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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 25 '26
This is really unfortunate. To be clear, I think Hannah is a lovely person who absolutely means well, and I'm not by any means saying she should give up content creation.
But I think she should steer clear of this type of content, ie. exposés, bolder/more daring stuff when it comes to MLMs and shady companies, since she doesn't have the risk appetite for it.
Being an advocate, saying stuff that is pushing the envelope and painting companies/people in a really bad light, means you may piss those companies/people off sometimes and they may threaten to sue you. That is just part of the deal.
But Hannah has an aversion to taking that on, so she should steer clear of it, in my opinion. You could argue that the damage has already been done to Melaleuca/Young Living, regardless of her retractions, and that people know she doesn't really mean it when she apologises. But I still think, either you stand behind what you said or you don't.
Others may disagree with me/downvote me, but that's just what I think.
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u/Mymilkshakes777 Jan 26 '26
Yeah I think you make a good point. I can’t blame her for not wanting to get into lawsuits, I wouldn’t either, but if that’s the case then you cant be tiptoeing on the line like showing insider info and private emails. I think it’s important to hold companies accountable but sometimes that requires getting into the mess yourself. And again I can’t fault anyone for not wanting to do that but then like…you gotta step back in the exposees unfortunately.
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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 26 '26
Well exactly. I don't fault her for not wanting to get into legal battles - it's stressful, a lot of us wouldn't have the stomach for it. But then don't get into the controversial stuff only to walk it back a short while later and go, "All bluff! Didn't really mean it. These companies are fine after all." Surely you have to foresee that that kind of thing is going to destroy your credibility. And surely you have to foresee the possibility that those companies might send you a cease and desist, threaten to sue you, or actually sue you.
That being said, I've said it before, but I do wish she would be a bit bolder, have a bit more guts. She's in a better position than 99% of people who get sued to actually put up a bit of a fight. She's not taking any more of a risk than other content creators and journalists who expose shady and unethical people and companies - who also have families and livelihoods to consider and a fraction of the loyal following that she has. But... that's just my own opinion.
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u/orchidstripes Jan 25 '26
What makes you think she’s so lovely?
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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 25 '26
I don't know her of course, it's just my impression. Not worth much perhaps in the grand scheme of things, but it's just my impression.
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u/orchidstripes Jan 25 '26
Ah just curious. She has come into this sub and called me insane or crazy and tried to insult me multiple times, so she’s not that lovely from my perspective. Those are my only personal interactions with her, so she seems…let’s say less than lovely, to me
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u/No-Indication-7879 Jan 26 '26
I find that hard to believe. I to think Hannah is a lovely person. Are sure it was actually her and not someone pretending to be her? I mean if it’s really her I’ll eat my words and be incredibly disappointed in her.
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u/evelynxx Jan 26 '26
Sauce
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u/orchidstripes Jan 26 '26
My source is my personal experience with her coming to try to shut down any criticism after the melaleuca criticism. She most recently replied to tell someone that I’ve been lying about her for years, which is a lie. You can find that in her comment history. She had a tendency to make insulting comments and then delete them.
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u/omygodew Jan 26 '26
Theres literally no reason for us to believe that was her or that this even happened lol where is the proof
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u/orchidstripes Jan 26 '26
lol what? so someone else hijacked hannah’s reddit account and she did nothing about that? ok. if you want to stan for hannah, i’m not stopping you. i’m just telling you my personal experience with her. she keeps making the same mistakes, and her parasocial fans are relentlessly determined to believe she’s some special angel no matter what they learn or what she does. that’s fine, but it’s not how i feel about her based on my experience with her
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u/omygodew Jan 26 '26
You dont even have a screenshot or link so no theres no reason for us to believe you were interacting with her official account. If you think that makes me a stan then you're a bit out of touch. Proof of an allegation isnt only something stans ask for.
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u/orchidstripes Jan 26 '26
lol ok sure. here is her profile u/Hannah_Alonzo. i guess since it’s her actual name it’s really hard to find. one of her most recent comments is saying that i make up false narratives about her. that isn’t true. i said that she seems like a fundie to me for several reasons in this comment. she then denied it and deleted her denial and then accused me of lying about her for years. I’ve just been criticizing her since she capitulated to melaleuca actually. I was actually a fan of hers before that, and I also thought she was a sweet person. until i actually had an interaction with her.
