The cast of Vanderpump Rules is known for their bad behavior. The group is, in general, vapid, intoxicated, angry, and otherwise insufferable. It’s part of what makes reality TV entertaining. The whole idea is to watch stupid people do stupid things. There is a point, however, when this goes too far, and the whole premise of making terrible people famous for being terrible becomes a huge problem. That became abundantly clear this week when two of the main Vanderpump Rules cast members, Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute, came under fire for some seriously racist behavior towards their former castmate, Faith Stowers.
First, a quick rundown on the premise of the show, in case you are not an avid watcher of Bravo. Vanderpump Rules follows a group of attractive servers and bartenders working at Lisa Vanderpump’s various restaurants. Lisa Vanderpump is the leader and mother of this wild group of not-so-young-anymore people as they navigate their various relationship woes while consuming copious amounts of alcohol. Starting from the show’s very first episode, the entire show is based around people behaving badly. They lie, cheat, and steal. Several cast members often sleep with people they really really shouldn’t. They treat each other incredibly poorly and take very little seriously. It made for very good TV until the constant encouragement of shitty behavior made things go way too far.
The Main Problem
Over the course of the show’s eight seasons, there have been very, very few people of color on the show. The last woman of color represented in the cast was Faith Stowers, who appeared for about fifteen minutes of airtime in season 4. Her experiences on the show are at the center of the storm the cast is now facing.
Shortly after Stowers left the show, Kristen Doute and Stassi Schroeder went on a harassment campaign against their former castmate. They called the police on their former castmate after deciding based on no evidence that she had committed a robbery. The two women accused her publicly of stealing their other castmate Jax Taylor’s car, based on nothing, and said that they used to plant items around to see if Stowers would steal them.
If that’s not bad enough, in 2018 both women bragged publicly about their actions. Doute tweeted extensive accusations about Stowers allegedly stealing things, and Schroeder proudly told the whole story on an episode of the Bitch Bible podcast.
Their actions resurfaced last week after Stowers talked about her experience with racism on reality TV on Instagram Live. After Stowers spoke out, both Schroeder and Doute started taking a lot of heat from fans. Both women have since apologized on Instagram, although rumor has it that neither woman extended a personal apology to Stowers.
Stassi and Kristen Aren’t The Only Ones
Schroeder and Doute are far from the only problematic cast members on Vanderpump Rules. New cast members Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni also are also facing backlash for racist tweets that resurfaced after the two joined the cast. They addressed the tweets at the season 8 reunion. Now their racist behavior has resurfaced in the context of a greater problem with the racist culture at Vanderpump Rules.
There’s also Jax Taylor and his wife Brittany Cartwright. The sleuths of the internet have yet to unearth overt racist behavior on the part of these two. That is, of course, besides Taylor’s role in the harassment of his former hookup, Stowers. That doesn’t mean they’re off the hook. This delightful couple is no stranger to controversy. They hired an openly homophobic pastor to officiate their season 8 wedding. They only replaced him after fans discovered the problem and called them out on it. The whole incident speaks to the culture of crappiness surrounding the show’s cast.
Bravo’s Reaction
On Tuesday morning, Bravo announced that Schroeder, Doute, Boyens, and Caprioni will not be returning to Vanderpump Rules next season. The decision comes after fans pushed for their firing on social media en masse. Bravo also announced that its parent company, NBC Univeral, is dedicated to a $100 million multi-year plan to advance social justice and equality.
This is certainly something. People, especially public figures, need to face consequences for their racist behavior. However, it might not be enough in the grand scheme of things. The root of the problem, besides the obvious systemic racism that is pervasive on Vanderpump Rules and other shows like it, is the concept of making terrible people famous. We elevate people with values that do not reflect our own to fame and fortune and then get upset when they disappoint us. We should instead elevate voices that reflect better values, and better messages for our future.
For the record, I say this as someone who loves Bravo and loves watching bad behavior play out on television. As much as I adore messy drama, it’s not worth it when it comes to sacrificing social justice. Now is the time for us all to learn to be better, and learn to watch the people who deserve to be watched.
In case you’re looking for some recommendations in that vein, here are 5 Black TV Shows and 10 TV Shows Featuring LGBTQ+ Characters to watch today in lieu of bad people behaving badly.
