RW Homecoming: New Orleans (2022)

[seltzer3]

9 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

@starri could be my Primetimer Real World twin. "Yes to all" of that post. 

 

 

Sometimes those so-called "invisible" cast members were favorites of mine, and they're a bigger part of the season when you actually watch it than they have the reputation of being. Like, Pam was gone from the SF house a lot for obvious reasons (medical school), but she still added a lot to the cast. Even though Kelley was with Peter a lot of the time in New Orleans, everyone remembers her friendship with Danny, and she's a big presence in the NOA-TV storyline.

New Orleans probably has the most well balanced casts in terms of airtime.  Which probably made them one of the more popular seasons.  I feel like even though Kelley was the most "invisible", she was still a lot more visible than other castmembers.  Like B2NY Kevin, or SF Mohamed where the cast airtime seemed a lot more imbalanced.

Its also going to be interesting to see Danny going forward.  He was always pretty mellow.  So it was kind of shocking to see him angry and almost shouting at Julie (obviously understanding), and it looks like he may have a conflict with Matt later in the series.

Seems like Jamie is going to be invisible castmember going forward.

[Asp Burger]

23 minutes ago, Tatum said:

Yes, I am 99% sure Coral also accused Julie’s mother of this- either she said Coral wouldn’t do it for $XX, but Julie would, or she found out what Coral had already booked somehow and called up the school and said Julie would do it for less. 

Didn't Colin from Real World Hawaii also have an issue with Julie over this stuff? I remember him putting his two cents in too in support of Melissa, at the time Melissa made it all public on The Challenge and on her Princess Melissa site. 

[choclatechip45]

2 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

Didn't Colin from Real World Hawaii also have an issue with Julie over this stuff? I remember him putting his two cents in too in support of Melissa, at the time Melissa made it all public on The Challenge and on her Princess Melissa site. 

I think Colin just backed up Melissa and so did Lori.

Melissa mentioned Teck might have been involved like Julie's mom was posing as his agent which is sketchy.

[Faceplant]

I partially listened to the podcast Julie did. It was difficult because she changes thoughts at trandom while speaking and answers questions the interviewer never even asked. It doesn't help that he's a bad interviewer and lets her ramble. She rarely finishes a complete thought or sentence. Both of them say like a million times. She's super spastic and hyper throughout. IT was almost 90 minutes long. A few highlights:

 

• The Veronica incident - she claimed that she couldn't hear anything anyone was shouting because Veronica was screaming so loud and she was so focused on winning. 
• Said she will probably not talk to any of her castmates in the future and feels like she never fit in with them
• She denied everything with Melissa pretty much
• She's not a Mormon any longer. She said she left when she found out she was pregnant with a daughter and didn't want her raised that way, but then later says it was a years long process and blah, blah, blah
• She really, really, really wants to do another challenge. 
• She thinks she's going to come across really well on the homecoming
• Claims she doesn't know or can't remember why Coral has a problem with her (I never watched the challenges, so not sure what this one was about). 
• She blames Melissa on people not liking her
• Felt like she was giving 80 percent and her castmates were only giving 10 percent during the homecoming (don't ask me to explain what that means)
• Actually said, "sometimes it's just easy to go after the nice blonde girl in the room" and complained about the mean girls
• Doesn't shave her legs (no idea why this came up, other than she rambles)
• On Melissa being angry - says she (Julie) has her own opionion on what Melissa is upset about, but doesn't think it's anything she'll ever admit to (what??). Says Melissa is always going to speak her truth (and uses air quotes around truth) whether or not it's the truth
• Says she still loves Melissa nd thinks she's a good person for the most part, but doesn't trust her (it took her several tries to formulate this thought). Says Melissa has the wrong view of circumstances or she's in denial what really is behind her frustration. Says it's not fair the stuff Melissa has accused her family of and hopes one of Melissa's daughters never gets bullied the way she has. 

 

That's all I've got. 

[Black Knight]

1 hour ago, starri said:

It was interesting to hear Kelley talk about not wanting to hold herself back this time.  I never really got that impression from her originally. 

She evaded cameras a lot and largely kept her relationship with Peter offscreen, and that was a huge part of her New Orleans life, so that may be what she means. Not that she wasn't totally forthright and herself whenever she was on camera, but just that she stayed off camera a lot. As someone who compartmentalizes in that way, I get it - it does feel like holding back to keep certain parts invisible to many.

I remember the stuff Melissa posted on her blog about Julie's mom writing emails quoting rates for cast members and saying that Danny wasn't available on a certain day. But Julie's mom certainly didn't act in any sort of vacuum. Julie is responsible.

[shantown]

40 minutes ago, snarts said:

Finally, who was making out in the previews? 

It looked like Julie, but I can't place who the male figure is. The hair didn't really match anyone - the color matches Danny's, but his is a little thinner on top than the person in the hot tub. It didn't really match anyone else in the house either. My money is on Julie's husband coming to visit.

[Black Knight]

Yes, I also thought the woman looked like Julie and that the man didn't look like any of the RW guys. I don't think she'd let herself be shown on camera cheating on her husband, so it's probably him.

[Asp Burger]

2 minutes ago, Faceplant said:

• She thinks she's going to come across really well on the homecoming.

Okay, I'm with Danny. Julie needs to step away from the psilocybin. 

