Lisa Vanderpump and Kyle Richards’ Feud Explained

After 9 seasons together on the hit show, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, it seems the friendship between Kyle Richards and Lisa Vanderpump has officially come to an end. The season-long drama – regarding what seemed like something rather small in the Real Housewives world – turned into an explosive fallout between Vanderpump, with not only Kyle, but the entire cast, resulting in Vanderpump officially leaving the series. Fans were extremely impacted by Vanderpump’s exit, but curious whether or not the decade-long friendship between herself and Richards would have any hope of rekindling in the future.

Starting off in season 9, there seemed to be a setup by Vanderpump and her staff that would supposedly damage Dorit Kemsley’s reputation. The fallout began when Kemsley had adopted a dog from Vanderpump’s animal rescue center, Vanderpump Dogs, but ultimately was given away by Kemsley to a family friend. Rumors circulated that the dog wound up in a kill shelter, which deeply upset Vanderpump. After the press got hold of these rumors, the other housewives claimed this was a setup to take down Dorit, as Vanderpump was unhappy with her for name-calling, labeling her as needy, in season 8. When Richards, Vanderpump’s oldest friend in the cast, admitted that she believed Vanderpump leaked stories to press outlets, the loyalty and trust between the two women was ruined.

On The Daily Dish, a short video summarizes the fight between Vanderpump and Richards that set the tone for the rest of the season. Co-stars were claiming Vanderpump leaked stories, manipulated the other women, and said she was the “puppet master behind Beverly Hills.” Richards went to Vanderpump’s home to inform her what the other women were saying about her. After Vanderpump denied allegations that she was selling stories to Radar Online, Vanderpump and Richards got into a heated discussion, which ultimately left Richards storming out of Vanderpump’s home after being asked to leave. From then on, it appeared that this longtime friendship was officially over.

When the season was airing and fans began to speak out about their points of view, Richards went on her Instagram story to share more of where she was coming from. “When I was told to go to Vanderpump Dogs way back at the beginning of the season, I knew right away what was going on,” Richards said. “I was brought there to unknowingly be a part of making Dorit Kemsley look bad for entertainment purposes I suppose. Dorit made a mistake. She should have turned the dog back into Vanderpump Dogs. There is no disputing that. I will not go around and around about that again.” In previous seasons, Richards was known for being honest, but usually took Vanderpump’s side in arguments between cast members.

At the concluding reunion episode, Bravo played a 5-minute montage video of their friendship leaving Richards in tears. She said, “It’s sad to me. It’s sad that she’s not here. People tweet me pictures all the time, and every time I see something like that, where I’m joking and laughing with her, it makes me sad. I paid the ultimate price by being honest.” Richards, along with the other Beverly Hills Housewives, most recently attended BravoCon, a fan-filled weekend promoting the Bravo Franchise. Richards opened up about the latest update on her friendship with Lisa Vanderpump. She said, “I just bumped into her in Beverly Hills about a week and a half ago and said, ‘Hi, how are you,’ so it’s cordial on my end. I always am nostalgic.”

Although Vanderpump did not appear with her former cast mates at BravoCon, she will always remain a major part of making the series so successful and noteworthy. “I had a great time on Housewives,” she said. “But to have negativity during a time in my life when I needed to try to be positive, I decided it was over.” Bravo has yet to announce a premiere date for season 10, but The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is expected to return in early 2020.

Source: The Daily Dish

About The Author