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Maureen Kelly, the CEO of skincare and beauty brand Tarte, is facing backlash after TikTok creator Bria Jones shared her experience with the brand’s trip to Miami. The brand organizes trips every year where it invites influencers and content creators on luxury vacations.
Bria Jones, a person of color who was invited to the Formula 1 trip arranged by the brand, took to TikTok on Thursday, May 4, and shared that she decided not to join the trip. The trip was scheduled to commence on Friday, May 5. However, Bria said that she felt slighted by the Tarte team.
Netizens have since been accused the brand of racism. On May 5, Maureen took to TikTok to address the backlash, but she did not mention Bria’s name nor directly address her statement. She said that the brand took full responsibility for the mistake and confusion made on its part.
On May 7, Bria shared a second video stating that she cleared the air with Maureen and her team, and it was a miscommunication on both their parts.
Tarte collaborator Bria Jones is also a vlogger
According to Bria Jones’ blog page “heybriajones”, she is a lifestyle and fashion influencer and content creator who aims to provide meaningful content to help her audience live a happy and fulfilling life. Bria is also a vlogger who became populor on YouTube, where she shares her lifestyle with her viewers through vlogs.
Bria started her YouTube journey in 2019, and one of her first videos was on her natural haircare routine. She is also well-known for sharing her personal finance and improvement videos, where she advises her audience on how to make money through various sources. She also collaborates with makeup and lifestyle brands, including through sponsorships and affiliate commissions.
The 29-year-old influencer is married to Andrew Nesbit. The two tied the knot on October 23, 2021, after dating for two years.
Bria Jones and Tarte's Formula 1 trip drama explained
In the now-deleted TikTok video, which Bria uploaded on May 4, she said in a tearful voice:
“I would love to go on a Tarte trip. But I have more integrity than to get all the way to Miami and realize that I’m being treated like a second-tier person.”
The influencer further shared that the original email invite that she received mentioned attending the Formula 1 race on Sunday, May 7. But after she checked her flight tickets, Bria realized that Tarte was going to send her back home on May 6. Upon asking her friends, who were also invited on the trip, about their span of stay, Bria claimed that all her friends were set to fly out on Monday, May 8, the day after the race.
Bria Jones continued that, though she was grateful to be invited on a trip organized by the brand, she also realized that her experience was going to be different than that of her friends who were also invited. She added:
“I have been on many brand trips and typically everyone is treated the same, so this caught me off guard. I wish I had the heads up.”
After Bria shared the TikTok video, Maureen Kelly, Tarte’s CEO, quickly responded to the criticism. She said that the brand had been hosting trips for influencers for over a decade.
Previously, another influencer, Cynthia Victor, accused the brand of treating some influencers differently while a few others received special treatment. She said that she was given a smaller room than the other influencers, who were provided with the luxury of much larger rooms. Cynthia reasoned that she was not upset with having a smaller room, however, it hurt her that the brand did not treat all the influencers equally.
Maureen, in her video shared on May 5, also addressed Cynthia’s accusation regarding the brand’s Turks and Caicos trip and said that she wanted to spend the vacation with as many people as possible.
Maureen stated that she loves having people around, which is why the brand booked a house for their Turks and Caicos trip instead of booking a hotel. She explained that she would have rather had more influencers in the house, filling out all the rooms, than only put them in the larger suites.
The CEO next addressed the F1 confusion and said that she was not really thinking about the race but about how they could get the most people to enjoy the fabulous experience. Maureen mentioned that nothing was decided based on the number of followers each influencer had. She added that her team arranged for the F1 tickets because everybody wanted to attend the race.
However, Maureen Kelly did not really clear the air about why Bria Jones was going to be sent back before the day of the race. This led to netizens adding to their criticism of the brand.
Bria Jones and Tarte released a joint statement regarding the Miami trip controversy and said that the initial email containing the trip details that was sent to Bria included a confusing typo. The brand took responsibility for that.
The statement shared with Elite Daily further read:
“We both recognize that we could have easily cleared the air together before feelings were hurt. Bria acknowledges and understands that posting that video has allowed for miscommunication and confusion.”
In Bria’s second TikTok video shared on May 7, the influencer also said that she had been in contact with Maureen and Tarte’s teams and they were all on the same page. She stated that there were miscommunications on both ends and apologized for responding so quickly in her previous video. Bria added that the company cleared the air with her and they were moving forward in a positive way.
