A wide variety of beauty brands chose to participate in #BlackOutTuesday as a way of showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While many chose to stand in solidarity on their social platforms, it also sparked conversation around how many of these brands are actually being held accountable for diversity within their own companies.
Through the launch of #PullUpOrShutUp, UOMA Beauty founder Sharon Chuter started a call to action that has been holding corporations accountable to release the number of black employees they have at corporate and executive levels.
"Show us you really mean it and you are ready to stop being a part of the system of oppression and marginalization," she captioned a video on Instagram announcing the movement.
Chuter also mentioned, "You can not say black lives matter publicly when you don't show us black lives matter within your own homes and within your organizations."
On June 1, she went on to ask viewers not to spend any money with these companies for 72 hours unless a breakdown including the number of black people on staff was released -- excluding field/retail store-level employees and customer service.
Chuter's #PullUpOrShutUp has been picking up speed, capturing the attention of beauty companies across the industry. The movement also gained support from beauty influencers, fans and many more who are demanding full transparency.
Beauty vlogger and influencer Jackie Aina, who boasts 1.6 million followers, stated in a video, "Be conscious that to ignore the role you have played and continue to play in depriving black people access to economic participation, demonstrates a lack of genuine desire for lasting change."
MORE: #BuyBlack: 25 black-owned beauty and fashion brands to support now and foreverAina went on to advise followers to ask brands to pull up for real change or shut up and retract their statement of support. "All brands that have had partnerships with me, I challenge and highly encourage all of you to participate," she said in a caption posted alongside her video.
The 2020 Fortune 500 list only four black CEOs, and a 2019 analysis from Center for Talent Innovation shows only 3.2% of executives and senior manager-level employees are African American.
The #PullUpOrShutUp Instagram page has been bringing many of these alarming statistics to the forefront, and further encouraging fans to tag brands they've supported to reveal their numbers.
MORE: Blackout Tuesday: Why social media users are going dark in solidaritye.l.f. cosmetics
One of the first companies to "pull up" was e.l.f. cosmetics, sharing that their leadership team is 14% black and diversity numbers stand at 45%. The brand later updated with a breakdown of the 45%, showing that 55% of employees are white, 17% are Asian, 14% are Hispanic or Latino, 7% are black or African American, 7% are two or more races, and 1% identify as American Indian or Alaska Native.
Glossier
Glossier also participated, showing 43% of their staff identify as people of color, 9% as black, and that none of their colleagues in leadership positions are black.
Kylie Cosmetics
Kylie Cosmetics' large beauty empire also revealed numbers that include 100% women-identifying, 53% white, 47% BIPOC, and 13% black.
Several other big-name beauty brands such as Revlon, Sephora, and Tarte have also been pulling up to reveal their diversity statistics.
After 72 hours, Chuter posted another Instagram message saying "The fight has only begun."
"Every 2 days we will post a list of 8 brands for us all to protest their silence and ensure they heard us and chose to ignore," she continued. "We will give them 72 hours each to respond or we will assume they are not ready to be part of change. We will be publishing the list of those who decline to speak up."
The UOMA beauty founder went on to call out Nike, Adidas, Fashion Nova, and more, mentioning that these brands profit directly from black culture and money. "They owe us an explanation of what they do with our dollars," she said.