EmZeeGee

"Conveniently not being on the bus." What?! No matter what date she gave, she wouldn't have been there. Why would Meredith go from Aspen back to Salt Lake City for a 7 hour bus ride to Vail when Aspen to Vail is about 2 hours? She was never going to ride the bus. Making a big deal about the date was nonsense. Also, colloquial speech is that the whole time you're gone for an event is considered the event. If I go to a friend's wedding, my whole time there, I'm there for my friend's wedding, not just the hours I'm at the venue. Also, Heather's father worked for the FBI for 20 years. How do we know that she didn't report Jen? Why else would she stick by Jen's side after being called an ogre, a manatee, Shrek and Jen getting physical? It's convenient that the authorities arrived at Beauty Lab. One could just as easily say that Heather has been helping to drive the narrative that Meredith avoided a sprinter van ride and lied about the memorial in order to place herself above suspicion. Who knows what G-Man contacts she has!

Given the state of affairs, I doubt she can afford the paywall. Lol.

The fundamental difference is that the accusations were brought directly to Rinna in the first place. As we saw play out this season, Kyle brought Brandi into her home to lay out the accusations of a sexual affair without being directly confronted about them. She was free to tell her story unopposed and uninterrupted. Brandi was hauled out again at Teddi's, a woman who she is not friends with, baby shower to show text messages and any material she had about the alleged affair. It also stretches credulity that "it's simply not true" that Rinna wouldn't allow Kim to speak about Harry when at the time she lunged for her throat and broke a glass in her face in a rage. That and the text can't just be ignored. And in the end, Rinna didn't have to defend against any rumor, because nothing was ever said. The rumor about Denise and Brandi was laundered by Kyle to the show outside of Denise's presence. An additional difference, which has no bearing on your post, is why were Denise's affairs the only main storyline? They really have nothing to do with what everyone else has going on. We saw in Atlanta and we're currently seeing in Potomac that cheating rumors can exist among the cast and not swallow the whole season. They can also be brought directly to the person "in private" on camera without the rest of the group present.

The most telling portion for me was when Andy mentioned Lisa's hypocrisy regarding the Harry Hamlin situation. Lisa claimed to have handled it by nearly choking out Kim and breaking a glass in her face. That is nowhere near handling it and goes to show what an incredibly brazen hypocrite Rinna is. We never heard the rumor about Harry and she wasn't constantly asked about whatever the rumor was. And I somehow doubt if Denise lunged at Brandi or Teddi she or the rest of the ladies would have taken it as evidence of truthfulness. Please. Also, it calls back to how the rumor was brought up. Kyle invited Brandi into her home to spread a rumor without Denise there to combat or refute it in any way. This was not the same with Rinna and Kim. Rinna was there to cut it off immediately. Denise isn't the one to do it, but I wish she had been savvy enough to lay out these facts. It's telling because it shows the disregard for anything resembling the truth. I had to laugh at Teddi talking about supporting other women. New York Magazine and the resulting fallout, however, will show her to be living in a glass house. I said in the last episode that I would share my final thoughts on the Denise-Brandi debacle. I believe Denise and Brandi had some sort of dalliance. I do not believe Denise and Brandi were intimate friends that saw one another constantly. And I firmly believe it's none of the other ladies' business. As the Hamlin thing proved, "we're on a TV show and we discuss things" is no excuse. It was dropped immediately then. Lastly, Lisa Rinna's only friend is the Bravo cameras.

I'm sick of the Brandi-Denise thing. And I believe they did hook up. I'm just so tired. I'll save all my thoughts for the conclusion when they inevitably talk about it for another half hour. What bothered me particularly tonight was the Garcelle-Rinna thing over her IG dancing. Bravo released additional footage of that conversation and it's clear that Garcelle was being reflective because her own son had problems with addiction since (I believe she said) the fifth grade. She was talking about how she was essentially self-absorbed as a parent and probably missed the signs and wondering if Rinna's dancing was a trigger or self-absorbed behavior she missed. That being the context and Rinna and Teddi, who insisted on putting in her two cents, having been present for that context just makes it clear that Rinna setting up that scene with her daughter to talk about Garcelle was nasty in its intent and continuing to frame it as some nasty dig on Garcelle's part is further proof of nasty intent. Still, it was incumbent on Garcelle to mention that during the reunion and she didn't, so whatever. She just didn't care. Good for her. Kyle can give but she can't take. And they don't even give that much on this franchise. Ziwe said it best: if you're upset about Dorit saying you're unprepared for your fashion show, maybe don't be unprepared.

I'm not "injecting" anything, and as a matter of fact, neither is Kyle. Not purposely anyway. I just exist in a reality where comments have more deleterious effects on some races than others. I won't go into real world examples, because thats not what these forums are about, but there is another franchise that's illustrative. In season one of RHOA when Kim did not attend DeShawn's sunset BBQ, in her talking head she said, "I didn't want to go over there with them and eat chicken." It seems an innocent enough comment and the dislike between her and other attendees was mutual, but because of American history the comment reads terribly, and Nene called it out at the Reunion. Also, Kyle's IG comment (as well as Lisa Rinna's) confirm how underhanded her intent was by implying she didn't have the money and that she was fronting for the cameras. Kyle has now claimed everyone else paid that night, only Garcelle had not, and from what we saw from the reunion she mentioned nothing about any other attempts to reach out. Kyle wanted it to look like Garcelle bilked her. This for me is what sticks in my craw, attempting to make it look like Garcelle was fleecing her and the charity for the sake of the cameras goes beyond just embarrassing her for non-payment. We can see the difference in how Kenya and Nene and the $20k donation thing (which someone mentioned upthread) played out.

