Eboni K. Williams, the first and only Black cast member on The Real Housewives of New York (RHONY), said she didn’t feel at home during a recent outing with her castmates on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old lawyer said her fellow casemates — Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer and Leah McSweeney — fled a book party for Dave Quinn’s Not All Diamonds and Rosé once she walked in.
The housewives have reportedly been beefing with Williams since the end of the 13th season of the show. According to PageSix, they believe Williams is the reason the show’s ratings have declined.
“Luann, Leah and Ramona had a pact [that] as soon as Eboni showed up, they would leave,” an insider said to Page Six.
According to a rep for Williams, she is reported to have had “a blast” at the book party, despite the cold shoulder from the other women.
She also reportedly met Dorinda Medley, a former cast member on the show, and danced the night away.
Reps for Singer, de Lesseps and McSweeney had no comment.
Williams made history in October 2020 when she was cast as the first Black housewife on the series. RHONY has been on air on the Bravo network since 2008.
When Williams joined the legendary RHONY cast, the lawyer and TV host not only made history but also brought in a new culture to the historically white ensemble.
Williams was raised by a single mother and went on to become a lawyer, working with the Louisiana Attorney General’s office where she assisted council members after Hurricane Katrina in 2008.
She transitioned into television, working as an anchor for a Fox News current affairs program. She is now one of the hosts of State of the Culture, a late-night talk show on Revolt TV, which also features hip-hop artist turned podcaster Joe Budden, rapper Remy Ma and journalist Brandon Jenkins.
William has openly spoken about her upbringing and her identity as a Black woman throughout her career, and has brought conversations about race and privilege to reality television.
However, some of the women were not ready to have those types of conversations.
Singer, who supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election, stated that Williams was too “preachy” and made everything a lesson.
Fans were also vocal about Williams “making everything about race” on social media and fan forums.
Williams has stood her ground, stating that she doesn’t make everything about race, but her race is central to her life, her experiences and the friendships she wishes to maintain. When the show’s ratings plummeted after the 13th season, which did not have a reunion, Williams maintained that it was not her fault.
“From my experience in television, any expectation to carry ratings around a program will go to the veteran talent,” she said to the Insider in August of this year. “So I think it’s nonsense to correlate the ratings performance of a 13-year series to a freshman talent.”
However, it looks like the women are still holding it against Williams.
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