‘Widespread Offense’: Makeup Mogul Axed Over Racist Instagram Post
Estée Lauder group president John Demsey was suspended last week over the incident.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Michael Kors
After more than three decades at the makeup giant Estée Lauder, senior executive John Demsey lost his job in mere days over a meme with the N-word that he posted to his Instagram page.
“Today, John Demsey, Executive Group President, The Estée Lauder Companies, was informed he must leave the company, effective this week,” the company announced on Monday, in a statement from executive chairman William Lauder and CEO Fabrizio Freda.
Dempsey’s social media posts, the statement said, “have caused widespread offense, are damaging to our efforts to drive inclusivity both inside and outside our walls, and do not reflect the judgment we expect of our leaders.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the controversy last week, one of Demsey’s Instagram posts bizarrely featured a “spoof” Sesame Street book cover.
As Insider reported, the since-deleted meme referred to one of the characters using the N-word, saying he “done got the ’rona at a Chingy concert,” referring to the coronavirus.
He was suspended last Tuesday while the company investigated the situation.
Demsey later posted a statement to his Instagram page claiming he had posted the image “without reading it beforehand” and said he was “terribly sorry and deeply ashamed.”
Sign Up for Our Cheat Sheet Newsletter
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
“The meme is the furthest thing from what I stand for and I should have never reposted it,” he added. “I hope that in time people will judge me, not for this awful mistake, but for my lifetime of words and actions, which demonstrate my respect for all people.”
Evidently the makeup giant didn’t buy that excuse—or didn’t care. Estée Lauder will now need a new leader to supervise the Clinique and MAC brands, which fell under Demsey’s mandate.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
- Account (completed)
- Payment (completed)
- Confirmation (completed)
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
- 1Account
- 2Payment
- 3Confirmation