S07.E07: Girls' Night In

[Jel]

7 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

I don't disagree that Katie (or any of these people) is being hypocritical* in her "words hurt" campaign because, yeah, they have all been assholes in that very same way, it seems. My--now belabored--issue (or one of them; the other is how crazy it is to claim that employers don't care what kind of language is used in their establishments or that they label people who don't like being insulted as "weak," hahahaha!) is that this was officially brought into an HR kind of scenario, and that's why action is expected--not because it's more egregious for James to verbally attack Katie than it is for Katie to do it to someone else; it's the same egregiousness but if no one reports, management doesn't need to address it. Same with lots of nonsense shit that goes on in workplaces**...or life. 

* Also, while this is not likely the case for Katie, there are people who realize that their behavior is rotten and decide to stop it and/or treat it as such when they see it done by others. 
** I am so thinking of my early 20s working in a giant "superstore" bookseller; our managers/HR would have been working overtime to address similar issues--most of them perfectly valid!-- if we'd bothered to report them (or been smart enough then to know they were inappropriate!). Haha, despite that, though, now that job seems fun, as I recall it in hindsight from a desk in an ice-cold corporate office that took me an hour and a half to get to this morning!

Sorry about talking around your main issue on this, TattleTeeny -- I did get what you meant, but I meandered.  Someone else brought up something about the need to report in another thread (in reply to me) and I meant to say the HR thing is a fair point, so I'll say that now to both of you.

It's unfortunate that the torch bearers here have to be Katie and LVP -- two women who have done very little to de-mean words on my tv, and Katie "You're a whore" Mahoney as the person who draws the line at cruel words is very messy indeed, but, oh well, this is what we have. 

As the boss, Lisa did have to address it.  That's like a technicality though -- hurtful words are uttered, those that are reported get dealt with and those that don't get reported are ignored? tolerated? (I feel confident Lisa watches the show.) Blah.  I think she had options other than firing James, but she chose that one. I think it was the wrong choice.  I felt by firing him she did that thing that is really sticking in my craw these days -- the intolerance of intolerance, the shaming of the shamers, the shouting at the shouters, etc.  This just can't be the best we can do on the road to our awakening. 

I also get the "weakness" argument, too, though.  I think there are still people in the world who are that way, and sadly, I don't think they ever get shamed into a change of mind. The world is full of assholes -- sometimes you get an unwoke boss-- it's probably better to develop the skills required to deal with difficult and people, rather than wait for someone to do it for you.  That's just pure pragmatism on my part.  Most bosses aren't going to come out and say the person who reported someone's cruel words is weak, but some might think it.  

Kids, arm yourself with critical thinking skills so you can debate things civilly and show up (vs. call out or shame) assholism when you see it. (Win those arguments!) We're living in weird, assholey internet times, but open and civil debate has brought us a very long way, and sometimes I think people forget that.

I've meandered again, TattleTeeny... drinks are on me!

[TattleTeeny]

Oh, no worries at all, @Jel! I'm pickin' up what you're layin' down!

[HunterHunted]

22 hours ago, JenE4 said:

Billie is a fame whore. There are probably a couple dozen other girls who work at SUR who were not “billed” on the flyer. We saw two girls standing at the hostess stand. We’ve had Faith and Laura-Leigh and Rachel maybe her name was (long dark hair) who have all been “supporting characters” who worked at SUR who would have never made the billing on a SUR-star-studded event because they are not stars of the show. Hell, Peter has been “on the show” since day 1 and is still not a star of the show! It took YEARS for Schwartz to make it even since he didn’t work there! Billie, stop trying to make yourself happen. You didn’t “earn” your spot at the event—has nothing to do with your gender.

You do realize that many of your examples of secondary or supporting cast undercut your argument that Billie stands out because she's a fame whore. Laura-Leigh was a working actress who got dragged into/created the messy tone of the show by dating Jax. I think she also served as a warning to others who legitimately wanted a career outside of reality tv to watch their behavior in front of the cameras. Rachael and Peter still want to make it as a comedian and director respectively. However, Peter has become a minority partner in a hair care company, so I'm thinking he's slowly starting to understand that the director thing may not happen for him.

