LuLaRoe has upset a lot of people by standing by a Consultant who made fun of disabilities. The National Down Syndrome Society even decided to cut ties with them over what happened. They are said to be in the top 100 in the country and Buzzfeed shared all about what went down.
What did this consultant do?
Bobby Budenbender sells LLR with his wife Taya. They have a very large following in the company. Just last week, Buddy did a live LuLaRoe sale, which is how they do a lot of their sales. This wasn't just a normal sale, though. Instead, he started mocking people with disabilities and it really upset a lot of people.
The way that he did it was mocking people with Down syndrome. People immediately started calling him out for the way that he acted.
Later they decided to issue an apology in the form of a video that had Taya's sister on it who actually does have Down syndrome. They later took down the apology, though. In their group he said that he has respect for everyone. He also admitted to being "flawed" at times. A lot of people don't feel like this apology was enough.
The couple is still working away and selling clothes on their site. They haven't let it affect their business. Some people may have been upset with them over it, though.
What is LLR doing about it?
The company isn't doing anything and is actually standing by this couple.
The founders Deanne and her husband Mark actually said that they were standing by them and feel like their apology was "sincere." National Down Syndrome Society cut ties with them over it and LLR did say that they are sad about this part of it. NDSS actually said, "While we appreciate the apology from this individual and the previous support from LuLaRoe, we must uphold our mission statement, and end our partnership and any further programming with LuLaRoe immediately." LLR has even used children with Down syndrome in their ads before and have seemed very supportive of this cause.
What do you think about LLR refusing to fire this consultant? Do you think they should have cut ties with them? Some people might not buy from LLR anymore after this went down or at least from this consultant. Sound off in the comments below on your thoughts.
Update: LuLaRoe finally gave an update. LuLaRoe CEO Mark Stidham has announced the Budenbenders have been suspended for 30 days. It sounds like they had enough upset people that they felt like they had no choice, but to do something about it.
