Aren’t you interested in seeing what Tarte Cosmetics has done in the three years since they posted that black square on Instagram?
The below was sent to CeCe Coffin, Media Relations @ KOSE Corporation, Tarte Cosmetics Parent Company. https://kose-usa.com/contact/
Hi CeCe,
I’m reaching out in regards to recent online comments by your employee, Tarte Cosmetics CEO Maureen Kelly, and am looking for transparency on claims made by Tarte regarding charitable donations. My reporting ask is included at the end of this email.
KOSÉ is a Japanese company currently operating in America, a country whose racism, prison camps, and disenfranchisement of Japanese Americans is a very shameful and permanent stain on this country’s history. As you are aware, that devastating campaign was fueled by white supremacists and their ideology.
While the US has done work in the form of apologies and reparations to Japanese Americans, please know that many marginalized groups in this country, similarly harmed by white supremacist violence and ideology, have not yet had their reparative justice. Many companies, however, regularly illegitimize this legacy of harm by using it opportunistically in their commercial schemes.
Tarte Cosmetics being one of them.
There should be an understanding and solidarity for marginalized groups in the country. For example, had Kelly and Tarte repeatedly received public fallout for excluding Japanese Americans, made dismissive remarks when asked for accountability and inclusion, and continually lied about the existence of reparative action plans, I have to assume the measures to correct the brand and its failures in leadership would've been dealt by KOSÉ swiftly.
For Black Americans, accountability and reparative justice is a long and exhaustive process, seemingly never-ending, and in this case reinforced by failed commitments, dismissive statements, and empty promises shared by Tarte CEO Maureen Kelly.
In 2020, many of us had hoped the events of that year would serve as a reckoning for the Tarte brand to take accountability and responsibility for their exclusionary products, hiring practices, and marketing. Tarte proactively made pledges that they would. We now know those were lies.
These promises are still posted on the Tarte Cosmetics Instagram account. Last week, I went to Tarte’s website to research progress of those pledges and found a blank page. I announced that to over 130,000 viewers on TikTok, and, magically, the page was corrected on Monday. How long was the page like that?
https://tartecosmetics.com/shop/black-lives-matter.html
Kelly announcing on TikTok (5/10/2023), almost three years to the date of those initial promises, that she is going start working on them is shameful. Kelly scapegoating black creator Bria Jones as a catalyst for this change, despite nearly a decade of repeated failures, is shameful. Kelly maintaining a non-diverse, non-inclusive employee base and influencer community by failing to action these pledges is the definition of white supremacy.
What we saw in her first apology video (5/4) was Kelly using her online platform to dismiss black audiences, reward the Tarte brand influencers who mocked Bria Jones with invites to Tarte brand trips, and encourage the bullying and harassment of black creators by uplifting comments that were similarly dismissive.
Screenshots and screen recordings are available.
In her second apology video from 5/10, a video specific to the black community, Kelly immediately moved into the comment section of her post to uplift white commenters. Her disinterest in the topic of equality is crystal clear, and, given the length of time this has been going on, I have to assume KOSÉ is aligned in her values.
With that said, can you please produce the following results of Tarte’s pledges:
2020 NAACP Donation Information (including chapter and total amount)
2020 Employee Match: Total contribution, match percentage, and organization names of where funding was sent
Updated data on Black representation at the corporate & leadership levels (incl. Internship)
Annual donation amounts and names of Black empowerment programs who received funding
I understand if this is a labor-intensive task, but unfortunately Tarte Cosmetics nor KOSÉ has committed to publishing an annual DEI report or keeping a digital home where this information is publicly available.
Please confirm receipt.
Thank you for the transparency.
@culturework