Real Housewives of Potomac’s Monique Samuels has hit back at co-star Gizelle Bryant after Gizelle accused her of perpetuating negative stereotypes about black women.
Gizelle’s comments were in response to a physical altercation that Monique had with co-star Candiace Dillard, which will be featured in upcoming episodes of RHOP’s latest season.
After Gizelle said that the fight took the image of black women from ‘educated and fun to acting like animals’, Monique offered a blistering retort in an interview with Daily Mail Australia last week.
EXCLUSIVE: Real Housewives of Potomac’s Monique Samuels (left) has hit back at co-star Gizelle Bryant (right) after Gizelle accused her of perpetuating negative stereotypes about black women.
‘She breaks down the black race every time she steps out the closet with the wardrobe that she wears and those wigs, so she has no room to speak,’ Monique said.
The 36-year-old then brought up Gizelle’s role as the ex-wife of megachurch minister Jamal Bryant.
‘She is supposed to be a former first lady, someone who a person is supposed to be able to confide in about their issues and their spiritual journey [and] she brings down the entire black church when it comes to that narrative based on her actions so I’m really not surprised,’ she continued.
‘Misery and miserable people love to try and bring down people who are happy and at the end of the day we all have moments where we are out of character, none of us are exempt from losing control or having the need to defend ourselves,’ she explained.
‘She breaks down the black race every time she steps out the closet with the wardrobe that she wears and those wigs, so she has no room to speak,’ Monique told Daily Mail Australia in an interview last week. (Pictured: Gizelle)
The mother-of-three claimed that Gizelle’s response to her clash with Candiace was hypocritical, considering the fact that Gizelle was present during an argument between Robyn Dixon and Ashley Darby in season two of RHOP.
‘When I hear her making comments like that I really don’t pay them any attention because I do remember in season two when she took Robyn to Ashley’s restaurant, which was a black-owned business, and she allowed another black woman to get in the face of Ashley and then proceeded to tell Ashley herself that “Charisse will drag you”,’ Monique alleged.
Monique added that ‘if Ashley had reacted in such a way that could’ve been the first physical fight on the show. So, I tend to not pay attention to people who literally live a life of hypocrisy.’
‘A life of hypocrisy’: Monique said that Gizelle’s response to her clash with Candiace was hypocritical, considering the fact that Gizelle had previously been present during a fight between Robyn Dixon and Ashley Darby in season two of RHOP (pictured)
Further responding to Gizelle’s comments about her, Monique suggested that the EveryHue Beauty designer was taking advantage of the current political climate for her own gain.
‘You see a lot of people, because of the climate, that will try and use black relations as a way to uplift themselves,’ Monique explained.
‘And my question is always, “Well what have you been doing for the black community and the black race and your own black people?” Everything about me is pro-black. I can’t deal with clout chasers I can’t deal with people who are complete fame wh*res, and that’s what she is.
‘You see a lot of people, because of the climate, that will try and use black relations as a way to uplift themselves,’ Monique (pictured) explained, before adding: ‘Everything about me is pro-black’
‘She’ll do anything to have some kind of light shine on her, but at the end of the day people are beginning to see right through it and to see her for who she is. She’s just a very ugly person on the inside and she’s to the point now where her outward beauty can’t even cover that up,’ she finished.
Gizelle first accused Monique of perpetuating negative stereotypes about black women during the filming of RHOP’s current season, shortly after Monique’s physical fight with Candiace.
In a snippet of the scene, which is featured in RHOP’s season five trailer, Gizelle is shown saying: ‘We have been able to hold ourselves above the stereotype, and in five minutes she took it away!’
‘We have been able to hold ourselves above the stereotype, and in five minutes she took it away!’ Gizelle (pictured) first accused Monique of perpetuating negative stereotypes about black women during the filming of RHOP’s current season
Gizelle doubled down on her comments last month in a lengthy interview with In The Know.
‘We all felt like the incident allowed the world to think the stereotype, when this show was breaking the mold of the stereotype,’ she explained.
‘So why on earth would you throw the stereotype in everybody’s face when we’ve worked so hard to not be that?’
She added: ‘Like, forget the show. I’m not that, Robyn’s not that, Ashley’s not that. Like, we’re just not those women. So it was very, very hurtful.
‘We all felt like the incident allowed the world to think the stereotype, when this show was breaking the mold of the stereotype,’ Gizelle (pictured) told In The Know
Drama: Monique’s (left) explosive fight with Candiace (right) will be featured later this season
‘Take Monique and Candiace out of it. It was hurtful because it’s like, “Hey, we’ve worked so hard for five years, blood, sweat, and tears for where we are with this platform. And I don’t want to take this platform and throw it in the trashcan because you two want to act like nuts one night.’
Gizelle also claimed that her children were ‘horrified’ after learning about the fight.
The fifth season of the Real Housewives of Potomac is currently airing on Bravo in the U.S. and Hayu in Australia.
Outside of the show, Monique recently released the hip-hop single Drag Queens and published a parenting book titled Potty Training “Mommy & Daddy”: A Guide For Introducing Infant Potty Training As Early As 6 Months Old.
Tune in! The fifth season of the Real Housewives of Potomac is currently airing on Bravo in the U.S. and Hayu in Australia