Rip Curl Earnings Collapse After Backlash Over Transgender Surfer Ad

Rip Curl is the latest brand to learn the hard way: go woke, go broke.

KMD Brands, the parent company of the iconic surfwear label, reported a stunning 27% drop in earnings and an $82.9 million loss in its latest financial report, confirming what consumers have been warning for months injecting radical gender ideology into sports and marketing comes at a cost.

Rip Curl now plans to close 21 retail locations, following widespread backlash over its controversial ad campaign featuring a biological male competing in women’s surfing. The brand’s fiscal collapse comes on the heels of cutting ties with world-renowned surfer Bethany Hamilton, a Christian athlete and outspoken critic of men in women’s sports.

Let’s look at the numbers:

• Rip Curl’s pre-tax earnings dropped to $30.6 million, a sharp 27% plunge from the previous year.

• KMD Brands has not turned a profit since 2014–15.

• The company lost $48.3 million the previous year and somehow managed to nearly double its losses in 2025.

The tipping point? A January 2024 promotional video in Rip Curl’s “Summer Looks Good on You” campaign, featuring Sasha Jane Lowerson—a male surfer who competed in men’s divisions until identifying as female in 2021. The ad sparked immediate outrage online, and within days, Rip Curl Women pulled the video, issuing a weak apology:

“We upset a lot of people with our post and for that, we are sorry … The surfer featured has not replaced anyone on the Rip Curl team and is not a sponsored athlete,” the company stated.

But the damage was already done. Customers revolted, hashtags like #BoycottRipCurl trended, and screenshots of Hamilton’s surfboard now stripped of Rip Curl decals circulated online as evidence that the once-proud surf brand had sold out.

Hamilton, who famously returned to surfing after losing her arm in a shark attack at age 13, has been a fierce advocate for protecting female sports. She blasted the World Surf League in 2023 for adopting policies that allow biological males to compete against women, warning that female athletes feared speaking out due to political pressure.

“Male-bodied athletes should not be competing in female sports. Period,” she posted in response to Rip Curl’s ad.

The split between Hamilton and Rip Curl was never formally addressed, but her surfboard and the silence spoke volumes. She is now sponsored by PublicSquare, a values-aligned marketplace that supports pro-family, pro-woman, pro-truth athletes.

Meanwhile, Rip Curl finds itself in the same sinking boat as Bud Light, Target, and other brands that prioritized virtue signaling over customer loyalty. Social media users didn’t hold back:

“Imagine, dropping a phenomenal professional surfer, who survived a shark biting her arm off, only to replace her with a man who pretends to be a woman. Guess what my followers and I will be doing? We will all #BoycottRipCurl.”

Despite the financial freefall, KMD Brands is attempting to frame the chaos as part of a “business restructure,” claiming it will save $5 million annually. But no cost-cutting measure can offset the consequences of alienating your customer base with an agenda that undermines biological reality, competitive fairness, and common sense.

This isn’t just a marketing misstep it’s a brand identity crisis. Rip Curl once stood for grit, athleticism, and authenticity. Now, it’s being remembered for promoting gender ideology over women's rights, and tanking its own profits in the process.

Share this or subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on brands paying the price for selling out to woke ideology.