However, Schwartz is another story. Stassi, Katie, and Kristen revealed in that behind the scenes special on season 1 that they were so continuously unrepentantly nasty to Scheana for years because they were trying to bully her into quitting the show because they thought Schwartz should be a full castmember. He doesn't really get to be classified as someone who was fine waiting to be organically promoted to full cast when that wasn't what was happening behind the scenes.

And I don't know if you could come up with a thirstier fame whore in that cast than Faith, except for James and Lala. Both Faith and Lala, after seeing how James fucked his way into the cast, went about their own efforts to do the same by being flirty, fucking, or being sexually provocative in order to elevate themselves from supporting to full cast. Faith and Lala were constantly naked. Faith began sleeping with Max. Lala continued to flirt outrageously with James, Jax, and Schwartz, which was such bullshit because she had no intention of sealing the deal with any of these dopes because she was off and on with football player Hayes Pullard at that time. She was not letting any of these busters near her nethers.

There was the incident in season 4 when Lauren slept with James right before Pride. Lala being a messy thirsty fame whore tells Lauren's off and on boyfriend (at that time, they were off) that Lauren slept with James. Lauren tries to avoid having an argument in the restaurant and on camera, which Lala thinks is bullshit and drags Lauren's ex to Lauren. Lala threatens to beat Lauren's ass for sleeping with "the guy she (Lala) was making music with." It was hilarious how she couldn't pretend she was actually sexually interested in James even in that moment. Gawd, what kind of sociopath comes between the sanctity of the deep commitment of a musical collaboration. This is not a thing ya thirsty heifer.

The one episode of sex between Lala and James only occurred when she was blackout drunk. Make of that what you will.

Even after being dropped from the show, Faith still found a way to fuck Jax and record him saying shitty things about Brittany. I'm pretty sure she was hoping that it would be the thing that brought her back on to the show on a more permanent basis. It didn't. She has since decamped to MTV for Ex on the Beach and the Challenge.

Additionally, we saw the great James cheating scandal 2 seasons ago when James was dating Raquel, but cheating on her with Ellie and GG. Ellie was the one who took that post-coitus futon mattress on the floor behind the Pier 1 screen selfie. GG is the SURver who slept with James while he was with Raquel, showed up at his gig, confronted him and Raquel, and slapped James.

Billie is annoying and thirsty. My biggest irritation with her is that she often belabors her point and undermines her valid points by not letting shit go. But she is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar from the thirstiest person to ever be on this show.

[JenE4]

1 hour ago, HunterHunted said:

You do realize that many of your examples of secondary or supporting cast undercut your argument that Billie stands out because she's a fame whore. Laura-Leigh was a working actress who got dragged into/created the messy tone of the show by dating Jax. I think she also served as a warning to others who legitimately wanted a career outside of reality tv to watch their behavior in front of the cameras. Rachael and Peter still want to make it as a comedian and director respectively. However, Peter has become a minority partner in a hair care company, so I'm thinking he's slowly starting to understand that the director thing may not happen for him.

However, Schwartz is another story. Stassi, Katie, and Kristen revealed in that behind the scenes special on season 1 that they were so continuously unrepentantly nasty to Scheana for years because they were trying to bully her into quitting the show because they thought Schwartz should be a full castmember. He doesn't really get to be classified as someone who was fine waiting to be organically promoted to full cast when that wasn't what was happening behind the scenes.

And I don't know if you could come up with a thirstier fame whore in that cast than Faith, except for James and Lala. Both Faith and Lala, after seeing how James fucked his way into the cast, went about their own efforts to do the same by being flirty, fucking, or being sexually provocative in order to elevate themselves from supporting to full cast. Faith and Lala were constantly naked. Faith began sleeping with Max. Lala continued to flirt outrageously with James, Jax, and Schwartz, which was such bullshit because she had no intention of sealing the deal with any of these dopes because she was off and on with football player Hayes Pullard at that time. She was not letting any of these busters near her nethers.

There was the incident in season 4 when Lauren slept with James right before Pride. Lala being a messy thirsty fame whore tells Lauren's off and on boyfriend (at that time, they were off) that Lauren slept with James. Lauren tries to avoid having an argument in the restaurant and on camera, which Lala thinks is bullshit and drags Lauren's ex to Lauren. Lala threatens to beat Lauren's ass for sleeping with "the guy she (Lala) was making music with." It was hilarious how she couldn't pretend she was actually sexually interested in James even in that moment. Gawd, what kind of sociopath comes between the sanctity of the deep commitment of a musical collaboration. This is not a thing ya thirsty heifer.

