Beauty influencer Amanda Ensing has filed a defamation lawsuit against the makeup giant Sephora after they very publicly cut ties with her for being a Christian conservative in January.
The makeup shop responded to liberal activists who were outraged that they would dare to work with a Republican by saying that she “shared content on social media that is not aligned with Sephora’s values around inclusivity.”
Ensing posts family friendly beauty content mixed with some posts about her Christian conservative views — such as her support for the Second Amendment.
“Thank you for reaching out and bringing this to our attention. We were made aware that Amanda Ensing, an influencer contracted through one of our external vendors’ campaigns, recently shared content on social media that is not aligned with Sephora’s values around inclusivity. As soon as we were informed, we made the decision to cease all programming with Amanda and will not be engaging her for future partnerships,” Sephora wrote in a response to a social media activist.
Conservative women quickly rallied by her side and began boycotting Sephora — but Ensing was soon banned from Twitter as leftist activists seemed to mass reported her account to silence her. Prior to being banned, the smart and brave beauty had approximately 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube and 1.4 million followers on Instagram.
To any conservative woman out there that shops at @Sephora…Take your money elsewhere@AmandaEnsing has brought them LOADS of business to them over the years with her millions of followers across her platforms and promotion of their products. https://t.co/1Wj4QISj23
— Courtney Holland 🇺🇸 (@hollandcourtney) January 30, 2021
Now, iconic free speech lawyer John Pierce has taken up her case and filed a lawsuit against Sephora on Thursday evening in Nashville.
“Like many powerful multi-billion dollar corporations that are bowing to the whims of the woke mob, Sephora apparently thought that its bottom line was best served by destroying the life of a law-abiding American simply because she has conservative political views,” Pierce told the Gateway Pundit. “This type of corporate bullying is despicable and cuts against the grain of America’s long-tradition of free speech and respect for differing political opinions. Unfortunately for Sephora, this time they picked the wrong target.”
“Ms. Ensing is intent on exposing cancel culture for what it is — a poisonous cancer that is destroying the norms of free speech and the fabric of America. Sephora and its leadership will be help accountable for globally defaming her,” Pierce continued. “No matter how long and hard the fight, Ms. Ensing will make an example out of Sephora that will serve to deter other massive corporations from thinking they can simply steamroll individuals and destroying their lives for the sake of pandering to a leftist, woke and un-American mob.”
The complaint, obtained by the Gateway Pundit, says that Sephora “made false and defamatory statements online about Ms. Ensing, exposing her to public hatred, ridicule, and contempt, and costing Ms. Ensing her business and brand as a social media beauty influencer.”
“Ms. Ensing is a family-friendly social media beauty and lifestyle influencer who is honest with her subscribers about her Christian and conservative values. In early 2021, Sephora defamed Ms. Ensing, as the company issued a statement across its social media platforms including the company’s largest social media platform, Instagram, spreading the defamation across its over its 20.7 million followers,” the complaint continues. “Ms. Ensing suffered a backlash of severe, sustained, and aggressive abuse online that made news on several internet media sites, further spreading the false and defamatory statements. This backlash was the direct result of Defendant Sephora’s defamatory remarks, aimed at driving Ms. Ensing out of the beauty industry.”
The lawsuit points to public statements made by Sephora that included a claim that Ensing “made light of the violence and tragic loss of life at our nation’s Capital last month.” In reality, she repeatedly disavowed and condemned any violence that happened during the protest. Further, Sephora and its agents falsely claimed Ensing supported violent or racist ideology — which is also untrue. She also happens to be a Latina.
Sephora’s Chief Marketing Officer, Deborah Yeh, also stated in an email to “all members of the Sephora employee community” that Ensing “used her platform to share or highlight racially insensitive and discriminatory language, and made light of the violence at our nation’s Capital.”
In fact, while the protest was underway, Ensing tweeted, “PRAY! Pray for Justice & Truth, Pray for protection and safety. We need Peace.”
“You can’t pay me to be quiet. The truth is the truth.”
Amanda Ensing tells her story of intolerant mob mentality and corporate cancel culture at @sephora. pic.twitter.com/9tyz9fDeDQ— PragerU (@prageru) May 27, 2021
“Liberal Influencers post about Biden and are put on a pedestal, while Conservative Creators are silenced and shut out. That isn’t a free America, it’s communism,” Ensing told the Gateway Pundit.
“Sephora knows how much influence they have and they used it to lead their customers, brands, and beauty industry to believe that I am not worthy of makeup and a bad person for my political and religious views,” she continued. “They virtue signaled to any other conservative that if you use your voice in opposition of theirs, you won’t fit into their ‘values.’ The diversity and inclusivity they claim to stand for are empty words to paint themselves as a company that cares.”
Ensing is now seeking damages for defamation, false light invasion of privacy, interference with contractual relations, interference with economic advantage, and conspiracy for imputing hate speech to Ensing contrary to the company’s inclusion and diversity policies.
“I’ve worked with the biggest beauty brands around the world for the last decade, and Sephora discredits my work by virtue signaling that my conservative views and Faith in God don’t align with their ‘values,’” she told TGP. “Sephora doesn’t want people to use their voices, only voices that sound like theirs.”
Pierce tells Gateway Pundit that they will be seeking tens of millions of dollars when it goes to trial.
“What they did is unacceptable. This isn’t just for me, but for every conservative who’s been discriminated against for their views, for their voice,” Ensing told TGP.
