, André maintains that he never Googled Jeffree and apparently had no idea who he even was prior to meeting him.
He explains the infamous straddle photo
Their relationship was first introduced to the world when Jeffree posted a photo of himself straddling a faceless André.
André tells Hollywood Unlocked that when he arrived in L.A. he was asked to be in some promotional shots for Jeffree’s social media and that included this photo. Jeffree’s team allegedly asked André if anyone online would be able to identify him based on his tattoos to which André said no.
Though this face remained hidden, internet sleuths quickly got to work— revealing that the arms embracing Jeffree belonged to basketball player André Marhold. The Instagram account The Shade Room was amongst the first to make the discovery based on André’s tattoos.
André claims the photo was posted without his permission and upon going viral, Jeffree urged him to turn all his social media accounts on private. André was not publicly out yet.
Was Jeffree *actually* paying André to spend time with him?
Throughout their time together, many speculated that Jeffree was paying the athlete to spend time with him or possibly paying André to pretend to be in a relationship with him.
Jeffree addressed the rumours on Twitter back in August via Twitter, writing, “I don’t give money to anyone I’m dating or anyone who is fucking me”.
André echoed this statement, telling Jason Lee that no money was ever exchanged.
André claims he did not rob Jeffree
When addressing Jeffree’s history of racism, André defends the cosmetics CEO, saying he does not think Jeffree is racist, however, he does think he holds biases. He then provides the example of when Jeffree accused André of robbing him during their breakup. André believes this was Jeffree stereotyping him as a Black man and the allegations were rooted in Jeffree’s inherent racial bias.
Just one month after making headlines for their rumoured romance, Jeffree took to Instagram to confirm their split and accuse André of stealing from him. The YouTuber claimed he discovered André secretly “had no job, no money, not even a bank account.” He told his nearly 15 million followers that André allegedly stole designer items from his closet, including Louis Vuitton luggage, backpacks, and sunglasses.
Andre tells Hollywood Unlocked that it would be nearly impossible to steal from Jeffree’s house as there are cameras everywhere.
Despite saying he does not believe that Jeffree is racist, the basketball player did reveal that Jeffree allegedly mocked the Asian accent while they were together.
Jeffree’s control issues led to their breakup
On the topic of their split, André says Jeffree was very controlling. He claims the beauty mogul wouldn’t let André call his son and would barely let him go to the bathroom in peace.
André then drops a major bomb, alleging that Jeffree’s control issues stem from being cheated on in his last relationship.
In January 2020, Jeffree split from boyfriend Nathan “Nate” Schwandt after five years together. A notoriously private person, Nate became a mainstay on Jeffree’s social media and an important part of his online brand. Neither party has ever addressed the reason for their split.
André says Jeffree told him that he and his team used security cameras around the house to zoom in on Nate’s DMs to catch him cheating. Yikes.
André finishes off the interview by claiming he met Jeffree during a difficult period in his life and he is grateful for their time together.
And that’s one side to a very messy story.