The one episode of sex between Lala and James only occurred when she was blackout drunk. Make of that what you will.

Even after being dropped from the show, Faith still found a way to fuck Jax and record him saying shitty things about Brittany. I'm pretty sure she was hoping that it would be the thing that brought her back on to the show on a more permanent basis. It didn't. She has since decamped to MTV for Ex on the Beach and the Challenge.

Additionally, we saw the great James cheating scandal 2 seasons ago when James was dating Raquel, but cheating on her with Ellie and GG. Ellie was the one who took that post-coitus futon mattress on the floor behind the Pier 1 screen selfie. GG is the SURver who slept with James while he was with Raquel, showed up at his gig, confronted him and Raquel, and slapped James.

Billie is annoying and thirsty. My biggest irritation with her is that she often belabors her point and undermines her valid points by not letting shit go. But she is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar from the thirstiest person to ever be on this show.

I was talking about her nerve thinking she should be billed on the flyer as if she’s a star of the show. My point was that none of those other people would have been billed in a star-studded event. However, my kids were being loud at the beginning of the show so I missed the whole brunch part (and Stassi’s day thing), too, so I am shocked to read here that somehow Billie had a brunch event that people paid money to have brunch specifically with her? So I guess somehow she leveraged a “star power” place—or just made it for herself. 

[vmarsissmart]

On 1/23/2019 at 2:12 PM, Drogo said:

Katie is very sensitive and anyone who can't understand that (and work around those sensitivities quietly) probably shouldn't work at SUR.  Because she won't tolerate it.

When Billie Lee walked into "Girls Night In," Katie legitimately glared at her as if she had some nerve being at her own workplace on a night she was scheduled to work.

I would be sensitive as fuck if I had the number of followers that each of these girls have and someone starts to trash my character and call/imply and/or validate the idea that I was transphobic.  

Billie also walked over to Kristen and Katie as if "How dare you come to MY Brunch" . They wanted brunch, they probably get an employee discount and goat cheese balls.  They may have gone in just to piss Billie off too.  She could have ignored them and let them just eat but she knows her job is to create drama and that's what she did.  The line does get crossed when you help label a cast member as transphobic on their social media site though.  That's a shitty thing to do.  

[glowbug]

On 1/24/2019 at 6:37 PM, vmarsissmart said:

I would be sensitive as fuck if I had the number of followers that each of these girls have and someone starts to trash my character and call/imply and/or validate the idea that I was transphobic.  

Billie also walked over to Kristen and Katie as if "How dare you come to MY Brunch" . They wanted brunch, they probably get an employee discount and goat cheese balls.  They may have gone in just to piss Billie off too.  She could have ignored them and let them just eat but she knows her job is to create drama and that's what she did.  The line does get crossed when you help label a cast member as transphobic on their social media site though.  That's a shitty thing to do.  

Kristen and Katie showed up to that brunch because there was a call sheet that told them to show up there for filming. They can’t say that because it’s breaking the 4th wall but that’s why they showed up. Just like Ariana explained by tweet last week that both Toms showed up to TomTom because production told them to, not because they were disobeying orders. They know to play along though just like Kristen and Katie. 

Billie’s outburst was either for camera time or because she’s seriously off her rocker (probably a bit of both). She knows Kristen is one of Katie’s best friends so Katie is not going to include her in the planning of any party. She was slated to work on Girls' Night so she was going to be there (it's not like Katie asked that Billie be taken off the schedule or not work that night because that could be taken as transphobic and would at least warrant some sort of explanation beforehand). Ariana, who was actually Billie's friend, was supposed to tell Billie about it so it wasn't like something they were purposefully keeping from her either. Billie was not the only female employee not invited to the planning. Raquel works at SUR now and wasn’t included nor were many other female employees who aren’t cast members. Billie isn’t a cast member and even if she was she isn’t friends with Katie. At this point all of the main cast members are getting along with the exception of Schaena (and Katie isn't openly feuding with her) so they were invited. The fact that Billie made it about something it so obviously wasn’t and then added in the fat shaming was awful. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by glowbug
For clarity and grammar/typos.

