Sephora stores, distribution centres and corporate offices across the United States will be closed tomorrow (June 5) for mandatory diversity training, following an incident in which SZA says she was racially profiled.
The singer tweeted back in April that she was racially profiled while shopping at store No. 614 in Calabasas, CA. She accused a woman named Sandy of calling security "to make sure I wasn't stealing."
SZA added, "We had a long talk. U have a blessed day Sandy."
The cosmetics brand replied to SZA via Twitter, publicly apologizing and stating that "We take complaints like this very seriously and are actively working with our teams to address the situation immediately."
"We have been informed of an incident at our Calabasas store and in addition to reaching out to SZA directly, we are gathering more information about the incident in order to take the proper next steps," Emily Shapiro, a spokeswoman for Sephora, told Reuters. "We take complaints like this very seriously, profiling on the basis of race is not tolerated at Sephora."
Shapiro also said that the inclusivity workshops taking place tomorrow are not "a response to any one event" and claimed that plans for diversity training were in place several months before the Calabasas incident.
Making matters even worse, SZA has previously publicly stated that she used to work as an employee at a Sephora shop before she became a Grammy-nominated singer.
Rihanna later stepped up, however, sending SZA a Fenty gift card and handwritten note that said, "Go buy yo Fenty Beauty in peace sis!"
The singer tweeted back in April that she was racially profiled while shopping at store No. 614 in Calabasas, CA. She accused a woman named Sandy of calling security "to make sure I wasn't stealing."
SZA added, "We had a long talk. U have a blessed day Sandy."
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 cosmetics brand replied to SZA via Twitter, publicly apologizing and stating that "We take complaints like this very seriously and are actively working with our teams to address the situation immediately."
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
"We have been informed of an incident at our Calabasas store and in addition to reaching out to SZA directly, we are gathering more information about the incident in order to take the proper next steps," Emily Shapiro, a spokeswoman for Sephora, told Reuters. "We take complaints like this very seriously, profiling on the basis of race is not tolerated at Sephora."
Shapiro also said that the inclusivity workshops taking place tomorrow are not "a response to any one event" and claimed that plans for diversity training were in place several months before the Calabasas incident.
Making matters even worse, SZA has previously publicly stated that she used to work as an employee at a Sephora shop before she became a Grammy-nominated singer.
Rihanna later stepped up, however, sending SZA a Fenty gift card and handwritten note that said, "Go buy yo Fenty Beauty in peace sis!"
Rihanna gives SZA a Fenty Beauty gift card after her Sephora racial profiling experience. https://t.co/6frDzvAxbC pic.twitter.com/ODIbF87Aki
— Complex (@Complex) May 30, 2019
