Jaclyn Hill may have lost some supporters throughout the entire faulty lipstick ordeal, but her ex-husband, Jon Hill, has made it clear that he still has her back. In a brief yet amicable joint note, the two exes publicly announced that they were divorcing after nine years of marriage on May 16, 2018. Now the divorce is final and both have moved on with new significant others. Despite their severed nuptials, Jon and Jaclyn Hill are clearly still on positive, familial terms, as Jon recently published a letter to Jaclyn and her (ex?) fans concerning Lipstickgate.
It's been over two weeks since all natural born h-e-double hockey sticks broke loose with Jaclyn Hill Cosmetics lipsticks. Now Jon is speaking his piece on the matter.
Jon began by recalling how Jaclyn always stood by him when he needed it the most.
“I’ll have your back in your hardest of times like you had my back in my darkest of times. You’ve worked so hard for your makeup line ever since I can remember & this was always your dream,” Jon began. “I know this launch of your lipsticks has hurt you badly and you did the best you could to make it perfect but sometimes things don’t work out and they’re out of your control. Jaclyn did all she could in her power to make them perfect.”
He also asserted that he's still proud of her despite how things fell apart with her brand launch.
"Either way, I’m proud of you and what you’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time. When you’re at the top everyone loves you, but now that you’re in this situation, you see who your real friends are. I’m sorry everyone has come for you so hard. You didn’t deserve this much hate. But you’re a bad[redacted] and you’ll pick yourself up again. I believe in you and I know I’m not the only one.”
While Jon clearly had positive intentions, his statements didn't go over well with fans of Jaclyn Hill who actually purchased her lipsticks.
People simply aren't here for Jon's defense. They remain unmoved by his sentiments. "Nah. No thank you. This is a cover-up campaign to make her try to keep any shred of reputation she may have had. Not buying it," a critic wrote in response to Jon's note.
Some people get where he's coming from but think he's missing the biggest points people made about the Jaclyn Hill Cosmetics launch — as in the health concerns and wasted money.
"This is sweet and all. However, there are thousands of people's hard earned money taken to just get [redacted] products," one person critiqued. "Not to mention, how much damage this can [cause] people's health. She needs to be held accountable for her actions. All these failed collaborations and now her own make-up line… there's something in common with all of these things."
One person pointed out that the people Jon Hill is accusing of spewing "hate" are actually her fans and real customers, not internet trolls out to make a mess.
"No one wanted to see JH fail," the person wrote. "If they did they wouldn’t have bought them to begin with. We just want her to grow a pair, recall them, and make it right."
It's also very worth it to note that there were countless people who reached out to Jaclyn Hill directly and made sure to specifically identify themselves as loyal fans who were disappointed with their products. That's not hating. That's customer feedback. To get that confused could be read as a dismissal of Jaclyn Hill's following.
Fans also took issue with the way Jon described the time and work Hill put into the products.
"5 yrs to 'perfect' your products is not a short amount of time Jonathan," a fan pointed out. As unfortunate as this entire situation is, this statement is true. Jaclyn Hill pushed back her cosmetics brand several times and stressed that it was because of personal reasons and her desire to get things absolutely right. Additionally, anyone who knows anything about the development of makeup knows that lipstick is one of the easiest products to create. Pair that fact with the years it took for the launch to even happen and the other quality fails with other brands in between and fans truly do have a right to be frustrated.
Sure, Jaclyn Hill is a human and humans make mistakes. But humans also have to be held accountable for those mistakes. This is especially so when those mistakes cost other people money.
One fan liked Jon's overall message but wanted to clarify that she still doesn't "hate" Jaclyn Hill at all.
"I think she still could have been more responsible. I don't 'hate' her, but realistically I'm disappointed. I think Jon's sentiment was super sweet though," she wrote.
It's definitely a very sweet thing to see Jaclyn Hill's ex-husband speak out in support of her. That's noble and it's a great example of what post-marriage dynamics can look like when the dust settles. Still, supporting your ex-wife and writing off the valid critiques she was given by actual fans are two different things. It's also worth it to note that what Jon deemed as "hate" may have been the actual swarm of negative feedback that seemed to rain down on Jaclyn Hill all at the same time. That same swarm could have been positive feedback had the lipsticks provided a positive experience.
Let's hope Jaclyn Hill bounces back from this major hit to her career and reputation. Let's also hope that she doesn't give up on makeup development but instead, gets much better at the process that she has admitted to not handling correctly this time around. In her YouTube video, she detailed the missteps she and her team took. She also asked for another chance to prove herself. Now, it's on her to actually do that.