[Tatum]

22 minutes ago, Faceplant said:

I partially listened to the podcast Julie did. It was difficult because she changes thoughts at trandom while speaking and answers questions the interviewer never even asked. It doesn't help that he's a bad interviewer and lets her ramble. She rarely finishes a complete thought or sentence. Both of them say like a million times. She's super spastic and hyper throughout. IT was almost 90 minutes long. A few highlights:

 

• The Veronica incident - she claimed that she couldn't hear anything anyone was shouting because Veronica was screaming so loud and she was so focused on winning. 
• Said she will probably not talk to any of her castmates in the future and feels like she never fit in with them
• She denied everything with Melissa pretty much
• She's not a Mormon any longer. She said she left when she found out she was pregnant with a daughter and didn't want her raised that way, but then later says it was a years long process and blah, blah, blah
• She really, really, really wants to do another challenge. 
• She thinks she's going to come across really well on the homecoming
• Claims she doesn't know or can't remember why Coral has a problem with her (I never watched the challenges, so not sure what this one was about). 
• She blames Melissa on people not liking her
• Felt like she was giving 80 percent and her castmates were only giving 10 percent during the homecoming (don't ask me to explain what that means)
• Actually said, "sometimes it's just easy to go after the nice blonde girl in the room" and complained about the mean girls
• Doesn't shave her legs (no idea why this came up, other than she rambles)
• On Melissa being angry - says she (Julie) has her own opionion on what Melissa is upset about, but doesn't think it's anything she'll ever admit to (what??). Says Melissa is always going to speak her truth (and uses air quotes around truth) whether or not it's the truth
• Says she still loves Melissa nd thinks she's a good person for the most part, but doesn't trust her (it took her several tries to formulate this thought). Says Melissa has the wrong view of circumstances or she's in denial what really is behind her frustration. Says it's not fair the stuff Melissa has accused her family of and hopes one of Melissa's daughters never gets bullied the way she has. 

 

That's all I've got. 

Haha she’s delusional if she thinks she’s coming off well. Even if someone had never heard Melissa’s accusations in the early 2000s and never watched Julie make an ass of herself on every subsequent challenge, I think they’d still be convinced she was a liar and self serving the way she reacted to Danny and Melissa in the first episode. I rolled my eyes so hard when she started crying about how sorry she was that she didn’t know what it was like to be Black or gay. Julie, no one is mad at you because you’re white and straight and no one accused you of being either racist or homophobic. You purposely sailed right over the points everyone was making to deflect the attention away from what a shitty person you were and still are. 
 

Eta: let me jog your memory Julie- didn’t you pee in Coral’s bed on purpose? I’d start there. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Tatum

[Black Knight]

16 minutes ago, Faceplant said:

The Veronica incident - she claimed that she couldn't hear anything anyone was shouting because Veronica was screaming so loud and she was so focused on winning. 

Which really does not explain anything, because it was just supposed to be trying to get to the other side of the building. There was no reason for her to be fooling around with Veronica's harness in order to "win" - instead of spending the time on that she should have just been passing Veronica. Julie's just never going to own up to being practically psychopathic in that moment.

18 minutes ago, Faceplant said:

Claims she doesn't know or can't remember why Coral has a problem with her (I never watched the challenges, so not sure what this one was about). 

Heh. I just remember Coral yelling out her support for Katie in the Katie vs. Julie elimination, even though she was supposed to be supporting Julie as Coral's team wanted to get Katie out. The ironic thing is that Julie knew how to jump-rope and Katie did not, but Julie just blew it, to Coral's (and my) glee. That was awesome. The only moment I loved more was when Katie beat David in a later elimination about who could hold their breath underwater longer - and I did like David, but it was just so incredible and shocking that she beat him, especially since Katie was a smoker.

[seltzer3]

4 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

Which really does not explain anything, because it was just supposed to be trying to get to the other side of the building. There was no reason for her to be fooling around with Veronica's harness in order to "win" - instead of spending the time on that she should have just been passing Veronica. Julie's just never going to own up to being practically psychopathic in that moment.

From what I remember, was that Real World at that time was losing after several heats, because a couple of them DQ'd and they were going slower.  So the strategy, was for Real World to somehow pull their competitor (so they fall) and somehow miraculous finish their race to win? (The strategy was really weird).  Ace actually pulled on Jeremy, and got him to fall off the climbing rope (but both got DQ'd.  Julie was the last to go, and tried the same strategy, with Veronica...and yeah that happened.  So actually, Julie was telling the truth in the interview (even though the strategy that RW created just seemed convoluted from the start).  And I kind of give her the benefit of the doubt.

However, she did seem to make up stuff about that she didn't hear her team telling her to stop pulling the harness (because I remember in one of those tell all, she claimed that her team encouraged her).

So stuff like that I can see her pissing off everyone, because her stories change.  The whole thing with Danny was ridiculous, in that somehow the letter she wrote was that "Danny made fun of the kids."  But Danny's story is that "Don't hire Danny, because he's gay".  Like I get that maybe if a lot of time (20 years) pass by, your imagination and recollection of what happen can change.  Howeve those two stories completely diverge from each other.

[choclatechip45]

21 minutes ago, seltzer3 said:

From what I remember, was that Real World at that time was losing after several heats, because a couple of them DQ'd and they were going slower.  So the strategy, was for Real World to somehow pull their competitor (so they fall) and somehow miraculous finish their race to win? (The strategy was really weird).  Ace actually pulled on Jeremy, and got him to fall off the climbing rope (but both got DQ'd.  Julie was the last to go, and tried the same strategy, with Veronica...and yeah that happened.  So actually, Julie was telling the truth in the interview (even though the strategy that RW created just seemed convoluted from the start).  And I kind of give her the benefit of the doubt.

