Kat Von D Responds to Controversy Surrounding Her Basket Case Eyeliner Ads

Almost every product Kat Von D releases is a hit, but the brand (and person behind the brand) are not without controversy. In 2017, she was accused of disqualifying a Trump supporter from winning a contest and had to speak out on social media to tell her side of the story. In the past, she's also defended her choice of naming product shades, like the lipstick Underage Red, and that's exactly the same situation she's in again now. As Revelist reports, Kat Von D is finding herself under fire after being accused of romanticizing mental illness with the Basket Case Anti-Precision Eyeliner.

According to Revelist, many folks on the Internet have recently become angry over not only the name of the product but the promotional images released by the brand, including a shot of Kat Von D and Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong handcuffed together. Critics, including Instagram users such as Punksnotpretty, have accused the image of romanticizing Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen's relationship, which involved domestic violence, mental illness, eventually ending with Spungen's murder and Vicious's overdose. Not exactly beauty campaign fodder.

And, as Revelist notes, though the product is technically named after the Green Day song "Basket Case," the term itself refers to someone who is so traumatized they are incapable of functioning normally and have to be carried in a basket. Instagram user Punksnotpretty wrote a thorough explainer on all of this. Scrolling through the comments, it's easy to see that fans of the brand are pretty divided. While some agree with the points that Punksnotpretty made, others think she's reaching a bit.

Kat Von D has responded to the post in the comment section in a series of six different comments, some of which are embedded above. After her reply, support for punksnotpretty only seemed to pick up, as people did not seem to be happy with the tone of Kat Von D's reply, with comments like, "I think it was very important for you to speak about why you took issue with this ad and I stand by your opinion completely. I have tried my hardest to love Kat, but I have always had a bad feeling about her. Now that bad feeling was confirmed."

Since the Basket Case Anti-Precision Eyeliner is only a limited-edition product and will likely not get another run, we'll just have to see if this will blow over soon, or if it will have a lasting effect on the Kat Von D brand.

Read more on Kat Von D:

• Kat Von D Just Teased Her New Rainbow Brow Product on Herself

• Kat Von D's Metal Crush Highlighter Palette Is Here

• Kat Von D Just Launched a White Lipstick and It's Surprisingly Wearable

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