After several filming setbacks, it’s finally almost time for fans to be reunited with the Real Housewives of New York. This year will look a little different — Dorinda Medley is out. Eboni K. Williams is in as the first Black RHONY cast member. Leah McSweeney is an official vet. And Mama Heather Thomson is making a return, albeit briefly.
The first trailer for Season 13 shows Heather getting into it with Leah, which is a bit of a surprise. Leah and Heather are both fan-favorites. And back in Heather’s day, she tended to bicker with Ramona Singer and LuAnn de Lesseps, mostly about them sneaking men into their vacation rentals. But in the trailer, Leah calls Heather a “Karen” and it seems particularly heated. We know Leah is also sober this season, so it definitely wasn’t a drunken outburst reminiscent of last season.
Since the release of the trailer, the feud has made its way to social media. Us Weekly reported that Heather stopped filming with the RHONY cast early, apparently because of her feud with Leah. “Heather could see Leah was acting up for the cameras and using behavior she considered demeaning and exploitative and frankly, crossed a line,” a source said. “Heather wanted no part of Leah so after she left that weekend Heather had no interest in continuing the season at all and stopped filming.”
The source continued by saying Heather was “stunned” by Leah’s behavior because she had “minimal interaction” with her before this season. “Heather’s popular history with the old cast and the excitement about new cast member Eboni Williams prompted production to maneuver her return,” the insider said. “Shortly after she arrived, Leah and Heather butt heads. Their exchanges go messy and included some name-calling.”
RELATED: Real Housewives Of New York Season 13 Trailer: Ramona Singer Feuds With Eboni K. Williams, Leah McSweeney Calls Heather Thomson A “Karen”
It sounds like Heather is pulling a Lisa Vanderpump by saying she was bullied off the show. But it’s definitely not out of the question that Leah goes in a little heavy for the cameras. She has big shoes to fill coming off a crazy first season last year.
Leah responded to the rumors on her Instagram story, doubling down on her dislike for Heather and explaining her side of the story. “I don’t like women who… slut-shame other women. Act morally superior to other women. Plastic surgery shame other women. Gossip about other women doing drugs when you know damn well they’ve done drugs also. And lastly I don’t like when white women who call black women ‘articulate.’ Especially while acting like the queen of wokeness,” Leah wrote, according to screenshots by Queens of Bravo on Twitter.
RELATED: Carole Radziwill Says Heather Thomson Has No Interest In Returning To Real Housewives Of New York Full-Time
In a second post, she shared a screenshot message of her reaching out to Heather last November, seemingly after the confrontation occurred. Leah asked Heather if they could talk over the phone or in-person about what went down but never got a response. She captioned it, “This narrative that I bullied her off the show and she is a victim is so False I typically wouldn’t say anything but it’s just so far from the truth that I must. Was also dealing with losing my grandmother during that time and I reached out to her to apologize for yelling at her and calling her a karen.”
After the back-and-forth, Page Six reported from an insider (which definitely sounds like it came from Leah or her camp) that actually none of the RHONY ladies really wanted to film with Holla Heather anyways. “Heather was kind of like a Debbie Downer,” the source said. “And plus, no one trusted her because of everything she talked about in the press after she left the show.”
RELATED: Heather Thomson Wants Aviva Drescher Back On Real Housewives Of New York
Heather hasn’t been shy about talking publically about her former castmates. On a Watch What Happens Live appearance, she joked about Sonja Morgan’s facelift. That blow was probably what Leah was referring to about “plastic surgery shaming” so there are receipts.
The source continued to totally change the narrative surrounding Heather: “Basically, she thought she was going to jump right in and be part of the group, but she’d just been, like, dragging the show and using the show to get press for herself.”
It is likely that Heather needs the show more than the show needs her. RHONY has always been a strong show, and Heather does have other businesses to promote. While the trailer gives a glimpse at the fight, we don’t know what really prompted it all. Maybe Leah’s “Karen” commented was warranted, or maybe it was a way to guarantee a storyline by feuding with an OG. It looks like we’ll just have to wait for Season 13 to return in May to truly see what went down.
RELATED: Heather Thomson And Carole Radziwill Claim Former Co-Stars Used “Strong Drugs” On Real Housewives Of New York Cast Trip
TELL US – DO YOU THINK LEAH BULLIED HEATHER AND CAUSED HER TO STOP FILMING NEXT SEASON? ARE YOU EXCITED TO SEE HOLLA HEATHER RETURN TO RHONY?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