However, she did seem to make up stuff about that she didn't hear her team telling her to stop pulling the harness (because I remember in one of those tell all, she claimed that her team encouraged her).

So stuff like that I can see her pissing off everyone, because her stories change.  The whole thing with Danny was ridiculous, in that somehow the letter she wrote was that "Danny made fun of the kids."  But Danny's story is that "Don't hire Danny, because he's gay".  Like I get that maybe if a lot of time (20 years) pass by, your imagination and recollection of what happen can change.  Howeve those two stories completely diverge from each other.

I remember they did a special before Inferno 2 and the producers said they were nervous which is why Veronica was nervous and they called BS on her thinking her team was cheering her on. 

[Asp Burger]

I read an interview with Julie and Jamie (separately) on NOLA dot com. The main thing I remember is that Jamie wishes he could apologize to Elton for his crap showing when it was his turn to produce the show. He hoped Elton would make an appearance during Homecoming.  

I was glad Melissa and Danny were so tenacious in dealing with their issue with Julie. It bothered me when Julie said something like "So you're willing to put some job over our friendship," as if Melissa were the petty one. She was the one willing to do that, back when the friendship was supposedly strong. I've encountered that sociopathic debating tactic before.

Edited April 21, 2022 by Asp Burger

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Tatum said:

And her face just lit up when David told her, even if it was someone on your team, you are responsible for it, and you can see the wheels turning in her head, like, yes! I can apologize on behalf of someone on my team without directly admitting I did anything wrong! And she wanted to repeat David's words verbatim not because he was so damn articulate, but because she thought that's what would get her past the awkward stage with Danny and Melissa. I thought it was very telling when she asked David if he thought they'd ever be friends with her again. It's pretty clear she isn't remotely sorry for what she did, she just wants to not be the bad guy and have people dislike her.

Yeah, you could see the manipulative wheels turning in her head at that point.

As infuriating as Julie was I really loved that someone called her out either to her face or to the camera at literally every turn. They didn’t let her spin or obfuscate. With Danny pointing out the performative nature of Julie’s immediate apology and jumping in at the perfect time to support Melissa’s story. Melissa pointing out how Julie was acting like the victim when legitimately called on her bad behavior, stopping the non-apology mid-sentence and pointing out that she had to be careful to keep her emotional reaction in check because of her race. Then Tokyo not letting her continue in her obvious attempt to get him on her side and play the victim. There is something beautiful at watching someone like Julie have every move in their playbook expertly dismantled. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Guest

[Bastet]

7 minutes ago, Dani said:

Then Tokyo not letting her continue in her obvious attempt to get him on her side and play the victim.

There is a way in which that's my favorite, since he let her hold his hand during her gaslighting performance on the couch, so I was very happy to see that once she continued her bullshit narrative in their room, he repeatedly interrupted her to speak the truth.  Unfortunately, it's all part of Julie's storyline play, where she pretends to see the light upon requiring a POC to explain reality to her, but I still appreciated him.  He's being real, as are Melissa and Danny, while hopefully Julie can't keep it up well enough to be shielded by a snowed production team.  Everyone has handled her expertly so far, both in terms of dealing with a real person in real time and in calling out how it can - and previously has been - be presented just as Julie wanted, where she's the wide-eyed innocent and the marginalized people are depicted as crazy zealots who need to lighten up and have a heart.

11 minutes ago, Dani said:

There is someone beautiful at watching someone like Julie have every move in their playbook expertly dismantled. 

Indeed.  So long as that reality carries the day over the course of this thing, it might make Julie's production achieving her airtime goal bearable to watch.

[starri]

I had to go back and watch it again.

It just made my heart hurt when they juxtaposed that clip of Danny letting Julie see his love letters from Paul so she could write a song against the things he was saying that happened after.

I always really liked Melissa, but she won my love forever by acknowledging that her situation is petty compared to what happened to Danny.

I kind of understood Matt wanting to play peacemaker in the moment, but the cishet white guy really should have shut the hell up.

[BelleBrit]

Several of the cast members have features on ET Online, and Julie of course sounds ultra delusional and shows no remorse. She says "I did not expect grudges could last that long and especially for what the issues were" and "I was trying to make connections with these roommates and the roommates were not making it easy. I was being called horrible names. I was being called racist, homophobic. They were coming at me with everything they could." Horrible names?? Unless this is something that happens in later episodes (doubtful), Julie is whacked. Some of her comments and behavior was so odd, like saying to Tokyo "We'll be able to hear them fucking [in the confessional]."

My favorite part of the episode was when Danny raised his voice at Julie.

Thanks to all who brought up the stories about Julie's mom pretending to act as an agent or representative for other Real World cast members-I remembered reading that too, but was beginning to think that I was misremembering.

[snarts]

1 minute ago, BelleBrit said:

Several of the cast members have features on ET Online, and Julie of course sounds ultra delusional and shows no remorse. She says "I did not expect grudges could last that long and especially for what the issues were" and "I was trying to make connections with these roommates and the roommates were not making it easy. I was being called horrible names. I was being called racist, homophobic. They were coming at me with everything they could." Horrible names?? Unless this is something that happens in later episodes (doubtful), Julie is whacked. Some of her comments and behavior was so odd, like saying to Tokyo "We'll be able to hear them fucking [in the confessional]."

I've no doubt that Julie has mistreated a number of people over the years and that she has few (if any) actual friends. It'll be interesting to see how many stories might come out on social media. 

Also, I forgot to mention this yesterday, but why did she show up in leggings & a tank top like she was running into a pilates class? and while I'm being petty, what's up with Tokyo's headband?

