K

[MyDarkling]

I read the text conversation as Kat saying, "I just wanted to let you know that due to our political differences (and thus differences in worldview) I probably won't become best friends with you or even really try. You are still a great artist and you are still welcome to do everything that winning has entitled you to do. But I'm letting you know up front that I probably wont be making much of an effort to be pals." 

That strikes me as pretty upfront and decent, honestly. 

[vegchililover78]

@kelli789 You are entitled to your opinion as are others. It's kind of the life cycle of a thread. People are going to read and respond. Some may share your opinion, while others won't. I agree with you that everyone is valuable and I think that this thread has actually been pretty docile. Obviously I don't know the motivations of KVD or the other person involved. That said, I don't think that KVD was improper in how she made contact. If she wasn't open to equal communication then she wouldn't have asked for feedback or cared whether or not the contest winner would be comfortable in an environment that may not align with her beliefs. 

Thanks for starting the conversation, I feel like I've been informed today about the feelings on both sides of the debate.

[kelli789]

Our hope isn't in the government. If the only way we can all find peace is through a human man or woman, we really have no hope. I can accept my brothers and sisters regardless of what they think or who governs us. I'm not going to belittle people over who they voted for. And off the record, I haven't heard of one woman Trump has touched during office. 

[grayreb]

I just wish the US could get a redo with 2 completely different candidates. 2016 was the worse. One candidate thinks he is free to grope women because he is famous, and the other ignored multiple requests while Secretary of State from a US ambassador for more security, possibly resulting in his murder along with others. The US can do so much better than this.

[Michellec123]

I agree.  She is doing the same thing she is accusing others of.  What a hypocrite.  Took her palette back out of my cart.  I don't care what her political view is, she is entitled to her opinion.  This was petty, childish, and I don't support businesses like that.  

[snoflakefaerie]

I personally don't blame her. She has spent a lot of energy creating a brand that is inclusive to the very people that Trump has spouted vitriol towards. She has never been shy about calling out people who are hateful. If she feels a vocal Trump supporter winning the contest would be antithetical to her brand, that's her prerogative. But also, fwiw, from what I gather from their DM conversation, it wasn't as harsh as the media is portraying. I highly recommend checking out the Wichita Kansas City Star article (where the screen shots are from) or Revelist. 

ETA: Later on in the conversation, KVD specifically states she is not "deselecting" the winner. She was just emphasizing how awkward it would be for the winner to come to the event because she wouldn't be friendly with her or associate with her, which is totally KVD's right. I feel like this just goes to show how much peoples' actions on the internet matter. She choose to support Trump on her instagram and that came back to bite her in the butt when she was trying to win a contest. C'est la vie.

[MissPuff]

The entire exchange is shown on the originating story at Kansas City Star. It looks like national media picked up the most sensationalist parts of the story (and it appears the contest winner was more disgruntled than she let on in the messages) but if you read through all the slides, Kat Von D explicitly doesn't deselect the contest winner. The conversation seemed quite civil actually.

[heartsmyface]

I feel that Kat communicated well and didn't do anything that warrants any kind of negative attention.  The girl is allowed to have a civilized conversation with someone where politics come up.  It's not like her winner was attacked in any way.  Its a non issue.  

[kelli789]

According to this theory, it's also okay then that the cake bakers didn't want to bake the cake for the homosexual wedding. Although I personally would have shown kindness by selling the cake, they had just as much right to do according to their beliefs as well.....right? By saying Kat had a right to be unkind because of her strong feelings, them so did the bakers. I'm just putting that out there as an example. I think they were both wrong.

[heartsmyface]

@kelli789 From what I read she wasn't unkind though.  She was asking for feedback and for open communication.  

[vegchililover78]

@kelli789I think the difference here is that KVD didn't disqualify or refuse her because of her pro Trump status. In the screenshots above showing the message she sent, she's expressing her feelings/opinions and ends the note saying that she doesn't want to put her in an uncomfortable situation and asks for her feedback. 

[Madeline7]

She wasn't unkind.  She stated her concerns, and opened a conversation.  The two people came to the same conclusion out of respect for each other's feelings.

Your comparison is a false equivalence in many ways, but I'm going to leave it at that to avoid getting too much into a legal/political debate on a makeup message board.

[Madeline7]

I think it was a very mature and reasonable conversation on both sides.

[snoflakefaerie]

Agreed! 

[vegchililover78]

I've read bits and pieces about this news story in between work breaks today. I haven't seen anything in the articles I've read that show KVD disqualified the contest winner. It sounds to me like she became aware of the contest winner's political status and reached out to her to make her feelings known. To me she seems more hurt at the backlash she's received on social media and that Kat expressed her political views to her when the contest wasn't about politics. I'm sure what she's experiencing is overwhelming, social media can get ugly and mean. The winner was allowed to bring a plus one to the event. Her plus one was the photographer that took her pictures for the contest and attended the event. Maybe the winner chose not to go? I'm sure more information will come out about what happened and hopefully things will become more clear. 

[heartsmyface]

I don't want to get into politics on a beauty board but how can you get along with someone who agrees with and follows an openly racist, sexist...I just can't here.  

Why can't we all get along?  Because we need better role models to show us the way. 

[Madeline7]

She did not disqualify the participant.  People need to actually do their due diligence and not fall for click bait.