On Monday (Nov. 6), the Selena Gomez-fronted makeup brand Rare Beauty shared a post to its Instagram feed condemning the recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza — which follow an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival that killed at least 260 people — and shared that it will be donating to Palestinian relief organizations in light of the conflict.
“We are devastated by the images and reports coming from the Middle East,” the post reads. “Thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and millions of civilians have been displaced and left without access to food, water, medicine or basic necessities for survival. A large number of these victims are children. Palestinian civilians must be protected, period.”
In addition to denouncing all forms of antisemitism and Islamophobia, the post continued, “Rare Beauty will be making donations to the International Red Cross/ Red Crescent Societies – Magen David Adom and Palestinian Red Crescent Society – who are providing urgent care on the ground. We will also be donating to UNICEF to help get urgent medical relief and resources to the children of Gaza.”
The post concluded with mental health resources that readers could use should they or someone they know need them.
The Rare Beauty post arrives after Gomez issued a statement on Oct. 31 stating that she would take a social media break because of the “horror, hate, violence and terror that’s going on in the world” and that an Instagram post would not be enough to end the Israel-Hamas war.
“I’ve been taking a break from social media because my heart breaks to see all of the horror, hate, violence and terror that’s going on in the world,” she wrote via her Instagram Story. “People being tortured and killed or any act of hate towards any one group is horrific. We need to protect ALL people, especially children and stop the violence for good.”
The Only Murders in the Building star concluded her post, sharing, “I’m sorry if my words will never be enough for everyone or a hashtag. I just can’t stand by innocent people getting hurt. That’s what makes me sick. I wish I could change the world. But a post won’t. Love, Selena.”
Shortly after Gomez’s statement, she drew backlash online due to the resignation she expressed in her statement in light of being one of the most-followed individuals on Instagram (she currently sits at No. 3 with 430 million followers on the platform). The singer/actress followed up her post on Nov. 2 by explaining that she would be deleting Instagram and reiterating that she does “not support any of what’s going on.” Her account remains active as of press time.
See Rare Beauty’s announcement below.
Source: billboard.com