Estée Lauder on Monday said it had fired John Demsey after the senior executive had posted materials on Instagram that “caused widespread offense.”
Demsey has taken down the post that led to his firing, which the Each day Beast reported was a meme that included a racial slur. In a recent post on Instagram, Demsey apologized for the meme, saying he was “terribly sorry” and that “the meme is the furthest thing from what I stand for and I should have never reposted it.”
Demsey, who oversaw manufacturers together with Clinique and M.A.C. Cosmetics, joined Estée Lauder in 1991, and was energetic in a number of AIDS-related charities and organizations. In a 2019 interview with a vogue journal, Demsey mentioned the model “embraced hip-hop culture,” turning into an early magnificence model to take action.
He additionally famous that as one turns into older, it “becomes increasingly challenging to remain connected with the upcoming generation.”
The 65-year-old Demsey’s firing comes as companies are aiming to grow to be extra numerous, with many promising to rent and promote extra Black staff within the wake of the George Floyd homicide. Whereas many magnificence manufacturers are selling extra numerous folks of their advertising and marketing campaigns, some corporations within the trade have an worker base that’s solely 2% to three% Black, according to Essence.
The memo saying Demsey’s firing, signed by executive chairman William P. Lauder and CEO Fabrizio Freda, mentioned that Demsey’s Instagram post was “damaging to our efforts to drive inclusivity both inside and outside our walls, and do not reflect the judgment we expect of our leaders.”
They added, “Inclusion, diversity and equity are core to our company’s values and priorities globally.”