'The Real Housewives' integrated its casts. Then racism allegations ignited a crisis
"Real Housewives" reunions are a reality TV ritual: Cast members put on gaudy evening wear, gather for hours on an elaborately decorated set and submit to probing questions from Bravo ringmaster Andy Cohen.
Petty sniping, hypocritical finger-pointing and melodramatic storm-offs are all standard — even expected.
Productive conversations about racial justice and white privilege, less so.
Yet the first hour of this season's "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" reunion blended the usual absurdity (e.g., a heated debate over regifted golf balls) with a lengthy discussion of how the housewives had or hadn't engaged in hurtful stereotypes and cultural appropriation.
The episode began with a disclaimer noting that it was filmed before social media posts by cast member Jennie Nguyen, who was born in Vietnam and grew up in Long Beach, California, became public, resulting in her departure from the series after a single season. The title card didn't elaborate about the nature of the posts: Nguyen was fired in January after offensive memes she shared on Facebook in 2020 resurfaced online.
At one point, Cohen asked Nguyen about racially insensitive remarks directed at her by Mary Cosby, a Black cast member who had failed to show up at the reunion. "I'm a minority, she's a minority," said Nguyen. "We're supposed to
