The backlash facing Peter Thomas Roth is intensifying as influencers and consumers publicly distance themselves from the skincare brand following renewed scrutiny of emails in which the company’s namesake founder corresponds with deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In recent days, prominent content creators including skincare influencer Hyram Yarbro and cosmetic chemist and TikTok creator J.C. Dombrowski have announced they will no longer support or create content for the brand, citing revulsion at the timing and extent of the relationship Roth had with Epstein as documented in the emails.
In a YouTube video posted Sunday, Yarbro described Peter Thomas Roth as a former favorite brand and said he would no longer promote or financially support it after reviewing the emails. Dombrowski, who describes himself as a survivor of abuse, posted on TikTok four days ago that he is severing ties with the brand and deleting previous content that mentions it.
“I really want to wash my face with bleach now,” Dombrowski said in the video. “I feel disgusted, and it is really foul that I was making content for them.”
The influencer response reflects a broader wave of consumer unease unfolding across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit, where users are breaking up with the brand. A BeautyGuruChatter subreddit user under the handle Yanyancookies writes, “Let me just… remove the PTR skincare set I was thinking of getting my mom for her birthday from my cart real quick.”
Roth’s name appears in emails exchanged with Epstein between 2004 and 2018, according to a recent tranche of documents released by the United States Department of Justice. The emails contain references to product shipments, social correspondence and planned meetings at Epstein’s Manhattan residence.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution, served about 13 months of an 18-month jail sentence and was later charged with federal sex trafficking crimes in 2019 before dying while awaiting trial. Beauty Independent hasn’t independently verified the full corpus of emails beyond those released by government sources and reported by third parties. The presence of a name in the files doesn’t, on its own, constitute evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
In response to the consumer and influencer scrutiny, Roth posted a statement three days ago to his brand’s official Instagram account and his personal social channels, acknowledging his past association with Epstein and expressing regret. Roth met Epstein when Epstein was his 12th grade physics teacher at The Dalton School. In 2019, Roth told The New York Times that Epstein was a “brilliant” teacher that his father hired to tutor him in statistics.
Roth’s statement reads that Epstein and Roth continued to stay “in touch casually in the nearly five decades that followed” and that he visited Epstein’s Manhattan residence once to show him skincare products at Epstein’s request, departing after a brief meeting in the dining room. Roth says he was “never present with him for any activity that was inappropriate,” and denies attending Epstein’s parties, flying on his plane or traveling to his private island.
“When allegations surrounding Epstein’s behavior first surfaced, I was in disbelief that he could commit such heinous crimes,” states Roth. “I was gravely mistaken. I’m horrified by the crimes he committed and the lasting impact they have had on his victims, and I deeply regret maintaining any association with him after leaving The Dalton School.”
The statement has circulated widely on social media, where critics have questioned if it fully accounts for Roth’s actions and discuss the controversy’s potential impact on Peter Thomas Roth as a business. Speculation centers on whether the brand can move forward without a structural separation between it and Roth.
“His brand should be scrapped from all retailers.”
In a YouTube video exploring the situation uploaded on Sunday, Jen Garancheski, the content creator better known as Jen Luv, says, “This isn’t about what he said being illegal. It’s about how people feel about supporting the brand with their dollars now that they’ve seen these emails.” She notes that the fact the correspondence continued years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction has unsettled many consumers, but emphasizes that appearing in the Epstein files doesn’t automatically imply criminal wrongdoing.
Founded in 1993, Peter Thomas Roth is one of the most established clinical skincare brands in the prestige market, with perennial hero products like Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Cream, Pumpkin Enzyme Mask and Instant FirmX Temporary Eye Tightener. According to Grips Intelligence estimates, Peter Thomas Roth generated more than $10 million in online sales in 2024, an amount poised to jump 20% to 50% last year, with above-average conversion rates fueled largely by replenishment-heavy products like moisturizers and treatments.
The brand has a retail presence at Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Nordstrom and QVC, alongside its sizable direct-to-consumer business. The company doesn’t disclose financials, but industry sources estimate Peter Thomas Roth generates hundreds of millions of dollars in annual global retail sales.
That scale may help insulate the business from disastrous immediate commercial fallout as creator partnerships and consumer demand come under strain. Roth’s connection to Epstein underscores the breadth of Epstein’s social and professional network, details of which continue to surface. For now, the ultimate consequences for businesses are unclear. Some consumers are insisting retailers drop Peter Thomas Roth, but the brand remains widely available. On social media, however, frustration is mounting.
A Reddit user under the handle tsarina writes, “This is depressing. I thought maybe it was a different PTR but this confirms it’s him. His brand should be scrapped from all retailers.”
