Kelly Dodd / Instagram
Positive Beverage is no longer affiliated with Kelly Dodd.
In a statement released Sunday, the beverage company said they did not want to be associated with it The real housewives of Orange County star’s “controversial views” on COVID-19.
“Our core values of wellbeing, community, diversity and inclusion must be reflected by our brand and everyone involved in it,” said Zach Muchnick, Positive Beverage Head of Brand, in a statement on Instagram. “It has become apparent in recent months that Kelly’s controversial views and opinions have diverted from our primary goals, so effectively that we are no longer affiliated with Kelly Dodd-Leventhal.”
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 believe that Kelly’s position is no. longer congruent with our core values. We value her contributions during our affiliation, and she will always be a part of Positive Beverage history, but we do not align with her views or global views while upholding our own values.
Dodd, 45, who has had a partnership with Positive Beverage for the past two years and even bought a stake in the company in February 2019, responded to the news on Twitter.
RELATED: Kelly Dodd Admits She Regrets COVID ‘Thinning the Herd’ Comment: ‘Stupidest Thing I’ve Ever Said’
I am glad I could help put Positive Beverage on the map and wish them the best. I am also very excited about my next venture in the beauty industry, which is my real passion. Stay tuned!
– Kelly Dodd (@RHOC_KellyDodd) January 31, 2021
“I’m glad I could help put Positive Beverage on the map and wish them the best,” she wrote on Sunday. “I am also very excited about my next venture into the beauty industry, which is my real passion. Stay tuned!”
Dodd’s divorce from Positive Beverage comes after the reality star made comments about the coronavirus pandemic during her recent outings with friends. In several videos on her Instagram story over the weekend, Dodd shared scenes of her and large groups of friends eating and drinking in Newport Beach, California.
Positive drink / Instagram
When she started receiving messages from fans concerned about the COVID-19 eating protocols, Dodd and her friends made comments about being ‘allowed’ to be in the restaurant and how to ‘live a normal life’ can lead.
“I’m not a super spreader because there’s nothing to spread,” Dodd later said in a separate video, claiming that she and her friends “are all the [COVID-19] vaccine.”
A Bravo representative told PEOPLE that Dodd “did not receive the vaccine.”
RELATED: Kelly Dodd Talks About Wearing ‘Drunk Wives Matter’ Hat: ‘Wasn’t Intended to Offend’
Positive drink / Instagram
Currently, California is only in Phase 1B of the vaccine rollout – meaning people over the age of 65 are eligible for the vaccinations, as well as anyone who works in education, childcare, emergency services, and food and agriculture.
In another video posted Saturday, Dodd and her friends compared the limitations of COVID-19 with those of living in Russia.
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This isn’t the first time Dodd has made questionable claims about the ongoing pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 439,000 Americans. In December, the mother of one appeared on an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen to express her remorse that COVID-19 was “God’s way of thinning out the flock.”
“At the time it was a question like, ‘Why are all these people dying? … Why [do] pandemics happen like this? Is it God’s way of thinning out the flock? “said Dodd of the comment she made to Instagram in April.” It was stupid to say. It was insensitive and I apologize if I hurt or offended someone because I didn’t really mean to. It panicked me and in retrospect it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever said. “
“In the beginning,” added the Bravo star, she was “misinformed” about the virus, saying, “You have to realize this happened in January when this happened and I was misinformed.”
“I am claustrophobic and I can’t stand wearing a mask – and now I understand the science behind it and I am ready, willing and able to wear a mask,” she said. “And I know it’s important because I don’t want to get sick and I don’t want to make others sick. I’m only human; I make mistakes.”
The reality star’s estranged mother, Bobbi Meza, contracted the virus in November and was hospitalized.
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