Black Content Creators On Whether Tarte Can Redeem Itself After Its Latest Influencer Trip Debacle

At this point, #TrippinWithTarte public relations stunts should always prompt the question, how’s Tarte Cosmetics trippin’?

The brand’s latest influencer trip controversy involves Bria Jones, a content creator with nearly 466,000 TikTok followers and a stacked list of sponsors such as Bobbi Brown, Oral-B and Kohl’s. She was invited by Tarte on a trip ostensibly to attend the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, which took place Sunday, May 7, but the brand extended its invite to her only to Saturday, meaning she’d miss the main event.

In a TikTok video explaining her reasons for skipping the trip, Jones says, “I’m realizing I’m not going to be treated like everyone else there. I would love to go on a Tarte trip, and trust me I’m so grateful, but I have more integrity than to get all the way to Miami and realize that I’m being treated like a second-tier person…I will be damned as a Black creator if I accept anything other than equal treatment on these trips.”

The video swiftly racked up more than 800,000 views before Jones removed it and took a TikTok pause. Maureen Kelly, CEO and founder of Kosé Corp.-owned Tarte, initially reacted to Jones’ criticism of the Formula 1 trip in a lighthearted fashion on TikTok. That tactic backfired and Kelly, admitting it was wrong, tried again with a serious TikTok video.

“I acknowledge that we have fallen short in matters of diversity, inclusion and equity in the past,” she says in the video. “I want to ensure everyone that I have heard you and starting now we will be taking the following steps: We’re reviewing our creator program and just making sure it’s inclusive and equitable, and we’ll be updating it regularly to make sure we reflect changes that happen within the beauty influencer market. We’ll take immediate action whenever we find inequalities or errors within our program. We’re focused on fostering a culture of trust and transparency.”

In a brief return to TikTok, Jones, who shared she’s stepping back from the social media platform to concentrate on her mental health, commends Tarte’s actions addressing her trip concerns. She says, “I’ve been in contact with Maureen and the Tarte team, and we are very much so on the same page with everything. There was miscommunication on both ends, and I recognize my mistake by responding so quickly and publicly, but Tarte has done a great job of working through the situation with me. So, I know we are both glad to be moving forward in a positive way.”

But many Black content creators are looking back at Tarte’s history and wondering if the brand can move forward in a positive way. Earlier this year, it flew influencers to the United Arab Emirates for a lavish all-expenses-paid, three-day stay that was slammed for its lack of influencers of color and insensitivity to consumers struggling to make ends meet in an uncertain economy.

In the no publicity is bad publicity department, insights firm Trendalytics’ data shows Tarte has been the beneficiary of social media buzz as a result of trip blunders. In the wake of the Formula 1 fiasco, the brand registered a 619% increase in TikTok mentions and a 38% increase in Instagram mentions. On TikTok, Trendalytics finds the hashtag #TrippinWithTarte has 303 million views. The brand’s TikTok following has slid, however, by 15,000. It has about 1 million TikTok followers.

To get a sense of where Black creators stand on Tarte today, we touched base with three of them. Below, they fill us in about what the brand could’ve done better after Jones aired her frustrations, larger issues with beauty influencer marketing, and where Tarte should go from here.

Zakory Kirk

TikTok Handle: Zactivist

Do you feel that Jones’ reaction was justified?

Bria was completely justified in her response to what she perceived as mistreatment. Tarte’s initial communication contained a typo that provided misinformation and that is what literally started the entire spiral into drama. The blame for this situation starts and ends with Tarte and their CEO Maureen Kelly. Tarte’s history of slighting not only Black influencers but Black clients is well-known in the beauty influencer space.

What do you think Tarte should’ve done differently?

Tarte should have immediately caught the email misstep, owned their error, and adjusted Bria’s travel itinerary to illustrate to her how much they value her as not only a contracted employee (because that is what an influencer is), but as person. Additionally, Tarte should have immediately communicated the error made with the other influencers going on the trip to emphasize the value of equity to the brand.

Does this incident shed light on a larger issue between Black influencers and brands?

This issue highlights the failure of brands to recognize the importance of not only diversity, but of the Black dollar, which is expected to reach $1.8 trillion annually by 2024. Additionally, the Tarte controversy has revealed that too many brands have marketing/PR teams that are homogenous despite living in a world that is extremely diverse. And while brands cannot always find qualified diverse talent to meet their needs, they can easily find diverse support to consult and advise. There is no reason why every viable U.S. brand doesn’t have a functioning DEI team to help avoid situations like this.

What do you think needs to happen on Jones’ end or Tarte’s end from here?

Bria has nothing more to do with this situation. She received an email with misinformation and she responded to that email (not knowing it was misinformation). When she found out there was an error, she apologized for a hasty response. Her work is done.

Tarte, however, has failed to adequately accept responsibility for their further damage to Black  influencers or the beauty community. Not only did Tarte through the viral videos of CEO Maureen Kelly impact Bria’s career by shifting blame to the victim, the brand also hurt the career of social media influencer Fannita, who is a comedic creator (and not even in the beauty space). Fannita was ill-prepared for the social media backlash she faced from a Tarte trip and that falls on the brand who selected her.

Tarte said on Wednesday that it will review its creator program to make it more inclusive and equitable. Do you think the brand is taking the right approach?

Tarte should certainly make their creator program more inclusive and equitable. They should have done this from the start of the program. In my opinion, it is too late. I am baffled why any person of color or any person connected to a person of color would continue to support this brand.

