‘Jihad Barbie’: Iranians Destroy Huda Beauty Products After Iraqi-American Founder Shares Pro-Regime Video

Makeup artists and beauty influencers are throwing their Huda Beauty cosmetics in the trash after the brand’s founder, Huda Kattan, a Muslim of Iraqi descent, posted a video that Iranians say amplifies pro-regime propaganda.“Someone who speaks in such a way about my fellow countrymen should be canceled. This lady supported those who killed our children,” a well known Iranian hair and makeup artist, Henry Zador, said on Instagram while grinding up Ms. Kattan’s beauty products with a pair of pliers. “As you can see, all of these are going in the trash.”Calls to boycott Ms. Kattan’s makeup line erupted this week after the 42-year-old beauty entrepreneur posted on Instagram a clip of activists waving the Iranian regime’s flag and setting fire to pictures of figures who oppose Iran’s Islamist supreme leader, including the exiled son of Iran’s last Shah, Reza Pahlavi, a leading opponent of the regime, as well as President Trump. Ms. Kattan, whose beauty line has an estimated net worth of $560 million, boasts some 57 million Instagram followers. Image of an Anti-Huda Beauty poster circulating online. Via X.The video mirrors the scenes of anti-regime protests that have roiled Iran in recent weeks. The unrest erupted at the end of December over the country’s deepening economic crisis but soon evolved into anti-regime demonstrations fueled by cold, drought, air pollution, and food and gas shortages. The regime responded by brutally cracking down on demonstrators, and human rights organizations estimate that more than 36,000 protesters have been killed.After facing backlash, Ms. Kattan released a video insisting that she is “not pro-regime” and that she doesn’t “know enough about it” nor does she “have the right to have an opinion.” The statement, which fell short of criticizing Iran’s regime, did little to placate her outraged customers.Iranian women and makeup artists have led the charge against Ms. Kattan, whose beauty line has cultivated a loyal following across the Middle East, sharing videos on social media of themselves destroying their Huda Beauty products and urging others to do the same. Clips circulating online show disgruntled consumers desecrating Ms. Kattan’s makeup by smashing it with hammers, tossing it in the toilet, or even positioning discarded products under a pet’s stream of urine.“My IG feed right now is mostly of angry Iranian women destroying their Huda Beauty products or throwing them in the trash because of the makeup mogul’s insensitive comments about Iran,” an Iranian-American senior fellow at the Washington Institute, Holly Dagres, remarked on X. Others called on beauty retailers like Sephora to stop stocking Ms. Kattan’s products. Images shared on social media show frustrated consumers placing posters over Huda Beauty product displays, calling Ms. Kattan nicknames like “Ayatollah Huda Kattan” or “Jihad Barbie.” An Iranian beauty queen and regime dissident, Bahareh Zare Bahari, vowed to stop shopping at Sephora until the company reconsiders its partnership with Huda Beauty. She urged Sephora to “stand with the people of Iran” and “stand against oppression.”Ms. Kattan, a vocal critic of Israel, has faced calls for boycotts in the past. In August, she shared a video accusing Israel of orchestrating World War I, World War II, the September 11 terrorist attacks, and Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. “Like, I had a feeling — I was like, ‘Are they behind every world war?’ Yes,” she said in the now-deleted TikTok post.Amid outrage from the Jewish community and advocacy groups, Sephora stated that it was “actively reviewing” Ms. Kattan’s comments. Her beauty line, however, has remained on the beauty retailer’s shelves.Sephora has not yet addressed this latest controversy.

‘Jihad Barbie’: Iranians Destroy Huda Beauty Products After Iraqi-American Founder Shares Pro-Regime Video

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