Huda Kattan, the founder of the prominent makeup and beauty brand Huda Beauty, stated that her entire business would be jeopardized because of her stance on the Gaza conflict. The 40-year-old Iraqi-American beauty mogul said she got online threats for her pro-Palestinian attitude in a video posted on TikTok and Instagram on Sunday. “I’ve been intimidated in a variety of ways, all aimed at getting me to remain silent.” ‘Why do they want me to be silent?’ I had to question myself. “I’m talking about hurting innocent people,” she remarked in the video.
The businesswoman from Dubai also refuted any suggestion that she was anti-Semitic
In her video, Kattan, who was named to Forbes’ list of the 100 most powerful businesswomen in 2023, attacked the Israeli government, saying, “I feel the Israeli government is putting the Jewish people in harm’s way if they do care about them, they’re putting the Jewish people in harm’s way by mixing all the different things that they’re mixing, and it’s really sad.” “I’ve always maintained that the Israeli government uses religion and its people as human shields.” “I’ve always believed that they deflect and project everything they do onto the Palestinian people and that they’re just caught in a web of lies,” she added.
According to Newsweek, Kattan’s cosmetics company is worth $1.2 billion. Huda Beauty’s yearly revenues are estimated to be around $200 million, according to Forbes. She also has 54 million Instagram followers. Kattan, on the other hand, isn’t about to hold back from voicing her opinion online. The businesswoman from Dubai also refuted any suggestion that she was anti-Semitic. Kattan added in the video, “I’m willing to risk to my entire business, everything I have on that, in seek of truth and justice, and we have to be willing to do that.”
Kattan has vowed to donate $1 million to Human Appeal and Doctors Without Borders, two humanitarian organizations working in Gaza
“We must remember that we must not be afraid to lose anything.” We must trust the process, and we must believe that even if we lose something, something else will come to us in the proper manner because we are doing good work. That is something we must believe. “I wholeheartedly believe that,” she continued. Huda Kattan has always been open in her support for the Palestinian people. In 2021, she condemned Israel’s attacks on Gaza and the evacuation of Palestinians from their houses in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.
She has also spoken on the war several times in recent months. Kattan has vowed to donate $1 million to Human Appeal and Doctors Without Borders, two humanitarian organizations working in Gaza, in November 2023. Some Israeli clients and supporters of Israel boycotted her after she openly voiced her sympathy for the Palestinian people. An Israeli user criticized her for supporting Gaza yet doing so much business in Israel in an Instagram post on her 40th birthday. “So remember this as soon as no Israeli buys from you again, anywhere in the world,” the comment said. And it’s unfortunate since we buy a lot.”
Kattan replied to the remark, saying, “I don’t want blood money.” However, this led to a petition demanding beauty product retailer Sephora remove Huda Beauty from its stores in the United States