Black owned cosmetics brand Juvia’s Place is facing backlash on social media after thanking beauty YouTuber Jeffree Star for a positive review of its foundation.
Juvia’s Place is known for its pigmented palettes and its celebration of African culture. Over the weekend, Star posted a video reviewing the brand’s foundation, praised its range of shades, and recommended it to his millions of subscribers. He said he was thoroughly impressed. Juvia’s Place reposted the review on Instagram and thanked him, writing that the brand was speechless.
Many Black beauty fans and influencers pushed back. Critics pointed to Star’s past controversies, including accusations of racist language toward Black people and women of color, for which he has previously apologized. Some Black beauty bloggers also claimed the brand had ignored or blocked them when they raised concerns, and one person alleged the brand favors lighter complexions in its foundation range.
Brand founder Chichi Eburu responded with a statement. She said the team was excited when customers and bloggers love its products, that Star tweeted he would review the product and was not paid a fee or commission, and that the brand reposted him out of excitement before realizing some followers were upset. She said she does not support racist remarks or mistreatment of people of color. “We apologize to our customers,” the statement read.
Not everyone accepted the apology. Beauty creator Jackie Aina suggested the statement read as sarcastic and was not the accountability people wanted. The brand had not announced any further changes at the time of this report.
If you have watched Jeffree Stars videos you know that he explained the mistake he made that had people calling him racist. I will never be okay with the word he used (the N word) but he did explain what happened and he took responsibility for it. He said it actually changed him deeply. It is possible he learned from his mistake. Here’s the problem. Almost everyone has said something racist in their life either knowingly or not. You can say “anyone who has said the N word is racist” but it is not accurate. If someone is actively working to be part of the solution and not the problem, I think they deserve a chance …you should never forget, but it is okay to forgive…once.