Where does Bravo go from here?

When WritersCafe approached me earlier this month to write an accompanying article to the black lives matter poem we released to raise money for bail organisations in the USA, I spent a long time thinking about how to write an article that shows and articulates how racial inequality is so deeply ingrained into our society that we often just accept that it happens. I had a lightbulb moment a few days later when the whole Vanderpump Rules saga came to light, something I shall discuss in greater depth later on. The Bravo TV universe is my guilty pleasure, I’m an avid fan of the housewives franchise and all the shows that surround it, including the almost entirely white casts of Vanderpump Rules, Southern Charm and Summer House. However, it undoubtedly has undertones of racism that up until now we have ignored. It’s time we address this.

 

Where do I start? Well for anyone who doesn’t know, Bravo TV is the world’s most popular reality TV network, home to shows such as Real Housewives, and Below Deck. Some of the most successful reality shows in history, that for the past 15 years have kept millions of fans glued to their screens. However, it is rife with stars that shouldn’t be on TV, and has a lack of people that need to be getting exposure. So, it begs the question, why do we keep making racist people famous? Before I go any further, I’d like to say that this is fully backed up by statistics and evidence, we are not simply calling people out erratically for remarks that have been made.

 

I guess we should begin by addressing Vanderpump Rules, this is one of the most masterful reality TV shows of all time, and one of the most successful, however, across 8 seasons and 30 cast members, has only ever had one black person on the cast, and one LGBT cast member, this is not including Ariana Madix, you may be thinking, what if there isn’t any people in the area to cast on the show, or what If they don’t test well on screen? Well I’m here to tell you this, Vanderpump Rules is set in WeHo, the most diverse district of Los Angles and Hollywood, so ask yourself again, why is there not a diverse cast to reflect this? Lisa Vanderpump (LVP), ex-RHOBH cast member and executive producer of Vanderpump Rules is the answer to this, whilst she has never, to our knowledge, explicitly been racist, she said she was ‘deeply saddened’ over the recent Vanderpump Rules firings of Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens & Brett Caprioni, all of whom were fired for racist remarks they have made over the period of their careers, which says everything it needs to, LVP shows no remorse for those that have been affected by the remarks made. This begs the question, where the hell does Vanderpump Rules go from here? Is it even salvageable? Fans have called for the firings of Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright after the events of last season in which they hired a homophobic pastor to officiate their wedding, on top of this, Jax has made racially insensitive comments in the past. By firing Stassi, Kristen, Max, Brett, Jax and Brittany the cast would be opening up space to have more black and LGBT cast members, however, with all the turmoil surrounding the show, many have called for it to be axed, something which I don’t believe should happen, Bravo TV should re-cast surrounding a more diverse cast, showing growth from the network and LVP.

 

I also wanted to discuss Southern Charm. Southern Charm is set in Charleston, with two spinoff shows, Southern Charm: New Orleans and Southern Charm: Savannah, Charleston is an old plantation town, and many of the cast members still reside on the old slave plantations that have been in their families for hundreds of years, most notably Thomas Ravenel, who ran for senate, and was later arrested on drug charges. Why do we keep making people like this famous? Why is there an entire reality show that is filmed on old slave plantations? Well, firstly, people will always live on these plantations, they’re a part of history that we cannot forget happened, however on an entirely white cast in an area full of rich black history is questionable. This is something often raised to the front of conversations by fans of these shows, why keep your casts segregated into black and white? Culture is diverse and that has to be reflected on shows such as Southern Charm. This is something that was addressed in the casting of Southern Charm: New Orleans, by creating a diverse cast.

 

This leads me into the topic of Real Housewives. Undeniably the most successful reality TV franchise worldwide pulling in millions of viewers each year across the globe. However, it also has some of the largest racial issues on Bravo TV. I’d like to begin by discussing segregation within Real Housewives. Real Housewives of Potomac, and Real Housewives of Atlanta have entirely black casts, both of which are some of the most popular housewives series. However, Orange County, New York City, New Jersey and Dallas have not once had a black cast member, this is across a collective of 40 seasons and 61 housewives, there has not been one black cast member. The city I have the biggest issue with is NYC, one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse cities, and across 12 seasons there has been not one woman of colour. Heather “Holla” Thompson said in an interview that across her three seasons on the show she put forward several black women as she felt the cast needed to be more racially diverse, only for Bravo TV to turn them down, and keep known Trump supporters such as Ramona Singer. Suspicious, right? This is a similar case with Summer House, the big brother style reality show based in the Hamptons, again, there is little diversity, especially since they all reside in NYC. Then we have to think about Real Housewives of Dallas, after racist remarks made by LeeAnne Locken last season she was fired, however Bravo must keep the same energy across all its shows, and cast members, LeeAnne’s co-star Brandi Redmond posted a racially insensitive video on social media, however is back for season 5 of RHOD. Where is the same energy with her firing from Bravo? Then again almost all the RHOD cast is republican, this does not mean all cast members are racist and homophobic, however, should we have an entire reality show of people who support questionable causes? We face the same issue in Real Housewives of Orange County with Kelly Dodd, who has posted racial slurs on her social media, again fans are calling for her to be fired mid-season, as Bravo can wrap up her storylines as they see fit. With so many housewives being called to the chopping block by fans, what is next for real housewives? It’s hard to say. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, cast its first black cast member, Garcelle Beauvais, star of Coming to America, Spiderman-Man: Homecoming & The Jamie Foxx Show, for its current decade season, one season after Lisa Vanderpump exited the show. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. This is the first cast to not be completely segregated, other than Kim Zolciak-Biermann, one of the RHOA Original cast members. This is the first step Bravo has made to non-segregated Real Housewives casts. 

 

This all begs the question, where do we go next? How does Vanderpump Rules move forward? Does Southern Charm get cancelled? Do we begin an overhaul of the Real Housewives franchise by firing problematic cast members? The main thing that this proves is that reality TV needs to face change, and it needs to embrace change. We cannot continue to have homophobic and racist tv stars, and I believe Vanderpump Rules is just the beginning of this. Over the coming weeks I expect to see many bravo stars let go and contracts terminated. Racism and homophobia are ingrained into reality TV, and this must end. In the Bravo universe alone stars such as Kandi Burruss and Wendy Osefo are stepping up and creating conversations around racism. Porsha Williams has been joining the protests on the streets of Atlanta, The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Potomac are creating and fighting for change within Bravo TV, and it’s time other bravolebrities do the same thing. Vanderpump Rules newbies Charli Burnett and Danica Dow have both used their platforms to speak up for those who have been marginalised across the USA and WeHo. Braunwyn Windham-Burke has also been out protesting and pushing for change, something we need to see from more housewives.

 

Whilst I may have had years of enjoyment in watching Lisa Vanderpump create complicated webs between her co-stars and Ramona Singer throwing wine, perhaps it’s time to find reality TV stars that can do it without being racially insensitive? And cast members who are more racially diverse. The entertainment and reality TV industry has a long way to go yet, however the introduction of Garcelle Beauvais gives me hope that one day in the near future Bravo will finally make the decision to not segregate their casts. We often find with reality TV we watch it to feel a higher opinion of ourselves, at least we’re not the one’s throwing our prosthetic leg across a restaurant (and yes, that did happen), and we see it as escapism, so it feeds into hiring people that perhaps don’t have the best qualities. Do I believe Bravo will change? Yes, I think I do. Do I think we can get more racially diverse casts? I can only hope.

Image credit: John Tsiavis/Bravo

Author's Note

If you want to check out other work by Ben Robinson, check out his Instagram: @benrobinson137 and his twitter: @BenRobinson2016, or follow the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j478C65A0nE