Beauty mogul Huda Kattan has responded to claims by Jewish groups that she is anti-Semitic, calling it a “smear campaign” for speaking out against Israel's atrocities in Gaza.
“In order to silence you from speaking out, to silence me, they do what they always do – they twist your words, label you an anti-Semite,” Kattan posted on TikTok on Saturday, adding: “It's not fair that you can't criticise the actions of Israel without being mislabelled.”
The US-based Anti Defamation League and non-profit JLens last week accused Kattan of sharing “anti-Semitic conspiracy theories” and urged retailers to reconsider their relationship with Kattan and her hugely successful Huda Beauty brand.
The controversy stems from a since-deleted July 27 video that Kattan posted on TikTok in which she allegedly claimed that “Israel has been behind World War One, World War Two, September 11, October 7”.
“They allowed all of this stuff to happen. Is this crazy?” Kattan says in the video.
TikTok told the BBC it removed the video on July 29 for violating its community guidelines, but did not give further comment.
Both the ADL and JLens welcomed the news and demanded Kattan issue a public apology. They also urged major retailers stocking Huda Beauty to “take a stand”.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for beauty retailer Sephora told CNN the company was reviewing the issue internally.
“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,” they said.
“We take this matter very seriously and can confirm we are actively reviewing this issue internally, including working with the brand.”
Kattan, who is Iraqi-American, has been vocal about the humanitarian crises in Gaza.
Last month, she and singer Saint Levant announced $210,000 from their recent Huda Beauty product campaign would go to support Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Gaza.
“At a time where we are witnessing genocide in Gaza, we are trying to find a way to make impact where we can. Please continue to use your platforms to spread awareness – you are making a difference,” they posted.
In her post on Saturday, Kattan clarified that she was the one who deleted the TikTok video.
“I'm the one who removed it myself, not TikTok, not my team,” she said. “I chose to remove it because I saw a lot of people taking what I said out of context and I didn't want that conversation happening, so I chose to remove the video.”
Kattan also hit back at accusations she was spreading hate against Jewish people.
“I posted a video recently criticising some of the actions of the State of Israel. I never said anything about Jews or even Israeli people. And honestly, I would never talk about any people because I stand against hate and discrimination,” she said.
“I do want to address being called an anti-Semite because I would never condone any hate of any kind. That of course includes Jewish hate.
“The fact that I even have to say that is so weird to me because it's so obvious, but you know, sometimes you have to be clear about where you stand because people try to twist your words and turn things into something they're not just to force you into silence.”
Kattan said she posted the video because she was feeling frustrated seeing so much injustice happening to the people of Palestine and the children in Gaza.
“I feel like I have to speak out on behalf of anything I think is wrong and I am just so tired of seeing children starve, people maimed, being bombed while living in tents, while they're just trying to survive the already excruciating and uninhabitable conditions that they're living in,” she said.
“I feel compelled as a human to speak out for other human beings, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.” She said she will “always on the side of humanity”.
“As a young brown Muslim woman who grew up in the south in the US in Tennessee, I never felt a part of the beauty conversation,” she said. “Huda Beauty exists to create that safe space for people, for every single person out there.”
