Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty ‘Forced’ To Remove ‘Geisha Chic’ Highlighter Amid Online Backlash
3 April 2019, 11:36 | Updated: 3 April 2019, 11:39
Rihanna's Beauty Line 'Fenty Beauty' has pulled new 'Geisha Chic' highlighter from sale after receiving online backlash for "inappropriate" cultural reference...
Rihanna's beauty brand 'Fenty Beauty' is reputably known for it's inclusivity in the beauty industry, first launching with an extensive range of foundation colours.
Nipsey Hussle's Girlfriend Lauren London Breaks Silence Over Rapper's Death
The brand recently released its latest batch of highlighters and bronzers. Fenty Beauty introduced three new Killawatt highlight shades: Afternoon Snack/Mo’ Huny, #PENNY4UTHOTS, and Geisha Chic.
After Fenty revealed the rosy hue "Geisha Chic" highlighter, the brand received backlash for cultural appropriation and cultural insensitivity. The last of the latter is what sparked fans to call out Rihanna's cosmetics company, detailing how 'Geisha Chic' is offensive.
. @fentybeauty has a new highlighter named “geisha chic...” ummmm? Rihanna... explain why Asian targeted racism gets glossed over, it feels even worse when it’s from another marginalized group 😓
— Jessica (@lyjessicat) March 30, 2019
A user on Twitter called out Fenty Beauty for the "inappropriate" of their 'Geisha Chic' highlighter.
They stated:
"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,".
Many other users wrote similar posts addressing the brand for not being aware of how offensive the 'Geisha Chic' name for the highlighter is.
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
A Reddit user saw this as a pressing issue and directly messaged Fenty Beauty to make them aware that using the name "Geisha Chic" is much more than just a name for a highlighter.
The user goes into the history and overall experience of being a geisha and explains why it would be offensive to many. Fenty replied to the user's DM and revealed that the product name has been pulled will be available once they find a new name for the product.
PC garbage or Rihanna bashing? What about all the other cosmetics named Geisha? #GEISHACHIC : https://t.co/A4JDUTmX6R pic.twitter.com/QwKasoGha7
— Viridi (@Viridi85252029) April 2, 2019
Fenty Beauty responded to the Elizabeth Bug, the Reddit user, saying:
“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," a Fenty Beauty correspondent wrote.
Although Fenty Beauty have apologised, they have not released a public statement addressing the cultural appropriation issue of the 'Geisha Chic' highlighter.
