China’s Top Live Streamer Says Viewers Should Blame Themselves For Not Earning Enough After They Complain About Price Of Eyebrow Pencil

Chinese beauty influencer Austin Li Jiaqi, 31, is known as China’s King of Lipsticks after selling 15000 lipsticks in under five minutes. The former L’Oreal counter beauty consultant also once sold $1.7bil in goods during a 12-hour long Alibaba live stream.

However, he might not be able to talk himself out of his latest faux pas.

On Sunday (Sep 10), during a live stream, he got annoyed when his viewers complained that the 79 yuan (S$15) eyebrow pencil he was hawking had become more expensive.

Jiaqi first defended the pricing, calling it reasonable before stressing that the brand uses high-quality ingredients. He then launched into a tirade that can only be described as out-of-touch.

“How is it expensive? It’s been this price for many years. Sometimes the problem is you. If your pay hasn’t increased in many years, have you been working hard enough?” he ranted.

His fans were furious about his lecture, and many accused of him of forgetting his humble beginnings now that he is rich and famous. In just seven years, Jiaqi, who used to sell cosmetics at a mall in Jiangxi, saw his net worth skyrocket to 100mil yuan (S$19mil).

Yesterday (Sep 11), Jiaqi issued an apology on Weibo, writing that his words were “inappropriate”. He also said that as a former make-up counter salesperson, he knows that “work is difficult” and hence what he said must have disappointed everyone. He added that he would learn to better control his emotions.

He later went on live stream to issue another apology. With tears in his eyes, he acknowledged all his female followers and credited them for the success he has today. He also said he would reflect on the incident to figure out how to better serve women.

His followers are, well, not buying his apology. “If I made 5mil yuan a day ($945K), my tears would be much more sincere than yours,” read one comment.

And just like that, Jiaqi made what’s possibly the, um, expensive mistake of his career: losing one million followers on Weibo in just 24 hours.