Garcelle Beauvais admits Sutton Stracke was ‘wrong’ during her heated conversation with Crystal Kung Minkoff about racial stereotypes
Sutton #Sutton
Garcelle Beauvais may be the only Black Housewife on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” but she isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions when it comes to race with her castmates.
In last week’s episode, Kyle Richards, Sutton Stracke, and new Housewife, Crystal Kung Minkoff, were all having a nightcap after dinner during their girls trip to Lake Tahoe in California.
The three were discussing Richards’ tense conversation with Beauvais in which the actress confronted Richards about calling her out at last year’s reunion. Richards didn’t believe Beauvais had honored the $5,000 pledge she made at Richards’ fundraiser.
The “Coming to America” actress pressed Richards, asking her if she would’ve questioned her pledge if she was white, and then told Richards why questioning her about money was a trigger as a Black woman.
Kung Minkoff, who is Chinese-American, began explaining to Richards and Stracke about why Beauvais, as a Black woman, may have been offended and hurt by Richards’ accusation (noting the harmful stereotypes about Black people not paying their bills or tipping at restaurants) when Stracke interrupted her in what appeared to be an unwillingness to have the discussion about race.
Returning the favor, Minkoff interrupted Stracke, saying: “Tell me you’re that girl. Tell me you’re the girl who doesn’t see color.”
Beauvais, who’s in her second season on the series, said her friend Stracke was “wrong” for seemingly trying to shut down the conversation about racial stereotypes and centering her own experience as a southern white woman.
“What Sutton was trying to do is share her experience, and I think what happened wrong is that she stepped on Crystal. She should have waited until Crystal was done and then said how she feels,” Beauvais told Insider. “Her cutting Crystal off made people feel like she was not taking Crystal’s experience to heart.”
Before the conversation got thwarted, Stracke attempted to stand up for Richards, saying that she was asking Beauvais about the owed money as a person, not as a “race.”
Kung Minkoff, however, explained to Stracke that not seeing race is an outdated concept when Stracke interrupted her yet again.
“I don’t feel like Sutton did it intentionally,” Beauvais said. “We had been drinking. I think she was just like, ‘Well, let me tell you about my experience.’ And it was like, ‘No, no. You should have just listened.'”
“Beverly Hills” isn’t the only “Housewives” franchise having conversations about race this season.
On the “The Real Housewives of New York,” newcomer Eboni K. Williams is having similar uncomfortable conversations with her castmates, namely Luann de Lesseps, about racial stereotypes.
During an argument while on a getaway in The Hamptons, a wealthy neighborhood in Long Island, New York, de Lesseps called Williams “angry.” The first Black Housewife of “New York” quickly called out the veteran reality star for playing into a oft-spoken stereotype regarding Black women.
Beauvais, who called Williams “a great addition to ‘New York,”‘ said that “people are getting used to these kinds of conversations. Now everybody is noticing more and hearing more.”
“And when that happens, not everybody’s going to be comfortable and be like, ‘Yeah, let’s talk about race.’ Not everybody’s going to want to jump on board because it may show them something about themselves that they’re not aware of,” she added.
In earlier episodes on “RHOBH,” Beauvais admitted that she’s had a certain loneliness that can come with being Black in Beverly Hills, but that it’s important to have uncomfortable conversations especially with the current state of racial reckoning in this country.
“I’ve said before: My first season was really important not to give people the title that they so wanted to [say] all the time – ‘angry Black woman.’ That’s not who I am,” she said.
While this season has had some uncomfortable moments, Beauvais is thrilled that cameras captured the ladies having fun. It also served as a place to show off her new jewelry collaboration with Roni Blanshay, Garcelle x RB. The actress said she “grew up loving jewelry.”
Garcelle x RB is a jewelry line full of color, reminiscent of the Beauvais’ home country of Haiti. She believes her expressive jewelry collection is a great way to have women feel good about themselves and decide how they want to feel that day by wearing her intricate and ornate pieces.
“It’s another expression of art,” she added.
“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Read the original article on Insider