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Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty to Donate for Relief Efforts in Gaza


Tue 07 Nov 2023 | 09:30 AM
Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez
Yara Sameh

On Monday, Selena Gomez's makeup brand, Rare Beauty, shared a post to its Instagram feed condemning the recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and vowed that it will be donating to Palestinian relief organizations in light of the conflict.

“We are devastated by the images and reports coming from the Middle East,” the post reads. “Thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and millions of civilians have been displaced and left without access to food, water, medicine or basic necessities for survival. A large number of these victims are children. Palestinian civilians must be protected, period.”

In addition to denouncing all forms of antisemitism and Islamophobia, the post continued, “Rare Beauty will be making donations to the International Red Cross/ Red Crescent Societies – Magen David Adom and Palestinian Red Crescent Society – who are providing urgent care on the ground. We will also be donating to UNICEF to help get urgent medical relief and resources to the children of Gaza.”

The post concluded with mental health resources that readers could use should they or someone they know need them.

The Rare Beauty post arrives after Gomez issued a statement on October 31 stating that she would take a social media break because of the “Horror, hate, violence and terror that’s going on in the World” and that an Instagram post would not be enough to end the Israel-Hamas war.

“I’ve been taking a break from social media because my heart breaks to see all of the horror, hate, violence and terror that’s going on in the world,” she wrote via her Instagram Story. “People being tortured and killed or any act of hate towards any one group is horrific. We need to protect ALL people, especially children and stop the violence for good.”

The "Only Murders in the Building" star concluded her post, sharing, “I’m sorry if my words will never be enough for everyone or a hashtag. I just can’t stand by innocent people getting hurt. That’s what makes me sick. I wish I could change the world. But a post won’t. Love, Selena.”

The statement drew backlash online due to the resignation Gomez expressed in light of being one of the most-followed individuals on Instagram (she currently sits at No. 3 with 430 million followers on the platform). 

The singer-actress followed up her post on November 2 by explaining that she would be deleting Instagram and reiterating that she does “not support any of what’s going on.” Her account remains active as of press time.