Andy Cohen weighed in on the Real Housewives of Orange County‘s future following Kelly Dodd’s multiple controversies. And it looks like it won’t be coming back anytime soon!
In case you forgot, the 45-year-old reality star has come under fire multiple times over the last year for mocking the severity of the coronavirus pandemic. In April 2020, she made an extremely insensitive remark on Instagram about how the virus was “God’s way of thinning the herd”. Dodd later backtracked on the comments when she appeared on Watch What Happens Live, saying:
“Of course I regret saying that. It was a stupid thing for me to say, it was insensitive and I apologize if I hurt or offended anybody. That wasn’t really my intention… I got really freaked out about it. In hindsight, it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever said.”
Related: RHOC Star Braunwyn Windham-Burke Celebrates One Year Of Sobriety!
Well, it looked like her apology was all for show as the TV personality later celebrated the restriction lifts in California months later by raising a glass to “super spreaders” in the middle of a restaurant. Dodd later defended the moment on her Instagram Stories, saying “there’s nothing to spread” as she claimed to have already been vaccinated. This lack of concern is coming from the woman whose own mother also came down with COVID-19 — so that should tell you something about Dodd. Hours later, Positive Beverage announced they decided to part ways from the controversial star.
On top of everything else, the momma of one also faced some backlash for claiming she was Black on part two of the season 15 reunion. Hint: she is not Black.
Filming for season 16 of Orange County has since been stalled, and there’s no word on when the show will actually start production. In the meantime, all of the housewives have been wondering if they will be back at all — especially after Cohen tweeted out that the series needed a cast “reboot” back in January. Since then, there’s been tons of speculation as to whether Dodd will return or not. However, she shot down the rumors on Twitter, writing:
“It’s actually kinda funny… I’ve heard these rumors every year for the last five years. Looking forward to my sixth season.”
Most recently, Cohen actually defended the cast member about their heated clash on masks in a recent episode of the Bitch Sesh podcast. In it, he said:
“Here’s the thing: Kelly Dodd is from Orange County, where a lot of people share her beliefs in masks and other things. On the one hand, she is a Real Housewife of Orange County, and this is what she believes, and she’s not an elected official. She’s not Michelle Obama, who we are looking at for this information. That’s just an amalgamation of thoughts that lead in no directions.”
The Bravo personality added:
“You have to remember the basis of what this show has been about for many years. It’s been about women who you either share their points of view or absolutely not. You think they’re brilliant or completely clueless. It’s up to you whether you think they’re a role model.”
Okay but… Dodd’s still a public figure with over 800,000 social media followers, and she has continued to spread a ton of misinformation about the global health crisis. There are still people who are going to be influenced by her harmful behaviors, whether we like it or not, and just being a housewife from OC does not excuse her from anything. Either way, Andy’s words are pretty telling, and it seems like there’s still a chance that Dodd will return to the show despite the controversies surrounding her.
Now, Cohen shared a shocking update with E! News on the reality show’s future this week, and it looks like the cast will be on a temporary break!
“I think that show’s really important to a lot of people and it’s the mothership of all the Housewives and so we just want to take our sweet time. You know there used to be times between seasons where we’d say, ‘Let’s just let the Housewives live their lives and we’ll call on them in a bit.’ And I think we’re in that period in Orange County.”
The 52-year-old host continued:
“I think it will be good for them to live their lives and then we’ll pick it back up when we need to. We’ve got a lot of Housewives shows going in various stages of production so the good news is there’s no, we don’t have to rush it to air.”
We don’t know what a pause will accomplish since you can’t change certain people’s opinions overnight, but we guess it’s good they’re taking a step back for a hot minute. You know, maybe the producers will reconsider some casting decisions during this mini-hiatus? Cough, cough.
Are U shocked season 16 of the RHOC possibly won’t be on anytime soon? Do U think Kelly will return? Let us know your thoughts in the comments (below)!
[Image via Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen/YouTube & Kelly Dodd/Instagram]
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