Heather Gay really said it best the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City reunion. To paraphrase, she told Lisa Barlow that dealing with her this season was like a Scooby Doo episode. Where the detectives come to the end of the episode, pull off a character’s mask, and reveal that they are the real villain. Such is the entire season of RHOSLC. Here we thought that Jen Shah would be the ultimate villain. After all, she was arrested on alleged fraud and money laundering charges. But as it turns out, it wasn’t just Lisa playing the villain, but longtime friend, Jennie Nguyen.
Of course, when the reunion was filmed, Jennie had not been exposed for her history of incredibly offensive social media posts. If she had, she likely would have not been sitting on the couch at all. Let alone saying things like “anyone can be racist.” No truer words were spoken in her case. Poor timing aside, the internet stumbled across Jennie’s posts. She blamed her “social media team” but no one bought it. She was rightfully sent packing. So does every villain need a side kick?
Enter Lisa sticking up for Jennie, despite already getting massive hate after the reunion. As reported by Page Six, Lisa had a conversation via video with TMZ and shared her controversial opinion. Lisa stated, “I think everyone in life deserves a second chance.” She added, “That’s what we’re trying to do – just be a little bit better every single day, and hopefully we learn from our mistakes and don’t make them again, and I think that’s how we learn sometimes. We have to make mistakes to learn.”
This one is a hard pill to swallow given Jennie’s sad excuse for an apology once she was called out. But Lisa, brought Jennie opt the show, called the firing a “tough decision.” She continued, “It was really hard for everybody involved, and I hope she’s doing amazing.”
This is a much different take from when the actual scandal went down. Lisa, along with the rest of the cast, promptly unfollowed Jennie on social media. Lisa also issued a statement to Instagram that said, “My heart is so very heavy right now. I feel true hurt and disappointment by the posts that surfaced this week. I do NOT condone, nor am I aligned with them. The posts were harmful and hurtful to a community that I love. Working for change is constant; it’s something that I work towards daily.” Lisa finished, “Through action is where we all have the most important impact and where we can have change that lasts. I always want to be a support and ba [sic] a proponent for change and improvement. My heart hurts for those who are hurting.”
As for keeping in touch with her former costar and friend, Lisa admitted that Jennie text her once in late January. They have not spoken since. Lisa revealed, “You know, Jennie’s always been nice to me, so I hope everything’s good with Jennie, and she’s always been really busy.”
Either way, if Jennie does get a second chance, it won’t be with Bravo. The network got a lot of criticism for the delay in firing Jennie and Andy Cohen had to urge fans to be patient. Andy explained, “I just want to say, in case anyone doesn’t realize it, that there are many serious discussions happening right now about everything. I can’t address the situation right now, but it will be addressed very soon, and thank you for your patience.” Leaving no room for a Jennie comeback, Andy noted, “The posts were very upsetting … and disgusting.”
TELL US – DO YOU AGREE WITH LISA THAT JENNIE SHOULD BE GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE? DO YOU THINK JENNIE HAS LEARNED FROM HER MISTAKES?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]