TikTok Removes Beauty Founder Huda Kattan’s Video on Anti-Israel Conspiracy Theories

The makeup mogul posted a video suggesting Israel was responsible for World Wars I and II and the 9/11 attacks, per CNN and BBC

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Huda Beauty founder Huda Kattan has come under fire for a video that was shared on one of her TikTok accounts recently and has since been removed.

Per CNN and BBC, Kattan shared a video on the platform in which she falsely suggested that Israel was to blame for World War I, World War II, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) both occurred before the State of Israel was established in 1948. There is no link between Israel and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, nor is there any evidence that Israel attacked its own citizens on Oct. 7, 2023.

“All of the conspiracy theories coming out and a lot of evidence behind them — that Israel has been behind World War I, World War II, September 11, October 7 — they allowed all of this stuff to happen. Is this crazy?” Kattan said in the video, per CNN. “Like, I had a feeling — I was like, ‘Are they behind every world war?’ Yes.”

It’s not clear whether the video was shared to Kattan’s personal TikTok account, which has 1.7 millon followers, or her company Huda Beauty’s account, which has 11.2 million followers.

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A representative for TikTok confirmed to CNN and BBC that it removed Kattan’s video for violating its community guidelines.

“In a global community, it is natural for people to have different opinions, but we seek to operate on a shared set of facts and reality,” the platform’s guidelines state. “We do not allow misinformation that may cause significant harm to individuals or society, regardless of intent.”

In a statement to the BBC, the Anti-Defamation League called Kattan’s remarks “irresponsible and dangerous.”

“These dangerous and historically baseless accusations echo some of the oldest and most pernicious antisemitic tropes,” the statement reads.

A spokesperson for the group told the BBC, “Having such a big platform for your business and choosing to use it to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories is inflammatory, irresponsible and dangerous.”

Per Forbes, Kattan quit her job in finance to become a makeup artist and then launched a blog in 2010. In 2013, she started Huda Beauty with her two sisters, Mona and Alya Kattan. The company brings in about $200 million in annual sales and in 2017 was valued at $1.2 billion.

Following the video and subsequent backlash, people have taken to Sephora’s comments section on social media to call for the retailer to stop stocking Huda Beauty. Currently, Sephora is the only mass retailer that stocks Kattan’s brand. Many are asking for the brand to be pulled from the shelves and for the brand to stop working with her altogether, as well as make a statement on the matter.

Kattan, Huda Beauty, Sephora and TikTok did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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