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A Bay Area-based cosmetics CEO is the latest executive to face public backlash after a viral video showed her harassing a neighbor of color.<\/p>\n

Lisa Alexander, the CEO of a cosmetics brand apologized late Sunday after a viral video showed her berating a neighbor in San Francisco<\/a> after assuming him to be trespassing.<\/p>\n

Alexander, along with her husband, could be seen threatening to call police on James Juanillo, who is Filipino, as he stenciled \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d with chalk in front of his own home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are not enough words to describe how truly sorry I am for being disrespectful last Tuesday when I made the decision to question him about what he was doing in front of his home,\u201c Alexander said in a statement. \u201cI should have minded my own business.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the video, which was first shared on Tuesday and had since been retweeted nearly 200,000 times, the couple asks him whether Juanillo lives in the house before asserting that they know he doesn\u2019t and is breaking the law.<\/p>\n

\n

\nLuz Pe\u00f1a <\/span>
\n(@LuzPenaABC7)<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

#BlackLivesMatter<\/a>\u00a0 | Lisa Alexander says she wants to apologize directly to Mr. Juanillo: ⬇️<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last 48 hours have taught me that my actions were those of someone who is not aware of the damage caused by being ignorant\u201d <\/p>\n

Story:https:\/\/t.co\/Wnxpe4CSpC<\/a>@abc7newsbayarea<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/rhtjbVvJ7R<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

June 14, 2020<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Juanillo doesn\u2019t answer the couple, but invites them to call the police. The couple then walk away, with Alexander responding: \u201cYes, we will do so.\u201d He added that Alexander \u201clies and says she knows that I don\u2019t live in my own house, because she knows the person who lives here\u201d.<\/p>\n

The video stops short of showing what happens next. Juanillo summed up the encounter on Twitter: \u201cA white couple call the police on me, a person of color, for stenciling a #BLM chalk message on my own front retaining wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juanillo said a police officer pulled up several minutes after the encounter and drove away after recognizing Juanillo as a longtime resident. He later told KGO-TV he believes the couple accused him of defacing private property because they didn\u2019t think he belonged in the wealthy Pacific Heights neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\n

\nyvette nicole brown <\/span>
\n(@YNB)<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWhen I watch the video I am shocked and sad that I behaved the way I did,\u201d ~ Lisa Alexander of #LAFaceCosmetics<\/a><\/p>\n

So do racist folks just not KNOW themselves?! Why are they always unaware or shocked by the racist things they do and say?<\/p>\n

This is baffling to me. https:\/\/t.co\/8FGi1r3ar0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

June 15, 2020<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

The backlash sparked accusations of racism and led a cosmetics distributor to cut ties with Alexander, who serves as CEO of the LaFace Skincare line. Birchbox, a subscription-based, beauty distributor, responded to the social media furor over the video by condemning her \u201cracist actions\u201d on Saturday and announcing it had cut ties with the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not worked with LaFace for several years,\u201d the company tweeted. \u201cWe\u2019ve removed their products from our website & will not be working with them in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander\u2019s actions even had an unintended impact on an unrelated cosmetics brand. Ivan and Mellisa Milos, co-owners of My LaFace cosmetic located more than 300 miles away in Los Angeles, reported targeted harassment<\/a> and a rush of negative reviews following the viral video.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know her. We viewed the video many times and she made a big mistake,\u201d Melissa Milos told KGO-TV. \u201cWe started private messaging them to say \u2018I\u2019m not Lisa, I\u2019m not LaFace Products. My business is in LA,\u2019 and then we got some people writing back saying \u2018we are sorry and will delete it now,\u2019 but some have not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\nJaimetoons <\/span>
\n(@jaimetoons)<\/span><\/p>\n

A white couple call the police on me, a person of color, for stencilling a #BLM<\/a> chalk message on my own front retaining wall. \u201cKaren\u201d lies and says she knows that I don\u2019t live in my own house, because she knows the person who lives here. #blacklivesmatter<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/rOpHvKVwgP<\/a><\/p>\n

June 12, 2020<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Alexander is the latest in a growing trend of white Americans appearing on a widely shared video accosting a person of color, despite the subsequent consequences usually resulting in a public shaming or a loss of employment.<\/p>\n

In May, New Yorker Amy Cooper was fired from her job and temporarily stripped of her rescue dog after calling the police on a black birdwatcher <\/a>who asked her to leash the animal. In the viral video she is seen threatening \u201cto tell [police] there\u2019s an African American man threatening my life\u201d.<\/p>\n

The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced sweeping policing reform, including measures that criminalize race-based calls to police in response.<\/p>\n

And just days after the killing of a 46-year-old black man named George Floyd by a white, Minneapolis police officer, a white venture capitalist named Tom Austin was filmed threatening to call the police on black tenants<\/a> of an office building who he assumed didn\u2019t belong. Austin\u2019s entire board of directors resigned and the office lease was voided as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhite folk must fear that calling the police frivolously will result in their name being printed in the media and forever associated with the social stigma of calling the cops to harass black people,\u201d The Undefeated\u2019s Brandon Starkey wrote in 2018<\/a> after another Oakland woman made headlines for calling the police on black barbecuers.<\/p>\n

Alexander, meanwhile, said she was committed to learn from the experience and wants to apologize to Juanillo in person. \u201cWhen I watch the video I am shocked and sad that I behaved the way I did,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\n

Juanillo said on Sunday that he would be open to talking with Alexander. He said in the last several days neighbors have left flowers and notes expressing support, with many adding chalk art to the retaining wall and sidewalk.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me this experience has left me feeling vindicated and validated. I imagine that she regrets those couple of minutes,\u201c he said. \u201cDo I believe that her life should be destroyed over this? No. I just hope that she realizes that what she did was racist and she can improve from this incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this report<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A Bay Area-based cosmetics CEO is the latest executive to face public backlash after a viral video showed her harassing a neighbor of color. Lisa Alexander, the CEO of a cosmetics brand apologized late Sunday after a viral video showed her berating a neighbor in San Francisco after assuming him to be trespassing. Alexander, along…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[3282,689],"class_list":{"0":"post-43347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-caught","9":"tag-video"},"yoast_head":"\n