Things have finally gotten too real for Bravo. TV Guide has confirmed that Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute have now been fired from Vanderpump Rules, along with show newcomers Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni.
Boyens and Caprioni recently both came under fire for resurfaced tweets from 2012 in which they both wrote the N-word, while Schroeder and Doute were at the center of an even more intense controversy, after former Vanderpump Rules star Faith Stowers, who is Black, spoke out about the duo calling the cops on her after reading about a robbery incident involving a Black woman in a tabloid.
Earlier this month, Stowers appeared on an Instagram Live chat and revealed that after she’d had an intimate relationship with Jax Taylor, who is now married to Brittany Cartwright, Stowers felt under “attack” by Schroeder and Doute, saying, “They wanted to attack, attack, attack, attack, attack. I was wrong, I was this, I was that, calling me names, saying my hair was nappy, which is weird coming out of their mouths … I believe it hit the ceiling for me, and made me really want to run for the hills, when Kristen and Stassi decided they were going to call the cops on me.” Stowers added that they were responding to an article about a Black woman with tattoos who was wanted for theft, and the pair called the police on her.
“It was a weird photo, so she looked very light-skinned and had these different, weird tattoos. They showcased her, and I guess this woman was robbing people. And they called the cops and said it was me. This is like, a true story. I heard this from actually Stassi during an interview,” Stowers explained, referring to a 2018 podcast interview in which Schroeder bragged about investigating her for potential thefts.
Schroeder had already been dropped by her publicist, agency, and several advertisers after Stowers shared her story, but it wasn’t the first time she was accused of racially insensitive and offensive behaviors.
Schroeder was previously dropped by advertisers over her insensitive comments on the Me Too movement and was widely criticized in 2018 for sharing a selfie with the caption, “Nazi Chic.” In a now-infamous audio clip from her podcast Straight Up With Stassi, she also complained about the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, saying, “I’m, like, really sick of everyone making everything about race. I’m kind of over it.” Even after acknowledging that she was “a white, privileged, blonde 28-year-old,” Schroeder complained, “Everyone giving their impassioned speeches about race and all of that stuff, I’m like, why is it always just about African Americans? Why aren’t the Asians being like, ‘We’re not represented?’ Why aren’t, I don’t know, Native Americans and Latinos being like, ‘We’re not represented?’ Why it is they — it’s always just that? And then, whenever they get upset, everybody has to go above and beyond to then make them happy?”
In a statement posted to Instagram prior to her firing, Schroeder wrote, “Racially insensitive comments from my past have resurfaced. It is important that I continue to take accountability for what I have said and done, while pushing myself to do better. I have grown significantly from the person I was then, and I am still filled with remorse and regret for the hurt I caused.” Schroeder went on to address Stowers’ accusation directly, writing, “My emotions over something that happened between our friends outweighed my logic, and there is no excuse for that. I did not recognize then the serious ramifications that could have transpired because of my actions. What I did to Faith was wrong. I apologize, and I do not expect forgiveness.”
Doute also addressed the story on her Instagram page, writing, “I have been taking some time to really process what I’ve been seeing, feeling, and learning. And I need to address something specifically that happened a few years ago with my former castmate, Faith Stowers. Although my actions were not racially driven, I am completely aware of how my privilege blinded me from the reality of law enforcement’s treatment of the black community and how dangerous my actions could have been to her. It was never my intention to add to the injustice an imbalance. I’m ashamed, embarassed, and incredibly sorry. I will do better. I have to do better.”
Black lives matter. Text DEMANDS to 55156 to sign Color of Change’s petition to reform policing, and visit blacklivesmatters.carrd.co for more ways to donate, sign petitions, and protest safely.