[Tatum]

4 hours ago, starri said:

I kind of understood Matt wanting to play peacemaker in the moment, but the cishet white guy really should have shut the hell up.

That was really frustrating. I would have been fine if he had said, 'we're going in circles here, let's just table this for now' like someone else (I think Tokyo?) did.

 

But what he basically said is, how can we all be friends now? like, Matt, are you deaf? Julie is flat out denying she did anything wrong, and is crazy deflecting (now you're calling me a racist??), and not being at all sincere in her non-apology, and you're asking Danny and Melissa how they can move forward and be friends with Julie? They don't have to be friends with Julie! They don't have to like her. They were perfectly willing to be civil to her and let the matter stay unresolved; Julie is the one squawking about Melissa not remembering that Julie lived in LA.

 

What Matt really meant was that he felt sorry for the crying woman, and the whole situation made him uncomfortable, so Danny and Melissa should just tell Julie it's fine so the rest of the house doesn't have to suffer through the tension.

 

I am also sure that to Matt, it's simply a matter of a $1,000 paycheck (or whatever it was) that never materialized 20 years ago, and it's really not worth still being upset about. He can't imagine the nuance of Danny feeling like his trust and faith in people was completely shattered, the challenges of being an openly gay man in the late 90s whose morals were always questioned by virtue of being gay, and having someone he thought was his friend say those things about him just so she could get a few bucks, or Melissa feeling like she's been painted as the Angry Black Woman for the last 20 years for confronting Julie  while Julie sat there calmly snickering the whole time.

[seltzer3]

1 hour ago, Tatum said:

That was really frustrating. I would have been fine if he had said, 'we're going in circles here, let's just table this for now' like someone else (I think Tokyo?) did.

 

But what he basically said is, how can we all be friends now? like, Matt, are you deaf? Julie is flat out denying she did anything wrong, and is crazy deflecting (now you're calling me a racist??), and not being at all sincere in her non-apology, and you're asking Danny and Melissa how they can move forward and be friends with Julie? They don't have to be friends with Julie! They don't have to like her. They were perfectly willing to be civil to her and let the matter stay unresolved; Julie is the one squawking about Melissa not remembering that Julie lived in LA.

 

What Matt really meant was that he felt sorry for the crying woman, and the whole situation made him uncomfortable, so Danny and Melissa should just tell Julie it's fine so the rest of the house doesn't have to suffer through the tension.

 

I am also sure that to Matt, it's simply a matter of a $1,000 paycheck (or whatever it was) that never materialized 20 years ago, and it's really not worth still being upset about. He can't imagine the nuance of Danny feeling like his trust and faith in people was completely shattered, the challenges of being an openly gay man in the late 90s whose morals were always questioned by virtue of being gay, and having someone he thought was his friend say those things about him just so she could get a few bucks, or Melissa feeling like she's been painted as the Angry Black Woman for the last 20 years for confronting Julie  while Julie sat there calmly snickering the whole time.

Its pretty consistent to Matt's behavior.  I don't think its that he ignores people who are aggrieved, but that he doesn't like when he feels on person feels ganged up on.  Matt did the same thing for David/Tokyo in the original season.  When everyone else was pretty upset with David, Matt was the one most hesitant with the "let's do the house meeting on David", and was afraid David was just a scapegoat.  I think Matt just needs to realize, sometimes there is a reason why that person is ganged up upon (and its not necessarily bad).  

Speaking of which, I am curious how that one goes, since I'm pretty sure the "everyone has a problem with David/Tokyo" will probably an incoming message.  Hopefully it would be a lot smoother.

[choclatechip45]

Maybe I am giving Matt the benefit of the doubt and in a few episodes I will regret saying this.

I don't think he was on Julie's side it seemed like to me that Danny and Melissa were trying to end that conversation multiple times and Julie wasn't going to let them until they both agreed to be her friend again which is why it kept circling around. I was waiting for one of the other cast members to interrupt and say they are clearly hurt by you and aren't going to be your friend again. So I was happy Matt didn't speak for Melissa or Danny, but someone not Danny or Melissa (because the onus should not have been on them) needed to move that conversation forward so Julie would listen or they still might be on that couch today.

I also imagine that conversation was at least an hour long with Julie not listening and circling around. 

I do think Matt might have felt bad afterward because he thought Julie would be a rational adult and not go up to her room crying, but honestly Matt had nothing to feel bad for. I didn't get the vibe he thought Danny or Melissa did anything wrong his body language was pretty friendly towards both of them during the whole dinner scene. 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2022 by choclatechip45

[Bastet]

7 hours ago, starri said:

I kind of understood Matt wanting to play peacemaker in the moment, but the cishet white guy really should have shut the hell up.

When he said "If I may" as he plowed into playing therapist, I yelled "No, you may not!" at the TV.  He didn't listen.

[Yogisbooboo64]

Hmm….

UO, but I have never liked Kelley.  There was something about her that made me want to punch her in her smug face, and I see nothing’s changed.  (Forces chubby fist to unclench)

Danny has lost a lot of weight!  I remember seeing him years ago and he was definitely chasing the fat man….correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t he HIV+?

Tokyo – Skadabadweeeeeeee-dee-dum!  Come On Be My Baby Tonight will always be legendary!

Matt looks the exact same, maybe now that he’s ‘in the club’ he’ll chill the feck out with the sex talk.

Oh well, I’m just here for Princess Melissa and her funny gems!  Speaking of which, I remember her first daughter, Shalom as such a cute baby….all three daughters are quite stunning.  I wonder if Shorty and Mercy are still alive.

