Rihanna Removes Offensive Fenty Beauty Highlighter Following Backlash
By Hannah Wigandt
Things don't look good for Rihanna's makeup brand Fenty Beauty right about now, which has sparked public outrage because of one name of their newest highlighters.
The makeup brand announced that it will be releasing three new highlighters, titled “Mo’ Hunny/Afternoon Snack,” “#PENNY4UTHOTS,” and “Geisha Chic," but the latter name has been labeled cultural appropriation.
Fans have been very outspoken about the new product and have been calling Rihanna out on it on Twitter, which has ultimately caused the Geisha Chic color to be removed from the website.
Rihanna was really about to bring out a blush called geisha chic ? thank god people noticed how gross that was and fenty delayed the launch to rename it. Really weird how the entire fenty beauty team didn't catch how inappropriate that name is from the start
— Sunny (@sun1796) April 1, 2019
“Geisha Chic Hunny” ???? Really, Miss Fenty? REALLY?
— Jodie (@_J0die_) March 31, 2019
Meanwhile, some don't see the problem with the name and are standing by Rihanna.
Last time I checked, being an artist, regardless of race, art and dress, isn’t racist. It’s an expression of ones self. Geisha are not stereotypes, they’re working women. Another example of the new generation being overly sensitive to literally everything #FENTYBEAUTY #geishachic pic.twitter.com/8LJWfMAa49
— Brittany Cooper (@Brittan63134796) April 2, 2019
Geisha is a race? since when? its a type of dress, ceremony but not a race- I don't think people have a brain any more. https://t.co/O8Cy3e68ji
— sarah david (@Sarah_home) April 2, 2019
Since the company has dropped the product, it has been announced that it will actually be renamed. The news came from Reddit user elizabeth-bug, who got a direct message from the brand saying they would rename the highlighter. The message allegedly read, “We hear you, we’ve pulled the product until it can be renamed. We wanted to personally apologize. Thank you so much for educating us.”
Fenty Beauty has deleted any trace of the highlighter from the site.
[h/t: Perez Hilton]