Russell Armstrong’s nephew and sister spoke exclusively with HollywoodLife.com after watching the premiere of ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.’ They are upset with how Bravo handled their uncle’s suicide.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills premiered its second season Sept. 5 to mixed reviews. Some audiences were thrilled to have their favorite reality show back on the air, while others — namely Russell Armstrong‘s family — were not happy with how their beloved’s suicide was handled on the Bravo program.
Russell’s nephew, Austin Kelsoe, 18, spoke exclusively to HollywoodLife.com about the premiere and how upset it made him.
“It was awful. Absolutely awful! I was very upset. The preface they aired just set the tone for the rest of the season
They could of gone on without that introduction. It’s sad Bravo cares more about ratings and publicity then they do about respecting the wishes of my family which we made very clear to them. How can people watch the show and not think of anything else but my uncle’s suicide?” he said.
He added, “They spent a few minutes talking about my uncle’s death like they were doing us all some kind of favor and then the show goes on to show multi-millionaires arguing over what to eat at a dinner party. It’s just so incredibly shallow. Watching the show made me start crying so I turned it off!”
“Now that my uncles laid to rest, we just want everything to go away and to mourn the death of my uncle.”
Russell’s younger sister, Laurie Kelsoe, told us, “I was going to watch the introduction but I just couldn’t bear it. My mother watched it and she was very upset about a comment one of the cast members (Ken Vanderpump) said about not wanting to go to a marriage counselor because he would feel weak. I don’t know why they kept that part in the show. It was very insensitive. In light of all that has happened, they should have edited that part out. In fact, they should have canceled the season all together!”
She concluded, “If Bravo shows ANY scenes of my brother, they will be sorry!”
Did YOU watch the premiere of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? How did you think Bravo handled Russell’s tragic death? Sound off below.
Sheri
Posted at 4:36 PM on September 7, 2011
they want to ignore and hide the fact that he was an abuser now, just as they did when he was alive. Bravo shouldn’t change a thing they intended to show before his suicide. Maybe one good thing can come of it, and help battered women! And his family doesn’t like it then they are self inflicting the wounds – don’t watch!