[Hiyo]

Quote

correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t he HIV+?

He is.

[Tatum]

1 hour ago, choclatechip45 said:

Maybe I am giving Matt the benefit of the doubt and in a few episodes I will regret saying this.

I don't think he was on Julie's side it seemed like to me that Danny and Melissa were trying to end that conversation multiple times and Julie wasn't going to let them until they both agreed to be her friend again which is why it kept circling around.

I guess, "what is the path towards healing" could have multiple meanings. I took it as Matt saying, how can the relationship heal (between Julie and Melissa, and Julie and Danny), because I don't really see what else needs to heal.

 

Danny and Melissa don't want to be friends with Julie, but that doesn't mean they lie awake at night, unable to get over what Julie did to them and nursing horrible grudges. The fact that they don't trust or like Julie doesn't really mean they are holding grudges. She was a nasty person back then and it appears she hasn't changed much, I can't blame them for not liking her and not wanting to be her friend. It's like Melissa said- she's drawing a boundary. She can be civil to Julie. She can live in the same house with her for 1-2 weeks and not start any confrontations. And honestly, Melissa talks like she's been in therapy, and I would bet she actually has forgiven Julie, if only to give herself some peace. But that doesn't mean she has to want to be friends with her. Julie isn't entitled to anyone's friendship.

 

So in my opinion, Matt was jumping in trying to solve a situation that had already been long resolved. It wasn't resolved the way Julie wanted it to be, but that's fine.  Whatever demons Melissa and Danny may have, Julie isn't one of them.

 

1 hour ago, Hiyo said:

He is.

Wow, I had no idea.

[shantown]

1 hour ago, choclatechip45 said:

I don't think he was on Julie's side it seemed like to me that Danny and Melissa were trying to end that conversation multiple times and Julie wasn't going to let them until they both agreed to be her friend again which is why it kept circling around.

I know it probably just boils down to her being an idiot, but I'm so confused why Julie is so stuck on this "Will they be my friends??" thing. If there was any actual desire or sincerity there she would have reached out any time in the last 20 years, or in the weeks before they all gathered for the reunion, when she knew she'd for sure be seeing them again. She wants this happy narrative and cannot understand why they're all not just going along with it. 

[Tatum]

1 minute ago, shantown said:

I know it probably just boils down to her being an idiot, but I'm so confused why Julie is so stuck on this "Will they be my friends??" thing. If there was any actual desire or sincerity there she would have reached out any time in the last 20 years, or in the weeks before they all gathered for the reunion, when she knew she'd for sure be seeing them again. She wants this happy narrative and cannot understand why they're all not just going along with it. 

Agreed, although Julie did say at some point that Melissa won't take her calls, which I can totally believe.

 

But in regards to Danny, here is how we know Julie is a liar. So, he confronted her back in the early 2000s over the letter (the one he referenced, not the one she insists), and she ghosted him. If, playing devil's advocate, Julie truly didn't write any letters disparaging Danny as some of amoral sex fiend who was going to try and corrupt teenage boys, and had no knowledge of anyone on her "team" that did, and she gets a call from a close friend asking why she'd write such a horrible letter, wouldn't she have tried to get to the bottom of what happened? Wouldn't she maybe ask around, call Danny back and try and explain? Danny said Julie never contacted him again. Yet here she is now, acting like the letter Danny's referencing is the first she's heard of it.

 

But yeah, she doesn't care about reconnecting as friends. Why would you be so desperate to be friends with people you haven't said a word to in 22 years? If I ran into my best friend from high school who I haven't seen in about 19 years, sure I'd be happy to catch up at like, or lunch or something, but I wouldn't be all like wow, now we must be friends just like we were when we were 18. Julie only cares about not looking like an asshole, which has basically been her default setting since Extreme Challenge.

[luckyroll3]

On 4/2/2022 at 1:19 PM, Black Knight said:

What I remember most about that is that while Veronica was crying in terror, screaming to know what Julie was doing, Julie had this creepy smile on her face while she kept picking at the harness. It made me think she was a possible psychopath.

This scene is seared into my brain! And Julie's smile during that moment in particular continues to give me chills to this day. I truly believe she's done some awful stuff to people in her time on this planet. 

On 4/20/2022 at 3:12 PM, Bastet said:

Melissa's commentary is giving me life, though.  I loved the way she and Danny both immediately shut down Julie's gaslighting, and calmly - because, as Melissa said, she's going to, again, be presented as petty and bitter if she dares put any emotion into this - said no, here's what actually happened, here's what an actual apology would entail, you have not done that, and now you're sitting there crying making it about you.  Let's go eat instead.

Nothing was better than everyone absolutely ignoring Julie to go eat! And then when Tokyo went upstairs and she asked if anyone was talking about it/her and he replied "Nope", the look on her face was gold! Her storm off moment was ruined because no one cared. 

