It’s been a wild and dizzying period recently in the world of social media crises. We have witnessed many companies caught in the midst of critical situations and only those who were able to manage effectively were able to get out of them with minimal or no damage to their image. With skillful planning and proactive responses, it is possible to avert a crisis, limit its severity and duration, or turn it into an opportunity.
Today we are putting two of the most recent crises under our spotlight and take a look at the crisis management strategies of brands to learn from their experiences.
Morphe x James Charles Crisis
A few months ago, James Charles once again found himself embroiled in scandal. He faced serious allegations of grooming, after several underage boys came forward, detailing the exchanges between them and the beauty influencer. Shortly after these allegations, Charles initially posted on Twitter, responding to an accuser’s claim that went by the name “Isaiyah”.
“I asked how old he was right away and he said he was 18, so I started flirting back,” Charles said. “In the excitement of meeting someone I thought could be potentially great, I didn’t ask for a copy of his ID or passport.” He claimed that when Isaiyah admitted he was 16, he apologized for flirting and tried to end the conversation. Stating that Isaiyah insisted on continuing the conversation, Charles wrote that he had unfriended Isaiyah at the end.
Isaiyah, on the other hand, claimed that he had disclosed that he was 16 years old early in the conversation and that James continued to talk to him in spite of it. He replied to Charles on Twitter, writing, “James we both know I blocked you, you never asked for my age.” and shared screenshots of his social media profiles as proof that he had publicly displayed his age in his bios.
After Isaiyah shared his story, other teenagers also came forward on social media regarding their problematic interactions with James Charles. More than a dozen allegations were made about Charles and his actions with minors on social media, including that James was “grooming” young people.
This scandal wasn’t the first time the beauty influencer faced a controversy. In 2019, he was accused of “problematic behavior” by his former friend and mentor Tati Westbrook. In her video, Westbrook accused the then 19-year-old Charles of “using fame and money to manipulate someone’s sexuality”, which he also denied.
On April 1st, Charles released an apology video in response to the allegations and admitted to sending sexually explicit messages to two 16-year-old boys. He ended the video with an apology to the victims and acknowledging that his – and only his – actions had caused the situation, saying that he now understands that he had been the source of the problem.
What did Morphe do?
Following Charles’ video, all eyes were on what action Morphe would take. The Internet was calling out for Morphe to cut all ties with the Youtuber, as they had done with previous controversial figures who have faced allegations. As you may recall, last year the makeup brand removed all Shane Dawson products from the shelves after serious allegations of racism were raised against him. Just a week later, they announced that they were doing the same thing with Jeffree Star products, and they also applied huge discounts to Star products on their platform.
However, on April 3, Morphe shared this Instagram post, initially crediting @fersfantasy’s look to James Charles’ Morphe palette as if nothing had happened. Comments flooded Morphe’s post asking when they were going to break off ties with Charles. It was only after that that the reference to the beauty influencer was deleted from the caption, but many people heavily criticized Morphe’s inaction on social media.
On April 16, Charles and Morphe, who have been working together since 2018, tweeted out simultaneous statements, announcing that they will “wind-down”. The announcement only came after Morphe customers threatened to boycott the brand for its collaboration with James Charles. And it’s not yet clear whether or when Morphe will stop selling the popular James Charles palette which is still available.
Ofra x David Gaito Crisis
On May 25, an old post of Ofra Gaito was brought to public attention by Twitter user @apricot444. The screenshot shared by @apricot444 was depicting a picture from December 2016 on Ofra Gaito’s personal account, in which her husband David Gaito was wearing a Make America Great Again hat and gesturing an “OK”, which has been appropriated by the alt-right as an expression of white supremacy.
The post was then picked up by online gossip rag Here for the Tea, followed by beauty industry watchdog Estée Laundry, creating an online backlash. Several beauty influencers as well as Ofra collaborators including Gutierrez, Nikki de Jager, Samantha March, Stephanie Toms, and Lauren Mae have also made statements condemning the photo on their socials.
What did Ofra do?
On the same day, May 25, Ofra issued a statement on Twitter announcing that they would not try to gloss over the incident and that the brand was internally discussing what the next move would be.
In the immediate aftermath of the online outcry, Ofra Cosmetics President Ofra Gaito and Vice President David Gaito announced that they are stepping down from their leadership roles in the company. On the 1st of June, the brand announced on its social media accounts that the leadership change would be implemented immediately, expressing an apology and deep regret over the photo in question.
“As a brand and, more importantly, as a team we have decided that for the future of OFRA, David and Ofra Gaito will no longer serve in leadership roles, effective immediately.” Ofra announced via Instagram and Twitter.
The brand has also pledged to give US$2,500 each to the US civil rights organization the NAACP and the It Gets Better Project, which empowers LGBTQ+ youth.
Which brand do you think handled the crisis better? What would you do if you were in their place? Start a discussion by leaving a comment below! Don’t forget to follow us on our socials to never miss any hot topics in the influencer marketing industry!