Teddi Mellencamp wants the Bravoverse to stop being so uncool.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum slams the death threats she has received after making a joke about the Scandoval drama on Vanderpump Rules.
The 41-year-old recently appeared on Melissa Gorga’s On Display podcast to discuss Tom Sandoval cheating on Ariana Madix with their good friend and co-star Raquel Leviss.
On the podcast, Teddi joked that Lisa Vanderpump paid Raquel to have an affair with Tom in order to create drama on Vanderpump Rules and give the show a bump in ratings.
“She probably paid Raquel to do this,” Teddi quipped.
Now, Teddi insists she was joking while speaking out about the death threats she has received as a result of her comment.
“Clearly I was making a joke and I’m being eviscerated for making a joke, which wasn’t even being reported correctly, because everyone conveniently leaves out I said ‘probably’ and was laughing,” Teddi told Entertainment Tonight.
“I love Bravo fans, I think how passionate they are is obviously why Two Ts is so successful, but it feels like my words will continue to get twisted and when people will come at you and say, ‘I wish you weren’t alive, I wish you died!'”
“They get brutal with even the words they say. ‘You’re a waste of c**,'” the former Bravoleb shares. “If somebody wants to come onto my page and be like, ‘Listen, I don’t think your joke is funny.’ You know what? You’re entitled to that opinion. And you know what? I can look back and listen to it and go, OK, maybe I pushed the boundaries here. I can be reflective if you’re coming to me in some way that is logical. If you’re saying my mother was a dumb woman to ever get pregnant with me because I’m disgusting on this earth? I don’t know if you really have a leg to stand on there. I’m not really taking your feedback.”
The All-In accountability coach is no stranger to having drama with LVP fans as she battled it out with them on social media amid her fallout with the West Hollywood restaurateur over “puppy gate.”
However, Teddi believes the death threats are over the top and unwarranted especially over a clickbait comment that was clearly a joke.
“I just don’t get why it turns so dark. Do I think that she’s pulling out $20 bills and paying Raquel for this drama? No! Like, please, guys.”
“If we’re gonna really dig into it, anybody on a reality show is paid to cause drama. I wasn’t [really] saying that she was paid to cause an affair, but that is what anybody on a reality show is doing. So, even the outrage if I wasn’t joking?”
As for LVP, she simply tweeted that Teddi’s accusation was “fake news.”
Despite all the drama, Teddi admits she’s happy that Vanderpump Rules is doing so well and wants to the show to succeed for many reasons.
“I truly want to say, I’m happy that Vanderpump Rules is doing well,” Teddi explains. “I love [the production company] Evolution. I love a lot of the cast on Vanderpump Rules. I don’t have it out for this woman. I made a joke! Maybe not a good joke — I’m not in charge of how great my humor is — but it’s just taken such life and not represented accurately and everybody treating it as if I said a factual statement, and it just feeds into the online hate and that’s just the part that’s a bummer.”
Yet, Teddi can’t help but call out the double standard in the Bravoverse. On the March 8 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, LVP told viewers to stop attacking Raquel and Tom but teased that they could continue going after her former RHOBH co-stars Kyle Richards and Lisa Rinna.
LVP didn’t receive any blowback for her comment which Teddi believes is a double standard.
“Do I need to watch what I say? Yeah, but it’s just, to me it’s a bummer, because people can laugh at a joke that she says that’s clearly, like, she was opening up other people to come for two other people that are on that same network. I’m really not coming for Lisa Vanderpump in any way. I’m talking about her show! Clearly, I don’t have an issue, because people who really don’t like somebody refuse to speak about them. I’m not doing that. I’m happy to talk about it.”
Teddi concludes by noting that she doesn’t take any of threats against her seriously but thinks fans need to think before they make a threat or post a comment that could hurt someone.
“I think that people, their favorite thing to say is, ‘Oh, Teddi, you’re just being thirsty. But this is supposed to be the fun part. If you don’t listen to the whole thing, why are you so angry about it? And if you do listen to it, do your research. Take a breath before making a comment that could ultimately hurt somebody. Agree with me, or disagree with me. Think I’m funny, or think I’m annoying. Have an opinion, but you don’t need to go to that level.”
She adds:
“I’m not delusional, but it’s not necessary. I only speak on it because I don’t want this to keep happening. Like, as a viewer of Housewives now, I don’t want this to happen to [cast members who go against ‘fan-favorites’] and then not give us the full potential they possibly have because they’re being beaten down by the fans.”
Vanderpump Rules airs on Wednesdays at 9 pm on Bravo.
Is Teddi Mellencamp facing unjustified backlash for her joke about Vanderpump Rules drama?
Teddi joked that Lisa Vanderpump paid Raquel to have an affair with Tom in order to create drama on Vanderpump Rules and boost ratings.
Teddi received death threats because some people took her joke about Lisa Vanderpump paying Raquel to have an affair with Tom too seriously and reacted with extreme hostility.
Teddi insists that she was joking and expresses her disappointment with the dark and hateful response she received. She believes that people should think before making threats or hurtful comments.
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