Did Bravo actually fix Vanderpump Rules?
After languishing for two seasons in cast firings and controversies, Vanderpump Rules looks like its old self again
There was a time when Vanderpump Rules was arguably the world’s best reality show. Real housewife of Beverly Hills Lisa Vanderpump’s series about a group of 20-somethings and one horrible 30-something working at one of her lavish, overpriced eateries was appointment television from 2013 through 2018.
During that time, the show was the domain of Mr. Jax Taylor. The Shakespeare of reality TV, Taylor could turn any outing, no matter how insignificant, mundane, or well-intentioned, into high drama. Seemingly bringing the 90s back all by himself, Taylor flipped off his boss like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin; admitted to sexual relations like former President Bill Clinton; and faced arrest for stealing a pair of high-priced sunglasses like a rebellious, bucket-hat-wearing teen outside of a Sunglass Hut in 1999. His boundless foolishness and endless stream of lies (he claimed he was once Channing Tatum’s roommate and that his family owned 47% of CVS) made for some of the best rubbernecking of the ‘10s.
But as is often the case, the cast of Vanderpump wasn’t acting, and their awful behavior spilled into real life. Bravo head Andy Cohen booted bedrock cast members Kristen Doute and Stassi Schroeder from the show after they admitted to filing a racist police report against former co-star Faith Stowers over a crime she did not commit. Even new cast members weren’t immune to these firings. In 2020, after roughly a season on the show, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni were fired from the show after, you guessed it, racist tweets resurfaced.
Meanwhile, Jax and his wife, Brittany Cartwright, were fired for
undisclosed reasons. Though the details of their dismissal were not made
public, it probably had something to do with, you guessed it, Jax’s racist tweets resurfacing. Taylor has since found himself in
league with Randall Emmett, the besieged Hollywood huckster known for “geezer teasers” starring John Malkovich and ex-husband of current cast member Lala Kent.