The stars of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” have called out the show’s sometimes toxic fandom throughout the most recent season — but on Part 1 of the reunion, Garcelle Beauvais said she believes some of the nastiest social media comments might actually be coming from inside the house.
During Wednesday’s new hour, host Andy Cohen brought up the “racist and unsettling” attacks Garcelle’s 14-year-old son Jax was subjected to back in August on social media — as viewers flooded his page with some truly hateful comments.
“It was the most cruel thing that anybody could do to a child. it was really cruel. It was his first week of high school and my Playboy pictures were sent to him. It hurt a lot,” said Beauvais. “The one that really affected us all was someone saying, ‘If it wasn’t for your white daddy, you would have a knee on your neck.’ I’m trying to hold it together. That’s really hard.”
After Lisa Rinna called the attacks “the most disgusting, unacceptable, horrific thing,” Cohen brought up online theories that someone in the cast orchestrated — and paid for — a bot attack on Jax. He then asked Garcelle whether she thought that was the case as well.
“If I’m going to be honest, I did, absolutely. I don’t know for a fact that they would have said that, but I think maybe purchasing the bots,” she revealed. “It felt to me like a pattern of attacking my children. To me, it felt like I wasn’t wanted on the show, so this is a way to get me out. Because if you attack my children, most likely I will leave. That’s why I felt that way. I do have an investigation going on.”
Cohen then condemned all the toxicity on social media, saying he was “appalled” by what he’s seen.
“You can love our cast and you can love to hate our cast if you want, but only in the spirit of entertainment,” he added. “It’s a TV show, everybody, there’s no room for this kind of hate and Bravo unequivocally condemns it.”
The subject came up again at the end of the hour, after Diana Jenkins joined the reunion virtually following a positive Covid test. He brought up that some believed Diana specifically purchased the bots — and asked Garcelle if there “was a point where you thought she was behind it.”
“Yeah, if I’m going to be honest, I did think she was behind it, absolutely,” she said, matter-of-factly.
“You obviously have a very low opinion of me if you think I’m behind bullying a 14-year-old,” said Diana. “I don’t know how evil I must appear that you would even consider the fact that I would do that to Jax.”
Beauvais added that Diana also sent her a “threatening text,” before Jenkins explained she wanted Jax to block out her name in one of the horrific comments he highlighted while speaking out about the attacks. The comment in question said “Leave Diana alone.”
“He’s 14 years old. He’s not thinking, ‘Let me take out Diana’s name, so she’s not implicated,'” Garcelle responded. “So Diana thinks we should have taken her name out. When Jax received that, he wasn’t thinking about protecting anybody but himself.”
Kyle Richards then chimed in, saying it sounded like Diana was asking him to delete his initial post, block out her name and then re-post it, which set off Beauvais.
“Are you kidding me? So you want, in the middle of me trying to protect my child, I have to then come and save all you?!” she exclaimed. “This is outrageous. That’s outrageous to me.”
Kyle clarified she didn’t feel that way, but was only saying what she thought Diana was trying to say.
Cohen then asked about the “threatening message” Beauvais got from Jenkins, as it was then shown on screen. It read, “Believe me when I say if anything happens to my children you will be held legally responsible and no Bravo contract will stop me. I guess by making [Sheree Zampino] take down my birthday post you wanted to solidify me as racist and actually ruin my life.”
“It was pretty much, if anything happens to my family, I’m coming for you,” added Garcelle, as Diana said it was a legal threat, not a physical one. Jenkins said she too was getting death threats when she asked for that change to Jax’s page.
“I’m not talking to her anymore,” Garcelle said — before Diana added she would “help you protect your child” and has “the means to hire lawyers” to “find out who actually did this.” Beauvais said she had “an investigation as well.”
The episode ended with Garcelle wondering why Diana was “so obsessed” with her. Though Jenkins joked, “Because you’re gorgeous,” Garcelle made it clear she didn’t think it was a laughing matter.
“She is targeting me on social media almost every day, sometimes twice a day,” she said. “I don’t want you harassing me on social media. I don’t harass anyone here on social media. Please, leave me alone. I don’t hate you, Diana, I just want to be left alone.”
The reunion continues next Wednesday night on Bravo. Check out the link below to see what the other women previously said about allegations they orchestrated the bot attack as well.
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