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On January 5, Kris Jenner shared an Instagram video of her daughter, Kendall Jenner, noting in the caption how proud she was of her daughter for being “brave and vulnerable.” Along with eight hashtags including #finallyasolution and #getready, she wrote, “Make sure to watch Kendall’s Twitter on Sunday night to find out what I’m talking about and be prepared to be moved.”
“When I was 14 I couldn’t reach as many people as I can now,” Jenner says in the video, which finds her speaking directly to the camera. “Now that I’m 22 and have this whole thing behind me, I can speak to so many people and just be like, ‘I can help you and it’s okay and I experience it, I’m very normal and like I understand you, I can connect with you. I’m gonna try and help.” As cryptic announcements go, this one ranks high.
Then, during the 76nd annual Golden Globes on Sunday night came the anticipated announcement: Kendall Jenner, the world’s highest-paid supermodel, according to Forbes, is the new face of Proactiv. (Though it’s unknown how much Jenner inked in the deal, it’s definitely in the multi-millions if past precedent from the brand holds.) That’s right, a woman whose job it is to be beautiful and sell products using said beauty is being paid to hawk what’s been called “skincare’s biggest scam.”
“I remember last year I was at an award show,” Jenner announces in a one-minute video shared to Proactiv’s Twitter account during the Globes. “I was very excited about it. I had never been before,” she says, referencing her first time out at the Globes in 2018. “I remember getting ready that day, getting my makeup on. I got on the carpet I felt really good about myself. I loved my dress and my hair and my makeup was so beautiful. Then I remember going online and seeing all the horrible things people were saying about me and my skin.” Jenner is referencing tweets like this one that called out the model for her visible acne. “I felt so good that I completely forgot that I had bad skin,” Jenner says, looking sullen.
It’s a seemingly positive message to come from the hellscape that can be the internet: popular woman attacked for experiencing something very common, internet rallies in her defense highlighting another case of ‘celebrities, they’re just like us.’
Suddenly, the music changes and so does Jenner’s demeanor. “Then I got a couple of tweets that became a lot of tweets of how proud people were of me.” It’s true, for the sprinkling of negativity, there was a surge of positivity lobbed Jenner’s way. “Ok, but @KendallJenner showing up and strutting her acne while looking like a gorgeous star is what every girl needs to understand,” read one viral tweet at the time.
“I was like, ‘oh wait, this is actually kinda cool,’” Jenner continues in the video. “And it completely flipped my energy on it.” It’s a seemingly positive message to come from the hellscape that can be the internet: popular woman attacked for experiencing something very common, internet rallies in her defense highlighting another case of “celebrities, they’re just like us.” Jenner even poked fun at herself at the time, tweeting: “never let that shit stop you!” It was a classic case of flipping the narrative toward positivity.
Only that’s not the message here now. “But at the same time,” Jenner continues. “I do want it gone.” That’s when the music really bumps up and we’re given the real real: “For me, I can honestly say that the magic was Proactiv,” she says, announcing that this was how she got clear—”and hopefully this is the way you can get clear.” The announcement was followed-up on Monday morning with a Vogue profile about her “empowering” journey.
In other words, despite legions of supporters rallying behind her and in turn helping to redefine a beauty standard towards something ultimately empowering, the lesson here is still, sadly, that acne is bad. It’s particularly troubling given Jenner’s platform and repeated efforts to normalize the appearance of acne. The reaction online was appropriately scathing. “Kendall Jenner gets 3000 dollar facials wearing head to toe Balenciaga in between shoots for Vogue I promise you she’s not using proactiv,” read one tweet. “Wait, Kendall Jenner’s ‘raw,’ personal story is… a paid sponsorship?” another tweet, this one from the Washington Post, read.
Many were quick to call out another reality: that in addition to being able to afford top-notch dermatological care, Jenner has an Estée Lauder beauty contract, and thus is likely a benefactor of free products that can help eliminate the appearance of acne.
It’s nothing on the level of Jenner’s now-infamous 2017 Pepsi ad that was accused of trivializing the Black Lives Matter movement. Still, it goes to show how out of step Jenner might be with her fans—and well, reality. Her one-time message of “never letting it stop you” was simply a shift in mindset, possible for all. But by endorsing a product that’s rooted in treating you—and thus making you feel like you have sort of condition—Jenner has not only reversed course on her previous stance, but thrown authenticity into question.
Jenner falsely commodifying beauty into something that products can help to fix, is a message that, in the end, is anything but empowering.