As the Los Angeles wildfires continue to devastate the city, many celebrities are taking to social media to spread awareness and resources, as there is no sign of when this disaster will finally come to an end. “Basketball Wives LA” star Draya Michele, however, used her social media platform for something else over the weekend, leaving fans frustrated by what they’re calling a “tone deaf” move.
The reality star used her Instagram to promote a Sereniby air purifier on Saturday. In the post, which is still up on her account, Michele does an “unboxing” of her setting up the purifier, even mentioning the wildfires in the caption of the post.
“While the unimaginable is happening with the fires in LA… air quality is so poor, toxic even,” she wrote in the post. “I’m using the @sereniby_official air purifier to ensure that my kids and pets are breathing in fresh, double filtered air.”
She goes on to share that the brand is offering “$200 off” when they use “her link in bio,” before writing, “ There’s no price on peace of mind but having it is more valuable than most worldly things.” She then included hashtags like “#prayforla #airquality #airpurifier.”
Naturally, the post received a slew of negative comments, calling out the insensitivity of a post like that considering the natural disaster ravaging the city at the moment. You can’t see these comments anymore, however, as Michele limited the comments on the post once the negative ones began to flood the video.
As Bossip reports, however, the comments were unflinching when it came to critiquing Michele. One user wrote, “Draya using the L.A. fires to promote an air purifier on her Instagram. Like she never does anything right. Tone deaf af.”
Sereniby shared a statement to PEOPLE after the backlash, insisting that Michele was “not paid” for the post. “She and her team contacted us because she genuinely uses the product and believed it could help others dealing with the severe air quality in Los Angeles,” the statement obtained by the outlet reads
It continues to detail that Michele and the brand worked together to “explore ways to make our purifier as affordable as possible during this difficult time,” referring to themselves as a “small, family-run startup” that only launched a few months ago. “We’re incredibly grateful for her genuine support,” they added.
Michele has yet to comment on the situation.