Lisa Vanderpump, Andy Cohen break silence after cast firings

Lisa Vanderpump and Andy Cohen are breaking their silence on the recent firings of four Vanderpump Rules stars following racist actions and tweets. Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni were recently let go from the series after previous incidents of inappropriate behaviour were amplified following anti-racism protests. The respective creator and reunion show host had chosen not to speak up until both broke their silence June 10.“Over the past two weeks, many things have been brought to my attention, of which I and many others were previously unaware. It was necessary for me to be quiet until now, until decisions had been made. Now I can freely speak from the heart,” Vanderpump shared in an emotional Instagram post. “As we’ve seen such devastating sadness that has played out globally, we all have a part to play to create a kinder, more just society. My hope is for this generation to treat each other with respect and humanity, and realize that actions have; and should have, consequences.”

 

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A post shared by Lisa Vanderpump (@lisavanderpump) on Jun 10, 2020 at 12:04pm PDT

The SUR owner and reality star went on to address the personal impact these firings have had on her. “I love and adore our employees and I am deeply saddened by some of the lack of judgment that has been displayed. As many of you know, after watching me for 10 years, I have always been an equal rights activist and ally - my family, my businesses and I condemn all forms of cruelty, racism, homophobia, bigotry and unequal treatment,” she continued. “We’ve never tolerated it in the workplace or our lives. While you only see a fraction of our employees on the show, a specific friend group, across all of our companies, we have always been a very diverse group of people - every color, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Most of our employees have worked for us for over a decade, and we have become a family; one that embraces and celebrates each other’s differences. I am proud of the inclusive company that we’ve created.”Vanderpump wrapped her note with a promise to continue embracing diversity and to give a “deeper look into the multi-faceted fabric of our company” in the future. She also called on the world to move forward with a kinder generation because everybody deserves to feel safe. “So much of what has transpired in the world is not right, fair or acceptable,” she wrote. “We all have work to do to create a society we can be proud of and I hope as we venture forward, we strive to live in a world where kindness and compassion are our highest values.”[video_embed id='1974198']RELATED: 40 seasons. 18 years. 1 Black lead. Bachelor nation is calling for drastic change [/video_embed]Joining Vanderpump in echoing those statements of inclusion and diversity was Cohen, who made it pretty clear that he stands by the decision to let the cast members go. “I absolutely support Bravo’s decision. I think it was the right decision,” Cohen said on his SiriusXM program, Andy Cohen Live. “I feel like I remind people of this all the time: I’m not in charge of programming at Bravo anymore; I am not an executive producer of Vanderpump Rules. “And I want to remind people because I have been getting so many tweets and messages about these shows—I don’t have anything to do with the show except I love it, and that I host the reunions… I don’t produce the shows. So what I want people to know is I have no say in hiring and firing people.”On June 9, original Vanderpump Rules stars Schroeder and Doute were fired after a story about them calling the police on Black season four cast member Faith Stowers went viral. Schroeder also lost sponsorship deals, as well as her publicist and talent agency, and her podcast was removed from all streaming platforms. Meanwhile, Boyens and Caprioni, who were new to the series, were also let go after previous racist tweets surfaced following filming last January. Bravo confirmed all four exits in an official statement.Despite the firings some viewers are claiming the show didn’t do enough when it kept another original cast member, Jax Taylor, on the series despite his inappropriate comments and actions. His continued employment prompted co-star Billie Lee to speak out, claiming that Taylor refused to film with her because she is transgender.

@BravoTV what about Jax Taylor? He refused to film with me because I was trans and called him out on his white cis privilege. Stop celebrating his disgusting actions. #canceljaxtaylor

— Billie Lee (@ItsMeBillieLee) June 10, 2020

Stowers has also spoken out about how Taylor was a part of the problem, and how he should have also been let go from the series. In the meantime, she feels like the network did the right thing with Schroeder and Doute, at any rate.[video_embed id='1974905']BEFORE YOU GO: Anna Wintour is apologizing and acknowledging Vogue’s lack of diversity [/video_embed]