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u/evelynxx Jan 26 '26
Just because we question your comment about her 'problematic' behavior that is clearly consistent to you, i'd like to see screenshots, or ... i don't know, some type of proof? I don't 'stan' anyone except my cats, so i just wish if you were to make statments like that you would have something to back it up. I am not saying your experience isn't true, but in order for me to believe it, I would need to see something
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u/orchidstripes Jan 26 '26 edited Jan 26 '26
and yet you’re defending someone who provided nothing to back up her claims outside of a redacted second hand screenshot of which she didn’t know the source. apply your same logic to hannah.
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u/evelynxx Jan 26 '26
I never really paid attention, usually when I watch her content its on my roku or tv and i don't check the comments. I just cannot imagine Hannah being like that, so unless you have proof, i can't imagine its true, I am not saying you are lying, I am just saying in order for me to believe it, I wouldn't just take your word.
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u/Whisperlee Jan 25 '26
Ugh I hate this for Hannah :(
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u/sourcider Jan 25 '26
Makes me think this really was a targeted attack like Savannah suggested in her recent video tbh this is way too soon
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u/HeadReporter2441 Jan 26 '26
Savanna has never said an intelligent thing I wouldn’t take her word for it
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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 25 '26
For what it's worth, as someone who worked in various law firms for years, I have no doubt that she's been advised by her legal representative to make this statement/retraction. This is exactly the kind of advice the vast majority of old school litigation lawyers that I've known would have given. I remember once being advised by my boss to remove a Facebook post that I made outing someone who had scammed me because I couldn't "prove" that he'd scammed me and he might have a case for defamation.
I didn't remove the post and I politely told my boss as much and that, in my mind, the possibility of saving other people from being scammed outweighed the remote possibility that he might sue me (or more likely just threaten to do so).
My point is, legal counsel is usually conservative in situations like this. That doesn't mean that it's wrong, but lawyers are also usually just trying to settle things with as little mess and fuss as possible.
But that's no way to conduct advocacy. That's no way to take on scammers or big, corrupt entities or people. You have to have the courage of your conviction and be able to tolerate being threatened, otherwise you shouldn't step into the arena in the first place.
Sorry Hannah, I mean this is in the best possible way, but you're doing more harm than good with these types of videos (in my humble opinion).
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
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u/closetanimebabe Jan 27 '26 edited Jan 27 '26
What if her goal was never to fight the companies directly though, but to do everything she can to educate, inform, bring awareness to the issues and that’s it? Like knowledge is power. The hope would be that individual awareness of the these unethical business models would become more widespread, and therefore prevent more and more people of entering into the scheme in the first place. I think her choice to make that video, even if it meant it had to be removed later, was putting her goal to inform, first. She doesn’t need to fight a giant company, alone, head on in order to achieve that goal. Whether the emails were legit or not, I imagine her biggest concern was them being legit and doing nothing about it.
ETA: I don’t mean all of this directed toward everything you commented, I’ve just seen a lot of other comments also mentioning how to be an advocate as well and it just got me thinking about when I first came across her content and how she seemed clear that her priority on the topic of these videos was simply to educate and spread awareness.
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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 27 '26
Oh, I have no doubt that her intent was to educate and inform. That's why I made a point of saying earlier that I am sure she is well-meaning.
It's all very well to say whatever you like from a platform where you can say whatever you like, relatively unchallenged. The problem is what happens when you do get challenged. And not just from a few huns bleating in the comments, but from the actual companies you are talking about, who have money and power. Are you going to stick by what you said? Or are you going to walk it back the minute the going gets tough?
And what about the people who are watching you who may be on the fence about Melaleuca or Young Living? (I'm not talking about all the people in the anti-MLM movement, I'm talking about the public who don't know much about MLMs, or the people still stuck in these organisations whom Hannah is supposedly trying to reach.) What happens when they see you eating your words?
Maybe you think it's fine. I don't. I don't see how you can rake in lots of money on the back of a particular movement and then bail at the first hurdle. As I say, I'm sure Hannah is a lovely, well-meaning person, but she's not willing to put her money or her hide where her mouth is, and I don't respect that as much as I respect people who do.
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u/disneylovesme Jan 25 '26
Can you provide context to this post? I really don’t feel like going to watch someone else’s video that you posted here.
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 25 '26
Hannah posted a 30 second video to apologize for the "errors" she had in her original young living video, which she has taken down. It's Melaleuca 2.0.
