LVMH-owned beauty retailer Sephora is looking into a social media backlash against make-up brand Huda Beauty over a video posted by its founder, Huda Kattan.
Kattan posted a video about the ongoing Israel-Palestinian conflict on social media platform TikTok last week.
In response to the video, which has since been deleted and cannot be verified by Cosmetics Business, some social media users alleged the content was antisemitic.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organisation that works to prevent the defamation of Jewish people, requested that the brand’s product partnership with Sephora and other retailers be reviewed.
Commenting on the situation, a Sephora spokesperson told Cosmetics Business: “Sephora is driven by its mission to create a welcoming and inclusive shopping experience for all.
“We recognise that comments from one of our brand partners have raised concerns and want to be clear: promoting hate, harassment, or misinformation does not align with our values or code of conduct.
“We take this matter very seriously and can confirm we are actively reviewing this issue internally, including working with the brand.
“Again, thank you for sharing your concerns with us."
Kattan responded to the issue in a separate Instagram video on her profile on 9 August 2025.
In the video, she claimed that her beauty brand and its retail partners, which include Sephora, have allegedly been receiving “harassment” due to a “smear campaign”.
Kattan stated that she “does not condone hate of any kind” and stands against antisemitism.
She also claimed that she took the TikTok post down herself, as opposed to it being taken down by the ByteDance-owned business.
“A lot of people were taking it out of context and did not want that conversation happening,” said Kattan in the Instagram post.
“I never said anything about Jews, or even the Israeli people, so I chose to remove the video.”
Kattan added in the video: “It is no secret that I have been speaking out about Palestine for quite some time, and that happened as a result of me learning about the Palestinian cause.
“[I was] feeling really frustrated seeing so much injustice happening to the people of Palestine, to the children in Gaza.
“And in order to silence you speaking out, to silence me, they do what they always do, twist your words, label you an antisemite, and right now I am experiencing all of those things.
“I have been labelled an antisemite, and now there is a smear campaign against me, and I do want to address being called an antisemite, because I would never condone any hate of any kind, that of course includes Jewish hate.
“And honestly, I would never talk about any people, because I stand against hate and discrimination.
“The video was misinterpreted.”
Kattan has historically been vocal about the genocide, as concluded by Amnesty International research, happening in Palestine.
In 2023, the brand founder said she was willing to “risk [her] entire business” by remaining vocal on the country’s humanitarian crisis.
The brand owner stressed she was “not intimidated” by speaking about Israel's 2023 invasion of the Gaza Strip.
This was triggered by the 7 October attack on a music festival in Israel by Hamas-led militants, who killed more than 1,200 attendees and captured 200 hostages.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the invasion started in 2023.
Huda Beauty told Cosmetics Business it will not be able to provide a comment from the business in the timeframe the story was written.