A woman’s photo was used in a TikTok reposted by Benefit Cosmetics that demonstrates how not to fill in one’s eyebrows. The problem? The woman didn’t consent to her photo being used—or even know it would be.
In a TikTok posted last week, @Resilient.GG says that a selfie she took in 2019 was used in a Benefit Cosmetics TikTok: In a now-deleted TikTok video posted on the company’s account, beauty and makeup TikToker Jessica Carrasco shows a photo of @Resilient.GG and says her brows are “way too far apart.”
“Why the fuck are they using an old photo of me?” @Resilient.GG says in her video. “And where the fuck did they get this old photo of me?”
@Resilient.GG says she didn’t post the selfie on social media and that she didn’t give Benefit or Carrasco permission to use her photo. She also clarifies that the space between her brows had increased because she was struggling with skin-picking.
“I literally feel like I’m in an episode of Black Mirror right now,” @Resilient.GG says in her TikTok, which on Thursday had over a million views.
@resilient.gg Can you please explain where/how/why tf you, a famous, 1.5 BILLION dollar company, got this 4 year old picture of me and why you’re randomly using it without my permission or compensating me???? My sister is scrubbing your page right now and you don’t seem to use anyone else’s photo without their permission, so is there something I should know???? @Benefit Cosmetics @slaybyjess #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo #fyp #benefit #benefitcosmetics ♬ original sound – Resilient GG
Carrasco posted a TikTok apologizing to @Resilient.GG and said that she asked Benefit to take down the video that features @Resilient.GG’s photo. She also said that she spoke with @Resilient.GG directly to apologize.
“It was wrong of me to use that picture of you without your consent,” Carrasco says in her TikTok. “I will never again use a picture of a random person, especially in a negative light, in my videos.”
She says she found the photo on Google, and that while Benefit Cosmetics reposted her video, it actually wasn’t an advertisement. In a comment on Carrasco’s video, Benefit Cosmetics commented, “Thank you for speaking out!”
Neither Carrasco nor Benefit Cosmetics responded to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
In recent videos, @Resilient.GG says that she used Google’s reverse image search and found that her selfie had been used on multiple foreign websites but that the use of her photo on other websites didn’t bother her as much as Benefit Cosmetics’ use of her likeness did. (The Daily Dot was not able to find the same results from a Google reverse image search.)
“Mean girl behavior in order to push a product,” @Resilient.GG says of Benefit Cosmetics in a TikTok. “That’s not OK. That’s very, very mean.”
In another TikTok, she discusses cases in which people sued companies for using their likeness in advertisements, such as when Michael Jordan won almost $9 million after suing a grocery store chain for using his name in an advertisement.
As a result, many commenters on @Resilient.GG’s video suggested she get a lawyer.
