Stassi Schroeder is opening up about her firing from Vanderpump Rules in her first interview following the stunning announcement.
Schroeder appeared on Thursday’s edition of Tamron Hall for an exclusive interview addressing her insensitive actions.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, we’ll backtrack a little.
Bravo fired Schroeder alongside Kristen Doute in June, one week after former cast member Faith Stowers revealed that they both women reported her to the police for a crime she had nothing to do with.
“There was this article on Daily Mail where there was an African American lady,” Stowers recalled during an Instagram Live with Floribama Shore’s Candace Rene Rice in June.
“It was a weird photo, so she looked very light-skinned and had these different, weird tattoos.”
“They showcased her, and I guess this woman was robbing people. And they called the cops and said it was me. This is like, a true story. I heard this from actually Stassi during an interview.”
Amid backlash, Bravo and Evolution Media cut ties with both stars.
“Bravo and Evolution Media confirmed today that Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni will not be returning to Vanderpump Rules,” reads a statement from Bravo at the time.
Schroeder, who announced she is expecting her first child shortly after the announcement, lost endorsements, her management team, and her popular podcast was removed from all platforms.
Tamron quizzed the former reality star about why she is speaking out now, to which she responded.
“Honestly, now because I needed time to process my feelings. I needed time to process what happened.”
“I feel like one of the most frustrating parts when this all went down was that people expected me to just understand everything immediately and things like that take time,” she added.
“And I felt like it would be better for me to get a greater understanding of everything and the issues before I opened my mouth again.”
Tamron switched gears and asked Schroeder whether viewed herself as a victim of cancel culture.
“I’m someone who messed up quite a few times. I am the reason why I’m in this situation,” Schroeder explained.
“I think a lot of people wanted me to focus on cancel culture and whether I was a victim or not, and it’s just not how I feel at all.”
Schroeder also delved into her thoughts on people calling her racist on social media.
“That has been the hardest part of all of this. That is absolutely the hardest part,” she said, adding”
“Just going out to a restaurant or going to the grocery store and wondering if that’s what people think. Throughout this whole thing, I’ve recognized I’ve never felt that I was a racist, I don’t have hate in my heart but I’ve recognized that I wasn’t anti-racist.”
[embedded content]
“I wasn’t. And that’s something I’ve been learning throughout all of this.”
The conversation turned to the implications of the the allegations leveled against Stowers.
“I do absolutely understand. I’ve spent the last three months working with a teacher and learning about everything,” she said.
“And there was so much that I didn’t know. I didn’t understand that just because something wasn’t about race for me, doesn’t mean it’s not about race for the other person because I’m bringing my experience as a white privileged woman to this situation and she’s bringing her experience as a Black woman into this situation.”
“And because it’s about race for her, it is about race. And that’s something that I’ve realized.”
As for whether Vanderpump Rules will be back, we don’t know.
The restaurant in which the series revolves around has been closed for months due to COVID-19.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.