Bravo's The Real Housewives of....

[Taoboi]

Ding, ding, ding. lol.

 

Well thankfully, someone was kind enough to do an article about this and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post from that site so let me see if I can break down what happened:

 

During the height of BLM and Bravo firing people right and left, Bravo was going to open a dialogue about race. Problem? They were only going to do it by streaming/Intrasgram. KANDI, who was wanting to talk to Bravo about changes about how the network dealt with race, got wind of this and emailed them, saying they should do it in prime time as a special to reach a wider audience. She also suggested they used Bravolebrities. Bravo agreed. The result? The RACE IN AMERICA specials that Bravo aired. 

 

Meanwhile, Kandi asked Bravo to work with more black owned production companies and hire more from well known black universities. Basically what we have been saying in other threads on these boards about how representation...true representation...should be in front of AND behind camera. That way people get to experience what it was like to be around other races and have diversity. Kandi told Porsha, Tanya, and Marlo about reaching out to Bravo. And they...did not take kindly to that. Kandi was shocked, especially since it seem they were mostly annoyed that Kandi reached out to Bravo without discussing it first. So Kandi got annoyed...especially at Porsha who at that point was very active in the BLM movement as well. 

 

The disagreement supposingly got leaked to the press. So FILMED ON THE SHOW Kandi confronted Porsha about all of this. BUT...that scene WAS CUT. The problem? A lot of Kenya's actions after that was filmed since she walked into the middle of the conversation when it was filmed WAS NOT CUT OUT OF THE SHOW, making it seem like she was just 'being the villain.' Said scene would have revealed her motivations for all she said in the first place, giving the slow burn needed to that bachelorette party I've said months ago. Kenya had already discussed this scene (even on one of Kandi's SPEAK ON IT I believe) and accused Porsha of begging producers to cut the footage per the image she was showing this season since the conversation put Porsha in a not nice light since it seem clear she was jealous of Kandi for being active in BLM as well. 

 

I believe you mentioned the interview Kandi did with Vulture above.

Well so did Porsha. Last night. On her LIVE.

 

Before last night, people have asked her about this before now. But she has been mute. Last night she defended her part in the situation. However she also admitted YES SHE ASKED PRODUCTION TO CUT THE SCENE. aka KENYA WAS RIGHT. aka UH OH.

 

Porsha also confirmed that Kandi and Porsha had cleared up this disagreement but it went left when Kenya walked over and Kandi and Porsha fell out. So Porsha knew how it would look...BAD...so she went to them to take it out.

 

Thus, Kenya who was right does not like being made to look like a liar and the running rumor is that she brought this up at the reunion...AND WE MIGHT SEE THE SCENE TOO...and she brought receipts to back this up. She really felt that Porsha must be using BLM for personal reasons if she is going to be pressed about Kandi also supporting BLM...and if as they are all black women supporting the same cause...why is Porsha pressed? Why does she not own it? And THAT brings us to what you said above...cuz if that comes out...that brings us back to a few months ago when some of us here were debating if Porsha's activism was real or not...and that answer would become murky I suspect with the new scene in question. 

 

I knew Porsha was already marching before filming so I feel she was being real and raising awareness. But being jealous of Kandi for doing the same...is not a good look. She could have pivot from that, but kinda chose not to per her constant rivalry with Kenya. Bad form. And thus mess.

 

I feel like I forgot something but that is the basis I believe. 

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by Taoboi

[FrenchBug82]

I don't feel sorry for Kenya because she strikes me as very self-aware and she knows that her role on the show is being an antagonist and she is more than happy to earn her paycheck by stirring s**t. She knows what she is here for and she is happy playing the part and I am fine with that since she seems to be.

But I continue to be fascinated by the number of times Kenya has been subsequently proven absolutely right on things that were hotly debated - and generally against her - in the fandom.
 

[Cat]

@Taoboi Thank you for giving me the full picture! A couple of thoughts:

 

-- Bravo doesn't know how lucky it is to have Kandi. She offered them workable solutions for inclusivity. She laid out solid proposals, essentially doing the work for them, and essentially saved their bacon. 

 

-- The other women, I'm sorry to say, sound jealous of Kandi going straight to the top and coming up with ideas Bravo took on board. There is no need for ONE person in ATL or ONE person in Potomac to be the network's Face of BLM and everyone else stay in their lane. Being a black person, a black woman, in America today can be a SHARED experience, am I right in thinking? Everyone can participate and do something in their own way. Kandi took the initiative and these women were all going to benefit from it. Didn’t they appear in the Bravo specials?

 

-- The production team on ATL needs to be fired ASAP. This is not the first time they have f***ed up with the editing. Carlos King would never. Yes we got Bolo After Hours, but so many scenes which gave context to the women's disagreements with each other were cut for no reason! It reduced the bulk of this season to a mess of Who TF Cares? A very poor job. This production team just doesn't get it. 

 

-- I disagree with Porsha. The argument should have aired in its entirety, with all the nuances. These women are multifaceted and not black-and-white angels or demons. It is perfectly conceivable that Potsha wanted to headline the show with her social activism, knowing it would help her standing. It got her signed to a powerful ent agency, after all. But I also don't doubt that what is driving her and others is a deeply personal, unselfish desire to meaningfully improve black lives and root out racism. You can both care about changing your world for the better, but also want the glory, where the audience associate you, and only you, with these good works.

 

What's hard with Bravo is that (A) the network believes that America doesn't always do nuance, and (B) ATL and Bravo are competitive environnements where the women are often pitted against each other. The show would have been vastly better for having this discussion aired in full. It is authentic, in the cultural vanguard, and at the end, the two women came to a resolution.

