The beverage company cuts ties with the 'Real Housewives of Orange County' star following her comments on COVID-19 pandemic and her claiming to be black.
- Feb 1, 2021
AceShowbiz - Kelly Dodd's controversial views have cost her an endorsement deal. The star of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" has been fired by Positive Beverage after her opinions clashed with the company's "core values."
The company announced its decision to part ways with Kelly on Instagram on Sunday, January 31. "Our core values of wellness, community, diversity and inclusion should be reflected by our brand and anyone associated with it," Zach Muchnick, Positive Beverage Head of Brand, said in a statement posted on Instagram Story. "It has become clear over the past few months that Kelly's controversial views and opinions have distracted from our primary objectives, so effective today, we are no longer affiliated with Kelly Dodd-Leventhal."
Positive Beverage CEO Shannon Argyros added in her own statement, "We welcome all people -- however they are and whatever they are passionate about -- to Positive Beverage. But there must always be an underlying layer of respect. Unfortunately, we feel Kelly's stance is no longer congruent with our core values. We appreciate her contributions during our affiliation, and she will always be a part of Positive Beverage's history, but we do not align with her opinions or global views while we uphold our own values."
Kelly appears to remain positive despite her firing though. In response to the company's announcement, the reality TV star posted on her Twitter page, "I'm glad I could help put Positive Beverage on the map and wish them well. " She also announced her next venture, adding, "I'm also really excited about my next venture in the beauty industry, which is my real passion. Stay tuned!"
Meanwhile, Kelly's fans have come to her defense following the firing. "OMG you're being silenced due to your political views... Bravo is likely to follow," one person cried. Another echoed the sentiment, "Cancel culture is the repulsive! Shame on this company for not having a spine. Your honesty and authenticity is always appreciated Kelly! Stay strong."
"I dont agree with everything you say or do,none of my business, but where does our 1st Amendment come into the picture, if you dont like what someone says dont pay any mind to them," a third person argued. Someone else, however, disagreed as stating, "There are consequences to what you say. First amendment does not allow you to say whatever you want with no consequences."
Kelly's firing from Positive Beverage comes in the wake of her comments on COVID-19 pandemic after she posted scenes of her large groups of friends out for dinner and drinks in Newport Beach, California. When people expressed concerns about COVID-19 dining protocols, she and her friends argued about being "allowed" to be at the restaurant and how they should be able to "live normal lives."
"I'm not a super spreader because there is nothing to spread," she insisted in a separate video, claiming that she and her friends "all got the [COVID-19] vaccine." A rep for Bravo, however, told PEOPLE that Kelly "has not gotten the vaccine."
Kelly recently was also criticized by her stepdaughter Veronica Leventhal for claiming that she cannot be racist toward black people because she's black herself. Taking an indirect jab at her stepmother, Veronica expressed her disagreement in a video, "I want to say something super quickly that I've been thinking about the last couple of days. I don't think it's okay for people who say they've experienced racism or prejudice to then turn around and inflict that same bigotry on other people."
"I don't think you can experience the privileges of whiteness and then turn around and deny that those privileges exist, " she further expressed her opinion. "I don't think that you can claim ownership on a culture or a nationality and then disallow privileges to those people, either through certain political perspectives or just subjugating them in other ways."
"And I don't think you can use your personal multiculturalism as a shield for people saying that you have biases," she continued, before concluding, "And finally, if you are going to make arguments about racism, THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE A BASIC UNDERSTANDING of the difference between race, ethnicity, and nationality. And that's it."
Kelly previously came under fire for saying that the coronavirus pandemic is "God's way of thinning the herd." She then offered an apology for her comments, explaining, "When I wrote that it was God's way of thinning the herd, that's not what I meant. What I meant was, do these pandemics happen because it's God way? I'm not God. I'm not insensitive."
"I feel bad for all the families that lost loved ones and I do think we should all stay home and protect everybody," the wife of Fox News Channel senior correspondent Rick Leventhal went on. "That's not what I meant and I want to apologize to anyone that got offended, OK? I'm sorry."
