Organic Bunny’s Brand Partners Sever Ties After Racist And Homophobic Social Media Posts Are Exposed

Clean beauty blogger turned subscription box curator Amanda Jo, known as Organic Bunny, lost key brand partners last week after derogatory tweets she made 10 years ago on a personal account about Mexican people, Black men and gay people were shared via screenshots on Instagram.

Fitglow Beauty, Captain Blankenship, HAN Skincare Cosmetics, Zoe Organics, Kypris Beauty, Le Prunier, Meow Meow Tweet, Ora Organic, and Josh Rosebrook Skin and Hair Care are among the brands that announced they would no longer work with Organic Bunny. Several brands carried by Organic Bunny, which has an e-commerce website in addition to its subscription box, have yet to make public statements about Amanda Jo’s intolerant social media comments or the status of their business relationships with Organic Bunny.

“It has come to our attention that the Organic Bunny has engaged in several instances of distasteful treatment of customers as well as racist and homophobic tweets. This is extremely upsetting and very disheartening. We are appalled,” said Josh Rosebrook, founder of Josh Rosebrook Skin and Hair Care, on Instagram. “As a gay person and a company co-owned and operated 70% by BlPOC, we absolutely do not support this and will not stand by this behavior. We have ended our partnership with the company.”

Amanda Jo’s old tweets aren’t her only social media activity drawing rebukes. The tweets were circulated after she posted on her Instagram Stories about the actions of Amy Cooper, the white woman who called the police on bird watcher Christian Cooper in Central Park, falsely accusing him, an African American man, of attacking her. Referring to the incident, Amanda Jo wrote, “I saw so many accounts saying that woman in the park did what she did on purpose. To put that man at risk. Maybe she did? Or maybe she was just terrified? Only she knows her truth.”

Amanda Jo issued an apology last week on her Organic Bunny Instagram account in the caption of a black square, similar to what many people posted on Blackout Tuesday. Since deleted, the apology read, “My true intent is always to help, deep down that is all I want. I have the best intentions but when it comes to these more sensitive topics, I need to be much more cautious with the words I choose or the things I share as simplifying them or seeing them only from my eyes can cause extreme hurt. For that, I am very sorry.”

The apology rang hollow to numerous brands and followers. At the moment, it appears Organic Bunny’s subscription business has been halted. Her Instagram profile, which still boasts over 140,000 followers, was set to private over the weekend and her private Facebook group community, Organic Bunnies, has been archived so no new comments or posts can be made. A more recent apology posted on Organic Bunny’s Instagram states, “I am not a racist and I am not a homophobe. My life story belies those labels even if some of my words have fallen short.”

Through its Instagram account, Au Naturale asked Amanda Jo to take actions that, coupled with an “authentic transformation in her narrative on race,” would lead to the makeup brand to be open to a partnership once again. The actions include Amanda Jo enrolling in racial justice educator Catrice Jackson’s courses and reading anti-racism books like “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo.

“Au Naturale stands against racism in all forms, so Amanda’s tweets broke our hearts as they captured an all to common prejudice,” elaborated Au Naturale founder Ashley Prange. “There was no question that we as a brand, and I as her friend, were going to denounce her behavior. It was how we were going to constructively condemn the messages that was the larger quandary. I saw our response to her commentary as an opportunity to both take action against racism and encourage positive change. Amanda admits her tweets were unacceptable, and we hope that through education she can envision a new perspective for herself and conversation about race for her community.”

“I am exhausted of people wielding their privilege in a manner inconsistent with empathy, respect, love, sensibility or responsibility.”

Individuals and organizations are demanding brands that have remained silent about Amanda Jo speak up about their partnerships with Organic Bunny. Her problematic social media posts, and brands’ and fans’ responses to them have been chronicled on social media by many members of the green beauty community.

“Forgiveness is a central part of who I am as a believer; however, being forgiven does not exempt you from being held accountable or suffering the consequences of the decisions you make,” wrote Green Heart of Gold in an Instagram post. “People are losing their lives to racism and bigotry. I am exhausted of people wielding their privilege in a manner inconsistent with empathy, respect, love, sensibility or responsibility. We can no longer remain silent on issues of racism and ignorance or sit on the sidelines while people are being hurt in the process.”

Meanwhile, devoted Organic Bunny customers are coming to Amanda Jo’s defense. “Please think twice about what you are doing,” wrote Wendy Varelas in a comment on Kypris Beauty’s Instagram post announcing its decision to part ways with Organic Bunny. “We need to show love and compassion to all. We are human we are allowed to make mistakes. If…not through organic bunny, I will not purchase your products.”

The Organic Bunny controversy has generated discussions about the broader clean beauty retail segment and its lack of diversity. Organic Bunny carried only a handful of brands established by people of color and one stablished by a Black founder, Organic Bath Co. Credo and The Detox Market have been criticized for having few Black-owned brands on their shelves. Credo carries the Black-owned brands Beneath Your Mask, Unsun Cosmetics, Eu’Genia and Eleven By Venus, which it’s collaborated with on sunscreens. The Detox Market stocks the Black-owned brands Briogeo, Brown & Coconut and Eu’Genia.

Credo has committed to change. On its Instagram account, it revealed the launch of “a clean beauty mentorship program…to help aspiring entrepreneurs navigate product development, clean ingredients, packaging choices, marketing and fundraising.” The retailer said, “We recognize there’s a lack of black owned or operated clean beauty brands at Credo.”

This article was amended on Monday after the brands Keeko, Bkr and Lilfox reached out to Beauty Independent to share they’ve ended relationships with Organic Bunny.