The reality star opens up about what she really thinks of the girls' past racially insensitive actions and remarks.
Lisa Vanderpump is opening up about what she really thinks of Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute's firing from Vanderpump Rules.
The 60-year-old reality star was a guest on Dear Media's podcast The Skinny Confidential Him & Her on Monday, where she addressed the backlash the ladies have received, and what she thinks of their past racially insensitive actions and remarks.
"It wasn't right what they did at all. But do I think they're racist a thousand percent? No, because I have a lot of diverse people working for me that they were very close to over the years," Vanderpump explained. "So do I think it was a racist action? Not at all. I think it was just awful timing and stupid and ignorant. It is what it is."
"I don't like this cancel culture either," she continued. "Of course, I do think, sometimes people should be punished and they should be punitive, reciprocate, ramifications.... but I think people can grow from their mistakes. I really do. And I think reality television is quite a good place to learn."
Vanderpump added that she thinks there was also "a little lack of awareness" with Schroeder.
"I think she lived in her own bubble," she said. "And again, I think Bravo did what they had to do at the time. I think everything was so inflamed at that time, but it was an accumulation of things she'd done as well. It wasn't just one remark."
ET reported last June that Schroeder and Doute had been fired from the Bravo franchise after past racist actions against former co-star Faith Stowers resurfaced. Bravo and Evolution Media confirmed in a statement to ET at the time that Schroeder and Doute, along with Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni, would not be returning to Vanderpump Rules.
The fallout came just days after Stowers recalled a 2018 incident involving Schroeder and Doute during an Instagram Live session. "There was this article on Daily Mail where there was an African American lady. It was a weird photo, so she looked very light-skinned and had these different, weird tattoos," Stowers said. "They showcased her, and I guess this woman was robbing people. And they called the cops and said it was me."
Doute spoke out in June, saying on the Hollywood Raw podcast with Dax Holt and Adam Glyn that she was "trying to learn more and do better, be better."
"Bottom line is I'm a fixer and I think everyone kind of knows that about me," she said. "I am a troubleshooter, I want to right the wrong, I want to make things better."
"I think the biggest thing that I've learned is that I have so much to learn. I know that's super cliché and a lot of people say that but it’s absolutely true," she continued. "I thought that I understood racism but now I'm really learning about unconscious bias. Learning about anti-racism. Learning about how we can do things locally to really, truly make changes and putting work into your community locally to make those changes. I think that's so important for everyone to do."
Three months later, Schroeder finally broke her silence on the fallout during a virtual appearance on the Tamron Hall show. Asked why she decided to wait so long to speak out, Schroeder admitted to Hall that she "needed time to process" her feelings, and "what happened."
"I feel like one of the most frustrating parts when this all went down was that people expected me to just understand everything immediately," she said. "Things like that take time. I felt like it would be better for me to take the time to get a greater understanding of everything and the issues before I opened my mouth again."
Hear more in the video below.
RELATED CONTENT:
