Lisa Vanderpump, 59, responded to the firing of Stassi Schroeder, 31, Kristen Doute, 37, Max Boyens, and Brett Caprioni from Vanderpump Rules on June 10 after the cast members were axed from the reality series for racist behavior. The British restaurateur took to Instagram on June 10, and while she didn’t directly acknowledge her cast members’ exits from the series, it’s pretty obvious she’s talking about their actions and recent firings.
“Over the past two weeks, many things have been brought to my attention, of which I and many others were previously unaware. It was necessary for me to be quiet until now, until decisions had been made. Now I can freely speak from the heart,” she began in a lengthy post shared with her followers.
“As we’ve seen such devastating sadness that has played out globally, we all have a part to play to create a kinder, more just society. My hope is for this generation to treat each other with respect and humanity, and realize that actions have; and should have, consequences,” she continued. “I love and adore our employees and I am deeply saddened by some of the lack of judgment that has been displayed. As many of you know, after watching me for 10 years, I have always been an equal rights activist and ally – my family, my businesses and I condemn all forms of cruelty, racism, homophobia, bigotry and unequal treatment.”
“We’ve never tolerated it in the workplace or our lives. While you only see a fraction of our employees on the show, a specific friend group, across all of our companies, we have always been a very diverse group of people – every color, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Most of our employees have worked for us for over a decade, and we have become a family; one that embraces and celebrates each other’s differences. I am proud of the inclusive company that we’ve created. We will continue to embrace diversity as one of our greatest strengths, and I’m excited to give you deeper look into the multi-faceted fabric of our company in the future.”
She then concluded with the following: “The world needs to move forward with a kinder generation. Everybody deserves to feel safe, heard and appreciated in their communities. So much of what has transpired in the world is not right, fair or acceptable. We all have work to do to create a society we can be proud of and I hope as we venture forward, we strive to live in a world where kindness and compassion are our highest values. Thank you for listening, love Lisa”.
Lisa’s reaction comes after Bravo, the network the series is on, confirmed the news of the firing in a public statement shortly after rumors made their way online on June 9. “Bravo and Evolution Media confirmed today that Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni will not be returning to Vanderpump Rules,” the statement read.
The decision to fire the four cast members came a week after Vanderpump Rules co-star Faith Stowers, 31, who is African American, revealed that, Stassi and Kristen reported her to the police for a crime, which was reported by Daily Mail, that she wasn’t a part of in 2018, during an Instagram Live chat. The crime was theft and in the report, it showed a black woman that was not Faith. Both Stassi and Kristen apologized to Faith about their actions with a statement on social media on June 7.
The firing also came six months after racist tweets from Max and Brett resurfaced in Jan. In the tweets, both of the men used the word “n***a” when referring to African Americans. “It upsets me that the word n***a is not allowed to be said unless you are black because quite honestly it’s my favorite word,” Max wrote in his 2012 tweet. He also talked about how he wanted to “punch” “Asians” in another tweet.
Lisa addressed Max and Brett’s tweets on part one of the Vanderpump Rules reunion on June 2 and insisted that despite major criticism, she doesn’t think they should be fired from the show because she believes they changed their ways of thinking. After both men expressed regret over their past words, Lisa admitted that she had “never seen any inkling of anything that would make me believe that that’s the beliefs they were holding now.” She added, “If I had, they wouldn’t be working for me.”
Stassi and Kristen have been with Vanderpump Rules, which is now in season 8, since its premiere in 2013 and Max and Brett started the show in the current season.