Chutner recently filed a lawsuit over the company she created.
Sharon Chutner, the founder of Uoma Beauty and a driving force in the movement to diversify the beauty industry through both the company she founded and her own personal initiatives. was found on Aug. 14 dead on a patio, and her death is currently still under investigation, reports People Magazine.
Kirbie Johnson, who runs the newsletter “Ahead of the Kirb,” reported that a source familiar with Chutner’s circles said a former executive from Chutner’s company confirmed Chutner’s death.
Sharon Chuter, 38, founder of Uoma Beauty, was found dead on August 14, sparking investigations; her trailblazing efforts for Black inclusivity in beauty—marked by impactful campaigns—now overshadowed by her untimely passing and an impending lawsuit. pic.twitter.com/mxCbVOL5am— Nyra Kraal (@NyraKraal) August 22, 2025
A year after launching Uoma Beauty, as conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion gained momentum following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Chutner introduced two pivtol initiatives — Pull Up for Change and the #PullUpOrShutUp campaign — challenging beauty companies to disclose the number of Black employees in corporate and leadership roles within 72 hours of being called out.
Her initiative also encouraged consumers to vote with their dollars and avoid companies that failed to divulge this information.
Chutner spoke about this in more detail two years later, during an episode of “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
“I did that really to drive more awareness and shine more light to the lack of economic opportunities for the Black community, especially within the beauty space. I’ve always been the person who speaks up. Whenever I see something that needs to change, I don’t have it in me means to just sit it out,” she told Barrymore.
She also admitted in an Instagram post addressing the matter that it wasn’t entirely voluntary, something she would expound on in a lawsuit two years later.
According to her lawsuit, she was also supposed to return in a “chief brand officer” capacity wherein she would have been in charge of “overseeing creative, product development, as well as being the face of the brand… This did not happen.”
Furthermore, after the lawsuit was filed, BrainTrust gave their side of what happened as Chutner’s tenure with Uoma came to an end.
“It’s not our practice to comment publicly on our investments in private companies, but this specious complaint requires a response. Ms. Chuter resigned from the Uoma board and publicly on Instagram after hiring an interim CEO who performed a forensic accounting review of the company,” they said in a joint statement with MacArthur Beauty, LLC leadership.
Despite the complex nature of the lawsuit, Chutner’s untimely death leaves many legal matters unresolved for now.
RELATED CONTENT: ‘I’m Not Going to Change the World by Myself, But I Can Start.’: How UOMA Beauty’s Founder Merges Activism and Makeup to Fight for Change
Source: Black Enterprise
