Real Housewives of New York broke new ground this season when they hired the first Black housewife for their franchise, Eboni K. Williams. While I am loving Eboni and what she brings to the cast, she hasn’t had the easiest go of it. So far, she’s had to educate Ramona Singer on why she shouldn’t be referring to domestic workers as “the help”. And maybe Ramona should get their names right too while she’s at it. Just a thought.
In addition, a recent episode caught a heated exchange between Eboni and Luann de Lesseps. The argument started when Eboni’s supposed friend, Leah McSweeney, popped off about her use of foul language. Luann tried to say that not using vulgar language boils down to education. Eboni kindly reminded the gang that not only is that not true, but she is the most educated one of the group. Which is true. Lu’s defense that she is a nurse holds zero weight considering Lu hasn’t practiced nursing since Jesus was a child. Anyway, Lu called Eboni “angry” and took great offense, telling her she could leave her house. So Eboni was stuck in a situation where she not only had to educate, but found herself with zero allies to help her do so.
So it’s no surprise given all this going on that Eboni might be feeling attacked. While cast members are supposed to live tweet and talk to fans during the airing of each episode, Eboni decided she needed a break. Can you blame her? Not only did the cast jump on her, but she got so much hate from social media in general.
Eboni talked more about it when she told Insider, “I’m not going to avail myself to a lot of the toxicity that’s on social media in this moment. I’m having to frankly be re-traumatized in some way because I’m having to revisit what happened in these scenes over and over again each week when they air.” She continued, “I’ve never been one to sit around and rewatch myself on TV or radio. With this show and platform, that is unavoidable. It feels much more taxing.”
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And Eboni is used to experiencing social media backlash. She is the current host of Revolt TV’s “Revolt Black News” and she also spent time as the host of Fox News’ “The Specialists.” Despite hosting opinion new shows, which can draw a lot of ire from the public, Eboni felt like she was able to separate the hate towards politics as opposed to her personality. Which is what is going on here. She admitted, “I find myself having a more emotional experience than I ever did at Fox News, which is saying a lot, because I was literally getting death threats.” Eboni added, “I feel more vulnerable.”
But Eboni is thankful that the production company behind RHONY, Shed Media, has her back. She said they have been supportive of her social media break. They have also adopted “listening sessions” so she can describe her experiences.
RELATED: Real Housewives Fans Slam Luann de Lesseps For Calling Eboni K. Williams “Angry”
I do hope that Eboni doesn’t continue to suffer through this season. And I think it’s up to her castmates to defend her both on screen and on social media. Because it’s the right thing to do. Like I said earlier, no one deserves the hate that she’s getting simply because she has a different racial experience than the rest of the cast and actually talks about it. She deserves better.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK LUANN WAS WRONG IN HER FIGHT WITH EBONI? DO YOU THINK EBONI’S CASTMATES SHOULD BE STEPPING UP FOR HER?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
