NikkieTutorials: I've Faced Family Rejection, Bullying, Assault

YouTube makeup celebrity NikkieTutorials - the online moniker of Dutch beauty influencer Nikkie de Jager - shared a series of painful disclosures in a TikTok post that's been re-shared around social media.

De Jager, who came out as transgender in an emotional post to her 13 million subscribers last year, addressed her fans as part of the TikTok "Put A Finger Down" challenge, Insider reports.

In the video, de Jager addressed issues specific to the transgender community, saying, "Put a finger down if people have ever told you that it's just a phase," and following up with other difficult experiences such as family rejection, bullying, and harassment, and even "being told you're better off dead."

With each point, the popular beauty influencer put a finger down, indicating her own experiences with such examples of anti-trans hate.Finally, she said: "Put a finger down if you feel like you're fighting this battle by yourself.

"This is something that trans people have to deal with on a daily basis," de Jager continued, her voice shaking slightly with emotion. "I am here to let you know you are not fighting this battle by yourself. We are here. Trans visibility is here."

Fans and colleagues immediately flocked to show their support. When reposted on Twitter, the message received "over 100,000 views and has received 11,000 likes and counting," Insider noted, with Jaclyn Hill, another popular beauty maven, posting, "Such a strong & beautiful role model you are @NikkieTutorials."

Other messages followed a similarly supportive vein.

De Jager coming out as trans in January 2020 was dramatic, with the makeup star telling her followers that she was being blackmailed but had decided to come out "under my own circumstances."

de Jager declared, "I am taking back my own power" in sharing the news herself.

"I've been wanting to share this side of myself to all of you for so long, but I could never figure out the timing," she went on to say. "And there always was going to be the day when I would tell you. I did not expect that day to be today, but here we are."

She added: "If we are going to put a label on it, yes, I am transgender. At the end of the day...I am me."

Last August, de Jager and her fiancé, Dylan Drossaers, were attacked and robbed at gunpoint in their home. de Jager took to Instagram to tell her followers that she and Dylan were physically unharmed, adding, "mentally it's a whole other story".

People Magazine confirmed police in the Netherlands town of Uden, where the couple live, investigated the incident, which they said involved "at least 3 perpetrators... a possible firearm..." and noted that "one of the residents suffered superficial injuries".