Popular fitness brand Alo is slammed for giving Heidi Montag ‘$1,000 gift card’ amid LA fires

Fitness brand Alo is being criticized for choosing to give Heidi Montag a gift card to help rebuild her wardrobe after she lost her Pacific Palisades home due to the devastating LA wildfires.

The reality star, 38, and her husband, Spencer Pratt, were forced to evacuate their home with their two sons last week after huge fires began spreading through the exclusive celebrity enclave – and images have since shown their property destroyed.

Like many others, former The Hills stars were left with only the small amount of belongings they could take with them during the evacuation.

However, Heidi has since shared with fans that brands like Alo have reached out to offer support and have given her an unspecified amount of credit to purchase items from their store.

While some fans praised the brand for giving out the gift card expected to be worth more than $1,000, others shouted out the company for being so generous to a celebrity.

On Reddit, a fan said, “Everyone is going crazy and praising Alo for giving Heidi Montag a $1,000+ gift card after losing her Alo clothes to the fire, but how about helping some who don’t -public figures?’

They continued, “I don’t know, I find it a bit dystopian to see influencers/celebrities being given the opportunity to go back to their small luxury clothing stores to buy back what they lost.

“I know it’s inevitable: brands grow through the fame of influencers and celebrities, but given the circumstances it feels a bit annoying.”

The Reddit user added: ‘Unrelated tidbit, but I had to laugh at the fact that Heidi made sure to grab a Hermes scarf when evacuating, like… priorities… keeping up appearances, not letting people think you’re poor! ‘

Many agreed, as one Reddit user noted, “Ugh. This is so difficult. Because obviously EVERYONE who has lost his or her home deserves help and compassion. My heart aches for all those affected.

‘BUT some people (celebrities) will have an easier time dealing with this. Brands will reach out and gift them a bunch of stuff, but everyone else (regular people) will be left in the dust.

‘I would have so much more respect for Alo if they gave ALL the people affected a gift. Not just celebrities.”

Another said: ‘Does this surprise you from a brand that charges customers $90 for a sports bra that costs $5 to make so they can use their money to give every influencer piles of free clothes and invite them to the gym for their influencer?’

Meanwhile, one person claimed the store wasn’t providing the same care to regular customers as they wrote: ‘This is so frustrating – I work at Century City Mall and today I spoke to this woman who lost everything in the store. burn about how most stores in the mall offer discounts/etc. ​​to people affected by this, and she said Alo didn’t give them anything!!

“Alo is also a Los Angeles-based and incorporated company, so you would think they would care a little more about their community!”

Others pointed out that the action was certainly used as a promotional tool for the company, as one wrote: ‘They are clearly using her tragedy to promote themselves. It’s basically cheap advertising. The views they’re getting now are worth more than a damn $1,000 gift card.”

Another commented: ‘Brands don’t give things away out of genuine kindness, the motive is always how they can make a friendly attempt to bring as much attention to it as possible.

“Unfortunately, I’m not surprised at all, but I completely agree that it would mean a lot more to give these gift cards or make a gift package for everyday people who lost their homes to the fire.

“But I love Heidi and Spencer low-key. Their attitude after their house burned down was really refreshing and light-hearted, despite the obvious heaviness of it all.”

One fan commented: ‘I know why they did this and I don’t hate on Heidi, but I would be much more impressed if Alo sent something to a single mother, or a teacher, or anyone else involved. I hope some brands do that.”

Elsewhere, some fans spoke out in favor of the company, as one wrote: ‘I don’t know, I’ll allow this lol. They lost their home, their parents lost their home. They have kids and I don’t think Spencer and Heidi are even that rich (other than their home equity).

“That said, I would love it if all brands actually started sending things to the non-famous victims of the fire. Let 92-year-old Dale, who has lost his home of 60 years, do unboxings. I would love to see that so that influencers get more stuff.”

In a post shared on their Instagram page on Sunday, Alo’s team talked about plans to help the community.

The statement read: “Los Angeles, our home, our community and where our journey began. As we face this heartbreaking moment together, it’s hard to even find the words. Our hearts are heavy as everyone is devastated by this tragedy.

“We are forever grateful to the courageous firefighters, first responders and rescue teams who work around the clock to ensure our safety.”

It continued: “As many Alo employees have been impacted by the wildfires, we are doing everything we can to support our team members and their families as they navigate evacuations and unimaginable personal losses.

“We are also mobilizing to create meaningful relief for the greater LA community, and we will provide relief packages with water, wellness products and essential clothing. We will announce details as soon as plans are finalized.

‘In the meantime, join us and help those most directly affected through one of our partner organizations on the next slide. We love you LA. Stay safe everyone. Love, the Alo team.”

The caption for the post read: ‘We’re in this together in LA… visit our resources highlight and join us in helping those most directly affected through one of our partner organizations. we love you Los Angeles. Stay safe everyone.”

The post further revealed places where followers could donate, as well as locations where the company and partners would be distributing care packages to affected residents in the coming days.

Heidi previously revealed she only has ‘two pairs of jeans and two shirts’ left after losing her house.

In a video on her Instagram Stories, Heidi admitted she was “overwhelmed” as she tried to grab some basic supplies for her family after being ordered to evacuate.

Fighting back tears, she added that anything she could grab was “a blessing,” and while she is “grateful” her family is safe from the fire, she is still struggling with the loss of her home.

She said: ‘The craziest thing about packing for a fire is your brain panics and thinks, “What do I need? What don’t I need?” and it’s so overwhelming.

“When I’m packing the house, I mean I only have two pairs of jeans and two shirts, I have so many more clothes for the kids, but why didn’t I take more?

“Luckily I grabbed everything, which is a blessing, and the most important thing is that we’re safe and we got out, but oh my god, it’s really panicking and then part of you wants to leave stuff behind, and like, ‘I’m come back! Of course I’ll be back!

“So I just pray for everyone else who’s going through this, and for all my friends and loved ones, and thank God we have our health and our children.

“I know that and that’s just trying to focus on the gratitude. It just comes in waves, there are a lot of them.”

Images obtained by DailyMail.com have revealed that Heidi and Spencer’s home has already been destroyed by the devastating Palisades fires.

The only parts of the house still standing are the charred entrance gate and the front part of the house’s plastered perimeter wall.

Large piles of debris can be seen throughout the property, as well as burned foliage that once decorated the home’s front yard.

Not only was the couple’s home affected, but Spencer’s parents also lost their home to the fire.

Spencer shared a photo of what little remained of his parents’ home to his Instagram Stories. “My parents house is gone,” he wrote along with a series of crying emojis.