The CEO of San Francisco-based skincare company LA Face has issued an apology after a video widely circulated on social media recorded her confronting a man of color for stencilling "Black Lives Matter" on his property.
Lisa Alexander's face was plastered all over social media after she and her husband accused a Filipino man, James Juanillo, of breaking the law and called the police on him after he chalked "Black Lives Matter" on a retaining wall outside his own San Francisco property.
The video, shared by Juanillo on Twitter, instantly went viral with more than 14 million views and over 167,000 retweets. In the clip, Alexander asked Juanillo if he was "defacing private property" because they didn't think he belonged in the wealthy Pacific Heights neighborhood.
He responded by asking her, "If I did live here, and this was my property, this would be absolutely fine? And, you don't know if I live here, if this is my property?"
"Respectfully, sir, I don't think you belong here," she said before lying about knowing the owners of the property who lived there. Watch the video below:
Birchbox Ends Partnership with LA Face
Shortly after the video went viral, several social media users pointed out to Birchbox, a make-up subscription service, that it was doing business with a "racist" individual and urged the company to end their partnership with Alexander's skincare brand.
"We condemn the actions of Lisa Alexander," Birchbox tweeted. "We have not worked with LA FACE for several years & as a result of the CEO's actions today have officially cut ties with them."
'I Should Have Minded My Own Business'
Alexander, who deleted her as well as the company's social media accounts in the wake of the backlash and negative comments, issued an apology to Juanillo in a statement on Sunday. "I want to apologize directly to Mr. Juanillo," she wrote. I should have minded my own business.
"The last 48 hours has taught me that my actions were those of someone who is not aware of the damage caused by being ignorant and naive to racial inequalities. When I watch the video I am shocked and sad that I behaved the way I did. It was disrespectful to Mr. Juanillo and I am deeply sorry for that," she added. Read the full statement below:
However, the Twitter universe isn't buying it and believes she's only apologizing due to the financial implications of her actions.
"Racists like Lisa Alexander only apologize when made to suffer financial consequences. I don't respect that kind of apology," wrote one user, while another commented: "False apology in effort to save LA Face now that #birchbox dropped her.
