Whitney Rose of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City has always been a free spirit and creative thinker. The blonde bombshell has started her own company from the ground up. She’s worked hard to make it a household name. Whitney’s Wild Rose Beauty has been showcased in the series multiple times. And the mother of two is throwing lavish launch parties. But Season 5 has thrown Whitney’s entrepreneurial skills into the limelight, with some calling out her products as possible fakes. Here is what you need to know about the claims against Whitney.
What is going on at Whitney Rose’s Wild Rose?
Last week, Meredith Marks let slip there’s a rumor floating around that Whitney steals Alibaba designs, claims them as her own, and marks them up. While there was no truth in the gossip mill, Dana Wilkey, a former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills housewife, had her own ideas. In the video, Dana notes that Whitney is charging $49 for a gold zodiac necklace. During the episode, Meredith pointed out that the same stock photo was also being used on Alibaba. But they were charging $3. Dana shows more shared photos of a protection cross, a truth necklace, and a lucky girl pendant necklace. All the images match, and there is a considerable markup.
According to the PRISM website, “Whitney & Amber-Lee bonded over the desire to inspire women to honor their healing journeys and to spread the message that when you heal yourself, you heal the world!” Dana mocked the idea of a “luxury vibe” by noting that “China makes some great stuff.” For Dana, she believes where there is smoke, there is fire, but could Whitney be getting a bad rap?
AliExpress isn’t a trustworthy site
It’s common knowledge that sites like Alibaba actually tend to be the ones that take images from legitimate businesses to use on their websites. Alibaba is “a platform for businesses worldwide to buy and sell products in bulk quantities.” If you go to Google, you will find numerous reports of Alibaba stealing stock photos and claiming them as their own. Alibaba even has its own complaints department for photo theft. The website notes, “In accordance with the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China and its implementation rules, all types of works that appear on the Platform, such as literary, artistic, photographic, audiovisual works, models and computer software, are protected by copyright.”
The site says that first-time offenders will not receive penalty points, but “we recommend that businesses conduct self-inspection to prevent second violations and other punishments. For subsequent violations, you will receive six penalty points for each violation. A store that accumulates 48 penalty points will be closed.” So, the company is clearly aware that this is happening. Whitney could easily just be a victim of circumstance, but now she will have to fight to clear her name as she tries not to lose customers.
Whitney Rose is riled up about the lies
During Episode 4, Heather Gay informs Whitney of the gossip sharing, “I was talking to Meredith yesterday at the casino, and she said that people are talking about PRISM and your business. Basically that you’re white labeling jewelry from China and everybody’s talking about it.” Whitney made sure to set the record straight in her confessional. She noted, “There is a social media account that is accusing me of buying my jewelry from Alibaba, and that is not true. We buy from curated vendors; that’s called ‘commerce.’ It’s not like Meredith is out there in the ocean diving for her caviar. Whoever said that, that’s f*cked up.”
Whitney is not happy with her pal Mer and notes, “I think she’s so pissed off that I started a jewelry company. She comes from a place of gatekeeping and fear. She doesn’t come from a place of abundance. She’s not ever supported my business. Every time I’ve ever done something for my business, she has not shown up.”
Honestly, I’m team Whitney on this one. I don’t believe, for one second, she would risk her success. Girl, I’ll take an Aquarius one if you still sell the zodiac necklaces!
TELL US – DO YOU THINK WHITNEY IS LYING ABOUT HER JEWLERY BRAND?