[vmarsissmart]

3 minutes ago, glowbug said:

Kristen and Katie showed up to that brunch because there was a call sheet that told them to show up there for filming. They can’t say that because it’s breaking the 4th wall but that’s why they showed up. Just like Ariana explained by tweet last week that both Toms showed up to TomTom because production to them to not because they were disobeying orders. They know to play along though just like Kristen and Katie. 

Billie’s outburst was either for camera time or because she’s seriously off her rocker (probably a bit of both). She knows Kristen is one of Katie’s best friends so Katie is not going to include her in the planning. She was slated to work that night so she was going to be there and Ariana was supposed to personally tell her about it because she’s actually friends with her. Billie was not the only female employee not invited to the planning. Raquel works as SUR now and wasn’t included as do many other female employees who aren’t cast members. Billie isn’t a cast member and even if she was she and isn’t friends with Katie. At this point all the main cast members are getting along with the exception of Schaena and they aren’t openly feuding with her so they were invited. The fact that Billie made it about something it so obviously wasn’t and then added in the fat shaming was awful. 

I know they showed up to film because they are called to.  It's also Brunch with Billie because it makes Lisa look good and supportive.  Everything is a story, everything is manipulated.   The cast does put their real lives out on their social media as anyone else would. Billie knew what she was doing and the shit storm she would create for filming, just like the producers knew they would be able to manipulate it.  It's just a shitty thing to do to someone.  I'd rather have Billie call Katie out for that during filming for the show rather than where their real lives intersect with their show lives.  It's a slippery slope.  They know what they signed up for.  The thirst is real.  Blah blah blah fishcakes.  ymmv. 

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, JenE4 said:

I was talking about her nerve thinking she should be billed on the flyer as if she’s a star of the show. My point was that none of those other people would have been billed in a star-studded event. However, my kids were being loud at the beginning of the show so I missed the whole brunch part (and Stassi’s day thing), too, so I am shocked to read here that somehow Billie had a brunch event that people paid money to have brunch specifically with her? So I guess somehow she leveraged a “star power” place—or just made it for herself. 

Billie is a regular host of the brunches at SUR, which features different DJs, some of the cast, and other staffers of SUR. This is in contrast to Katie's jank ass event that never happened again. And the DJ Katie found? He's the other SUR DJ who alternates with James.

Yeah, I think Billie is full of herself, but her position in the cast is actually important enough to highlight her. Billie is the first out queer person in this cast. She's the first to have her own storylines and talking heads. We've had queer friends who were basically no better than hangers on as far as the show's narrative was concerned. We've seen Jesse Montana, Logan, Richardson, John from Miami, and Kristen's gay trainer, Trevor, who drove her home from Scheana's wedding when James was being a massive dick. If your reaction to any of these names is "who" or "oh, yeah" that's my point exactly. Have we ever really gotten a good sense of any of them? This show centers around a group of friends and coworkers who live and work in West Hollywood. There is always one episode a season devoted to the Pride parade in that community. This is a show where the only people of color are Peter, Scheana, Sandoval, Tina, Faith, Richardson, and Jesse and there's a whole lotta "who?" in that list. This show has done a very poor job of representing the community around them.

So yeah, Billie is a bit of a jumped supporting cast member, but there's also a very solid argument for why Katie and the others should have worked a little harder to try to include Billie or at least have been slightly contrite when they realized why she was upset.

Edited January 25, 2019 by HunterHunted

[Drogo]

Did Billie Lee actually call anyone transphobic? I thought she just expressed her disappointment about being left out, paired with a #TransIsBeautiful h-tag.

[biakbiak]

9 minutes ago, Drogo said:

Did Billie Lee actually call anyone transphobic? I thought she just expressed her disappointment about being left out, paired with a #TransIsBeautiful h-tag.

She did a series of tweets before the event that were more than just disappointment and she liked and retweeted a bunch of posts calling them transphobic and even deleted several tweets when people called her out on it being passive aggressive. All of this went down before the actual event. I am not sure if the links still work but I believe there are screenshots of some of the twitter threads around here.

