Estee Lauder Exec John Demsey Suspended over Improper Comment on Instagram

Beauty group Estee Lauder has suspended its chief executive John Demsey after the latter triggered strong public controversy with posts on his personal Instagram account containing racial slurs and jokes about the pandemic, according to a regulatory filing by the group.

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Estée Lauder Group has suspended its executive president John Demsey after the latter triggered a strong public controversy with posts on his personal Instagram account containing racial slurs and jokes about the pandemic, according to a regulatory filing on Feb. 24.

At the moment, the social media post, which has since been removed from Demsey’s personal account, displayed a spoof book cover of the TV show “Sesame Street,” and contained the N-word and jokes about Covid-19,Demsey’s Instagram account has over 73,000 followers. The company did not comment on the length and scope of his suspension.

According to Estée Lauder's official website, John Demsey joined Estée Lauder in 1991 as Vice President of Sales for the West Coast region. He was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales in 1993, before being named President of M-A-C in 1998.

In January 2005, John Demsey was named Global Brand President for Estée Lauder and M-A-C, with responsibility for both TOM FORD BEAUTY and Prescriptives. Since then, Demsey has reinvigorated the brand image of Estée Lauder. The brand signed new spokesmen (Kendall Jenner, etc.) and focused its development on high-performance skincare in Asia, particularly China.

Since January 2016, John Demsey has been Executive Group President of the Estée Lauder Group. In this role, he oversees brands including M-A-C, Clinique, BECCA, Too Faced, Smashbox, GLAMGLOW and TOM FORD BEAUTY.

In addition, prior to Estee Lauder, Demsey served as Vice President of Sales for Revlon's Professional division, which included the Borghese, Alexandra de Markoff and Lancaster.