Jessica Albas Honest Resignation: Actress Excited for Next Chapter
Jessica Alba exclusively told Us Weekly that she’s “excited” to return to the silver screen after more than a decade focusing on her Honest Company brand.
Us caught up with Alba, 43, at the Monster Jam World Finals XXIII at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on Saturday, May 18. With her three kids in tow, Alba explained why she made the shocking decision to step down from her role as chief creative officer of the beauty and baby company. Alba seemed optimistic about a new chapter to her acting career.
“It’s been 12 years, so I think it’s time to get back into entertainment and also think about what else I want to create or do,” she told Us of her move away from the brand she founded. “I have a movie actually coming out June 21st for Netflix called Trigger Warning. It’s an action movie and I executive produced it. So, I’m excited.”
Trigger Warning marks Alba’s first movie since 2019. She plays a Special Forces commando who returns to her hometown to investigate her dad’s mysterious death.
It will also be her first major release since Alba announced her resignation from Honest last month via Instagram. She first had the idea for the company in 2008 after she had an allergic reaction to laundry detergent while pregnant with her and her husband Cash Warren’s first baby, daughter Honor. (Alba and Warren, who married in 2008, share children Honor, 15, Haven, 12, and Hayes, 6.) It took four years from her initial conception of a baby-safe product line to the launch of Honest in 2012. The online-only shop opened with only seven products for sale.
The scope and value of the brand increased exponentially from there with Alba eventually landing on Forbes’ list of richest self-made women in 2016, largely due to her 20 percent stake in the company.
The brand was not without controversy, however. Fellow celeb-led lifestyle brand heavyweight Gwyneth Paltrow slagged Honest in its early years, implying that the products were more of a marketing phenomenon than an “actually safe” cleaning alternative. The Wall Street Journal accused the brand of using an ingredient it had pledged not to use in its laundry detergent and Honest faced several lawsuits over labeling on the company’s products that touted the contents as natural and organic. The company denied the charges in all cases, though they settled a lawsuit over labeling for an undisclosed amount in 2017.
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Alba mentioned none of those incidents in her resignation announcement last month. She called the company a “labor of love” and noted that she will remain on the board of the company while stepping away from day-to-day operations.
“From the first concept book I pitched to my friends in Mommy and Me class, to ringing the bell at Nasdaq with my family by my side – this journey has been the ride of a lifetime, one that only existed in my wildest dreams,” she said.
Reporting by Lanae Brody
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