Claims that Sephora donated to the Trump campaign are made up

Some social media users are calling for a boycott of Sephora products after they say the beauty company donated to President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. But that claim is not founded in truth. 

"Sephora donated BIG to Trump’s campaign … Ulta did not," a Nov. 11 Threads post read. "BlackWomen remember this when you’re out shopping, especially this holiday season."

Similar claims surfaced in other Nov. 11 and Nov. 10 Threads posts.

These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

NewsGuard’s Election Misinformation Monitoring Center also reported about the claims. 

The narrative seemingly originated in a viral Nov. 10 TikTok video that said Sephora and several other companies donated to Trump’s campaign. "Let’s see who did and did not make donations to the Trump campaign … Sephora BIG BIG BIG DONATIONS!! I HOPE we all understand the assignment for this Christmas season," the video’s text read. 

The TikTok post drew 14.1 million views and 1.9 million likes as of Nov. 14.

 (Screenshot from Threads.)

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stated on October 27, 2024 in an Instagram post

Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz “says that if Democrats win they’ll make (U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) speaker of the house.”

But this Sephora claim is all made up. A company spokesperson told PolitiFact in an email that "Sephora does not make corporate donations to political candidates. Sephora’s mission is to create a welcoming beauty shopping experience for all."

The Federal Election Campaign Act forbids corporations from donating directly to federal candidates, according to the Federal Election Commision.

Corporations may set up political action committees, through which they can donate to candidates. But OpenSecrets, a nonprofit group tracking contributions to U.S. political campaigns, shows no record of Sephora or its parent company, LVMH, making political action committee donations to support Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.

According to OpenSecrets, people associated with Sephora or LVMH — such as employees, owners and their family members — personally contributed $318 to Trump’s 2024 campaign. In comparison, they donated about $35,000 to Harris’s campaign.

We rate the claim that Sephora donated to Trump’s presidential campaign False.