Lisa Vanderpump set the record straight about where she stands regarding the June 2020 Vanderpump Rules firings of Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute, along with rookie cast members, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni. Stassi and Kristen were let go from the hit reality show after a 2018 incident that involved the pair calling the police on Faith Stowers, the only black cast member on the show at the time. Meanwhile, Max and Brett were let go when old racist tweets resurfaced online.
“It wasn’t right what they did at all, but do I think they’re racist? 1,000 percent not,” Lisa said while on The Skinny Confidential’s Him & Her podcast on January 11. “Because I have a lot of diverse people working for me that they’ve all been working very close to for many years,” she continued. “Do I think it was a racist action? — Not at all. I just think it was awful timing, and stupid and ignorant.”
While discussing Stassi, specifically, Lisa admitted that while the new mom had a “lack of awareness” and “lived in her own bubble,” Bravo had to “do what they had to do” concerning her future on the show. “I think everything was so inflamed at that time, but it had also been an accumulation of things she had done,” Lisa said, explaining, “It wasn’t just one remark, and I think the fact that she was proactive in calling with this whole Faith situation just was not the way to handle things.”
Lisa went on to note that she dislikes “this cancel culture,” explaining, “Of course, I do think sometimes people should be punished and there should be punitive ramifications and actions do have consequences, but I think people can grow from their mistakes. I really do, and I think reality television is quite a good place to learn and see the growth,” she said.
The Vanderpump Rules cast shakeup occurred last summer, when Stassi and Kristen came under fire after Faith revealed, via an Instagram Live chat, that the duo falsely reported her to the police in 2018 for a crime she didn’t commit. At the time, VPR had wrapped its eighth season of filming and Stassi was pregnant with her first child. Faith made the allegation on June 1, when she joined Floribama Shore star Candace Rice for a candid chat, in which she opened up about what it was like being “the only black person” on VPR.
By June 9, Bravo had made the decision to part ways with Stassi and Kristen, along with newcomers, Max and Brett — the network confirmed to HollywoodLife in a statement. Both Stassi and Kristen were full time cast members on the show since its inception in 2013. Max and Brett joined the show in Season 8.
Andy Cohen broke his silence about the firings on June 10, saying, “I absolutely support Bravo’s decision, I think it was the right decision,” on his SiriusXM Radio Andy show. At the time, Lisa also issued a statement to Instagram, which said in part, “I condemn all forms of cruelty, racism, homophobia, bigotry and unequal treatment.” In the days after the firings were made public, both Stassi and Kristen issued separate public apologies on Instagram.
In an exclusive interview with HollywoodLife, Faith explained why she believed Stassi and Kristen’s aforementioned apologies felt forced. “I just feel had I reached out to them prior to all of this like a year ago and said, ‘Hey, what you guys did really hurt me and put me in a dark space, I had to go see a freaking therapist. This was really bad, can we talk about it?’ — I don’t think that they would’ve wanted to talk to me,” she explained.
Faith also admitted that while Kristen reached out to her directly, via Instagram DM, she felt as though it was due to “pressure” by her supporters. “I know that if I hurt somebody I would always try to reach out and apologize personally,” she said.