New York, NY – Beauty retail giant Sephora is under increasing pressure to sever ties with Huda Beauty following recent allegations of antisemitism against its founder, Huda Kattan. The controversy intensified after Kattan, an Iraqi-American beauty mogul, posted a video on TikTok accusing Israel of orchestrating major global conflicts, including World War I, World War II, the September 11 attacks, and the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The video, which has since been removed by TikTok for violating community guidelines, sparked widespread condemnation from Jewish organizations and ignited calls for a boycott of her popular cosmetics brand.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) swiftly denounced Kattan's statements. Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, stated, "Huda Kattan built a brand around beauty—but these antisemitic conspiracy theories are nothing short of ugly hate." The AJC added that Kattan was "using her massive platform to spread vile antisemitic conspiracy theories," which included baseless claims about organ harvesting and global pedophile rings.
This is not the first time Kattan has faced backlash for her comments regarding Israel. Following the October 7 attacks, she told an Israeli customer threatening a boycott, "I don't want blood money," a remark that previously led to a Change.org petition with over 30,000 signatures urging Sephora to remove Huda Beauty products. The current wave of criticism has reignited these calls, with new petitions circulating and social media campaigns urging consumers to pressure Sephora.
Yasmine Mohammed, a human rights activist, highlighted the gravity of Kattan's rhetoric in a recent tweet: > "If you learned ANYTHING about the Holocaust, you’d know that this kind of rhetoric is EXACTLY what led to it. This woman is claiming Jews have manipulated us all for centuries and they’re behind WWI, WWII, Sept 11, Oct 7, Iraq war, Afghanistan war…even the Nazis weren’t this brazen. Sign the petition in my first comment encouraging @Sephora to drop @hudabeauty."
Huda Beauty, founded in 2013 by Kattan, was valued at $1.2 billion in 2017 and generates approximately $200 million in annual sales, with a significant retail presence at Sephora. Despite the growing public outcry, Sephora has not yet announced a definitive decision regarding its partnership with Huda Beauty, stating only that it is "actively reviewing" the comments made by Kattan. This silence has further fueled calls for the retailer to take a firm stand against antisemitism.