Faith Stowers is reacting to the news that Bravo and Vanderpump Rules production company, Evolution Media fired Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni. Stowers admits that she feels “vindicated” and “hopeful” after former co-stars, Schroeder and Doute, were fired for making a false police report against her.
“I feel so vindicated studios and production are able to see blatant racism and make these positive changes and help move the race forward — help with the fight forward,” she told Page Six.
She added that just before she heard the news of the firings, she had been praying for a family member. “I was in the middle of prayer and I felt a sense of — I know it sounds corny — I felt a sense of glory,” she said, “I felt God’s presence, and I’m seeing now [that the news has been revealed] maybe that is what that was. He gave me a sign of optimism meant to be hopeful and showing that all of this was worth it.”
“I was ready to put myself in the line of fire because I don’t know what will happen if I don’t say anything,” Stowers told us, “but I’m glad I did.”
“Now I’m seeing Bravo follow suit — the same as MTV and ‘The Challenge’ — [by] letting go of castmates that have also made racist remarks. Bravo is releasing women that have given them crazy ratings because they want to be on the right side of history,” she said, “and I’m seeing [that] people are finally hearing us.”
She said she hopes production companies and networks are “ready to hire casting directors and producers of color to make sure these changes are not just a one-time thing.”
The news comes after Stowers recalled on a recent Instagram Live with Floribama Shore’s Candace Rice, according to Us Weekly when Stassi and Kristen Doute made shocking accusations against her in 2018.
“[What] made me really want to run for the hills, when Kristen and Stassi decided they were going to call the cops on me,” Stowers told Rice, noting that she was “invited” back to the series to tell her side of the story, but declined after hearing Schroeder on The Bitch Bible podcast. “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. 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.”
She added: “It was just funny, because they thought it was me because it was a black woman with a weave. So they just assumed it would be me, and they called the cops on me.”
According to Reality Tea, Schroeder discussed how she and Doute had called the police to report Stowers in an April 2018 interview on The Bitch Bible podcast. The episode has since been taken down.
Schroeder explained in the now-deleted episode that she and Doute thought Stowers’ hair and tattoos were similar to the woman’s in the security footage of the robbery.
Around that same time, Doute tweeted a link to a report about the unidentified woman, who was accused of meeting men at a nightclub and then allegedly drugging and robbing them after going home with them.
Both Schroeder and Doute released public apologies to Stowers on Sunday, June 7.
“What I did to Faith was wrong. I apologize and I do not expect forgiveness,” the Next Level Basic author, who also lost several brand deals and was dropped by her PR company, wrote via Instagram. “I am also sorry to anyone else that feels disappointed in me. I am going to continue to look closer at myself and my actions – to take the time to listen, to learn, and to take accountability for my own privilege.”
Meanwhile, Doute wrote that her “actions were not racially driven,” but she “now 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.”
Ahead of Bravo’s announcement, Variety reported that Stassi’s agency, UTA, and her public relations firm, Metro Public Relations, have dropped her because of her actions toward Stowers. Fuse Literary, Doute’s book agency, has also cut ties with her.
Photo Credit: Bravo, Getty Images
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