Who runs Vampyre Cosmetics? Company drops Alice Cooper over singer's comments opposing gender-affirming care for trans children
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The "Godfather of Shock Rock," Alice Cooper, was dropped by Vampyre Cosmetics, a company run by Rachel Clinesmith, Karen Holton, and Lisa Malcolm, after the singer questioned the urgency of performing gender-affirming procedures on transgender children, calling it a "fad."
Following the 'School's Out' comments regarding the transgender community, Vampyre Cosmetics decided to sever their deal with the 75-year-old rock musician on Thursday, August 24, barely two weeks after he inked a collaboration arrangement with the business, as per Daily Mail.
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Vampyre Cosmetics takes pride in being a 'women-owned, disabled-owned, and LGBT+-owned' brand
"Vampyre Cosmetics is proudly women owned, disabled owned and LGBT+ owned," reads the description of Vampyre Cosmetics LLC on its website, along with, "We strive to be a “beauty disruptor”, renouncing social constructs of beauty and replacing them with individual ones."
Rachel Clinesmith, a native of New Orleans who goes by the online handles SWAMP WITCH/Swampophile, is the founder and CEO of Vampyre Cosmetics LLC as well as the Editor-In-Chief of Undead Magazine.
Clinesmith, diagnosed with autism and ADHD, has been interested in makeup since the age of 13 and decided to launch Vampyre Cosmetics to fill the voids that big-name businesses ignore. Before launching the company, she worked as a makeup artist for more than ten years for music videos, scary movies, and haunted houses.
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Clinesmith is accompanied by San Francisco Bay Area native Karen Holton, also an artist and businesswoman. Due to Lyme disease issues in 2021, she ended a lucrative but creatively constricting 15-year job in healthcare.
Holton teamed up with Clinesmith in 2022 and now concentrates her talents on consulting, creative teamwork, and cutting-edge approaches to product design, marketing, and branding. She has put in the effort to use creativity to advance Vampyre Cosmetics' licensed collection designs.
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The duo is further joined in the beauty initiative by Lisa Malcolm, the founder and CEO of Lynk PR. Notably, she has over twenty years of expertise in the entertainment and beauty industries after having worked as a famous publicist, multi-award-winning executive producer, and makeup artist.
Malcolm provides a broad perspective to her position as the new CMO and co-owner of Vampyre Cosmetics LLC thanks to her expertise as a licensed cosmetologist, cosmetology school trainer, makeup expert, school director, as well as on-set Key Makeup and Hair Artist.
Vampyre Cosmetics severs ties with Alice Cooper over the singer's rant opposing gender-affirming care
The rock icon, whose hits include 'School's Out' and 'Welcome to My Nightmare', signed a partnership agreement with Vampyre Cosmetics, a company specializing in beauty products with spooky and gothic themes, including lipsticks, palettes, and eyelashes, less than two weeks ago.
After Cooper went on a rant opposing gender-affirming care for transgender children, which includes irreversible operations and hormone therapies to ease the transition, in an interview with the website Stereogum, the company decided to revoke the contract.
Cooper's stance didn't sit well with the New Orleans-based company, and it took to Instagram to announce the end of the partnership.
"In light of recent statements by Alice Cooper we will noLonger be doing a makeup collaboration. We stand with all members of the LGBTQIA+ community and believe everyone should have access to healthcare. All pre-order sales will be refunded," read the company's Instagram post.
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What did Alice Cooper say about gender-affirming healthcare in transgender children?
In his recent interview with Stereogum, Alice Cooper discussed his viewpoints regarding the transgender community, including his stance on gender-affirming healthcare for children.
Cooper reportedly said, "I’m understanding that there are cases of transgender, but I’m afraid that it’s also a fad, and I’m afraid there’s a lot of people claiming to be this just because they want to be that."
"I find it wrong when you’ve got a 6-year-old kid who has no idea. He just wants to play, and you’re confusing him telling him, ‘Yeah, you’re a boy, but you could be a girl if you want to be'," added 'The Poison' singer.
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Cooper further expressed, "I think that’s so confusing to a kid. It’s even confusing to a teenager. You’re still trying to find your identity, and yet here’s this thing going on, saying, 'Yeah, but you can be anything you want. You can be a cat if you want to be'."
He continued, "I mean, if you identify as a tree… And I’m going, 'Come on! What are we in, a Kurt Vonnegut novel?' It’s so absurd, that it’s gone now to the point of absurdity."
In the same interview, Copper stated, "Well, I can see somebody really taking advantage of this, though. A guy can walk into a woman’s bathroom at any time and just say, “I just feel like I’m a woman today” and have the time of his life in there, and he’s not in the least bit… He’s just taking advantage of that situation," regarding the issue of gender-based restrooms.