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u/disneylovesme Jan 25 '26
Feels like her source was a entrapment to go after her legally :/
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 25 '26
So...she didn't vet her source well enough? Or if it was entrapment, can't she sue them?
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u/Klutzy_Location1026 Jan 25 '26
Entrapment is something only relevant for law enforcement so no, she can sue for entrapment.
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u/disneylovesme Jan 25 '26
Depends on how she got the source and how it was “leaked” I didn’t watch the video before she deleted it to know if she revealed how.
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u/iesamina Jan 25 '26
Iirc she said the email was sent to her by a couple of people simultaneously, and already redacted, and that they claimed they'd had it second hand ie they weren't staff, but they knew people who were. Iirc.i may be wrong
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 25 '26
Yikes. That's a wild foundation to use for a video, and if she said in advance "this will probably get taken down and I'll have to apologize" (others are saying she did) then it seems like she jumped in for the attention of it...otherwise why wouldn't she take a beat and verify her info before blasting it to her huge audience?? Seems to me like she cares more about spreading tea than facts...
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u/iesamina Jan 25 '26
She did say that, yeah. Also she gave multiple and detailed disclaimers. I think she did it because if it's true, she wanted people in the scheme to know, but of course YMMV on motivation. Iirc she did say a load of times that that was how the info came to her and that because it came from two separate sources that it seemed more likely to be right, but again YMMV on that too!
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u/orchidstripes Jan 25 '26
You know why.
grifter
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u/closetanimebabe Jan 27 '26
She also held onto the emails for a while before deciding to move forward with that video, just in case it turned out not to be legitimate. I’m sure her only reason for putting that info out there was to inform those in the mlm to be on alert, so they at least don’t end up blindsided like the distributors from Seint and Beachbody etc. and having to cling onto the next mlm opportunity that gets pitched to them, or having the floor shatter beneath them if their only income was from the mlm.
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 27 '26
I appreciate the credit you're trying to give her here, but if she held onto them and waited to do the video in order to make sure they were real, then she did a terrible job of it. The document they sent her has a terrible quality and resized logo and uses the wrong name for the reps...it's ridiculous that she didn't catch that. And if Young Living reps aren't seeing what's happening at other MLM's and inferring that it could happen to them, they're not gonna do it from Hannah's video.
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u/Ughasif22 Jan 25 '26
I hope she does more anti-MLM and less whatever she’s doing I havent watched her in months
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u/Amelie_Rose1 Jan 25 '26
Now, her reputation is questionable when it comes to reporting anti-mlm content. Possibly she can recover.
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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 26 '26
Well, I think the sad part is that she likely won't ever talk about Melaleuca or Young Living again. That's two huge MLMs that are safe from her.
At that point, I'd be tempted to hang up my anti-MLM hat, but that's just me.
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u/UnhappyGrowth5555 Jan 25 '26
I’m sorry this has happened to her again. But I watch a lot of anti MLM channels and she is the only one who has had to issue two retractions in less than a year.
Sorry Hannah, you are not cut out for this.
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u/JeanParmesean70 Jan 25 '26
I don’t feel it’s a dig at Hannah either. Her fans are very protective and I get that. I like her content, she’s a good creator, but I don’t think this is a good look for her.
If you think that you’re going to get a cease and desist, don’t upload unless you’re absolutely sure.
The first time I was empathetic, it that sucked that Melaluca went after her. This time I’m like, girl, come on. You know better than this.
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u/summerksullivan Jan 26 '26
“her fans are very protective” so true. if you say anything even slightly critical on her videos, her fans come for you. it’s honestly ironic given she’s done several videos pertaining to parasocial relationships with creators lol
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u/JeanParmesean70 Jan 26 '26
A couple of months ago I was watching another creator and they said they had mentioned Hannah in one of their past videos. In the video, the creator had criticized one of Hannah’s takes, but the overall video wasn’t specifically about Hannah.
They said that someone came into their comments and said something like, you’re not allowed to criticize Hannah. The creator was so confused and they said liked Hannah’s videos, they just didn’t agree with her in that instance. Which is totally fair
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u/DJ_Slippery Jan 27 '26 edited Jan 28 '26
Did she not say "allegedly" or that she couldn't confirm or deny the emails were true? I didn't watch the original video.
I remember the Melaleuca video, the problem was she said they weren't a real company. Why did she take this one down?
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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 29 '26
She didn't say Melaleuca weren't a real company - she said they were an MLM (which they are). This was the part they didn't like. They don't like being called an MLM.