Tarte has seen increases in social media mentions following the incident, but a decrease in followers. What do you think about that? Do you think the influencer and beauty communities are reacting properly to the incident? Why or why not?

The community has reacted as they should. There is no reason to support a brand with a history of influencer discrimination.

Franchesca Ramsey

TikTok Handle: Franchesca_Leigh

Do you feel that Jones’ reaction was justified?

Given Tarte’s history with poor inclusivity in their shade ranges, brand deals and lack of diverse staff, I don’t think it’s fair to police how Bria responded to what she perceived as mistreatment. I didn’t read the email Bria received, I’m not able to compare her itinerary to the other girls on the trip, but, if she felt she was treated differently from the white creators who were invited on the trip, I believe she has every right to express that.

What do you think Tarte should’ve done differently?

When Bria declined to participate in the trip, I think Tarte should’ve worked with her offline to resolve the issue so she’d be accomodated in a way that felt appropriate given her concerns, but by inviting two other Black creators on the trip at the 11th hour (seemingly to replace Bria), it was clear their involvement was an afterthought. This shows a repeated pattern of not taking diversity and inclusion seriously.

I also think Maureen Kelly’s initial non-apology and subsequent follow-up video were quite glib and lackluster. Again, this is a repeated pattern for Tarte, and ultimately changed behavior is the best apology. Lastly, considering the severity of the concerns Bria raised, I think everyone should’ve been instructed to not speak about or post content about Bria or whatever did or didn’t lead up to her choosing not to participate in the brand trip.

Does this incident shed light on a larger issue between Black influencers and brands?

Like people, there is no such thing as a perfect brand. Ultimately, brands are looking to make money, and so while representation is powerful and important, many brands are including Black creators purely in hopes of expanding their products reach.

That said, some brands approach that more authentically than others, but until brands across all industries diversify their staff behind the scenes, this sort of plug-and-play diversity will continue to fall flat for me.

What do you think needs to happen on Jones’ end or Tarte’s end from here?

I think Bria taking a break from social media was smart. There’s so much noise on TikTok right now surrounding this trip, and she deserves space and time away from that.

Before she took her social break, Bria posted a video saying she spoke to the Tarte team offline, and they resolved things, so I hope she’s happy with how things were handled. As for Tarte, I’m not in the business of giving free advice to anyone who’s consistently shown they’re not interested in advocating for or representing folks that look like me.

Tarte said on Wednesday that it will review its creator program to make it more inclusive and equitable. Do you think the brand is taking the right approach?

My issue is Tarte has said this numerous times in the past following criticisms about their shade range and most recently their empty support of the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. It is obvious they’ve done none of the work to diversity their team or be more thoughtful in how they approach brand partnerships with Black creators. So, again, I think words are meaningless if they’re not followed up by action.

Tarte has seen increases in social media mentions following the incident, but a decrease in followers. What do you think about that? Do you think the influencer and beauty communities are reacting properly to the incident? Why or why not?

As always, people are going to chime in on topics that are trending because that’s the nature of social media. It’s a conversation. So, it’s not surprising to me that more people are talking about Tarte and, as a result, some are choosing to unfollow as more of their problematic history comes to light. When you know better, you do better!

That said, I can’t really speak on what the beauty community is or isn’t doing correctly because the entire community doesn’t act in one way. There are all different types of people making beauty content, and they’re all going to respond to this story based on their personal experiences, brands and how they move through the world.

Personally, I’ve really appreciated how many more seasoned Black creators have chimed in to talk about where we put our time and energy as Black creatives, the importance of calling each other in and going where we’re valued and supported.

Julea Smith, aka Lei Lei

TikTok Handle: Leiileiijaee_203

Do you feel that Jones’ reaction was justified?

I do. She felt like she wasn’t being treated fairly by Tarte. I’m glad she spoke up.

What do you think Tarte should’ve done differently?

I think Tarte should’ve definitely treated everyone that they invited on this trip the same, no matter the follower count, status and, most importantly, the color of their skin.

Does this incident shed light on a larger issue between Black influencers and brands?

Yes. As a Black influencer, I know there are brands I would like to work with, but, after seeing the lack of diversity and inclusivity within the brand, I stay away. This unfortunately has been an issue for a long time. With this Tarte incident, it sheds a light on the lack of representation for people of color.

What do you think needs to happen on Jones’ end or Tarte’s end from here?

Bria has done her part by speaking up on what happened to her. For Tarte, they need to be open and willing to work with more Black creators. As a company, they should hire more DEI employees to assist in implementing more diversity and inclusivity.

Tarte said on Wednesday that it would review its creator program to make it more inclusive and equitable. Do you think the brand is taking the right approach? 

I feel like it’s the right approach, but it’s honestly too late. It shouldn’t have taken an incident like this for the company to make the correct changes. It should’ve already had a diverse and inclusive creator program.

Tarte has seen increases in social media mentions following the incident, but a decrease in followers. What do you think about that? Do you think the influencer and beauty communities are reacting properly to the incident? Why or why not?

Honestly, I’m glad Tarte is seeing a decrease in followers. This will show them that a lot of people don’t tolerate their lack of awareness towards the Black community. I believe the influencer and beauty communities are reacting in a great way. As a Black creator myself, I’m going to speak up for what’s right. A lot of people within the beauty communities are tired of being disrespected by these big brands.