Xenia Vorotova, also known by her Instagram handle Doe Deere, is the boss of controversial make-up empire Lime Crime. But you might also know her from this photo where she dressed up as Adolf Hitler, sporting a Nazi outfit complete with side-parting, mustache and iron cross medal.

This pic was taken after she launched Lime Crime, known as "the most hated beauty company on the internet." The photo has circulated around the internet for years now, leading fans to demand answers about her Nazi past.

While Vorotova had commented before to outline her decision to wear the costume, she posted her first full-length explanation in an Instagram Live video earlier this month. She described her video titled Why I wore that 'nazi' costume as "the bravest thing I'll ever do."

Vorotova denied any affiliation to Nazism and claimed she wore the Hitler costume as a joke. "This is not me trying to elevate Hitler as a person," she said. "This is me mocking Hitler."

She cited her Russian Jewish background as the reason she decided to go to Halloween as the genocidal dictator, explaining she was afraid of Hitler, and so dressing up as him was a coping mechanism. (Some incredible mental gymnastics there). Vorotova said:

"Not knowing how to deal with it any better, I decided that I was going to fight back and push back on my debilitating fear by dressing up and mocking the monster that I was afraid of. I didn’t know any better. I did want to apologize for anyone who saw the costume out of context and was hurt by it or upset or offended, I’m so sorry."

This is a far cry from what she first said about her Hitler costume. When she blogged it at the time, she wrote: "In typical bad taste, I was Adolf Hitler. Once again, I was testing how much I can get away with." She even gave herself award for "most offensive costume."

Vorotova also complained that the photo has caused "a great deal of devastation and grief to myself, my family and my business," as she hit back at critics who said wearing a Hitler costume was a bad idea. "Their goal is to be mean and make me look bad," she explained.

She gave a half-hearted excuse for waiting literally a decade before making a public statement about it, saying she was doing so now because she's having a baby and didn't want to hide anything from her. Vorotova asked for forgiveness, saying it had been long enough now since she donned the Nazi outfit, and then took viewers on a tour of her kitchen.

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