If you are at all familiar with the YouTube beauty community, you definitely know what Morphe is.
But if you happen to be unfamiliar, Morphe is a makeup brand that specializes in collaborating with beauty influencers to produce makeup launches. They are well known for their brushes and eyeshadows.
It’s a good idea in theory to have collaborate with popular beauty influencers.
Morphe is able to profit off of influencers by having their name on a palette. It ensures that their fan base will purchase the palette. Meanwhile, the influencer is able to profit off of Morphe by getting to produce a product that their fans will buy. It’s a fairly symbiotic relationship.
But Morphe chooses literally the most problematic influencers to collaborate with.
Nikita Dragun has been going to parties during a pandemic without a mask and blackfishes.
Jeffree Star has a racist past and is known for getting into messy drama.
James Charles has been accused multiple times of trying to get involved romantically with minors and has even admitted to doing so.
What do all these creators have in common? They all have had collaborations with Morphe.
Jeffree Star has been since dropped by the brand, but many of the other problematic creators Morphe has worked with have not.
Most recently, James Charles was exposed (yet again) for talking to minors, but the brand has yet to drop him.
Many people in the community are currently giving Morphe backlash for this.
I personally don’t think Morphe will be dropping Charles or else they would have already.
But for me, I’ve never been a Morphe kind of girl or a “sister stan” of Charles, so I suppose this situation doesn’t really affect me personally.
However, I think this just shows what type of behavior the beauty community allows.
I definitely think brands need to be held responsible for the influencers they promote! Good post.