Add Kat Von D To The Cancelled List

I started my “Makeup Industry Chats” topic with my blog about Tarte’s pretty racist foundation launch, just so I had a place where I could tell y’all about some of the goings-on in the makeup industry that I tend to pay quite a bit of attention to. I realize a lot of these things aren’t top secret, but I’m not sure the average consumer is paying attention to all of the behind-the-scenes issues, so I think that because I actually have a platform, I can give these topics a bit of push.

To give you some background on my own feelings about Kat Von D, I have followed her for a long time. Before she even came out with makeup, she was on a show called LA Ink that centered around her tattoo shop in LA, and I really enjoyed it. Then when she started making makeup, I bought a LOT of it. I have many of her older palettes, and various liquid lipsticks and other products. (Tho I will always maintain that her Tattoo liner is garbage.) I liked that her line was cruelty-free and moving to being all vegan as well. I don’t personally care if my makeup is vegan, but I am trying to pay more attention to cruelty-free products and buy more of those when I can. Because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get my own Kat Von D tattoo, I liked owning her art in her products, since I do think she is an incredible artist, and she designs all of the artwork on her packaging.

At least… I did. And then she came out as anti-vaxx on Instagram under a picture of her pregnant belly. And when I first started reading it, I was like, yeah, I get it – being a public figure, you’re going to get a lot of unsolicited advice. And then I read further…

Sigh. I just can’t with that. My life motto tends to be, “Do whatever makes you happy, unless it’s hurting someone else.” And not vaccinating definitely hurts others. First, her own kid could catch a preventable disease. And then her kid could possibly spread the disease to someone who can’t actually vaccinate for medical reasons. Not to mention, the more people that stop vaccinating for bullshit, non-medical reasons will just increase the spread of diseases that were mostly eradicated. We don’t need polio to come back, y’all. Measles SUCKS. Let’s not do that.

I don’t appreciate how she sort of equated being vegan and having a home birth with a doula as being on the level as anti-vaxx. Being an “openly pregnant vegan” is a choice Kat made – I don’t understand why she is acting like a victim. And choosing to have a home birth is fine also – of course, I hope that she has a backup plan in case it doesn’t go as planned, but she’s rich. I’m not really worried about her getting medical care if she needs it.

But the fact that she is using her platform to be so openly anti-science and anti-vaccines is insane to me. It’s actually dangerous to use her influence in this way. Because the more of her fans that see her making poor life choices, they might think that they should be “edgy” and “goth” like Kat and not vaccinate their own children. And then… diseases spread. Ones that are easily preventable.

So… I can’t separate Kat Von D the person with Kat Von D the makeup brand. They are the same! So when she makes these kinds of pronouncements, I can’t personally continue to give her my money. I wrote to Sephora and expressed my concern about this, because if you didn’t know, Kat Von D’s line is actually a Sephora line, like the Sephora Collection.

This is the message I wrote:

I am writing about the recent anti-vaccination stance made by Kat Von D. While I am aware that the views made by the public figurehead of a brand do not represent the views of the company, parent company, and individuals working for that brand, I cannot in any way support the dangerous views of an anti-vaxxer.

The anti-vaccination movement is ignorant, arrogant, selfish, and, most importantly, threatens the well-being of those around them, especially young children and those who cannot have vaccinations for health reasons that rely on herd immunity.

I will no longer be purchasing products from this brand, and will be encouraging others to boycott. I will no longer feature this brand on my social media, and will mention Kat’s anti-vaccination stance to those who do.

So. Here I am, encouraging others to boycott as well. If I do receive a Kat Von D product in a future box, I will simply link back to this blog, or recommend products you should buy instead of that one.

As for my own Kat Von D products, I won’t be dumping them in the trash can. That is ridiculous. I’ve already paid for them and I own them. I’ll definitely use them in my day-to-day life. But will I feature them on the blog or Insta? No.

Oh, and out of this drama and possibly even worse, I have learned that she also has a history of antisemitism, which is really neat. Apparently, she is an all around garbage person. (Fun fact: her new husband has a swastika tattoo, with extremely dubious reasoning, saying he’s “reclaiming” the symbol, despite not being Jewish or Hindu.) Also, while I was taking a deep dive on the Reddit threads (linked below), I found pictures of her husband’s artwork featuring a lot of swastikas and Nazi symbols. It was chilling. When someone shows you who they are, believe them. And I believe him.

I’m not an expert but if you want to read more, here are some links you should check out:

• 10 Facts About Immunization from the World Health Organization
• Embrace The Facts And Not The Myths About Vaccinations – World Health Organization
• Diseases and the Vaccines That Prevent Them – CDC
• The Kat Von D Mega Thread in Reddit
• Reddit Response to Kat’s Update (below)

UPDATE: 6/15

Since I wrote this blog, I suppose that Kat Von D might have had a chat with her parent company, as she wrote a very long Instagram post trying to walk back her previous anti-vaxx comments… but she still comes off as pretty anti-vaxx so my previous opinion still stands. Here is her most recent post:

My husband @prayers and I are NOT anti-vaxxers.
We are not against vaccines. Just because we have hesitancies and valid concerns about injecting our baby with specific chemicals and toxins does not mean we are anti anything.
As a soon-to-be-parent [and especially as a first-time-mom] I do feel it my responsibility to have questions, and to listen to my motherly instinct to question things, and do my research.
What we have found is that sometimes it isn’t always so black and white.
While we believe medications, including vaccines, are not all bad – we also can’t dismiss the fact that some may not be good for everyone.

There are plenty of studies that show some vaccinations can work wonders. And there are also studies that show some people [including mothers, and babies] may be more susceptible to vaccine injuries more than others.
It’s unfair for anyone to expect me [or any parent] to take the word of the pharmaceutical companies who have much to gain from and industry worth billions without question – and then have to dismiss any concerns of my own.

Our personal medical records are no one’s business, and why we would feel it important for us to explore all our options when it comes to vaccinating our child, is also no one’s business – regardless of what I post on Instagram.

So, perhaps before any of you feel inspired to harass us, spew hatred, or send ill-will our way, I hope you would try and understand that this is our first child together, and we are simply just trying our best.

Lastly, I don’t plan on continuing this topic, and have no interest in fighting anyone. As much as I hate doing this, I will be turning off the comments on this post – and I think you would too, if you were constantly receiving death wishes onto your unborn child.
I am sending extra love to everyone today. X

She bravely turned off the comments (insert eye roll here). No one would have thought twice about her if she had not decided to publicly announce she was not vaccinating her kid. Instead, she announced it to the world and is now acting like a victim because people aren’t happy with how irresponsibly she chose to use her platform. No one cares if you have questions about what is safe for your kid! But ask a doctor! Don’t just read Jenny McCarthy’s blog and say you’ve done your research.

A YouTuber I watch named Smacy did a pretty excellent video about all of this, so I definitely want to share it with y’all here. I love her makeup videos but I especially enjoyed this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qljsn-NMhoY