 

@FrenchBug82 Kenya is like Cassandra sometimes -- no-one wants to believe her or believe the best of her. However, IMO, the reason why this happens is because Kenya targets other women, digs around for salacious info, finds their weak spot and attacks. It may be the truth (and for that she is doing the viewers a public service), and I'm sort of on her side in this particular argument. However, sometimes she is so hateful and gleeful about other people's misfortune that I just cannot lean into her. Is she so perfect that she can pass judgment? A lot of stuff with Marc she did not want the cameras to see and was obsessive about controlling the narrative.

 

She's a necessary part of ATL, though. This season without her would probably have been full-on borefest. 

[FrenchBug82]

 

As I said, everything you said is true. Of course she is imperfect and has her own secrets. And of course the sometimes vicious way she goes about things is why people refuse to believe her. BUT I also know that this way of doing things is exactly what Bravo expects of her, she knows it, and leans into it because that's where her career as a bravoreality star come from.
I respect that but that's why I don't feel bad she is Cassandra. That's the price she pays for that "role".

But gotta hand it to a player who plays the game well though and she is almost always on target.

[Taoboi]

Bravo is announcing that POTOMAC is returning in the summer. 

[Soaplovers]

I always believed in strength in numbers...so Porsha and Kandi both could have banded together..but Porsha is just not a nice person.

 

I recall during Kenya vs Kim Fields..lots of people despised Kenya.  However, I have the ability to be objective and the fact is...Kim Fields is condescending and talked down to everyone..and she and her hubby gave off a weird vibe to me.

 

So even when Kenya is right, the audience won't believe her because its Kenya.  She was right about Porsha, Nene, Phaedra, Apollo, Kim F, and Kim Z.  

 

Also, Kenya isn't a villianess... she's the anti heroine.  

[Cat]

Porsha did not actually refute anything in the Vulture article. It does comes across as though she didn't want Kandi stealing her thunder/redemption SL.

 

When HWs are able to get entire scenes/conversations cut from the show, that means they have too much power IMO. I get that Bravo wanted to tread carefully. Porsha said that she didn't want this disagreement to air because it would take away from BLM and the message on the show. Nevertheless, if production wanted to, they could have shown the conversation, handled it sensitively, and Porsha would probably have come out at the end looking better for it.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Cat

[Taoboi]

Exactly why the others were annoyed at Kandi...decades in the entertainment and she can go DIRECTLY to the head (in this instance NBCUniversal...Bravo's boss) and make some changes. I could see Porsha feeling a kinda way about it since she's been doing good herself with her new RHOA contract, her now contract with that ent agency, hosting BRAVO CHATROOM, protesting, getting articles in the NY Times, etc. But...she has not been around long enough to do what Kandi did. Heck, I finally was able to read that Voices of Bravo article from a few pages back and did not even realize that Kandi reached out to NENE about this as well. In the middle of Nene and her lawsuit at that. 

 

Power. To paraphrase BUFFY...Kandi got it. The other girls don't. This bothers them. 

 

Which is what Kenya has said a few times this season as well. Married or not, if Kenya and Bolo had done something the girls would have been all over it. So when Kenya does it, they want to grab their pearls? 

 

I agree with the antiheroine label.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Taoboi

[FrenchBug82]

 

Rewatching some of the old reunions and the exchanges with Phaedra and Apollo is both incredibly satisfying because BOY was she right on the money and yet so frustrating because, after all the s**t she got at the time, there never was a "Yep, Kenya was vindicated" moment on the show itself. They just... moved on.

[Taoboi]

 

 

[Faulkner]

Drew should be a one and done. Sick of her. Her family stuff isn’t compelling enough to save her.

[NothinButAttitude]

They are coming...

 

 

[Taoboi]

OMG YAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! LA DAME GRANDE IS BACK!!! GET HER, KAREN!!!

 

I've been missing my POTOMAC girls something fierce this past week so well-timed. 

[Cat]

 

To air this MONTHS ahead to any premiere date says a lot -- and to air it during ATL, which may be struggling creatively (unsure about the ratings). It's like Bravo is saying: hold out for Potomac, guys.

 

La Dame is giving me her usual nutty greatness (will we ever see Karen & Gizelle reconcile, or is that relationship Done?). 

 

Candiace not in this one?

 

I watched about 4 times before finally recognising Wendy's face. What's different? The makeup/wig?

[Chris B]

@CatWendy got better wigs that hide those Jermaind Jackson side burns she had last season. I also think having a makeup artist who can cater to her features is helping her. I don’t think she got work done. 
 

I do agree with you these Potomac promos are really telling. This show will likely debut after Married To Medicine ends sometime in June so that’s pretty out of the ordinary. It also tells me the season is going to be good. 
 

Right now I binged the last four RHOA episodes. This season I’ve only been able to watch it by doing it in blocks of episodes at a time. This was a horribly produced season with some of the worst editing I’ve ever seen. Hell, even these last episodes you have this out of nowhere prophet story taking up tons of airtime. I wonder if the fact that they took so many breaks during filming also played into this. I know the finale was something they went back to film due to another Covid shut down. 
 

Next season in addition to needing new producers, they really need to figure this cast out. I know many say Nene wasn’t the same and was played out, but it can’t be a coincidence she leaves and they lose almost a million viewers. I personally always found Nene entertaining and I do think she was missed. This cast just didn’t have chemistry. Drew is a decent newbie, but La Toya and Falynn were duds IMO. How is it Beverly Hills is getting newbies like Garcelle, Sutton, Kathy Hilton and Crystal (who seems strong), but Atlanta is going to a Zlist Youtuber? That makes no sense. They need to cast someone truly dynamic who can fit into this cast. You can’t keep going backwards to a Nene or Sheree or Phaedra. They need strong new blood and they haven’t had that in a long time.