Sephora drops Huda Beauty over founder’s Pro-Palestine stance

THE beauty aisle just got messier.

Sephora has officially cut Huda Beauty from its fall “Experts” campaign after founder Huda Kattan landed in hot water over comments tied to Israel and Palestine.

Kattan, the Iraqi-American mogul who built her billion-dollar empire from Dubai to Hollywood, went viral in July after posting a TikTok video suggesting Israel was behind everything from World War I and World War II to 9/11 and the Oct 7 Hamas attack.

TikTok quickly deleted the clip for breaking platform rules, but screenshots spread across the internet like wildfire.

Sephora pulls the plug

Sephora, owned by luxury powerhouse LVMH, first played it safe and said it was “reviewing the incident.” By August, though, it took a firm stance launching an internal investigation and stressing that “promoting hatred, harassment or false information stands in complete opposition to our values.”

That statement translated into action. Huda Beauty, once a headline act for the September campaign, is now out. The spotlight instead shifts to other beauty heavyweights like Gucci Westman, Patrick Starrr and Mario Dedivanovic. As beauty journalist Rachel Strugatz put it, “the absence of Kattan, who sits atop one of the bestselling artist-led brands at the store, will speak volumes.”

Huda claps back

Of course, Kattan did not stay silent. She later claimed her remarks were misunderstood, saying her words were aimed at Israeli policies, not Judaism or Jewish people. She also alleged that critics were orchestrating a “defamation campaign” against her.

Still, Sephora’s decision seems final. And let’s be real: being cut from Sephora’s North American campaigns, where Huda Beauty has built much of its empire, is a huge deal.

Beauty meets politics

This isn't just about makeup. The situation underlines how beauty brands are now caught in the middle of bigger global conversations, from politics to identity to social justice.

For Huda Beauty, the question is whether fans will rally behind Kattan’s outspoken stance or whether Sephora’s move will reshape how her brand is seen on the global stage. What’s clear? In the beauty industry, where image is everything, Sephora just made one of the loudest statements of the season.