17 hours ago, Faceplant said:

I partially listened to the podcast Julie did. It was difficult because she changes thoughts at trandom while speaking and answers questions the interviewer never even asked. It doesn't help that he's a bad interviewer and lets her ramble. She rarely finishes a complete thought or sentence. Both of them say like a million times. She's super spastic and hyper throughout. IT was almost 90 minutes long. A few highlights:

• The Veronica incident - she claimed that she couldn't hear anything anyone was shouting because Veronica was screaming so loud and she was so focused on winning. 
• Said she will probably not talk to any of her castmates in the future and feels like she never fit in with them
• She denied everything with Melissa pretty much
• She's not a Mormon any longer. She said she left when she found out she was pregnant with a daughter and didn't want her raised that way, but then later says it was a years long process and blah, blah, blah
• She really, really, really wants to do another challenge. 
• She thinks she's going to come across really well on the homecoming
• Claims she doesn't know or can't remember why Coral has a problem with her (I never watched the challenges, so not sure what this one was about). 
• She blames Melissa on people not liking her
• Felt like she was giving 80 percent and her castmates were only giving 10 percent during the homecoming (don't ask me to explain what that means)
• Actually said, "sometimes it's just easy to go after the nice blonde girl in the room" and complained about the mean girls
• Doesn't shave her legs (no idea why this came up, other than she rambles)
• On Melissa being angry - says she (Julie) has her own opionion on what Melissa is upset about, but doesn't think it's anything she'll ever admit to (what??). Says Melissa is always going to speak her truth (and uses air quotes around truth) whether or not it's the truth
• Says she still loves Melissa nd thinks she's a good person for the most part, but doesn't trust her (it took her several tries to formulate this thought). Says Melissa has the wrong view of circumstances or she's in denial what really is behind her frustration. Says it's not fair the stuff Melissa has accused her family of and hopes one of Melissa's daughters never gets bullied the way she has. 

Julie is so full of shit! And it's so interesting (and not surprising) that she seems to exclusively focus in on Melissa having issues with her (that of course she doesn't understand why), when several people have called out her behavior and specifically actions relating to the speaking engagements sabotage. 

Melissa is better than me cause I would have pretended Julie wasn't there. 

[choclatechip45]

1 hour ago, Tatum said:

I guess, "what is the path towards healing" could have multiple meanings. I took it as Matt saying, how can the relationship heal (between Julie and Melissa, and Julie and Danny), because I don't really see what else needs to heal.

 

Danny and Melissa don't want to be friends with Julie, but that doesn't mean they lie awake at night, unable to get over what Julie did to them and nursing horrible grudges. The fact that they don't trust or like Julie doesn't really mean they are holding grudges. She was a nasty person back then and it appears she hasn't changed much, I can't blame them for not liking her and not wanting to be her friend. It's like Melissa said- she's drawing a boundary. She can be civil to Julie. She can live in the same house with her for 1-2 weeks and not start any confrontations. And honestly, Melissa talks like she's been in therapy, and I would bet she actually has forgiven Julie, if only to give herself some peace. But that doesn't mean she has to want to be friends with her. Julie isn't entitled to anyone's friendship.

 

So in my opinion, Matt was jumping in trying to solve a situation that had already been long resolved. It wasn't resolved the way Julie wanted it to be, but that's fine.  Whatever demons Melissa and Danny may have, Julie isn't one of them.

 

Wow, I had no idea.

That is a good point. I took it as him asking if Julie could do anything to improve the relationship or has the damage been permanently done and I was glad he asked it because Julie for whatever reason is so stuck on being friends again and would not end the conversation when Melissa and Danny tried to do it multiple times. 

I don't think Danny or Melissa think about Julie much. I was listening to an interview with Julie and it was brought up that the person had interviewed Melissa and the first question Julie asked was "did Melissa talk about me' and Mike Lewis goes you didn't come up. You could tell how disappointed Julie was that she didn't come up in Melissa's interview. 

1 hour ago, shantown said:

I know it probably just boils down to her being an idiot, but I'm so confused why Julie is so stuck on this "Will they be my friends??" thing. If there was any actual desire or sincerity there she would have reached out any time in the last 20 years, or in the weeks before they all gathered for the reunion, when she knew she'd for sure be seeing them again. She wants this happy narrative and cannot understand why they're all not just going along with it. 

Me too. I don't get it either which is why I didn't care that Matt interrupted because someone needed to get it through to her that they weren't going to be her friends again. 

[shantown]

29 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

Nothing was better than everyone absolutely ignoring Julie to go eat! And then when Tokyo went upstairs and she asked if anyone was talking about it/her and he replied "Nope", the look on her face was gold! Her storm off moment was ruined because no one cared.

I've never been on The Real World (a childhood dream, missed) so I don't know how I would feel about being thrown back into a situation living with former roommates decades later. But I would like to think I'd do exactly this - spend time catching up, sharing stories, and eating food in a fancy house on MTV's dime. It's nice that 6 of the roommates are making the best of this opportunity. (I realize this may be an overly optimistic view that could come crashing down as soon as episode 2.) 

[choclatechip45]

3 hours ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Hmm….

UO, but I have never liked Kelley.  There was something about her that made me want to punch her in her smug face, and I see nothing’s changed.  (Forces chubby fist to unclench)

Danny has lost a lot of weight!  I remember seeing him years ago and he was definitely chasing the fat man….correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t he HIV+?

Tokyo – Skadabadweeeeeeee-dee-dum!  Come On Be My Baby Tonight will always be legendary!

Matt looks the exact same, maybe now that he’s ‘in the club’ he’ll chill the feck out with the sex talk.

Oh well, I’m just here for Princess Melissa and her funny gems!  Speaking of which, I remember her first daughter, Shalom as such a cute baby….all three daughters are quite stunning.  I wonder if Shorty and Mercy are still alive.

Yes they are still alive! Melissa tweeted that she is the same age as they were when she did her original season. She also tweeted that she had to explain to Mercy this isn't on MTV and had to help them set up Paramount Plus (this was before the season aired).

[starri]

4 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

So I was happy Matt didn't speak for Melissa or Danny, but someone not Danny or Melissa (because the onus should not have been on them) needed to move that conversation forward so Julie would listen or they still might be on that couch today.

