Meri Brown is no stranger to finding herself in unfortunate circumstances on Sister Wives, and the famous polygamist is once again at the center of controversy due to her work with LuLaRoe Fashion Co. Throughout her journey on reality television, Meri has been documented facing heartbreak and catfishing scandals. Now, she is under scrutiny for her work at LuLaRoe. Fans are happy to see Meri branch out from Kody, but here's why viewers think it's wrong for Meri to work with the problematic company.
Meri has worked to gain independence from Kody as their marriage has deteriorated over the decade they starred on Sister Wives. Although all of his sister wives are traditional and value conventions like letting the patriarch provide for the family, Meri has slowly worked her way toward distancing herself from Kody. While Meri might have wanted to remain reliant on her husband, she learned the hard way that she can't expect too much from Kody. Since Robyn Brown joined Kody's complicated family in 2010, the husband has neglected Meri. Left without a dependable source of love and financial support, Meri has embarked on her own journey. Unfortunately, Meri's career ventures have proven to be as unreliable as her apathetic husband.
Meri's dream has always been to open a Bed and Breakfast. Fans were supportive of Meri pursuing that enterprise, even when Kody wasn't. Meri's B&B, Lizzie's Heritage Inn, has had its share of ups and downs since it opened in 2017. The Inn isn't Meri's only source of income, however. In 2016, Meri and her sister wife Christine Brown started working for LuLaRoe, a women's fashion retailer. LuLaRoe is known for recruiting individual distributors like Meri and Christine, whom they refer to as fashion consultants. LuLaRoe's fashion consultants typically sell their merchandise online and through social media. In fact, the first words of Meri's Instagram bio are "Independent LuLaRoe Fashion Retailer." According to Business Insider, LuLaRoe sold about $1.8 billion of clothing in 2016, thanks to the work of 80,000 independent retailers like Meri.
While this might seem like a great business model, LuLaRoe has been accused of being a pyramid scheme. The fashion company is a multi-level marketing company, and these types of enterprises are often exposed to be pyramid schemes. In January 2019, the Washington State Attorney General's Office sued Meri Brown's employer LuLaRoe for acting as a pyramid scheme and making misleading income claims. USA Today reported Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson's statement, "LuLaRoe tricked consumers into buying into its pyramid scheme with deceptive claims of high profits and refunds for unsold merchandise... It’s time to hold LuLaRoe accountable for its deception.” Although the fashion company denied any wrongdoing, LuLaRoe paid over $4 million to settle the lawsuit. After discovering that LuLaRoe has abused its workers, fans are disappointed that Meri still works with the allegedly criminal company.
Fans want Meri to have her independence, but no one is supportive of Meri taking part in a company that's accused of taking advantage of their workers. Meri often receives sympathy from audiences because she is the victim of emotional abuse from Kody, but that wouldn't make it alright for the reality TV star to participate in a pyramid scheme. Hopefully, Meri will rely on her Sister Wives income and abandon LuLaRoe before she finds herself in the middle of a lawsuit.
Sources: Meri Brown/Instagram, Business Insider, USA Today
No comments:
Post a Comment