Morphe Cosmetics, an infamous makeup brand, has recently announced on January 5th, 2023 they will be shutting down their U.S. stores indefinitely. 

“We have made the difficult decision to close all Morphe stores in the U.S. We are forever grateful to our store teams for their passion, talent, and dedication over the years.”

— Morphe (@MorpheBrushes) January 5, 2023

There was much speculation around this shutdown way before it was officialized. In December 2022, there was a lot of backlash against the brand for leaving their employees distraught while they ran low on inventory. Due to the lack of inventory, financial/legal burdens, and just a pile-up of negativity on the brand. Tiktokers had taken over the platform during the holiday season to bash the brand for leaving their employees to wonder while they had little to no inventory. Due to it being a packed full store many people were also upset due to not being able to buy anything. 

Many employees were infuriated by the closing, due to being fired almost immediately with no notice to find a new job. The hashtag “#justiceformorpheretailemployees” has gone viral due to the fact of the injustice placed on the Morphe employees. Makeup artist, Sydney Kayla has come out on the brand. Sydney worked at an Arizona location, she said that she arrived at her store only to find an empty store. “A day in the life of a Morphe makeup artist: So when I walked into my store this morning, it was completely empty — absolutely nothing except for foundations,” Kayla stated in a video on her TikTok. Her employment at the store has not been verified but many people do believe her. Kayla also said that when she questioned her employers about a shutdown, they answered no questions and continued to keep her and her fellow employees in the dark. Dani Garza is another former store manager who also had been kept in the dark with little to no answers. With little to no time to find another job, Dani was told on the 22nd of December that her last day of employment would be December 26th. Garza expressed her emotions by saying “It completely shook us and honestly ruined all of our holidays” Garza stated. It saddened her and her coworkers that after Christmas they would come back to no jobs. Among these two employees, many workers got as little to one day to find a replacement job, this brought rage to many people. Many other Morphe employees have come out, especially on TikTok. Everyone voiced their statements and encouraged kindness to Morphe employees during this hard time. 

James Charles is a well-known beauty influencer who had a brand deal with Morphe. However, this brand deal did go South. There were multiple sexual harassment allegations placed against the beauty guru. He was accused by more than 15 men and boys of this atrocious act. The artist did state this true, and he said it should have never happened. A Morphe representative stated that the brand does not support any of these acts, and they were going to immediately take action, and then the Morphe x James Charles collection suspended marketing. Another social media influencer by the name of Jeffree Star also had a brand deal with the cosmetics company. However, this line also got discontinued due to the actions of Star. Star was reported to be a racist, and he would openly be racist on camera. Jeffree was also caught up in Shane Dawson’s mess, and he too made offensive videos including being racist and oversexualizing minors. The brand did not support this, they almost immediately seized all connection with Jeffree. Jeffree nor James have come out with any thoughts on the shutdown of the company. The brand has had multiple downward spirals, and this is just a cherry on top.

This is the end of an era for the brand, but many did suspect this was going to happen. Morphe has had multiple conflicts and issues with themselves and others throughout the years. It was once a brand for upcoming beauty stars to begin something big, but lately, it has disappointed millions. From leaving their employees in the dark for months, to just completely going ghost, many people are very upset at the moment. The stores are still available in the U.K., Canada, and Australia. So if you really need that Morphe binge just fly on over. Morphe is going to currently focus on their e-commerce, and wholesale relationships in the U.S. at the moment. The store is officially closed for bankruptcy, and they do not plan to go back on this. The brand has failed to deliver, and now we must all say goodbye.