Sephora to Close All US Stores for Inclusion Training After SZA Incident

Sephora has announced it will close its US stores on June 5 for diversity training, a month after a racial incident involving R&B artist SZA.

SZA said she had been racially profiled while shopping at a Sephora store in California.

Sephora told Reuters it was aware of the incident but said the training was not “a response to any one event”.

In 2018, Starbucks held inclusion training amid racial profiling allegations.

In a tweet on May 1st, SZA said while shopping at a Sephora store outside of LA, an employee she identified as “Sandy” had “called security to make sure I wasn’t stealing”.

The singer tweeted: “Lmao Sandy Sephora location 614 Calabasas called security to make sure I wasn’t stealing . We had a long talk. U have a blessed day Sandy”

Sephora responded at the time in a tweet: “You are a part of the Sephora family, and we are committed to ensuring every member of our community feels welcome and included at our stores.”

In 2018, website Refinery29 reported SZA had previously worked at Sephora.

SZA has been nominated for numerous Grammy awards, and recently collaborated with Kendrick Lamar on the track All the Stars which featured on the soundtrack of the film Black Panther.

In a Facebook post, Sephora said it would hold “inclusion workshops” on the morning on June 5 at its US stores as well as its distribution centers and corporate offices.

Emily Shapiro, a spokesperson for Sephora, told Reuters the store closures were not “a response to any one event,” saying that planning for the “inclusivity workshops” had been in progress for months.

In 2018, Starbucks shut all 8,000 company-owned branches in the US for an afternoon to carry out “racial bias” training.

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The move came after the coffee chain had to apologize over the arrest of two black men who were waiting to meet someone in a Starbucks in Philadelphia in May 2018.

The incident sparked calls for a boycott of Starbucks.