Jaclyn Hill Broke Down In Tears As She Reflected On The Infamous Lipstick Controversy And Revealed She’s Closing Her Brands Weeks After Being Dragged For Making Light Of The Scandal

Jaclyn Hill Broke Down In Tears As She Reflected On The Infamous Lipstick Controversy And Revealed She’s Closing Her Brands Weeks After Being Dragged For Making Light Of The Scandal,Jaclyn said she became “zombie-like” after the scandal, which saw numerous fans claiming the lipsticks they’d purchased from her had arrived covered in fuzzy hairs and black mold.

Jaclyn Hill Broke Down In Tears As She Reflected On The Infamous Lipstick Controversy And Revealed She’s Closing Her Brands Weeks After Being Dragged For Making Light Of The Scandal

If you cast your mind back to 2019, you might recall the infamous Jaclyn Hill lipstick controversy.

“I’m so sorry if the product you received was anything less than perfect. If you are unsatisfied in ANY way please contact [email protected] & we will be sure to give you a full refund as well as send you a new product. I stand behind my brand & will do whatever it takes to make sure my customers are satisfied,” she continued.

Days later, Jaclyn defended herself further in a video shared to her YouTube page addressing the claims that her products were “hazardous, moldy, or expired.” In it, Jaclyn insisted that her lipsticks were manufactured in May 2019, and that the “black dots” on them were simply “oxygen bubbles.” She also claimed that the “hairs” on the lipsticks came from the “cotton gloves” that were worn by the people manufacturing them.

“All of the products in these vats are 100% FDA-approved ingredients and totally good and safe for you to use,” she stated, before calling the entire thing “very embarrassing” and apologizing.

Jaclyn went on to launch two new brands after the lipstick controversy: Jaclyn Roxanne, which sells jewelry, and KOZE, which sells loungewear and blankets. The brands were launched in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

“Tell me you didn’t mean a word you said in your ‘apology’ without telling me you didn’t mean a word you said in your ‘apology…’ this post is extremely distasteful and disrespectful to everyone who received those contaminated tubes. Grow up and take some actual accountability,” one person wrote.

“Having a whole apology video for them then making a video joking or mocking them years later is really distasteful. Makes it seem like you were never sorry to begin with smh,” said another, while someone else called the entire thing “pure gross and distasteful.”

“After my lipstick launch happened and things obviously did not go as planned, I honestly became zombie-like,” she shared. “I did the absolute bare minimum as a founder and CEO. I just relied on my team to kind of float me through everything.”

“The way I handled the lipsticks is the biggest regret of my entire life,” Jaclyn went on, revealing that she “fell into such a depression” and “turned to alcohol.” She said, “I felt like such a failure.”

Jaclyn also said that she’s “sick of making jokes” about the controversy. “It’s just a way for me to process and cope with the trauma that it’s caused me,” she said. “There’s actually nothing funny about it whatsoever — there’s nothing funny about the way I handled it, there’s nothing funny about what came of it.”

Speaking of her choice to close all of her brands, Jaclyn explained, “I have made the decision on my own to shut these brands down because it’s time to own up to my shit.” She later said she’s “so sick” of “pushing product” in her fans’ faces, and noted that her career has felt like recurring brand deals and sales pitches.

Jaclyn also said that she’s not sure what the future of her cosmetics line looks like, but added that she has “one last launch” in the works, which she described as the “most innovative product” she’s ever created.

You can watch Jaclyn’s full video here.

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Leyla MohammedBuzzFeed Staff
Leyla Mohammed a is Celebrity Reporter for BuzzFeed UK and is based in London.
Contact Leyla Mohammed at [email protected].
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