On the heels of Sephora's announcement that it will close its stores on Wednesday morning for diversity training, comedian Leslie Jones claims the beauty retailer treated her employee and friend poorly.
On Tuesday, the Saturday Night Live star tweeted that she sent her makeup artist and her best friend's wife to the Sephora located on Broadway in New York.
"She needed makeup and to learn how to apply," Jones tweeted. She says her makeup artist "called in tears" because of how badly the salesperson and manager treated them.
"SO NO MORE SEPHORA," Jones ended her tweet.
I sent my makeup artist @LolasBeautyMark and my best friends wife to @Sephora 2103 Broadway store. she needed makeup and to learn how to apply. my makeup artist just called in tears of how bad they treated her and my friends wife!! The salesperson and manager. SO NO MORE SEPHORA
— Leslie Jones ???? (@Lesdoggg) June 4, 2019
The news comes after SZA, a former Sephora employee, tweeted that she had been racially profiled while visiting one of the makeup retailers stores in April.
The singer said that an employee, who she referred to as "Sephora Sandy," at a Calabasas Sephora notified security to make sure the singer wasn't stealing.
Lmao Sandy Sephora location 614 Calabasas called security to make sure I wasn’t stealing . We had a long talk. U have a blessed day Sandy
— SZA (@sza) May 1, 2019
The brand apologized for their behavior on Twitter, claiming that they were actively working with their teams to address the situation.
Hi, SZA. We’re sorry to hear about your experience at our Calabasas store and appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We want to let you know we take complaints like this very seriously and are actively working with our teams to address the situation immediately.
— Sephora (@Sephora) May 1, 2019
On Tuesday, the makeup retailer announced it will close its storefronts, distribution centers and corporate offices for one hour on Wednesday morning to host inclusion workshops.
They also launched their “We Belong to Something Beautiful” campaign which promotes "building a community where diversity is expected, self-expression is honored and all are welcome."
Jones might not be buying into it. In a follow-up post on Instagram, she said, in effect "If we spend money in your store we deserve customer service too."
Leslie comin for Sephora all pic.twitter.com/SocUeZMofW
— kristy (@kristysf) June 4, 2019
Sephora’s diversity training follows a similar one that Starbucks held in May 2018 in response to a racially-charged incident at a store in Philadelphia. Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson even apologized after the viral video showed two Black men getting handcuffed and escorted out of the coffee shop by police officers for reportedly not buying anything.
In response to the incident, a Sephora representative told Blavity the matter was does not represent the company's values.
“As a company, we hold ourselves to a high, and public, set of standards around creating a welcoming space for each and every client. The information shared by Leslie Jones regarding Lola Okanlawon’s experience at Sephora is concerning, and the situation she describes does not reflect our values," the statement sent to Blavity read. "We have reached out to Lola to gather more information. It is our priority to build an inclusive community and a place where all clients feel respected. Our journey has not been perfect and is by no means complete. We will continue to learn and work toward this goal.”
