The head of Ofra Cosmetics, Ofra Gaito, and her Vice President husband, David Gaito, have vacated their leadership roles after an image of David Gaito using what some are accusing of being a racist hand gesture circulated on social media.
The photograph features David wearing a pro-Trump ‘Make America Great Again’ hat and making the ‘okay symbol’ with his left hand; in recent years, the finger-and-thumb gesture, which was once commonly used to signal approval, has been appropriated by the alt-right as an expression of white supremacy.
Yesterday, Ofra Cosmetics announced via Twitter and Instagram: “As a brand and, more importantly, as a team we have decided that for the future of OFRA, David and Ofra Gaito will no longer serve in leadership roles, effective immediately.”
The brand also announced it would be donating US$2,500 each to the US civil rights organisation the NAACP and the It Gets Better Project, which empowers LGBTQ+ youth.
— OFRA Cosmetics (@OFRACosmetics) June 1, 2021
In a statement released at the same time, David Gaito said: “My actions were never meant to be malicious or in support of white supremacy. I am most regretful and apologetic for the hurt that this has caused all those affiliated with the brand and my team.”
The offending image of Gaito was originally uploaded to brand founder and then-CEO Ofra Gaito’s personal Instagram account in a post on 5 December 2016, captioned “We love [heart emoji] you Donald”.
However, the now-deleted post was recently brought to public attention by Twitter user @apricat444 on 25 May 2021, who shared a screenshot asking “@OFRACosmetics this your owner???”
@OFRACosmetics this your owner??? pic.twitter.com/zmy7ZSseba
— april (@apricat444) May 25, 2021
On the same day, Ofra Cosmetics issued a statement via Twitter revealing the company was internally discussing the next course of action.
The ‘okay’ hand gesture’s affiliation with alt-right groups started as an online joke via 4Chan, aimed at tricking the media and left-leaning people into thinking an innocent gesture had a hidden meaning.
The joke, however, became so successful and widespread that the signal is now synonymous with the alt-right and its beliefs.