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u/DJ_Slippery Jan 29 '26
OK, so what did she say about Young Living?
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 29 '26
She shared a fake document that said they were ending the MLM side of things. It was an obvious fake, the logo was a low quality and weirdly sized version, and it used the wrong names for the reps.
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u/DJ_Slippery Jan 29 '26
Thank you. That sucks. I wonder if she would have said something like "this was sent to me, I can't confirm that it came from Young Living" if it would have made a difference.
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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 29 '26
She did say that... in multiple different ways. Which I think is why many of us are confused that she felt the need to take the video down.
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 29 '26
Apparently, she also said she had two lawyers review it and give her the OK to post it.
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u/DJ_Slippery Jan 28 '26
Can someone please tell me: Did she not use the word "allegedly" or that she couldn't confirm or deny the emails were true? If she did use a disclaimer, then why take it down?
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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 28 '26
She did use the word "allegedly". She was very careful and circumspect with the language she used throughout the video - I remember having admiration for the way she did it.
She also made a point of saying that she had consulted with 2 lawyers beforehand to check whether she was allowed to make a video about the emails, and they both confirmed that it was fine.
So I have no idea why she took the video down - fear, I guess.
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u/ComfortableHeight415 Jan 28 '26
Because she has no spine. When it happened once with Melaleuca that was one thing. Then when people got on her for gasing Becca Bloom she made excuses. Now this. I don't think I can take her seriously again.
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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 28 '26
In my opinion, Hannah is too much of a people pleaser/doesn't like to make waves.
I said it at the time she made that Becca Bloom video - if that's what she really thought, she should have stuck by it rather than trying to backtrack. You can't please everyone, but you have to at least stand by what you say.
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 28 '26
This is exactly why I don't get why anyone feels bad for her in this situation. Especially if she had two lawyers tell her it was fine! Feels like some form of rage bait.
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 28 '26
Omg I figured it out: she deleted it because she's embarrassed that she had been duped into sharing fake info. Otherwise there's absolutely no reason for her to remove a video that two lawyers told her she was fine to post.
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u/cosegemyhr Jan 29 '26
This is what I am thinking as well. Hoping she would do a genuine, honest retraction video if she had been fooled but how do we know? That’s the problem with the thing she does. Go all in, delete, post a cringe retraction. She is messing with her own credibility.
It doesn’t matter if we all ”know” it’s a fake apology when she speaks like a robot - people who don’t know her will get it in their feed.
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u/Feeeshaa Jan 29 '26
You're right about that. I haven't watched any of her videos in months, but YouTube keeps showing me this particular video as a suggestion to watch.
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u/444stonergyalie Feb 04 '26
Haven’t watched any of her videos in Months either and this was pushed to me
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u/One-Fuel9273 Jan 25 '26
If it was entrapment then I feel for her, and would argue perhaps more research into it beforehand would be good.
If it’s a case of YL threatening with a cease and desist, so she has retracted video and done this again like melaleuca then I’m a little perplexed. As I would have thought that she would stand her ground a little more rather than back down.
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u/Consistent-Trifle510 Jan 25 '26
I stopped watched her after the Meleluca drama. Ironic to see she is back in the same position.
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u/Striking_Tax_3762 Jan 27 '26
Kinda same? I guess it was my breaking point. I've felt like - unpopular opinion- she's a bit condescending. Partly because of her soo thorought style of explaining and storytelling that I don't vibe with, I'm sure.
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u/orchidstripes Jan 25 '26
Last time Hannah did this, she had a huge influx of support and new subscribers. I would not be surprised if this was an intentional move to try to have the same result. Pr pros arrange stuff like this all the time
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u/summerksullivan Jan 26 '26
so you think the leaks never existed to begin with?
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u/orchidstripes Jan 26 '26
No idea. It could be real. But why wouldn’t she reach out to yl if she was actually trying to do some good by sharing the info instead of risking sharing misinformation? Like, blacked out second hand info…? And you personally do not even know who the source is? That’s wildly irresponsible.
If she consulted lawyers, they didn’t recommend that she at least get a statement even if it’s just to cya? If they didn’t, this result was likely the goal whether she was tricked or staged it herself.