Edited January 25, 2019 by biakbiak

[RHJunkie]

17 hours ago, JenE4 said:

I was talking about her nerve thinking she should be billed on the flyer as if she’s a star of the show. My point was that none of those other people would have been billed in a star-studded event. However, my kids were being loud at the beginning of the show so I missed the whole brunch part (and Stassi’s day thing), too, so I am shocked to read here that somehow Billie had a brunch event that people paid money to have brunch specifically with her? So I guess somehow she leveraged a “star power” place—or just made it for herself. 

They don't come to have brunch with her. She just took on the responsibility of being the regular host of the brunch event which means committing to that schedule. I'm not sure how far her organizing authority extends. Given the popularity of the show and how much of a tourist spot the place has become, it seems like good business from the Vanderpumps to allow the cast members to host events and attach their name to it. Billie is not well known enough on this show yet to have the draw but if the intent is to give her as much of a chance to succeed on the show and bring her on as a regular cast member, then things like this are a good way to give her camera time.

[heatherchandler]

On 1/23/2019 at 2:56 PM, Neveragain said:

 

and I’m sorry but where do her looks go?  She used to be quite beautiful.  Is it the dark hair? Is it being engaged and not trying any more?  Something’s off 

Something about the brown hair is making her eyes look smaller and too close together, I think.

 

On 1/23/2019 at 3:09 PM, teapot said:

I heard somewhere (can't remember where) that they're supposed to give off the illusion of still living the life of a server, so they couldn't have these mansions or anything

Also - they just recently started to make real money.  The first season, they made like $5,000 total. per castmember  Then not much more for the second and third.  There are some lawsuit documents out there somewhere which details how very little they all were making.

 

23 hours ago, gritz said:

Unless one is a nudist, isn't every day technically an "outfit of the day", day?

Not only is Scheana never having orgasmed until Rob a diss on Shay, it's also a burn on Eddie Cibrian.

Billie's little Dutch boy wig is fug. Also, she's an entitled bitch.

 

HA!  Yes - burn on Eddie Cibrian!  Although, I am sure he doesn't care - then or now.

Billie's wig is BAD.  Really bad.  And yes she really is.

[ghoulina]

14 minutes ago, heatherchandler said:

Something about the brown hair is making her eyes look smaller and too close together, I think.

She often, also tones down her makeup with the dark hair. Now, normally, I think she looks great with less makeup. But, in this case, I think it makes her look washed out and sickly. Lighter hair/less makeup. That's the look that works for LaLa. 

[IDreamofJoaquin]

Has Scheana never masturbated?  I get some women can't achieve orgasm it just seems like having friends like Ariana and Lala Scheana would be open to women talking about pleasuring themselves and using sex toys. 

 

Billie reminded me of one of those people who has to turn it into something it is not and just makes others annoyed or not want to listen.  She did not handle herself well the entire episode in conversation and body language.  She is ruining it for others - not standing up for what is right. 

[hatchetgirl]

On 1/24/2019 at 7:47 PM, HunterHunted said:

Peter, Scheana, Sandoval

Wait, these are people of color?  I guess i'm out of the loop then because i thought they were all white or white washed or my poc meter is terrible. 

Lala needs to do a little more with her eyes because she ends up looking like she has tiny piggie eyes. 

[Teri313]

On ‎1‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 11:12 PM, Chalby said:

Scheana carries such a heavy karmic-debt load. Has anyone else noticed that whenever she's moved on from a person, beau, activity, etc. she attempts to distance herself but ruthlessly dissing it, sharing TMI, and she's oblivious to how stupid she sounds. While married to Shay, they were SO IN LOVE, and everyday was like when they were first dating...  Afterwards, everything was horrible and she never really loved him.  Rob was the "best boyfriend in the world" and they are "talking marriage" and he can please her is so many ways....  Afterwords, he wasn't up front with his feelings, and began to pull away because of the group's toxicity...  NOW - she's "faked every orgasm for ten years". I am sorry, but if that IS the case, you have NO ONE else to blame but yourself so quit putting it out there.  Why does she always go to the extreme?

It really pissed me off the way she took such nasty swipes at Shay after they split up. The crap she would say about him on national TV, insulting his penis size and talking about how much bigger and better Rob was was disgusting. Shay wasn't a mean person. He was a broken person, and she was the worse type of person for him to marry. It was always about her. He was just a prop for her. At the wedding, she would say things like, thank you for coming to MY wedding, with  him standing right next to her! She's a narcissistic asshole and that's why she will probably never succeed in a relationship.