The implication is quite the opposite. Kyle should have spoken up in the 8-9 months between the event and the reunion.

The event was months ago. Why wait for the reunion to air it out for the first time? You didn't reach out privately in the interim to make sure the charity received the funds promised? Telling the audience the Black cast member doesn't pay her bills doesn't sit right. And I'm sure other Black viewers caught that. She wanted to weaponize that information to get back at Garcelle for not saying she was welcoming and every other slight during the season. -- Teddi revealed the whole game. She said something to the effect of "She made us look like assholes." And that's it. They have been carrying out this plan and constantly repeating and bringing up the Brandi story because they thought she made them look bad. They turned what was a forgettable moment about bawdy conversation in front of children into some grand affront. They are ridiculous and at this point a bit loathsome. Erika is fighting for that diamond. She was utterly forgettable and now she has too much dip on her chip at this reunion. She's turned all the way up over nothing. I believe the word Rinna is looking for is gasbag. Indeed, she is full of hot air.

I have to say this breaking the fourth wall and seeing what was happening after the cameras turned off… did absolutely nothing to change my opinion about the events. I always thought Brandi and Denise canoodled, so that never mattered to me. What mattered to me was how it was weaponized. I can’t give an exact reason why it was weaponized, many on these forums in previous weeks believed it was to get back at Denise for “mom shaming.” In any event, it’s clear to me that this was brought to camera by Kyle via Kim & Brandi. It’s no coincidence that every time Kim brought a plus one to a non-Kyle event it was Brandi. It’s a setup to create a confrontation with Denise and make a moment. Denise didn’t show up, denying Kyle, the producers, Brandi and me (I love drama!) this opportunity. I could be more upset with Denise if I didn’t know this show was not reality, but reality-constructed. We know the ladies don’t talk about certain things on camera, it’s not no holds barred, but for some reason this topic needed to be hashed out. Why?

The difference is intent. Sutton said she heard the rumor as a way to be dismissive, as if she hears rumors about other people all the time, which I'm sure they all do about one another. Teddi, on the other hand, broke bread with Brandi to be party to the rumor on camera, and then in an effort to confront Denise about her trash talking, repeated the rumor in front of everyone. Keep in mind, the dinner is the second time Teddi has shared the rumor in the episode. Sutton did not share it to move her storyline forward. Whether Teddi was anxious or felt guilty about the information or not, it does that for her.

I believe Denise slept with Brandi. But as Sutton pointed out, I don't think Teddi or Kyle truly had some great issue with that, but only wished to weaponize the rumors against Denise. The talk last week was absolutely a set up, of that I am now sure. I also think Brandi's self-victimization is a commode full.

As if it wasn't clear, I am Team Shea, but I wouldn't be disappointed if Jujubee won. I will say, however, that Shea being the only queen to win a lip-sync this season outright and unequivocally (that tie was ridiculous and 'Fancy' was a damn mess) is a big point in her favor for me.

I hate when there's a clear incongruity with what was probably said in the brief for the girls to pack and what the category is named on the runway. It was abundantly clear to me that they were probably told Rave and it was generalized to "Freak Out." Freak is so incredibly general that there's no chance that three of them thought of 90s raver/Club Kids/Candy Kids and one Goth Raver. I just have a hard time believing none of them thought of horror or fetish or grunge Goth. Regarding the talk about roses, I haven't found it off-putting or alienating as someone others have mentioned. I can't imagine losing a reality competition program after a relatively dominating performance because of a format change and some rose petals and then, THEN, having rose petals thrown at me from city to city to city as a way to get a rise or a laugh. Combine that with the trauma of a dad and sister passing from cancer around that time and it's a lot to go through. She's clearly not past it and she'll work it out in her own time.

Respectfully, I find this a ridiculous standard. One can find any and everything on the internet, which I'm sure Denise's daughters and all their children have access to. Denise simply self-censors when she is around her daughters, like most reasonable adults do around children to some degree or another. All conversations are not no holds barred simply because one can find that conversation elsewhere. Absolutely everyone self-censors according to venue, audience, relevance every time they speak. In my opinion, they're fighting for the right to talk how they wish in front of Denise's daughters not because of some wish to expose hypocrisy, but because they don't value her children because of who their father is, and their own embarrassment at being called out and need for a storyline.

Didn't know whether this belonged here or in the media thread since it's a post-race interview, but what I want to mention is related to this episode. Mainly, India is a bold-faced liar. She poisoned the well for Alexis and then left nuggets in the form of letters to make sure the poison took effect. I just have to laugh because because this is the epitome of stunt queen. There's a line from Paris is Burning that talks about stunts and how a stunt will be pulled and you won't find out for years later. Very that. The relevant portion: Blair should have been sent packing.