Eboni K. Williams stepping away from social media amid ‘RHONY’ race conversation
The new "Real Housewife" says she's "pulling a Naomi Osaka" ahead of the next two episodes of the reality show.
Eboni K. Williams is rightfully protecting her peace. Ahead of Tuesday night’s intense episode of The Real Housewives of New York, the new “real housewife” took to Instagram Live to announce a two-week hiatus from social media as the series dives into some important race conversations.
Williams is four episodes in to her first season on RHONY and nailing it. As theGrio previously reported, she is the first Black woman to appear as a full-time housewife on the New York iteration of the franchise. While most of the women seemed to welcome her with open arms throughout the first few episodes, Tuesday night’s episode took a turn, one in which almost all of the women seemed to gang up on Williams, calling her “angry” while she simply shared her opinion.
Read More: 5 Things To Know About ‘Real Housewives of New York’ newcomer Eboni K. Williams
Williams went on Instagram Live to connect directly with her fans and followers to give them a heads-up as to why they may not be seeing her on social media for a little while. “I want to let you know that tonight, after tonight’s episode, I’m not gonna be saying goodbye, but I’m gonna be laying, ‘see you later,’ by way of social media,” she says, then describing Tuesday night’s and next week’s episodes as “intense” and “really important.”
“The reason I am taking this social media break for the next two weeks,” says Williams, “is because I wanna leave ya’ll to yourselves to have discussion and debate and conversation about what you’re going to see tonight and what you’re going to see next week.” She then explains that while some of the conversation will be “rich, dynamic and important,” a lot of it will be “some bulls–t.” Calling out the trolls she’s faced since joining the show, she says, “I’m not here for it, and I won’t be a part of it.”
Still, Williams implores the RHONY audience to watch these episodes carefully and says she looks forward to engaging again on the important conversations in the future. “It’s not about Team Eboni and Team ‘fill-in-the-blank’ housewife … it’s about leaning in, and making space to sit with someone else’s pain, even when you don’t understand it.”
As she foreshadowed online, a heated conversation between Williams and her fellow New York housewives ended Tuesday night’s episode with a bang.
Read More: Eboni K. Williams becomes first Black cast member of ‘RHONY’
While on their first cast trip, the women debated if it was “appropriate” to discuss sex openly amongst a group of women after fellow housewife Leah McSweeney stormed off from their meal. Williams, sharing her opinion on the matter, told the group, “I don’t subscribe to the fact that to use those words means you’re unclassy or not a lady,” to which housewife Luann de Lesseps responded, “It has nothing to do with class, it has to do with education.” This is when Williams, an incredibly accomplished woman, defended herself and told de Lessups she has “more education than anybody at this table.”
What ensues is a dialogue during which de Lessups and Ramona Singer, two mainstays on the RHONY cast, gaslight Williams and refer to her as “an angry woman” who is “shouting.” When Williams simply explains her experience and why the comments hit her in such a way, the women dig in their heels, with Singer saying again, “Oh my god, my ears are hurting … Bring it down.” Having to defend herself and protect her peace yet again, Williams simply tells Singer: “Your white fragility is killing me right now.”
Check out a clip from the much-talked-about exchange below.
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