A Kuwaiti social media star has been dumped by makeup giant Max Factor after a video of her complaining about new rights for domestic servants surfaced.
Max Factor Arabia announced it was terminating its endorsement deal with beauty blogger Sondos Al Qattan on Thursday after she refused to apologise for her comments.
“Max Factor Arabia was shocked by the comments made by the influencer Sondos Al Qattan," it said in a statement to The National.
“Max Factor stands for women's empowerment and supporting every woman to express her individuality, irrespective of ethnicity and occupation.”
Al Qattan, who has 2.3 million followers on Instagram, sparked a massive outcry after posting the now-deleted clip in which she gripes her “servants” would have a day off every week and be allowed to keep their passports under new laws introduced by Kuwait to protect Filipino domestic workers.
The social media star has millions of Instagram followers. Source: Instagram/@SONDOS_AQ/INSTAGR
“The new laws that have been passed are pathetic. Honestly, I disagree,” Al Qattan said in the footage.
“To take a day off every week, that’s four days a month. Those are the days that she’ll be out. And we don’t know what she’ll be doing on those days, with her passport on her.
The comments sparked a storm of criticism online.
“You are ugly inside. No-soul-having-slave-driver. Your Filipino ‘servants’ are humans with basic human rights,” one Instagram user posted.
“You may have a pretty face but the attitude is very opposite!!!” another said.
Al Qattan refused to apologise, instead dismissing the backlash as “rumours” and claiming she treats her employees fairly.
Other companies have also broken ties with her, including Shiseido, a Japanese personal care company.
The blogger was forced to address the outcry in a follow up post. Source: Supplied
The new domestic workers' reforms were passed in Kuwait following a diplomatic spat between the Philippines and the Gulf country.
Kuwait employs about 700,000 domestic workers – many of them from the Philippines.
The Philippines issued a temporary ban on nationals working in the country in February after the body of Joanna Daniela Demafelis, a 29-year-old Filipino worker, was found mutilated.
