TikTok has taken down a video by Huda Kattan, the well-known beauty influencer and founder of Huda Beauty, after she made strong and controversial claims against Israel. In the video, which she shared with her over 11 million TikTok followers, Kattan said she believed Israel was responsible for major global tragedies. She named events like World War I, World War II, the September 11 attacks, and the October 7 Hamas attack. She said she had a feeling Israel had something to do with all of them. In her words, “Are they behind every world war? Yes.”
But people quickly pointed out that her claims made no sense. World War I and World War II both happened before the country of Israel even existed. Israel was created in 1948. These comments sparked a huge backlash online, especially from Jewish groups and supporters of Israel.
TikTok responded by removing the video. A spokesperson said it went against their community rules. They explained that even though people can have different views, TikTok doesn’t allow false claims that could seriously harm others. They said it doesn’t matter if the person meant to cause harm or not: what matters is that the video shared dangerous misinformation.
The reaction to Kattan’s video has been intense. Many people are now calling for stores like Sephora to stop selling Huda Beauty products. The brand is very successful, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in sales every year. It was once valued at over a billion dollars.
This isn’t the first time Kattan has been criticised for her views. After the Hamas attack on October 7, she spoke out against Israel and was already facing boycott calls then. She has often posted in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Jewish organisations and leaders responded very strongly to the video. The head of the Anti-Defamation League said Huda built a business on beauty, but her conspiracy theories were full of hate. He said telling these lies to so many followers wasn’t just careless, it was dangerous. Another group, the American Jewish Committee, said this wasn’t just criticism of Israel, but old hate being dressed up as a modern message.
Despite the backlash, Kattan remains one of the most successful women in business. She was recently featured in Forbes as one of the most powerful women in business and one of the richest self-made women in the country. But her recent comments have brought serious damage to her reputation.