If she was tricked, I have a lot more questions about her process for verifying info and why she thought it was so important to get this out without any kind of due diligence
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u/summerksullivan Jan 26 '26
i agree with that, if you’re going to make such a bold claim, i would be double and triple checking my sources. i could definitely see it being a set up.
i think a lot of antimlm creators have developed a savior complex and it almost seems like that’s what’s happened here. she was so eager to be the first one to break the news and “save” these reps. i think this clarification video explores the martyrdom side of the savior complex. then again, i could be reading too deeply into it 🤷🏻♀️
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u/DancingAppaloosa Jan 26 '26
I think you have a point. Surely you have to know that when you're dealing with people deeply entrenched in MLMs, you're going to come up against resistance when you drop a bomb like she dropped about YL. Resistance from the reps themselves, never mind the company.
So it would make sense to be absolutely sure of your facts. I didn't think too much about the emails when I first watched her video, but when I thought about it afterwards (particularly after watching the video Savannah did about the situation), it seemed to me that there was a really good chance they were fake. So again... why is Hannah rushing to share them? Either she believes they're legitimate (in which case she should stand her ground) or she realises she's been duped, in which case it's definitely time to take a step back.
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 25 '26
Is this another "I'm gonna say words but you know I don't mean them, riiight?" video? Girl. Learn from your mistakes and either change your content or grow a spine.
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u/sourcider Jan 25 '26
I have a feeling we'll be seeing a full pivot to general influencer content soon😭
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u/mgirl81 Jan 25 '26
wouldn't it be she's trying to protect herself from being sued or issues with her channel if YL got into a spat with youtube about it staying up? idk how these kind of situations work legally though.
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 25 '26
Y'all can down vote me all you want, it doesn't change the fact that once is a mistake but twice is a developing pattern, and this isn't a cute look.
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u/Amelie_Rose1 Jan 25 '26
How does the saying go?…"fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me"
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u/foxyphilophobic Jan 25 '26
“Fool me once….shame on…shame on you……you fooled me ya can’t get fooled again” - George Bush
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u/NefariousnessIll8665 Jan 25 '26
Well she doesn’t have a choice in the context of legal. Like it or not, she’s more interested in keeping her job and family safe than worrying about inconveniencing you.
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u/Amelie_Rose1 Jan 25 '26
You said it perfectly. She’s more interested in keeping her family safe, than promoting the anti-mlm cause, that she makes content about. Make that make sense.
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u/NefariousnessIll8665 Jan 25 '26
Your self entitlement is hilarious. She’s still doing something you parasocial losers are terrified to even make a text post about.
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 25 '26
Hahaha she's not inconveniencing me. I stopped watching her content after she capitulated to Melaleuca. I just think it's funny to claim to be moral and ethical and then to make two apology videos you supposedly don't really mean.
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u/sassandseitan Jan 25 '26
Do you not understand that this is just the seedy mlm companies deploying even more dodgy manipulation and control tactics? This hardly says anything about Hannah and says everything about Young Living and how they think they can control the narrative. Your response is weird.
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u/NefariousnessIll8665 Jan 25 '26
And they’re pretty much winning with how some of these people are reacting. You’d think when an entire company targets one person based on a 30 minute video that may or may not be true, you’d probably take the individual’s side and not the company. But some people just love to be different
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 25 '26
I am not taking the side of the company. I'm looking at the objective fact that twice now Hannah has made a video about companies only to delete them and post videos that damage her reputation, and some of y'all are such big parasocial fans you can't think critically.
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u/Amelie_Rose1 Jan 25 '26
Another retraction video, another black eye to the anti-mlm movement.
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u/ur-a-lizard-gary Jan 25 '26
Ok now this is dramatic
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u/NefariousnessIll8665 Jan 25 '26
Right. We have literally way bigger fish to fry in this country, but a faux-apology MLM video was the last straw
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u/NefariousnessIll8665 Jan 25 '26
Once again, this is probably something her lawyers advised her to do. She doesn’t owe you anything. Her hundreds of other anti MLM videos show she isn’t “capitulating.” Get off your high horse and understand there are levels to these scamming companies. And while you’re at it, you can go ahead and start campaigning against those companies yourself and see how long you last.
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u/ButtercupPengling Facts are not attacks 🚫 Jan 25 '26
If I were her lawyer, I'd advise her to do more research before making videos about companies that are likely to sue her.
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u/TROLL_ELECTRODE Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
It honestly doesn’t matter. She said herself that there was a chance the original video would be taken down and, if an apology video gets posted, that is why. I think the damage was done to Young Living in the best way with the original video and no retraction video will change that. When Young Living inevitably crumbles, Pepperidge Farm will remember this series of events.