Members of the hit Bravo reality TV show “Vanderpump Rules” have issued apologies after they started losing sponsors over their past racist actions that were recently revealed by the shows former, and only, Black cast member.
It all started when former VPR cast member Faith Stowers alleged in an Instagram Live chat last week that Kristen Doute and Stassi Schroeder called the police to investigate her because they believed a photo of a suspect looked like the Bravo show’s only black reality star.
“There was this article in the Daily Mail where there was an African American lady,” Stowers explained. “It was a weird photo, so she looked very light-skinned and had these different, weird tattoos. 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.”
At the time, Doute shared a tweet back in April 2018 that completely validates Stowers’ story.
Schroeder also recalled the incident on a now-deleted episode of the “Bitch Bible” podcast.
“We are like, we just solved a f—king crime,” Schroeder said at the time. “We start calling the police. The police don’t give a f—k.”
Stassi revealed that after the police did nothing with their accusations, they called the military to report Stowers as AWOL.
But now fast forward to June 2020 when America is facing two pandemics (coronavirus and racism) and Faith found it appropriate to share her experience on the show. Amid the heightened support and discourse around Black Lives Matter, many have been calling out the “Vanderpump Rules” cast along with Bravo TV for seemingly sweeping their issues surrounding race under the rug.
So, on Sunday, the “Straight Up With Stassi” podcaster released what many feel is a publicist-crafted apology that says it is “important” for her to “continue to take accountability for what I have said and done, while pushing myself to do better.”
The apology addressed not only the incident involving Stowers, but also remarks Schroeder made on her podcast, in which she said,
“Why aren’t the Asians being like, ‘We’re not represented.’ Why aren’t Native Americans and Latinos being like, ‘We’re not represented.’ And whenever they get upset everyone has to go above and beyond to then make them happy.” The “them” referred to black people.
She wrote in the apology,
“I have grown significantly from the person I was then, and I am still filled with remorse and regret for the hurt I caused. I am grateful for the people in my life that continue to check me and push me to evolve into a more educated person.”
Speaking to Stowers directly, Schroeder added,
“My emotions over something that happened between our friends outweighed my logic, and there is no excuse for that. I did not recognize then the serious ramifications that could have transpired because of my actions. What I did to Faith was wrong. I apologize and I do not expect forgiveness.”
Kristen also released an apology around the same exact time as Stassi.
Critics are calling out the similarity in the tone of the apologies and the timing and saying they were written by their publicist Emily Hess. They say the two only apologized two years later because they were called out.
The Instagram page @Accountability4Stassi was created with a bio that reads,
“This account is demanding that @bravotv hold @stassischroeder accountable. Cancelling her in 2017 didn’t work. No more PR apologies from @its_em_hess“
Stassi’s statement comes two days after she was reportedly dropped by several brand partnerships over her comments, Page Six reports.
It also appears that neither she or Kristen have reached out to apologize to Stowers privately or in person, according to Stowers.
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