Words by Shayma Salah
Huda Kattan isn’t afraid to speak up for what she believes in.
With a huge platform with a combined following of 58 million across her personal and Huda Beauty Instagram accounts, the beauty mogul has been urging content creators and influencers to call out businesses unwilling to collaborate with them as a result of their pro-Palestine stance using the hashtag ‘#GhostedForGenocide’ for public accountability.
In a previous video she posted to her social media channels, she expressed frustration, stating, “It’s really unfair because we are using our voices and we’re being punished for speaking out and on the other hand brands face no consequences for deciding to take opportunities away from people.”
The Dubai-based beauty entrepreneur highlighted a significant disparity between the public and private actions of businesses, pointing out that while many companies refuse to publicly declare a stance, they are covertly blacklisting and rejecting individuals who express solidarity with Palestine behind closed doors. “As a business owner, I believe they should be held accountable,” she says.
@grazia_me In an exclusive interview with GRAZIA, Huda Kattan, founder of @Huda Beauty, discusses the importance on taking a stance and speaking up for what is right, particularly when it comes to Palestine. #GraziaME #hudabeauty #palestine ♬ Medley Palestine 2 – Mohamed Tarek & Mohamed Youssef
For the last few months, Huda has boldly spoken up about the ongoing brutality in Gaza and has refused to be intimidated into silence, whilst also being prepared and willing to risk her business in the process as a result of her pro-Palestine stance.
In an exclusive interview with GRAZIA, Huda openly discusses how she’s encountered business losses and missed opportunities for the same reasons. In fact, she reveals she pulled out of officially launching Huda Beauty in Israel which, in her words, “caused uproar”.
“I’ve lost out on ambassadorships, where we’ve discussed me being the face of some products and after I found out they’re actually made in Israel,” Huda explains. “We were also supposed to launch in Israel but we pulled out of that launch and it caused an uproar.
“We had a lot of people who were very upset and burned our palettes, and I’m very much okay with people who do not want to use our products because they don’t support our message.”
Reflecting on her earlier years with Huda Beauty, she admitted to addressing political and humanitarian issues less publicly, primarily due to the challenges faced as a business owner navigating such sensitive topics.
“It’s not easy to speak up and it’s the truth,” she admits. “It’s definitely going to be polarising and I think that’s something that I’ve accepted. At the end of the day, as people, we always want others to like us but if you’re somebody with a business or you have a following and influence, you have to accept that at some point you are going to have to take a stance on something.”
@grazia_me In an exclusive interview with GRAZIA, Huda Kattan, founder of @Huda Beauty, discusses the importance on taking a stance and speaking up for what is right, particularly when it comes to Palestine. #GraziaME #hudabeauty #palestine ♬ Medley Palestine 2 – Mohamed Tarek & Mohamed Youssef
Today, Huda’s approach to addressing such issues is no longer shaped solely by what is most comfortable for herself or her business. Instead, it is guided by her values as a consumer, and she strives to mirror those values throughout her business operations.
“If I put myself in the place of the consumer, I care about the way that they operate, who they hire, how they treat the people they hire, what their social initiatives are and their impact on the world,” she affirms. “I don’t know if I cared about these things 15 years ago but I really care about it now and if that’s important to me as a consumer, I have to share that with my community too.”
Huda acknowledges that adopting such a consumer-centric approach hasn’t always made her universally liked and has, at times, resulted in significant backlash. Recently, she faced considerable criticism for an Instagram response that was considered contentious by a number of her Israeli customers. It resulted in numerous individuals calling to boycott Huda’s products, with a petition even circulating to remove them from Sephora stores in the US. However, she believes the success of her approach is evident from the positive reactions within her community.
“I have many publications saying negative things about me and it was expected but with the people, the comments I’m getting from people directly, it’s unwavering,” Huda says. “I’ve never received this much positive feedback. You begin to expect that to a certain level people will not agree with a specific point of view and that’s okay.”
Whilst Huda recognises that taking a stance and divulging stories about losing business opportunities can be daunting and touches upon the sensitivities of many individuals’ livelihoods and futures, she is firm in her belief that uniting in these efforts can bring about a pivotal moment for change.
“We’re a responsible brand and that’s the way I think of my following, my community, my influence,” she attests. “At some point, I do think a lot of people need to think about that. Why do you have this influence? Is it only for you or is it also for the people who put you here?”
