UPDATE: Following Faith Stowers' accusations about the Vanderpump Rules cast, some brands have stated to E! News that they've cut ties with Stassi Schroeder.
"Billie is ending all partnerships with anyone who isn't supporting the fight against racism, including Stassi," the brand said in a statement. Secret Deodorant also shared, "We find these comments and actions offensive and inexcusable. We have ended our relationship with this influencer. "
"Upon learning of these allegations, we immediately cancelled any advertising on Ms. Schroeder's podcast. We are listening and learning, with the intent of being a part of the solution with actionable steps," The Skrewball Family of Skewball Whiskey told E! News in a statement. "As a small mom and pop that relies on third party expertise to market our brand, we recognize it is on us to take better steps in vetting our advertisers to ensure they are aligned with our values as individuals and as a company. We are committed to being part of the solution and are taking fast action against any inequality and racism. We will no longer be advertising with Ms. Schroeder."
You can read about Faith's experience on Vanderpump Rules below.
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As Faith Stowers put it simply, "It was a lot."
In a recent Instagram Live, the reality star, who appeared as a recurring character on the fourth season of Vanderpump Rules and later returned briefly as a guest in the sixth season, revisited her experience as the only black character on the Bravo series.
While talking remotely with fellow MTV star Candace Renee Rice on Tuesday, the topic of Stowers' experience with former castmate Stassi Schroeder was raised by a fan comment.
"I did a show with [an] all-white cast," Stowers told Rice. "I was the only black person on the show."
Referencing when cast member Jax Taylor had cheated on his then-girlfriend Brittany Cartwright with her, Stowers explained, "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. It was like they wanted to attack, attack, attack, attack, attack. 'I was wrong and I was this and I was that,' calling me names, saying my hair was nappy, which is weird coming out of their mouths."
While Stowers didn't initially name specific co-stars, she did eventually reference Schroeder and Kristen Doute. "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," Stowers recalled.
She continued, "This is when I quit—like, I left the show. 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, so I decided to go over to MTV. Once I did that, I felt like they got upset with me."
In regard to why they had called the cops, "There was this article…where there was an African American lady," Stowers described. "It was a weird photo, so she looked very light-skinned and had these different, weird tattoos. They showcased her, and I guess this woman was robbing people...The woman was at large…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."
According to Reality Tea, Schroeder discussed how she and Doute had called the police to report Stowers in an April 2018 interview on The Bitch Bible podcast. The episode has since been taken down.
Around that same time, Doute tweeted a link to a report about the unidentified woman, who was accused of meeting men at a nightclub and then allegedly drugging and robbing them after going home with them.
"Hey tweeties, doesn't this ex #pumprules thief look familiar?" Doute wrote. "Someone put her on mtv & gave her a platform for press. I didn't wanna go there but I'm going there," she added, seeming to hint at Stowers, who went on to star on Ex on the Beach and The Challenge. E! News has reached out to Schroeder's rep for comment. Both she and Doute have since expressed support of the Black Lives Matter movement on social media.
As Stowers said, "It was just funny, because they thought it was me because it was a black woman with a weave." She told Rice, "So, they just assumed it would be me, and they called the cops on me...It didn't work, so they were upset about that."
"I get people being upset [with the cheating]," Stowers acknowledged, "but I didn't understand why I was getting so much heat and the man wasn't, who's still filming and doing what he normally does." Taylor and Cartwright are now married.
In regard to the show's star and executive producer, Lisa Vanderpump, Stowers alleged, "When she first approached me, she was very like…happy about the fact that there was a black person gonna be on the show and she was like, you know, I want you to put them in their place, kind of give them this Nene Leakes kind of attitude and I was very nice coming in, I wasn't really giving nobody real attitude and giving her like that show she needed from me, I felt like." Stowers blamed that as the reason for why she never got to be in any "confessionals."
"I didn't have anything like that," Stowers told Rice. "This could be different on their end, but in my opinion, I thought it was weird that everybody on the show got to do interviews and confessionals and I didn't get a chance to even do that, to tell my story, which was a very interesting story, being a black woman in the military at the time. At the time, I was still in the army…leaving military drill…to come film with y'all...I didn't feel like they appreciated that."
While confessionals are typically reserved for main cast members, recurring cast members have participated in the past.
"It was a lot," Stowers said of the overall experience. "But I feel like now I'm in a way better position anyway, so it's fine."
Stowers reacted to the response to the Instagram Live, telling E! News, "I have been receiving so much support. It's crazy...It's been overwhelming and it makes me feel like I was actually heard this time."
"I just want to say this is not an attack on Vanderpump Rules," Stowers clarified. "It wasn't done on the show."
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
(This story was originally published on Fri, Jun 5, 2020, 3:44 p.m. PST)