Huda Beauty Ends Partnership With Love Island’s Huda Mustafa Over ‘Upsetting’ Racial Slur Controversy

Love Island USA season 7 star Huda Mustafa’s partnership with Huda Beauty has come to an end following her recent controversial remarks.

“At Huda Beauty, kindness and humanity are at the heart of everything we do. Unfortunately, one of our recent collaborators has displayed behavior that does not align with our values,” a Friday, October 31, statement shared via the brand’s Instagram read. “We are truly disappointed by Huda Mustafa’s recent live and we take all forms of racism very seriously.”

The statement continued, “While we don’t believe her actions reflect her character, we found them deeply upsetting. We know that many members of our community and team were hurt and offended by these actions.”

Mustafa, 25, and boyfriend Louis Russell appeared to laugh at a racial slur that an unidentified individual used to reference fellow Love Island alum Olandria Carthen during a recent social media livestream late last month.

The makeup brand, founded by Huda Kattan, had initially partnered with Mustafa for an “Iconic Duo” collaboration in October.

“While we valued the partnership we had with Huda, her recent behavior, and the way the situation has been handled does not reflect our brand’s principles,” the cosmetics company’s statement read. “As a result, we have decided to end our partnership and remove any related content from our social platforms and in-store displays.”

The message concluded, “Accountability is incredibly important in moments like this, and we hope that meaningful change can come from it.”

Huda Beauty further explained its decision in the comments section.

“This action was taken not because of any creator or influencers content, this was taken due to the lack of seriousness around the issue and to people close to us who were offended by the actions during the live,” a caption read. “Please remember this is about accountability not canceling people.”

While Mustafa has not addressed the end of her beauty deal, she did issue a public apology to 27-year-old Carthen.

“I want to begin by saying I completely respect Olandria, and it’s extremely disheartening that anyone, especially a presumed child, would find it excusable to use this type of language, and doing so only underlines the ignorance of the gravity that such a word carries,” Mustafa said in a Wednesday, October 29, social media statement. “Olandria — it is now clear that this comment was targeted at you, and I apologize for my immediate reaction. My reaction in that moment came from being caught off guard, not from finding the word or situation funny.”

She continued, “It was a nervous, uncomfortable reaction that I recognize was inappropriate. I want to be clear that I do not condone or tolerate anyone who uses such language, and I strongly encourage the individual responsible to reflect deeply on their words and the harm they’ve caused.”

Mustafa also pledged to make a “personal donation to the NAACP.”

Carthen, meanwhile, shared her own statement about the scandal on Wednesday.

“I do not condone racism of any kind, nor do I entertain it. That kind of language is never acceptable. Not in anger, not as a joke, not ever,” Carthen wrote via her Instagram Stories. “Words like that carry generations of pain, and pretending otherwise only keeps the cycle going. Defending it, laughing about it or making excuses is even worse. I will not let this moment derail my purpose of uplifting my community. I’m standing firm in who I am and using this as an opportunity to call for real accountability and awareness.”