The problem is that it's not his damned place to nudge people towards "healing."

Neither Melissa nor Danny owe Julie a damned thing, and it's presumptive for him to insert himself like that.  If he'd said something like "Julie, shut the hell up" or "Why don't we table this," I'd have less of a problem with it, but he interjected in a way that read to me like the onus was on Melissa and Danny.

Danny and especially Melissa seem fine.  Plenty healed.  

 

[Keywestclubkid]

I only wrote “his” letter .. the face palm I did with how fucking clueless she was with trying to make herself the victim in this … 

[choclatechip45]

24 minutes ago, starri said:

The problem is that it's not his damned place to nudge people towards "healing."

Neither Melissa nor Danny owe Julie a damned thing, and it's presumptive for him to insert himself like that.  If he'd said something like "Julie, shut the hell up" or "Why don't we table this," I'd have less of a problem with it, but he interjected in a way that read to me like the onus was on Melissa and Danny.

Danny and especially Melissa seem fine.  Plenty healed.  

 

I didn't get the vibe Matt thought Danny or Melissa owed Julie anything. The issue was Danny/Melissa tried ending the conversation multiple times, but Julie kept continuing the conversation because she wanted Danny and Melissa to accept whatever she was selling and be friends again like nothing happened. I do agree the healing might have been the wrong choice of words, but someone needed to move that conversation. Speaking of Matt his body language when asked if he had talked to Julie was interesting. I got the sense the whole episode he didn't like Julie. 

On a side note I don't believe Julie ever called Melissa. I think Julie is pathological liar she has said in press that the reason no one from her cast likes her is because of Melissa and no one reached out to her before filming. Jamie has said he reached out to everyone besides Kelley before filming began. 

 

[Tatum]

6 minutes ago, choclatechip45 said:

I do agree the healing might have been the wrong choice of words, but someone needed to move that conversation.

His words did put the onus on Melissa and Danny to at least give Julie some kind of direction of what they wanted to hear from her, when they had already been quite clear.

 

How about, Julie, clearly Melissa and Danny do not believe you had nothing to do with these letters. I suspect no one in this room believes you had nothing to do with the letters. If you are going to keep denying any wrongdoing and reverting to straw man arguments (you're calling me racist?), you're going to be sitting here arguing with yourself for the rest of the evening, because the rest of us are going to go eat. I would have respected that.

[choclatechip45]

10 minutes ago, Tatum said:

His words did put the onus on Melissa and Danny to at least give Julie some kind of direction of what they wanted to hear from her, when they had already been quite clear.

 

How about, Julie, clearly Melissa and Danny do not believe you had nothing to do with these letters. I suspect no one in this room believes you had nothing to do with the letters. If you are going to keep denying any wrongdoing and reverting to straw man arguments (you're calling me racist?), you're going to be sitting here arguing with yourself for the rest of the evening, because the rest of us are going to go eat. I would have respected that.

Yes they were clear, but  Julie did not want to listen. Unfortunately, the only option Melissa and Danny had was to remove themselves from the group which I understand if they didn't want to give Julie that satisfaction. 

Sure that sounds better. I just don't get the vibe Matt was blaming Melissa or Danny for what happened. Matt seemed visibly annoyed at Julie the whole episode. 

I do think it is interesting that Matt has supposedly deleted his instagram which makes me wonder what happens down the road or he was just getting to many requests. 

[starri]

Kelley did a live video on her Instagram (Scott was present as well) where she talked a little more about things leading into the reunion and the episode itself.

The ONLY reason she eventually agreed to do the reunion was because Danny, after being very reluctant, decided that he ultimately wanted to do it, I guess in part to have it out with Julie, and perhaps also Matt, and she wanted to support him.  In 20+ years, he'd never actually told her the specifics of what Julie had done, so it was as big a surprise to her as it was to everyone else.  She ended up pulling him aside afterward and asking why he'd never said anything, and he told her it was because he was so hurt, he didn't want to give the story any power.

[Black Knight]

That explains it. I really was pretty surprised that Kelley came back. Not that she had as much bad blood as other cast members - in a vacuum I think she would have been pretty agreeable to doing the reunion, but I think she's mindful of her marriage. She and Wolf have made a Hollywood marriage work for nearly 20 years and one of the reasons is because neither of them say or do anything that would cause embarrassment to the other in the tabloids.

[starri]

47 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

She and Wolf have made a Hollywood marriage work for nearly 20 years

Nothing but respect for both them for that.

[choclatechip45]

2 hours ago, starri said:

Kelley did a live video on her Instagram (Scott was present as well) where she talked a little more about things leading into the reunion and the episode itself.

The ONLY reason she eventually agreed to do the reunion was because Danny, after being very reluctant, decided that he ultimately wanted to do it, I guess in part to have it out with Julie, and perhaps also Matt, and she wanted to support him.  In 20+ years, he'd never actually told her the specifics of what Julie had done, so it was as big a surprise to her as it was to everyone else.  She ended up pulling him aside afterward and asking why he'd never said anything, and he told her it was because he was so hurt, he didn't want to give the story any power.

I had a feeling that Danny was the reason Kelley did the show. It's been rumored they were all offered in the 6 figures to do the show.  

[Asp Burger]

Kelley's self-help book is called Finding Love Over Worry (FLOW). Does that mean that, 22 years after her famous scene with David, she does "understand flow"? 

People who understand FLOW will say "I heard every damn question up in that FLOW!" 

I want to read the book just so, when I'm choosing to find love over worry, I can say (in then-David's cadence), "I'm gonna have to FLOW it." 

