How MAC Signed Chappell Roan, the Anti-Brand Ambassador

Global pop star Chappell Roan is MAC Cosmetics’ newest global ambassador, the brand announced Monday.

It follows a courtship of sorts between the singer and the Estée Lauder-owned makeup brand, budding originally in September 2024 when Roan partnered with MAC for the VMAs. The two then collaborated again for Roan’s SNL appearance, and most recently the 2025 Grammys. “We were dating. We got to see if we vibed,” MAC global creative director Nicola Formichetti told The Business of Beauty.

Now, the pair are going steady.

Though Roan is the latest in a slew of MAC ambassador announcements under Formichetti, who joined the brand in May 2025, her appointment feels the most monumental. Not only is it the pop star’s first ever official ambassadorship, but it comes just over a year after she announced she was unceremoniously turning down any and all brand collaborations being pitched her way.

“All the money goes to the world-building,” Roan said in a Sept. 2024 interview with Rolling Stone. “That’s why I am saying no to every fucking brand deal right now, because I’m like ‘Does it fit in this world?’ No, H&M does not fit in this world.”

It also may come as a surprise that Roan selected MAC as the makeup brand to front, considering her well-established relationship with Donni Davy’s brand Half Magic. Davy, who was behind Roan’s Coachella 2024 makeup looks, was among the first to take the star seriously, Roan said in an April 2024 interview with Vogue. Some fans were also surprised by and upset at what they perceived as the outspoken star’s tacit support of a global conglomerate like Estée Lauder and animal testing.

Roan’s MAC Campaign Trail

It was precisely Roan’s unwillingness to front just any brand that drew MAC to the musician. “We knew that she was very authentic and honest. She’s not a bullshitter, and it’s not fake,” said Formichetti. “You’re not going to see her just promoting stuff for the sake of it. It’s much, much bigger than that.”

For Roan herself, an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and founder of trans youth supporting non-profit The Midwest Princess Project, the partnership reads more than skin deep. In a statement, she shared she was drawn to the brand due to their track record of embracing “art, queerness, drag and self-expression.” Since MAC was founded in 1984, it has supported queer communities through its makeup artistry programmes and its Viva Glam campaign raising money for HIV/AIDS research.

Formichetti cited the alignment of the brand’s ethics and Roan’s own as a key driver behind the bond. “We want to be her partner in all the amazing things that she believes in, especially in the inclusivity of her community, and also the LGBTQ+ community that she stands behind,” he said. Roan’s first campaign for the brand, film-noir inspired and shot by photography duo Inez & Vinoodh, is reminiscent of Viva Glam campaigns that featured queer icons such as RuPaul and Lady Gaga.

“We take visuals and makeup very seriously, both MAC and Chappell’s team,” said Formichetti. “It’s like ‘Clean Girl Beauty’, fine, we get it,” he said. “But with her, that pure essence of makeup can be really interesting and fun again, to not be scared to go there.”

MAC’s reaffirmed emphasis on bold, vivid makeup follows a year of intense shakeup at the brand, which has experienced softening demand, slowing sales and years of dwindling relevance amongst younger consumers in the wake of new challengers. In October 2025, parent company Estée Lauder reported a two percent decline in makeup sales, citing difficulty in its home market of the US. But the brand is recalibrating: In addition to tapping cult pop-culture heavyweights like Kris Jenner and Doja Cat for its “I Only Wear MAC” campaign, in October the brand announced it would be launching in Sephora in the new year — a move that had often been clamoured for by the brand’s long-time fans.

Being the only brand thus far to have received the Chappell Roan seal of approval will also be a boon. While Formichetti remained tight-lipped about what the “exclusive surprises and bold creative moments” of the Roan ambassadorship will entail, his vision is for the star to use the brand as a “creative toolbox” to play and experiment with as she sees fit.

“It’s almost like she’s coming home to us,” he said. “This was a perfect match made in heaven — made in queer heaven.”

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