Update (May 26, 2019): Three weeks after singer SZA said she was racially profiled at a Sephora store in Calabasas, California, Rihanna has given the “All The Stars” singer a way to shop in peace.
On Saturday, SZA shared a picture of a Fenty Beauty gift card accompanied by what appeared to be a handwritten note from none other than Fenty Beauty mogul Rihanna.
“The Weekend” crooner shared the image to her Instagram stories.
“Go buy yo [sic] Fenty Beauty in peace sis! One Love – Rihanna,” the message on the Fenty letterhead read.
”Tanks [sic] queen,” SZA captioned the photo.
Queen always comes through.
Original: Fame has done little to spare Black celebrities from everyday racism, and SZA learned this the hard way when she was racially profiled at a Sephora in Calabasas, California.
The Ctrl singer hopped on Twitter Tuesday night to tell her followers she was allegedly racially profiled while shopping for Fenty Beauty products at a Sephora. SZA said that an associate at the store thought she was stealing and called mall security on her.
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
Can a bitch cop her fenty in peace er whut
— SZA (@sza) May 1, 2019
"Lmao Sandy Sephora location 614 Calabasas called security to make sure I wasn’t stealing," she wrote, giving the store associate a catchy nickname — a la BBQ Becky and Permit Patty — like the dozens of people roasted by the internet for discriminating against Black people doing everyday tasks.
"We had a long talk. U have a blessed day Sandy"
SZA says the entire situation was defused after a conversation, but her followers were livid, descending on the store's Google page to write dozens of bad reviews. Eventually, things got so bad that the store removed the "Review" section from its page altogether.
Her fans noted online that the singer used to work for Sephora and expressed hope that the situation would lead to her releasing a new song.
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the company behind Sephora, has not released a statement on the situation and has not responded to press inquiries. Many of SZA's followers noted the similarities between this situation and one Oprah Winfrey found herself in five years ago.
While shopping in a store in Switzerland, store clerks refused to show her certain items because they said they would be "out of her price range."
