Kristin Ess announced on her Instagram page in December 2022 that she was suing her partners at Maesa "for several reasons," in particular being "that I was misled during this partnership."
[update] Ess recently shared on her Instagram page that she and Maesa "both wanted to try once more to work things out privately. It wasn't easy and it took us many months, but we were ultimately successful and I'm so thankful to all that were involved in these difficult decisions."
She added, "I'm thrilled that Maesa and I could get to this place in partnership and I'm excited to see what the future holds for this brand."
Maesa is the incubator behind brands such as Mindy McKnight's Hairitage.
[previously] In a series of Instagram highlights, Ess shared that Maesa "sold themselves to me as a beauty brand incubator, touting their ability to launch, grow + eventually sell my brand to ensure its continued success. Instead of holding true to their commitments, they've continued gripping onto my brand, using it as a piggy bank to fund their many other ideas."
Ess continued to share that she had hoped to settle the issues privately, "but the time has come to take a different approach."
The message concluded, "The one thing I know for sure is—If I don't fight with everything I've got in this moment, the Kristin Ess Hair brand will continue to suffer and deviate from the path I've always dreamed for it. I can't just sit back and watch that."