[starri]

6 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

Kelley's self-help book is called Finding Love Over Worry (FLOW). Does that mean that, 22 years after her famous scene with David, she does "understand flow"? 

I just hope there's a chapter called "Come On, Be My Baby Tonight."

Interestingly, she also said in the video that even though she did have the blowup with Tokyo, for the most part, they bonded pretty well.  I think you can tell because she hugged him really enthusiastically.

[seltzer3]

13 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

I didn't get the vibe Matt thought Danny or Melissa owed Julie anything. The issue was Danny/Melissa tried ending the conversation multiple times, but Julie kept continuing the conversation because she wanted Danny and Melissa to accept whatever she was selling and be friends again like nothing happened. I do agree the healing might have been the wrong choice of words, but someone needed to move that conversation. Speaking of Matt his body language when asked if he had talked to Julie was interesting. I got the sense the whole episode he didn't like Julie. 

On a side note I don't believe Julie ever called Melissa. I think Julie is pathological liar she has said in press that the reason no one from her cast likes her is because of Melissa and no one reached out to her before filming. Jamie has said he reached out to everyone besides Kelley before filming began. 

 

Yeah, I wouldn't say Matt was doing this to side with Julie at all.  And it looks like he likes Danny/Melissa more.  I am curious what happened between Matt/Julie?  I thought Julie was super close to Matt and Melissa towards the end.  And it looks like Matt keeps in touch with Julie the least of the 7.

[choclatechip45]

1 hour ago, seltzer3 said:

Yeah, I wouldn't say Matt was doing this to side with Julie at all.  And it looks like he likes Danny/Melissa more.  I am curious what happened between Matt/Julie?  I thought Julie was super close to Matt and Melissa towards the end.  And it looks like Matt keeps in touch with Julie the least of the 7.

I rewatched the scene and the editing is a bit strange because you can clearly see Melissa respond to Julie about her calling Melissa but they cut to a confessional. I agree Matt should have used a better choice of words, but I think he jumped in to get Julie to apologize to both of them because after she basically doesn't give Melissa an apology Danny goes let's table this. 

I don't know if Matt has kept in touch with anyone. I know Jamie mentioned in an podcast that came out this week that he reached out to everyone besides Kelley before they left for filming. I know Danny has brought up how much he dislikes Matt (understandably so) on the podcasts he did during the summer of 2020. 

I remember back when The Gauntlet was airing and Matt wasn't getting along with Coral, Melissa wrote a blog post that she didn't dislike Matt and was tired of getting that question. That she thought his comment about breast implants was dumb, but she wasn't going to get involved with his beef with Coral.  She goes we don't agree on much when it comes to politics, abortion or what he said to Danny in the house, but he has always been nice to me and I don't dislike him. I remember her real issue was the editors making Coral look bad. 

Edited April 22, 2022 by choclatechip45

[Asp Burger]

Matt was always trying to be a voice of moderation when there was conflict in the original season (I just watched a rerun where he does it over something with the Real 7 show), so I thought he was on brand here. Nothing he said bothered me. Give it time, though.  

1 hour ago, seltzer3 said:

I thought Julie was super close to Matt and Melissa towards the end.  And it looks like Matt keeps in touch with Julie the least of the 7.

I think that was more a case of Julie trying to will them to be close. She was into Matt from literally the moment he walked in the door, but he always kind of kept her at arm's length, and she claimed to find that frustrating and hard to understand, since she thought she was ideal for him.

But they were both virgins from religious backgrounds, so they inevitably had a lot of conversations. In the book, when he's asked if they'll keep in touch, he says something like "How can I not? I'm sure she's going to."

Matt's most intense feeling on the New Orleans season seemed to be for David. And I don't mean anything sexual or romantic by that; it just seemed to be the individual relationship to which he gave the most effort. He tried so hard to be the one in the house David could talk to, and who tried to understand where David was coming from, and it hurt him when it didn't seem to count for anything with David.

Edited April 22, 2022 by Asp Burger

[choclatechip45]

Rewatching Matt tell everyone how many kids he has makes me think he watched RW LA Homecoming and saw how everyone asked Jon if he was still a virgin and wanted to get ahead of that question.

[Asp Burger]

Matt is pretty hardcore with classic Real World. In the 2001 reunion of the first nine casts, he was running from one person to another and gushing like a superfan at a convention. People like Eric Nies, Kevin Powell, Los Angeles Irene, and Seattle Stephen were like celebrities to him. So he probably did watch the earlier Homecoming seasons.

[shantown]

54 minutes ago, choclatechip45 said:

I know Jamie mentioned in an podcast that came out this week that he reached out to everyone besides Kelley before they left for filming.

Does anyone know why Jamie reached out to everyone except Kelley? It’s strange that he skipped calling just one person. Am I forgetting some major beef they had?

[Sister Havana]

Oh boy, Julie is going to bring the drama all this season, isn't she?

I gained a lot more respect for David/Tokyo in this episode than I had during his original season. I liked how he handled that conversation with Julie. (And I loved "Come On Be My Baby Tonight" as part of the show intro!)

Matt looks like he hasn't aged a day since he was on the show. Melissa is absolutely stunning now.

[choclatechip45]

48 minutes ago, shantown said:

Does anyone know why Jamie reached out to everyone except Kelley? It’s strange that he skipped calling just one person. Am I forgetting some major beef they had?

It sounded like he couldn't remember if he had messaged her on Facebook or not. No beef. Just that he was contacting everyone to see if they were doing the show or not. He lives a few blocks from Tokyo in Chicago so they have run into each other over the past couple of years.