Cupshe, an affordable online fashion brand specializing in women’s swimwear for all sizes, faced backlash after online discourse revealed that a company representative made a racist remark regarding its latest campaign.
What did a Cupshe representative say to a Black woman talent scout?
On Thursday, Niasia Boykin (@dearniasia), founder of the talent management agency Brownstone Collective, shared a screenshot on Threads of an email from a Cupshe representative regarding talent.
“Hi Niasia, we would not collab with black people this campaign,” Sophie, part of Cupshe’s Influencer Relations Team, wrote in the email to Boykin.
In the post, Boykin shared her experience with the Cupshe representative, arguing that the remarks were discriminatory and that Black influencers have long faced similar treatment in influencer marketing.
“Cupshe told me they ‘would not collab with black people this campaign.’ In writing. On company domain. I run a talent agency. I pitched them on behalf of my creators. This was their response. This is racial discrimination. It is illegal. And it happens in influencer marketing more than anyone wants to admit, usually just more quietly than this. Saving my receipts,” Boykin wrote in the caption of her post.
While some users questioned Niasia Boykin’s email, other Black women defended her
Some users questioned the validity of Boykin’s claims and asked her to share the sender’s full email address to verify the message’s authenticity. However, others defended Boykin and pushed back against the skepticism, citing concerns about bias against Black women.
“I feel like some of yall are only asking her for the full email to prove something because she IS a Black woman and that’s disturbing and disgusting. If she was of a different demographic, this wouldn’t even be a discussion,” Cherish Payne (@ceceif_yanasty3) said.
“Blocking everyone demanding the full email address be shared as ‘proof’ that this is real. As if the OP wouldn’t have verified it wasn’t spam before publicly sharing this and naming the company. It couldn’t be spam because they REPLIED to her email pitch. So yall are saying she initially emailed a spam account? Doing all these mental gymnastics to deny racism and/or feel better about the fact that you will continue to support the brand,” Naomi Johnson (@driven_beauty) wrote.
“For real. She shouldn’t have to jump through hoops just because people want to deny the racist email that’s right in front of our faces,” Devin (@ivoryrosebud) stated in the post.
Cupshe’s apology did not address concerns about racism or the company’s diversity practices
In a separate post late Thursday, Boykin shared a screenshot of an email from another Cupshe representative apologizing for the initial message she received from a member of the influencer relations team.
“Hi Niasia, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are shocked and devastated to see this email. The message you received is not reflective of Cupshe, our values, or the way we partner with our creators. We cherish our relationships with our creators and we sincerely apologize for the experience and any harm or frustration it may have caused,” the email states.
It continued, “As a result, the employee responsible is no longer with the company. We have taken immediate action internally and are reviewing our processes to ensure our standards are upheld moving forward. Again, we appreciate you bringing this to our attention. If you’d like to discuss this further, please don’t hesitate to reach out.”
According to People, Cupshe confirmed that the employee responsible for the email had been fired. The outlet reported that Cupshe said the employee was “four days into her employment” when the message was sent and was “immediately terminated.”
“Our team was disturbed to learn that these interactions took place. The employee responsible was four days into her employment when this occurred, and was immediately terminated,” a Cupshe representative told People.
The company added that the comments “do not in any way reflect Cupshe’s practices, or the way we engage with creators and partners both internally and externally.” Cupshe also said it is conducting a thorough internal review and strengthening its hiring, training and oversight processes.
Boykin said she left the sender’s email visible because the company’s apology came from a shared, anonymous address. She also said she did not directly email anyone on the Cupshe team and instead used social media platforms like Threads and LinkedIn to address the situation.
Beyond Threads, online forums have discussed the situation
Actor Caitlin Marshall shared Boykin’s post, calling out Cupshe for its actions and pointing out that the company lacks diversity on its website.
“CupShe is not it. I cannot find a single solitary black woman on their site. We need to start questioning brands who have only 1 skin tone in different shades of spray tan. ‘Devastated’? How did the black women feel reading the original email a member of your team sent? They had to type it and hit send. Absolutely beyond disappointing,” she wrote Thursday night.
Boykin’s initial Threads post was shared in a screenshot on Reddit, with many users saying the Hong Kong-based brand’s response reflects broader concerns about racism in Asia.
“Asian racism is on another fucking level. Reddit and pop culture LOVE Japan but jfc legit some of the most racist people in the world and to everyone. Had a friend who was Japanese and German, born, raised in Japan and still experienced infinite amounts of racism,” one user wrote.
Users on Threads and Reddit have stated that they would no longer shop at Cupshe or vowed not to support the company after learning what happened to Boykin.