In her own words, Faith Stowers said this week that she was glad she put herself ‘in the firing line’ after bravely speaking her truth against her former Vanderpump Rules co-stars Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute.
Amid widespread race protests erupting across the country in the response to the killing of George Floyd, Faith, 31, spoke frankly about her own experience of racism in the world of reality television.
In a candid interview with fellow reality star Candace Renee Rice on Instagram, Faith’s powerful words quickly garnered global headlines, and saw Stassi, 31, and Kristen, 37, be held accountable for their actions, and eventually fired from the Bravo show.
Brave: Reality star Faith Stowers (pictured in 2017) spoke out this week against former co-stars Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute for their racist behavior towards her
It began with Faith recalling a shocking incident where Kristen and Stassi decided to pull a ‘prank’ by calling the cops to investigate her for allegedly drugging men and stealing watches.
‘There was this article in the Daily Mail where there was an African American lady. It was a weird photo, so she looked very light-skinned and had these different, weird tattoos. I guess this woman was robbing people,’ Faith told Candace.
‘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,’ Faith added, who appeared on the reality show between 2015 and 2018.
Fired: Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute (pictured in 2018) have been known for their ‘mean girl’ behavior on Vanderpump Rules and have since apologized to Faith
Indeed, Stassi had brazenly spoken about the incident herself during a 2018 interview on a podcast titled the ‘Bitch Bible’ where she confirmed that she and Kristen had contacted authorities because they saw a resemblance between Faith and a suspected criminal in a news story.
‘We are like, we just solved a f***ing crime,’ Stassi said that in the episode, which has since been deleted but was reported by PEOPLE Magazine. ‘We start calling the police. The police don’t give a f****’ she added in the interview.
The same year, Kristen went even further, by posting a comparison picture on social media, tweeting: ‘hey tweeties, doesn’t this ex #pumprules thief look familiar?’
Speaking out: Stassi said she’s refocused her mentality amid the career crisis, which has seen her lose sponsors and admit to ‘racially insensitive comments’
Apology: Kristen also posted this to her Instagram account claiming that her behavior was ‘not racially driven’
Racial profiling – the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed a crime – is just one of many everyday forms of racism faced by the black community in America.
Faith’s account of Stassi and Kristen’s racial profiling towards her was quickly amplified by outraged fans who called on Bravo to take action.
The pair – who had been posting in support of Black Lives Matter on their Instagram pages this week – have both now apologized, with Stassi saying ‘I did not recognize then the serious ramifications that could have transpired because of my actions.’
Racial profiling: Kristen posted this shocking tweet to her fans in 2018 aimed at Faith
Most damning: Stassi called the cops on her black former costar Faith Stowers – whom she didn’t like – in an effort to get her in trouble on a previous season of the show; Faith is seen in 2016 above
However, Kristen caused further outcry when she apologized to Faith but claimed her actions ‘were not racially driven.’
She said: ‘I am now completely aware of how my privilege blinded me from the reality of law enforcement’s treatment of the black community, and how dangerous my actions could have been for her.’
Incidentally, many across the US are also protesting the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American EMT, who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department operating on a no-knock warrant while she was sleeping.
Scandal: Stassi parted ways with both her agent and her publicist after previous racist remarks and behavior has resurfaced
They’re out: Vanderpump Rules stars Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute have been fired by Bravo after their racially-charged prank that targeted co-star Faith Stowers
In an interview with PageSix this week, Faith said she felt ‘vindicated’ after it was revealed that Bravo had taken the action of firing both Kristen and Stassi (along with other cast members Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni who posted racist tweets in 2012.)
‘I feel so vindicated studios and production are able to see blatant racism and make these positive changes and help move the race forward – help with the fight forward,’ Faith told the outlet.
Faith revealed that she heard about the news when she was in the middle of prayer, saying: ‘I felt God’s presence, and I’m seeing now [that the news has been revealed] maybe that is what that was. He gave me a sign of optimism meant to be hopeful and showing that all of this was worth it.’
‘I was ready to put myself in the line of fire because I don’t know what will happen if I don’t say anything… but I’m glad I did,’ Faith added.
Apologetic: Newcomers Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni have also been dropped by Bravo. They apologized last week for past racist tweets on the Vanderpump Rules reunion
Since Faith did speak out, promising changes have already been made in addition to the Kristen and Stassi losing their place on the show.