[Teri313]

I haven't read this whole post yet (I just caught up on the show), so forgive me if it's already been discussed, but ... I can't believe what a shit show infomercial this has become for all of their "businesses." Tom-Tom, James.Mae, MawMaw's Beer Cheese, Stassi's whatever-it-is, I have no idea, Katie's Pucker and Pout and Girls' Night In, Billy's brunch thing, James' DJing, a couple of show nobodies plugging The Bachelor - am I forgetting anybody? It's obviously been building over time, but now we're getting hit full-on with it. I feel like kind of an asshole for watching.

[HunterHunted]

On 1/26/2019 at 2:36 PM, hatchetgirl said:

Wait, these are people of color?  I guess i'm out of the loop then because i thought they were all white or white washed or my poc meter is terrible. 

They all have one parent who has partial Latin American heritage. However, they're all perceived as white and rarely talk about their ethnic heritage. I don't even know if they'd self identify as a person of color. Thankfully they aren't as dumb as Luanne de Lesseps of RHoNY and don't regularly make racist jokes about their heritage.

That's sort of my point about the really poor representation on this show. There are cast members who are unambiguously people of color, but are essentially background and extras. They rarely even get to say something on camera. Then there are our cast members with partial minority heritage. They get to say a ton on camera, but rarely talk about their ethnic heritage. True most of the other cast doesn't either, but Stassi has a number of times.

Additionally being part of the queer community plays a very big part of the narrative of the show, except when it comes to actually letting queer people in the cast express themselves on the show. The show has done an absolutely abysmal job of letting members of the community speak about themselves and even their own dumb screwed up lives that aren't that dissimilar to their straight friends and coworkers.

The Abbey is not too far away from Lisa's palaces of mediocrity. The Abbey is still one of the most notable gay bars/lounges in America. While I think we can all admit that "What Happens at the Abbey" was an enormous reality tv failure, the most notable thing about the show is they managed to have a cast that featured people of color and multiple queer men and women. It also never smacked of LVP's bullshit and paternalism.

If Vanderpump Rules had any actual real interest in queer people, they'd give Billie (or another queer person) the A-plot of an episode to showcase what she's doing and let her share her story. Like many other trans women, she did have to turn to sex work to be able to afford her hormone treatments. It's only a weird bit of confluences brought Billie Lee into actress Leighton Meester's orbit. Billie became Leighton's hairstylist and makeup artist.  Leighton actually paid for Billie's reassignment surgery. But as it stands, this show only seems to be interested in queer people as window dressing and nothing more.

6 hours ago, Teri313 said:

I can't believe what a shit show infomercial this has become for all of their "businesses." Tom-Tom, James.Mae, MawMaw's Beer Cheese, Stassi's whatever-it-is, I have no idea, Katie's Pucker and Pout and Girls' Night In, Billy's brunch thing, James' DJing, a couple of show nobodies plugging The Bachelor - am I forgetting anybody? It's obviously been building over time, but now we're getting hit full-on with it. I feel like kind of an asshole for watching.

This spin-off as always been about promoting businesses, mostly LVP's. Producers saw Villa Blanca and wanted to set it there. LVP suggested SUR. Next she opened Pump and we saw a lot of footage of her opening that space. Most of these promotions are explicitly connected to LVP and her businesses: Tom Tom (which LVP owns 90%), Girl's Night In (at SUR), Brunch with Billie Lee (at SUR), and See U Next Tuesday with DJ James Kennedy (at SUR).

Kristen started James.Mae in season 4 and it's been underperforming and unrealized since then. Katie hasn't updated Pucker and Pout for 8 months. MawMaw's beer cheese is a new venture. Stassi is one of the few who has been working on projects that directly benefit herself. However, even her Outfit of the Day launch was at Pump. But if you see people promoting things on this show, most of the time the project only, mostly, or directly benefits LVP over anyone else in the cast.

