A shady financial situation always guarantees a great story line on any Real Housewives show. So of course, the Season 3 premiere episode of Real Housewives of Potomac was all about Karen Huger’s deflection over her husband Ray Huger’s very public $3 million tax debt.
It all culminated in a sit-down lunch with Karen and Robyn Dixon. Karen wanted to thank Robyn for being there for her – after pointing out that she called Gizelle Bryant first and she didn’t answer the phone- but the lunch did not go well. Robyn made it clear that she does have sympathy for Karen and her family, but she can’t help questioning just how much Karen actually knew. And of course, Karen went ballistic, got overly defensive, and did what she could to deflect from the topic of discussion.
In her first Bravo blog post of the season, Robyn confessed, “I was totally shocked and saddened to hear about the Hugers’ tax debt. I understand the stress of experiencing financial difficulties and owing a large amount of taxes, but nothing anywhere near the magnitude of what Karen and Ray are facing. Hopefully, they have everything under control and are able to work towards a resolution.”
As sympathetic as Robyn was, she couldn’t help admitting, “I must say though, upon hearing about this tax news, one of my immediate thoughts was, ‘Oh, that finally explains the sudden and mysterious move from Potomac to Great Falls.'” Yes, it does.
Robyn revealed, “Ultimately, Karen and I talked for 2 hours and 46 minutes.” She also acknowledged, “Karen told me that she had called Gizelle first, so hearing her say that I was the ‘one that picked up’ was not a surprise.” That’s just textbook Karen: shading someone for helping her just to take the heat off her for a millisecond.
And then Robyn addressed that failed lunch. She wrote, “What was intended to be an open and honest conversation with Karen about my conflicting thoughts about her tax situation — between being 100% sympathetic and also unsure of how truthful she was being — completely went left! I wanted to be honest with Karen and let her know that although I was happy to be there as a friend for her, I wasn’t sure if everything she told me was the truth, specifically that she did not know anything about the huge tax debt.” Let’s hook her up to a polygraph. All signs do indicate that Karen was very much aware of the tax situation, but I would love to put this to rest, and start focusing on some other drama.
Robyn explained, “To me, everything started to make sense: the sudden move, Karen’s defensiveness when anyone questioned her about the move, and the huge tax debt. It all fit together like a perfect puzzle!” Yes, it did.
Karen accused Robyn of stabbing her in the back just for saying that the two of them spoke on the phone. Robyn didn’t reveal any specific information about the tax debt, but it doesn’t matter because I’m sure that everyone in the cast read every article about it. Robyn wrote, “Karen thinking that I stabbed her in the back by discussing the news with the other ladies was totally unrealistic. When news like that is made public, of course people are going to talk about it!”
Robyn continued, “And after a nearly 3-hour conversation with Karen, I could have spilled the beans about a lot more of what she said. I didn’t see the harm in saying that she didn’t know about the taxes. However, I can respect the fact that this is a very sensitive situation for Karen, and maybe I could have approached the situation a little more delicately.”
Karen blessed the fandom with an inadvertently humorous moment when she told Robyn that she didn’t know what a blog was…even though she writes one for Bravo after every episode and she’s been a cast member on this show since Season 1. Robyn theorized, “I think I sent Karen into a tailspin, and her usual defensiveness and deflection tactics took over.”
Karen’s financial woes were definitely the focus of the episode, but the fans did get to see a little bit of Robyn and Juan Dixon’s perpetually vague relationship. Robyn shared, “Juan and I are doing very well. Once we got to a place where our finances were not as stressful and money and business were not the only things we talked about, we were able to focus on other things like spending time together and enjoying life as a family. We are still very much a work in progress, but our family bond remains strong as we raise our boys together.”
Tonight is a new episode of The Real Housewives of Potomac. Join us in the comments to live-snark the show!
TELL US- WAS KAREN IN THE KNOW ABOUT RAY’S TAX DEBTS? DID ROBYN STAB KAREN IN THE BACK? OR WAS IT OK FOR HER TO DISCUSS KAREN’S TAX SITUATION SINCE IT WAS A VERY PUBLIC?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
