Huda Kattan slams ‘smear campaign’ over pro-Israel push to drop Sephora line

WEB DESK: Iraqi-American founder of global makeup empire Huda Beauty, Huda Kattan, has hit back after a wave of pro-Israel organisations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and StopAntisemitism, demanded that retail giant Sephora pull her products from shelves. Calling the backlash a “smear campaign,” Kattan said, “To silence you from speaking out, they twist your words, label you an antisemite — and I’m experiencing all of that right now.”

The storm erupted over a TikTok video she posted last week, in which she implied Israel stood to benefit from global tragedies including the world wars, the 9/11 attacks and October 7 attack. TikTok told CNN, Fox News and the BBC it removed the post for violating community guidelines, but Kattan insists she deleted it herself after seeing her comments “taken out of context” and didn’t want the “wrong conversation” to spread.

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Kattan, a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights, has long used her platform to criticise Israeli policies. Named by TIME as one of the internet’s 25 most influential people and recently crowned by Cosmetify as the most popular beauty brand in the world for early 2025, she has drawn both admiration and fierce condemnation. Addressing accusations of Holocaust denial, she stressed she learned about it at school and was so deeply affected that she “promised [herself] to speak out if this ever happened again”, a pledge she says underpins her activism.

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On Thursday, Sephora confirmed it was “actively reviewing the issue internally” and “working with the brand” following public concerns, while Kattan doubled down on her message: “You can’t scare me into silence.”

Fashion giant Zara added to BDS list

Last month, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) urged a global boycott of fashion giant ZARA, accusing it of “deep and growing complicity” in Israel’s occupation, apartheid, and alleged genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The boycott call comes after ZARA opened its largest-ever store in Israel in early 2025, amid Israel’s military offensive that, according to BDS, has killed over 80,000 Palestinians, displaced thousands, and devastated Gaza’s infrastructure and cultural heritage.

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The BNC cited a series of controversies linking ZARA to pro-Israel stances, including an event hosted by its Israeli franchise chair for far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, racist remarks by a former head designer, and a 2023 ad campaign resembling imagery from Gaza’s mass casualties. The movement also accused ZARA of whitewashing Israel’s image by featuring an Israeli model during the ongoing assault.

Beyond Palestine, ZARA’s parent company Inditex has faced allegations of labour abuses in Brazil and Myanmar, reflecting a broader pattern of human rights violations. Legal experts have warned that corporate executives may face liability for operating in Israel and financially contributing to its government during the Gaza crisis.

BDS has called on consumers, artists, unions, and activists to boycott ZARA and pressure Inditex to withdraw from Israel entirely.