Mick Hartley

A history of blatantly racist comments on social media would normally ensure that you wouldn't be picked up for major promotion by a leading store. Antisemitism, though…no problem. From the Telegraph:

In July, beauty influencer Huda Kattan, founder of Huda Beauty, posted a TikTok to her 2m followers. Dressed cosily in heart-patterned pyjamas, she chatted to the camera, her head sweetly cocked to one side, leaning into her perfectly French-manicured hand.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” she said in an intimate, husky tone. What she had been seeing, the Iraqi-American then explained, was “all of the conspiracy theories coming out and a lot of evidence behind them that Israel has been behind the First World War, the Second World War, September 11 and October 7.”

At the time, the American Jewish Committee condemned the “spread of vile anti-Semitic conspiracy theories”, and the post was taken down.

That was in July. Fast forward to September, and Boots in the UK has Kattan’s face plastered in supersize format across the windows of their Covent Garden store.

“It feels like Boots are condoning anti-Semitism,” says Deborah Lyons, designer and co-founder of Fashion and Beauty Against Anti-Semitism (FABAA), which was formed in the wake of October 7. “It’s shocking – especially considering the accountability we expect nowadays for issues like racism and sexual harassment.”

Kattan, whose brand Huda Beauty has an Instagram following of 57.3m – the size of the English population – has a track record on social media. Content she has reposted on her personal accounts includes sentiments such as “Zionists are the new Nazis” and “If the Jews had it their way, they’d kill anybody that opposes them”, as well as other conspiracy theories, including claims that Israel was involved in the genocide in the Congo.

Implausible, I'd suggest.

A Boots spokesperson added: “At Boots we take our core values of inclusivity, tolerance and kindness very seriously. We have been discussing the issue directly with the brand as a priority and will actively continue to do so. We have been absolutely clear on the importance of our inclusivity values in those discussions and will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

Ha.

They're certainly picking up on the youth mood. They'll never be targeted by an angry mob for having links to Israel.

Maybe Bob Vylan as the next big promotion. They "advocate for healthy lifestyles which include not drinking or smoking, and eating plant-based wholefoods", as well as encouraging their followers to "hunt down Zionists". Perfect.