Alice Cooper dropped from cosmetics brand collaboration after trans kids comments
"We stand with all members of the LGBTQIA+ community"
A US cosmetics brand has cut ties with rocker Alice Cooper ahead of an upcoming collaboration after he described most trans people as “a fad.”
He was supposed to team-up with Vampyre Cosmetics in the coming weeks, with a make-up collection named after him.
However, the company has seemingly now dropped the deal over comments he made in an interview with Stereogum earlier this week.
Cooper says while he believes “there are cases of transgender” he’s “afraid that it’s also a fad.”
He told the publication: “I’m afraid there [are] a lot of people claiming to be this just because they want to be that.
“We stand with all members of the LGBTQIA+ community” – Vampyre Cosmetics
“I find it wrong when you’ve got a six-year-old kid who has no idea. He just wants to play, and you’re confusing [by] him telling him, ‘Yeah, you’re a boy, but you could be a girl if you want.’
“I think that’s so confusing to a kid. It’s even confusing to a teenager. You’re still trying to find your identity. 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. I mean, if you identify as a tree…'”
Cooper, 72, has routinely toyed with going against gender norms within his career. He has used a traditionally female stage name and playing around with make-up.
Vampyre Cosmetics wrote on its official Instagram page: “In light of recent statements by Alice Cooper we will no longer 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.”
Followers of the brand praised their quick response after Cooper’s comments quickly sparked backlash.
One person wrote: “Appreciate your guys quick and empathetic response. You all continue to show you’re an amazing company.”
“Slay, I’m glad y’all stick to your values even if it loses you money <3,” another shared.
A trans person in the comments added: “Thanks for standing up for people like me!”
Someone else said in the replies: “Now, you guys are the real rockstars. Thank you for this.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cooper went on to pedal on some gender-critical views towards trans-inclusive toilets.
He says he is worried people will be able to “take advantage” if a man “can walk into a woman’s bathroom at any time,” by pretending he “feels like I’m a woman that day.”
“Somebody’s going to get raped, and the guy’s going to say, ‘Well, I felt like a girl that day, and then I felt like a guy.’ Where do you draw this line?” Cooper probed.
Studies have repeatedly indicated no link between gender-inclusive bathroom policies and unsafe bathrooms.