Jeffree Star's sexual-assault accuser was paid $45,000 by a Jeffree Star Cosmetics executive, leaked documents say

• Newly leaked documents appear to show Jeffree Star's team attempting to derail Insider's October investigation into allegations of sexual assault and violence made against Star.
• StickyDrama.com, a blog devoted to online gossip, published an image of a cashier's check that appears to show a $45,000 payment to Star's sexual-assault accuser Gage Arthur from a Jeffree Star Cosmetics executive days after Arthur retracted his allegations to Insider.
• The same website published what it says is a section from Arthur's settlement agreement with Star's team dictating that he would be paid $25,000 for attempting to retract his allegations in addition to $20,000 that he would be paid for contacting two of Insider's other sources and getting them to do the same.
• Previously, Star's attorney denied the allegations of physical and sexual violence made in Insider's investigation, calling them "false and defamatory."

Newly leaked documents appear to show the team of the embattled makeup mogul Jeffree Star using hush-money payouts, including a $45,000 check, to try to prevent the publication of Insider's October investigation into allegations of sexual assault and violence made against Star.

Star is a controversial beauty YouTuber who is CEO of Jeffree Star Cosmetics, a leading makeup brand. He has more than 40 million followers on social media across platforms.

Previously, Insider reported that Gage Arthur (who goes by his middle name) accused Star of performing nonconsensual oral sex on him at Star's home in 2009 while Arthur was intoxicated. Arthur, who was a homeless teenager at the time, also alleged that Star used a close-range tasing device to shock him hours earlier, which an individual who says they were a witness of the attack also told Insider.

But Arthur attempted to retract his allegations to Insider after saying Star's lawyers had contacted him. Insider later obtained screenshots that appeared to show Arthur reaching out to another one of Star's accusers and offering a $10,000 settlement in exchange for that accuser retracting their story as well.

Now, leaked documents obtained by StickyDrama.com appear to show that Arthur was paid $45,000 in exchange for attempting to retract his allegations and contacting other sources to ask them to do the same. StickyDrama.com is a long-running blog that covers internet celebrities, including Star, who were part of the MySpace and Stickam social media scene.

Insider independently spoke with the source of the leaked documents. Sources who corroborated the validity of the settlement agreement and check were granted anonymity in response to their concerns they could face repercussions.

The first document, an image of a cashier's check authorized by Bank of America, appears to show $45,000 was paid out to Arthur on September 28, four days after Arthur wrote Insider expressing his desire to retract his allegations. Bank of America's merchant-check verification system confirmed to Insider that the account number on the check belonged to one of its tellers.

Insider also obtained an additional photo of a cashier's-check receipt that purports to show that a physical copy of the receipt exists, along with a photo of the money that was said to have been withdrawn.

The image of the check says it was purchased by Scott C. Andrews. A man with the same name is the chief financial officer of Jeffree Star Cosmetics, Star's makeup and merchandise company. 2017 California state records for the company list Scott Christopher Andrews as the CFO. Andrews didn't respond to Insider's request for comment.

The image of the settlement agreement, which does not include the whole document or signature page, appears to show the conditions for Arthur's payment. Insider also reviewed what StickyDrama.com says is the full settlement agreement, which includes what appears to be Star's signature.

The fuller document details that "Business Insider has accused Mr. Star of sexual misconduct, tasering individuals, drugging individuals, throwing a knife at an individual, and sending crude photographs" - allegations that it goes on to state Star denies. In its terms for Arthur, it states "Mr. Arthur emailed Kat Tenbarge at Business Insider, retracing [sic] his communications, explaining that he misremembered and misinterpreted things, and informing Ms. Tenbarge that Business Insider does not have authority to publish anything he discussed with her."

The section of the document posted by StickyDrama.com lists the conditions for Arthur's $45,000 payout.

First, the document indicates that Arthur would be paid $25,000 for signing the agreement. Then, it says Arthur would be paid an additional $25,000 "If Business Insider does not publish the article about Mr. Star" within three months - an additional sum he presumably did not receive, since the article was published days later.

Finally, the document indicates that Arthur would be paid an additional $20,000 for contacting two of Insider's other sources for the investigation. The named sources listed are, in fact, two people who told Insider they witnessed Star perpetrate violence. Both attempted to recant their allegations within hours of Arthur doing so.

In addition to messages that Arthur appeared to send to another one of Insider's on-the-record sources related to the Star investigation, another person reached out to Insider with messages that appeared to be from Arthur that included a screenshot of a document that contained a list of Insider's other sources - a list that Insider had only shared with Star and Star's attorneys at that point.

Finally, Insider reviewed a screenshot of an email that appeared to be sent by one of Star's attorneys to Arthur, containing instructions to sign a settlement agreement - the email noted "Full agreement, signed by Jeffree, attached. As a reminder, this is all confidential."

Star and his legal team didn't respond to Insider's request for comment on the contents of this article - though the same lawyers, who represent Star, previously denied the accusations of violence and sexual assault against him.

• Read more:
• Jeffree Star accusers say the makeup mogul has a history of sexual assault, physical violence, and hush-money offers
• Leaked Jeffree Star messages show he deleted more than 400 crude tweets as he accused rival YouTuber James Charles of sexual misconduct
• Jeffree Star's makeup empire isn't what it used to be, with videos that don't hit 1 million views and makeup in TJ Maxx
• A timeline of how the internet turned against the top YouTubers Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star