by Sephora made headlines this week after a video went viral showing three girls apparently dressed in black at one of the chain’s Boston locations. The company said in a declaration to the media that she had asked shoppers to “leave the premises,” adding, “Under no circumstances is this type of behavior tolerated at Sephora.” But two witnesses have a different account of what happened.
The 24 seconds video, which was posted on TikTok, was taken on February 8 at the Sephora store at the Prudential Center in Boston. It shows a blonde woman confronting a second woman, who appears to be the girls’ companion. Standing near the two adults is a girl whose face is painted with a circle of dark brown foundation.
The blonde woman calls the behavior “incredibly offensive.” The companion walks away from her, shaking her head. The person filming the incident says: “This is very embarrassing.” The video then cuts to a shot showing two other girls wearing dark makeup.
After the video sparked nationwide news coverage, Sephora, a division of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, said in its statement that its “top priority is to create a welcoming and inclusive shopping experience for everyone.”
Kiara Janae Kudlo, the blonde woman in the video, said in an interview with The New York Times that the company’s statement did not reflect what happened in the store that day. Instead, she said, group members were allowed to make purchases in the checkout area before leaving. In Ms. Kudlo’s opinion, that did not align with Sephora’s zero-tolerance statement.
Kudlo, 24, is not a Sephora employee but a market specialist for a beauty brand in the chain. As part of her job, she travels to Sephora locations to check stock and order displays. (She declined to name the brand, but The Times verified her use.)
Ms. Kudlo said she was working at the Prudential Center when the group of about 10 girls entered about an hour before closing. They were accompanied by several adults, she added.
The girls were boisterous, but Kudlo said she had gotten used to working among rowdy groups of young people. In recent weeks, Sephora has made headlines for a social media-fueled surge in popularity among teenagers and preteenswho often post videos of themselves buying expensive beauty products and sometimes wreaking havoc.
Kudlo said she saw several girls applying dark foundation to their faces, which she believed was blackface. After informing the store manager, Kudlo said, she heard “hysterical laughter and animal sounds,” including sheep and monkey noises, coming from the group.
Kudlo said he told the girls to remove the makeup from their faces. Several rushed to do so, but one girl walked up to an adult accompanying her and appeared to ask the woman to take a photo of her in blackface. The woman laughed and picked up the phone from her, Kudlo said.
“I was surprised there was an adult present,” Kudlo said. She added that the woman defended the girls, saying: “They’re just girls.” After that, Ms Kudlo said she again raised the issue of the girls’ behavior with the manager and was told she should not have spoken to the customers.
In an emailed statement to The Times, Sephora said Ms. Kudlo “was not involved in the multiple discussions between Sephora employees and individuals in this group, nor in subsequent requests for them to leave. “Our team did everything possible to prevent further escalation under incredibly tumultuous circumstances.”
Blackface minstrelsy became a popular form of entertainment in the 19th century, presenting insidious stereotypes of black people and offering a distorted view of slavery. His racist caricatures became a regular part of Hollywood productions and have continued to appear occasionally in recent years.
He video Information about the incident at the Sephora store was posted by Temi Ojora, a college student who was visiting Boston for a track meet. in a tracking video, Ms. Ojora said: “It was incredibly upsetting and upsetting for my teammates and me to witness this.” Her story matched Ms. Kudlo’s version, including the detail about members of the group making purchases. “These people were not kicked out of Sephora,” she said in her video. Ms. Ojora did not comment for this article.
In its statement to The Times, Sephora said: “We are extremely disappointed and do not tolerate the behavior and hostility of these shoppers at our Prudential Center location and, as such, they were asked to leave our premises and are no longer permitted to do so. “. “Buy with us.”
“Several members of the Sephora team spoke with individuals in this large group to address the disruption and concerning behavior,” the statement continued. “In the end, they were asked to leave the place.”
Kudlo said store employees did not appear to be “morally aligned with this racist behavior” but were unprepared to handle it.