MTV’s The Challenge announced that it ‘severed ties’ with Dee Nguyen as a result of her ‘offensive comments on the Black Lives Matter movement’ while they also fired Teen Mom star Taylor Selfridge for a number of racist tweets including one that said ‘black people scare me.’
Stassi – who has made other racists remarks, including claiming black people demand special treatment in her March 2, 2017 podcast – has seen her TV career tumble.
Gone: Stassi Schroeder’s popular podcast Straight Up with Stassi has been removed from all streaming platforms in light of Schroeder’s previous admitted ‘racially insensitive’ behavior
Referencing the #OscarsSoWhite controversy on her 2017 podcast – which is now deleted – Stassi said: ‘Maybe you weren’t nominated because you didn’t do that great of a job in your movie,’ adding: ‘Like it’s not about race. It’s literally like not about what you look like at all. It’s like your acting ability, so like, what the actual f***?’
The New Orleans-born reality did not shy away from the topic, saying: ‘Like, everyone giving their impassioned speeches about race and all of that stuff, I’m like, “Why is it always just about African Americans?”
Following this, Stassi was promptly forced to part ways with both her agent and her publicist, with a spokesperson for UTA, confirming she is no longer a client of the agency.
Statement: ‘We recently learned of racially charged and inappropriate actions by Stassi Schroeder during one of her previous projects,’ wrote the show’s broadcaster Radio.com in an Instagram post on Tuesday
Additionally, a representative of the PR firm Metro Public Relations told the publication: ‘[Schroeder] became a client when her publicist joined our company in July 2018. We made the decision this weekend to part ways with Stassi.’
In even more shocking posts, in 2018, Stassi labelled one of her looks ‘Nazi chic’ after wearing a black cold shoulder jumper and a hat,
She also called Kristen’s outfit – a black jumper and a red bandana – ‘Tupac chic’ and Rachael O’Brien’s ensemble – a black jumper and a beanie hat – ‘Criminal chic’.
Stassi has since been dropped as a spokesperson for shaving brand Billie, vitamin startup Ritual and has had her podcast cancelled. In addition, a planned partnership with Glamour magazine focusing on her upcoming nuptials ‘has no plans to continue at this time.’
‘Lack of judgement’: Vanderpump Rules star Lisa Vanderpump made her own statement on the matter on Wednesday
Kristen and Stassi – who have been known to be ‘mean girls’ on the show – had antagonism towards Faith because of her involvement with Jax Taylor, which was documented during season six of the show.
Taylor – whose chronic infidelity has been a VPR plot point throughout the years – cheated on now-wife Brittany Cartwright with Stowers, who was a recurring character in season four.
Talking about the dynamic during the Live session, Faith said: ‘I felt like after their friend did something that we both were involved in that he’s done like, a thousand times, they wanted to attack me instead of him.’
‘They wanted to attack, attack, attack, attack, attack. I was wrong, I was this, I was that, calling me names, saying my hair was nappy, which is weird coming out of their mouths.
‘And I believe it hit the ceiling for me, and made me really want to run for the hills, when Kristen and Stassi decided they were going to call the cops on me,’ she went on.
‘I [had] left the show [at that point]. I was invited back to tell my truth, but decided it wasn’t going to do anything for me. So I ended up not coming back, I decided to go over to MTV. Once I did that, I felt like they got upset with me.’
Vanderpump Rules has been criticized for its lack of diversity over the years.
Since premiering in 2013 the show has featured only two black castmembers as recurring characters: Faith and Tina McDowelle, who appeared in seasons one and two.
On Tuesday, Bravo issued a statement saying, ‘Bravo and Evolution Media confirmed today that Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni will not be returning to Vanderpump Rules.’
Andy Cohen also spoke out saying he supported Bravo’s decision to fire the offending cast members.
Meanwhile, several outlets have reported that Stassi and Kristen have been ‘surprised’ at their firing, while also feeling ‘distraught’ over the decision, according to insiders.
Yesterday, speaking on the ‘Red Flags Make Cute Scarves’ podcast, Faith also expressed her disappoint at Lisa Vanderpump.
‘Lisa does a lot for the LGBTQ community and support, and she does a lot for dogs all across the world to try to help them with what they’re putting dogs through all over the world,’ Faith told host Lily Red.
‘Unfortunately, George Floyd is not a dog, and that’s how I feel, because had George Floyd been a dog, Lisa would have marched like she did for Vanderpump Dogs.’
For her part, Lisa posted a lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday acknowledging a ‘lack of judgement’ displayed by some of her employees.