[DrSparkles]

17 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

If Vanderpump Rules had any actual real interest in queer people, they'd give Billie (or another queer person) the A-plot of an episode to showcase what she's doing and let her share her story. Like many other trans women, she did have to turn to sex work to be able to afford her hormone treatments. It's only a weird bit of confluences brought Billie Lee into actress Leighton Meester's orbit. Billie became Leighton's hairstylist and makeup artist.  Leighton actually paid for Billie's reassignment surgery. But as it stands, this show only seems to be interested in queer people as window dressing and nothing more.

Fascinating!! TYVM!!!

[ninjago]

On 1/25/2019 at 1:37 PM, heatherchandler said:

Something about the brown hair is making her eyes look smaller and too close together, I think.

Both Lala and Scheana have too many under eye fillers.  In an attempt to get rid of bags/sunken eyes that come as we age, they have put so much filler under their eyes their bottom eyelids are being pushed up and their eyes have become narrower and more slanted, almost "asiatic".  Nicole Kidman, Courtney Cox, Meg Ryan, and Madonna are all high profile examples of woman who overdid the undereye fillers and started to look like Waylon Flowers' puppet Madam.

It's funny because when they were doing their acting class I thought, "These women are so unnatural looking they could only be cast as themselves.  No normal people look like this."

[hoodooznoodooz]

On 1/23/2019 at 4:07 AM, HunterHunted said:

I found the menu. It's not next level basic, but just boring basic. 

http://surrestaurant.com/brunch-menu/

One of the things that has been hilariously true about the reviews of all of Lisa's restaurants is that the best reviews have said the food was mediocre and the worst say that the food is pretty bad.

https://thebitchywitches.com/2017/11/30/the-best-bad-reviews-of-lisa-vanderpumps-restaurant-sur/

https://jezebel.com/i-cant-get-over-how-bad-it-was-a-lisa-vanderpump-resta-1688222144

https://www.eater.com/2018/12/17/18145386/vanderpump-rules-best-bad-tv-show-guilty-pleasure

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2016/11/131137/vanderpump-rules-sur-restaurant-la-visit

The Betches liked the food more than most

https://betches.com/are-lisa-vanderpumps-restaurants-actually-good-i-went-to-all-four/

Thank you for posting these links. The reviews are funny. The restaurants indeed seem so mediocre. How did Lisa and Ken build their empire opening restaurants that serve overpriced frozen food and cocktails with a disturbing aftertaste?

[hatchetgirl]

On 1/27/2019 at 2:48 PM, HunterHunted said:

They all have one parent who has partial Latin American heritage. However, they're all perceived as white and rarely talk about their ethnic heritage. I don't even know if they'd self identify as a person of color. Thankfully they aren't as dumb as Luanne de Lesseps of RHoNY and don't regularly make racist jokes about their heritage

Ah! Thank you.  I'm half Mexican and i look like a northern Irish gal with pasty  skin, blue eyes and black hair but i talk about my path often. Being raised to be embarrassed about my Mexican side by a racist mom causes me to feel like a fraud but dang it, i am who i am and i won't continue the life of embarrassed. I never knew those characters had that background and it's disappointing that they haven't discussed it.  I do not like that they have so little representation of poc and lgbtq+ considering where they are located. The chefs get their little tags here and there for entertainment and honestly, it seems the same for lgbtq+ - look at kevin lee and that guy james would hang it with. They can have catch phrases as long as we can laugh but they won't ever be a cast member or a friend of. 

As for Billie Lee, my older sister is transgendered. She began the process in the 80's and she dealt with so much hell. She's a pilot and at one point, the mechanics beat the crap out of her and she was let go from an excellent job. I'm a huge outspoken alliy,  but i don't groove on the transphobic thing Billie has made this into. It cheapens her and the other ladies. 

[ShawnaLanne]

My daughter is trans. She's 12 and I've just let her start going to school as a girl it's terrifying, but so far her schoolmates are being okay about it. So I'm kind of hungry for any Trans representation in the media.

Billie, I felt undermined her position. It seemed to me she was left off because she had beef with the other women about James, not because they don't see her as a woman. And then she really undermined herself with her catty remarks about Katie being able to put down her fork to lose weight and throwing in that she could use the Trans card if Katie could use the fat card. That wasn't what Katie appeared to be doing with James, he has a real problem with respecting women, which clearly goes back to mommy issues. Anyhow, it had become toxic and was getting worse. Billie saying she was going to use the Trans card, cheapened her stance, and cheapened her message.