Stassi & Kristen Have Been Axed From ‘Vanderpump Rules’ & Can Jax Go Next?
Bravo have announced that Vanderpump Rules cast members Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens, and Brett Caprioni will not be returning to the show, after past racially insensitive remarks and actions came to light.
When season eight premiered earlier this year, racist and sexist tweets from new cast members Max and Brett resurfaced: both men apologised, yet the show didn’t do anything at the time and they continued as new stars of the latest season, even attending the virtual reunion.
Earlier this month former cast member Faith Stowers spoke out about her time on the show. “I did a show with an all-white cast, I was the only black person on the show,” Faith said on an Instagram live with Candace Rice. “It was a lot.”
It was in this Instagram chat that Faith revealed the extent of the bullying that took place after she had an affair with Jax Taylor, who cheated on his girlfriend (now wife) Brittany Cartwright.
“I felt like after their friend did something that we both were involved in, they wanted to attack me instead of him. They wanted to attack, attack, attack, attack, attack,” Stowers said. “I was wrong, I was this, I was that, calling me names, saying my hair was nappy, which is weird coming out of their mouths.”
Faith also recalled that in 2018, Stassi and Kristen called the cops on her.
“There was this article on Daily Mail where there was an African American lady. It was a weird photo, so she looked very light-skinned and had these different, weird tattoos. They showcased her, and I guess this woman was robbing people. And they called the cops and said it was me. This is like, a true story. I heard this from actually Stassi during an interview.”
Since Faith’s Instagram live with Candace, Bravo has now taken action against Stassi, Kristen, Max, and Brett, releasing this statement on Instagram.
Previous to this, Stassi and Kristen had apologised on their respective Instagram pages with similar statements.
In recent days, Max has released another statement on Black Lives Matter – Max’s mother has also come to his defense, telling fans that Bravo edited out Max being vocal and proud of his heritage.
“Did it ever occur to you that it was Bravo’s intent not to let you know? Max is very vocal about his heritage, they never decided to include that in the storyline even with all the complaints around the lack of diversity. What a shame,” she said in the comments section of this post.
After apologising on last week’s virtual reunion, Brett has mainly remained silent after posting for #blackouttuesday last week.
While this is a step in the right direction for Vanderpump Rules (even if it only came after the pressure of public demand and Faith speaking out yet AGAIN) it must be noted that the show has had numerous chances over the years to diversify its cast and give POC a more prominent spot and voice on the show.
And while the show and Bravo is under scrutiny, we have another idea that can free up some main cast member spots: Fire Jax Taylor.