Kat Von D steps away from eponymous beauty line

- JAN 20, 2020 MONDAY

The beauty world was received a shake-up this week in the form of an announcement on January 16 that tattoo artist turned entrepreneur Kat Von D has decided to sell her shares and step away from her self-titled makeup brand Kat Von D Beauty. Taking to her Instagram page, Kat shared that the running of the company was no longer feasible with her increasingly hectic workload and the upcoming release of her album and tour, and felt it best she part ways with the company.

However, the recent backlash and boycotting of the brand from once-fans paints a slightly different picture.

The Kat Von D Beauty brand came under fire in 2018 amidst controversies surrounding it’s founder’s life came to light, most notably allegations that the star was an anti-vaxxer due to her choosing not to vaccinate her newborn son, as well as her alleged ties to anti-semitism. While Kat released a YouTube video that same year entitled, “I am NOT a nazi. I am NOT anti-vaxx”, many fans were still unconvinced and decided to boycott the brand.

It has also been announced that Kat will be selling all of her shares to the brand’s parent company, KENDO, who will also be changing the line’s name to KVD Vegan Beauty, perhaps in an attempt to further distance themselves from the star.

Kendo CEO David Suliteanu also acknowledged the move, and shed light on what the future of the brand will look like heading into 2020:

“I want to thank Kat for helping to change the beauty industry with us. The products we created together have stood the test of time and become icons. KENDO, along with our global retail partner, SEPHORA, look forward to the continued growth of KVD Vegan Beauty under KENDO’s leadership, ownership and direction. We are fully positioned to continue the brand’s growth and development in both product and marketing. We have developed a very strong product pipeline for 2020 and beyond. The same KENDO team that made history with KVD Vegan Beauty is ready to do it again.”

Since the announcement, many fans of the brand have taken to social media to celebrate the news.

Kat von d just completely sold her brand and stepped away from her position bitchhhh time to cop all that cute makeup without any guilt now

— faye (@fayekinley) January 16, 2020

Me and the girls pulling up to Sephora now that Kat Von D stepped down from the brand pic.twitter.com/bbYxebZIzo

— ????? (@phonyghost) January 17, 2020