Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City star Luann de Lesseps was recently accused of being a Nazi sympathizer after her co-star Lizzy Savetsky made racist comments during an episode. De Lesseps has since apologized for not standing up to Savetsky iatthat moment, but one insider claims she’d been warned about Savetsky’s history with anti-Semitism before filming began on season 11.
Bravo did not immediately return a request for comment.
Lizzy Savetsky Reflects On Anti-Semitic Comments
The network has faced backlash before, including when it was accused of racism after contestant Luann de Lesseps made racially insensitive jokes about Tinsley Mortimer’s upbringing in New York City. The RHONY star later apologized and said she had learned from her mistakes.
According to one insider, the cast was “in an uproar” to hear how Lizzy Savetsky had been treated — but “they all get it, that if they speak up, they’re going to get canceled.”
Bravo was aware of accusations against Stern for months before the voicemail surfaced. In April 2010, a source told Page Six that “someone on his staff is getting fired because Lizzie doesn’t like her and keeps complaining about her being on set.”
In May 2017, Stern also came under fire after he made anti-Semitic remarks while talking with co-host Beth Ostrosky and guest Andy Cohen during a radio appearance. He later apologized via Twitter after receiving backlash from fans who took offense at his comments: “I am so sorry if my outside voice cracked or dropped any nastiness on today’s show. That is not who I am,” wrote the 53-year-old radio personality in response to the controversy surrounding his remarks toward Cohen’s Jewish heritage (Cohen is openly gay).
Bravo also might not have been aware of what happened until Lizzie posted about it publicly on Instagram earlier this week; there’s no evidence that either she or her friends reached out directly with concerns at any point prior to then—and even if they did, we’re still talking about an anonymous post by an unverified source on Reddit four years ago versus a verified account posting something very specific today. How would someone even know how serious these allegations were without first speaking with Lizzy Savetsky herself?