Makeup entrepreneur Jefree Star issued a video apology to James Charles, following the scandal
involving Tati Westbrook and Shane Dawson.
In this video you are going to discover Star's body language clues so you can tell if this,
or any apology is fake or real.
Welcome to the Apology Lab.
My name is Jesús Enrique Rosas,
I am the Body Language Guy,
And I want you to discover the secrets that people try to conceal.
When you see Star's apology, you can't help but notice one thing at first sight:
He's a bit far from the camera so you can see part of his house.
He usually makes videos with a closer shot.
Of course, those are makeup videos.
But if you are going apologize, you want to get closer to people.
Help them see your true emotions.
The fact that he's far away, doesn't communicate much trust.
Also, he uses two nonverbal symbols to appear innocent.
One is the huge halo that the staircases form around him.
Like he's a Saint, and of course, he meant no harm.
Even the lights from the doors at the back reminded me of DaVinci's Last Supper.
These are symbol strategies used to add a meaning to the message without words.
The other symbol is his position in the sofa.
He's sitting over his legs, on a very submissive position that doesn't fit his impulsive personality
at all.
His body is also angled to one side to avoid a direct confrontation.
His posture is also a symbol to convey innocence.
Now, usually when you see an apology you will notice if it feels real or fake.
Your intuition will tell you but don't know exactly how to describe it.
The first part is actually listening to what the person is saying.
And in this case, Star has a very interesting stream of words:
- But today there are no excuses.
I'm someone who has impulse control.
And I'm fully admitting my flaws.
And I hope that people can learn from me.
The main takeaway here is that we don't see much of an apology and in fact, he ends with
"I hope that people can learn from me".
It's a narcisisstic touch to imply that even if he has flaws, those flaws are good; they
can be an example for people.
He doesn't show many facial expressions along the video but when he says "learn from me"
he's not afraid to show pride.
By the way, if you ever need to make a public apology, I'd be glad to help you.
There's a link in the description for my crisis management services.
Another clue that you should be aware with any apology is: How many times the person
is talking about the ones hurt, and how many times do they speak about themselves?
Well, not even two minutes and a half into the video, Star mentioned himself two times,
speaking about his flaws, And Not Addressing The people Hurt.
Any apology is about the other people.
And even if you are pointing your flaws, you are still calling attention to yourself.
So it's another narcissistic point.
Star's hand gestures are hand over hand, or palms facing to the camera.
Both gestures convey harmlessness and innocence.
But at some point he shows really aggressive and condescending gestures, like pointing
his index finger up, almost bent from the tension.
And what was he saying at that moment?
- We have to all take accountability for our own actions an no one else's
Speaking in terms of "all of us" is diluting his responsibility with a condescending gesture.
You had to jump to the four minute mark to listen to the actual apology:
- I would like to personally apologize to James Charles for the words that I've said
and for my actions.
That sentence should have been in the first thirty seconds of the video.
Now, it's really easy to miss, but did you notice what he did with his head at the end
of the sentence?
Just as he says "for my actions", he lifts his head and chin.
What does it mean?
well, as you can see there is absolutely no emotion in his voice tone or gestures, we
can guess he was controlling himself.
But when someone is controlling their emotions, they usually let them go at the end.
In this case, at the end of the sentence.
That subtle head and chin lift is a bit of arrogance that we catch subconciously.
That's why I always repeat again and again that you can't actually control your body
language if you don't address your emotions first.
Remember that if you want to learn body language,
Check out my course information in the description.
A very interesting facial emotion case is when he mentions Shane Dawson:
- Now...
Shane Dawson...
He's one of my best friends
You see with that slight pause and the facial expression that he feels real pleasure when
thinking about Dawson.
He also uses one dirty trick for apologies and let's see if you can spot it:
- James and Myself, and everyone involved would agree with me that there are way bigger
issues happening on this planet.
"Way bigger issues happening on this planet..." where have I heard that before...?
Of course, Jada!
This is, in fact, a manipulation technique.
No matter the problem, the issue, the conflict, the feud, you can always say that there are
far more important or critical problems in the world.
So you downplay the seriousness of this situation.
He even talks about Elijah McClain for the same effect.
Another interesting phrase is this one:
- I just would like to say that James Charles, I'm very sorry.
Those are just three seconds that finally look like a real apology but he changes the
topic immediatly to himself being embarrassed.
If we just cut all the times that Star talked about himself, his struggles, his explanations,
his feelings, we end up with just thirty seconds of video.
And that alone should give you a great insight in someone's intentions when doing an apology
video.
(09:51) When you analyze body language one of the most important factors is rhythm.
Is there any change on someones' attitude? are they talking this way and then shift they
gestures or voice tone?
- You guys know, Jefree Star Cosmetics will never be slowing down, and I'm so excited
for what's coming for the rest of 2020
His attitude changes and he even shows microexpressions of real delight.
I'm going to analyze Shane Dawsons' and Tati Westbrooks' videos too, but if you have any
other suggestions for analysis, you can write them in the comments.
And if you want to keep learning how to spot when someone wants to deceive you, like this
video and hit that bell so you don't miss any of my body language analysis and tips.