Influencer Bretman Rock, born Bretman Rock Sacayanan Laforga, first started his career back in 2014 by making comedic short form videos on the now-shutdown app Vine as well as longer-form beauty videos and vlogs on YouTube.
His career soon began to flourish as he became one of the biggest beauty gurus of the 2010s, helping carve out a spot for men in a makeup tutorial landscape that was largely dominated by women.
Rock was consistently named as one of the top male beauty influencers, alongside other big names such as James Charles and Patrick Starr.
While his beauty content is what helped his career blossom, Rock began to pivot away from making makeup tutorials following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When I first started, there were not really a lot of boys in makeup, and now it’s so beautiful to see a lot of different queer identities in makeup, and that should be celebrated,” Rock shared in a new exclusive interview with PEOPLE. “But I will say it goes a little claustrophobic, where I was like, ‘Girl, where do I find myself in such a big pool?’”
While his transition was somewhat gradual, in June of 2021, he officially stated in a TikTok that he was purposefully distancing himself from the beauty community after fans accused him of stopping wearing makeup in order to pander to standards of masculinity.
“Honestly, it’s not that I stopped wearing makeup,” he said in the video. “It’s the fact that I stopped doing makeup content, and it’s because I don’t want to be tied to the beauty community anymore.”
While many of his influencer peers live a very specific lifestyle and are based in Los Angeles, these days, Rock truly savors his quiet life raising chickens in his backyard in Hawaii.
“I don’t relate to a lot of [influencers] — especially the L.A. girlies. It’s a lot of talking s—,” he continued to share with PEOPLE.
Despite straying from the content that was the original source of his fame, Rock seems to be happier and more famous than ever, with over 19 million followers on both Instagram and TikTok, respectively.
“I think my interests are what make me interesting, and I’m not really interested in a lot of things that a lot of people are into,” Rock continued.
While his content may be very different from that of his peers, Rock’s fans certainly seem to be on board.
In fact, a TikTok of Rock strutting through his yard with his chickens close behind him while Doechii’s hit track “Anxiety” plays in the background was nominated for video of the year at the inaugural U.S. TikTok Awards, which are set to take place on December 18.
“I’m so glad I explored other venues that I was very interested in, because I feel like having a niche is so 2016. Like, ew,” he said.
