As it turns out, Audrey Roloff can’t seem to ever leave controversy behind.
Not even when she leaves the continental United States.
The former Little People, Big World cast member spent the last few days in Hawaii, soaking up sun with her husband and three kids.
It wasn’t a trip purely for pleasure, however, as Audrey was on hand because she’s one of the salespeople for Young Living Essential oils.
This is a multi-level marketing company that some might label a pyramid scheme and for which Audrey has garnered backlash at various times over the course of her time as an employee.
Especially when she previously used Oregon wildfires as the basis for promoting her products.
But we’re not here to talk about Audrey’s actual work with the controversial company.
Not right now anyway.
“This past week we have been here in Maui for the Young Living Diamond retreat,” wrote Audrey on Instagram.
“We won this trip for achieving a certain rank in the company – so here we are on Young Living’s dime soaking up the sun with new friends and old + our three littles in tow.
“Such a freakin gift!!!”
The mother of three wasn’t the only person to earn such a freakin gift, howeverr.
It turns out that disgraced former Big Brother star Aaryn Gries was on hand as well
To be fair and to be clear, Gries may not know Roloff at all.
They may simply work at the same place.
But any connection at all to someone with Aaryn’s past was enough to set social media ablaze with criticism pointed at Audrey.
Gries appeared on Big Brother 15 in 2013.
She became the center of controversy, however, after making remarks widely condemned as racist and homophobic by the show’s live feed viewers… along with host Julie Chen.
These remarks even prompted more than 27,000 people to sign a petition asking that Gries be expelled from the house before she was evicted.
Moreover, they caused Gries to become known by the moniker “Aaryn the Aryan” in several gossip blogs that covered the scandal.
Among the former CBS cast member’s major screw-ups?
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She was viewed on the program’s live Internet feed referring to a fellow competitorr as a “queer,” and also to Asians as “squinty eyed. -
Gries remarked that Kim, her Korean American housemate, should “go make some rice.” -
In a memorable confrontation with African American houseguest Candice Stewart, Gries flipped over Stewart’s bed and mocked her with a stereotypical accent. -
She also referred to Stewart as “Aunt Jemima.”
Heck, shortly afterward, the star’s own mother came out with a statement against Gries.
“While I love and continue to support my daughter Aaryn, words cannot describe my disappointment in some of her comments made on Big Brother,” said Elizabeth Owens years ago.
“These inappropriate comments certainly do not represent the value system under which her father and I have raised her.
“Aaryn is a young 22-year-old college student that has spent 70 days living in a fish bowl and making mistakes for America to see.”
An aspiring model, Gries was dropped by her talent agency at the time of the controversy.
To reiterate, Roloff and Gries might barely know each other — but it doesn’t take much for trolls to jump all over Audrey.
“I feel horrible,” Aaryn said after her season of Big Brother was filmed and her comments went viral.
“In Texas, we say things that … sometimes we joke and we don’t mean it. And I really feel bad that this is how it’s being seen and how I’ve come across to people.
“I don’t want to be seen like that.”