
Sharon Chuter, the founding father of Uoma Magnificence and a driving drive within the motion to diversify the sweetness trade by each the corporate she based and her personal private initiatives. was discovered on Aug. 14 lifeless on a patio, and her dying is at present nonetheless below investigation, studies Folks Journal.
Kirbie Johnson, who runs the publication “Forward of the Kirb,” reported {that a} supply acquainted with Chuter’s circles mentioned a former govt from Chuter’s firm confirmed Chuter’s dying.
Chuter, who launched Uoma Magnificence in 2019 at Ulta with an preliminary providing of greater than 100 inclusive magnificence merchandise, got here with bona fides within the magnificence trade, together with most notably, convincing Revlon to distribute magnificence merchandise in her residence nation of Nigeria.
A 12 months after launching Uoma Magnificence, as conversations round range, fairness, and inclusion gained momentum following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Chuter launched two main initiatives — Pull Up for Change and the #PullUpOrShutUp marketing campaign — difficult magnificence firms to reveal the variety of Black workers in company and management roles inside 72 hours of being known as out.
Her initiatives additionally inspired shoppers to vote with their {dollars} and keep away from firms that didn’t expose this data.
Chuter spoke about this in additional element two years later, throughout an episode of “The Drew Barrymore Present.”
“I did that basically to drive extra consciousness and shine extra mild to the dearth of financial alternatives for the Black neighborhood, particularly throughout the magnificence area. I’ve at all times been the one who speaks up. Every time I see one thing that should change, I don’t have it in me means to simply sit it out,” she informed Barrymore.
In 2023, despite all her work on behalf of range with Uoma Magnificence, she opted to step down as CEO of the corporate, which she later defined was a call she made after a big well being scare in January of that 12 months that made her hunt down a extra wholesome work-life steadiness.
She additionally admitted in an Instagram put up addressing the matter that it wasn’t totally voluntary, one thing she would expound on in a lawsuit two years later.
In response to Attract, in 2025, a number of months earlier than her premature dying, Chuter filed a lawsuit towards MacArthur Magnificence, BrainTrust, and Settle Funding, alleging that “BrainTrust took management of Uoma’s operations and finally pushed Ms. Chuter out of her operational roles.”
Along with this, BrainTrust each stopped Uoma’s operations whereas she was on medical go away, which she alleged was supposed to finish in July 2023.
In response to her lawsuit, she was additionally speculated to return in a “chief model officer” capability whereby she would have been in command of “overseeing inventive, product improvement, in addition to being the face of the model… This didn’t occur.”
Moreover, after the lawsuit was filed, BrainTrust gave their facet of what occurred as Chuter’s tenure with Uoma got here to an finish.
“It’s not our apply to remark publicly on our investments in non-public firms, however this specious criticism requires a response. Ms. Chuter resigned from the Uoma board and publicly on Instagram after hiring an interim CEO who carried out a forensic accounting overview of the corporate,” they mentioned in a joint assertion with MacArthur Magnificence, LLC management.
The lawsuit Chuter filed in February 2025 in Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom alleges that BrainTrust et al engaged in “constructive fraudulent switch, intentional fraudulent switch, aiding and abetting fraudulent switch, receipt of stolen property, and unjust enrichment.”
Because of this, the lawsuit states that Chuter was searching for “damages for fraudulent switch and MacArthur and BrainTrust’s receipt of Uoma’s almost $50 million in stolen belongings.” Which she famous in her lawsuit ought to be “decided in line with proof at trial in extra of the jurisdictional minimal of $25,000.”
Regardless of the advanced nature of the lawsuit, Chuter’s premature dying leaves many authorized issues unresolved for now.
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