After declaring herself super sober all season, Kim Richards was arrested last week for (among other things) public intoxication! Now come the reports that Kim was actually drinking the entire time Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills was filming and that Bravo is officially fed-up with giving Kim chances and are in talks to fire her!
Kim has caused a lot of issues since joining RHOBH – and there’s been several rumors that Kyle Richards has gone to bat for her and made deals with the network to keep Kim employed, despite her inability to show up for filming and her unstable behavior. But is Bravo officially done with My Sobriety being the only storyline (besides attack dogs) Kim contributes to the show – especially when My Sobriety isn’t even Kim’s reality?
Production sources for the RHOBH show reveal that Kim has never been sober during filming – not in 5 seasons! – but this season she just gotten better at hiding it! However, other sources insist Kim was actually sober for a portion of this season!
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Several production insides tell TMZ that Kim protesting she was sober this season were “laughable” and it was a constant issue behind-the-scenes, however veteran Housewives, Lisa Vanderpump and Yolanda Foster knew better than to confront Kim and turned a blind-eye instead. And Kyle was also well-aware of Kim’s lack of sobriety. Unfortunately Eileen Davidson, and obviously Lisa Rinna didn’t get the memo!
Production sources share that Kim hid her drinking and never did it where her co-stars could see her, but it was obvious. For instance she would disappear during filming, then emerge obviously impaired.
Other sources connected to Kim insist that this season is the best she’s ever done at controlling her addiction. HUH?! Here’s the interesting thing: sources on both sides of the argument say Brandi Glanville, Kim’s BFF, has vouched for their version of events. So ALLEGEDLY Brandi was agreeing with producers that Kim is drunki-drunkifers and needs help, yet telling others on-set that Kim was working really hard at her sobriety… (and that in part explains the really horrible edit Brandi got this season!)
Apparently the catalyst for production realizing Kim was definitely not sober was Kingsley! The dog was a threat to Bravo crew so he had to be locked-up in a cage during filming and production sent a dog trainer to Kim’s residence to work with Kingsley. When the trainer arrived Kim was “such a mess” he had to actually put her to bed!
As for Monty, there are also reports that he never was living with Kim and she was just helping care for him at his house or with taking him to appointments. Also, he denies giving her a pill!
With all of this happening, coupled with Kim’s arrest last Thursday, Bravo is officially reconsidering asking Kim back for another season – but there are conflicting ideas about that as well!
Different factions of production and the network are divided about how to handle Kim. Most producers feel Kim is a “liability” and there are insurance issues with the show and “serious concerns” that if something happens to Kim during filming Bravo could be responsible due to employing her on such a “contentious, demanding show” knowing her vulnerabilities.
The producers attest that Kim maintaining her sobriety was a front this season and that as soon as cameras stopped rolling Kim would go “off the rails” which was part of the friction between herself, Lipsa, and Eileen – everyone on the show was aware of Kim’s condition, but it was only accidentally, so-to-speak, captured during the infamous limo ride with Rinna to poker night.
Other producers argue, however, that this season Kim managed her sobriety better than in seasons past – and also her sobriety has become a major thread through RHOBH’s history. They also feel it’s hypocritical for the network to have “exploited her all year if she was such a problem” only to give her the axe when things get really tough.
Unfortunately Bravo, like Kim’s family, has reportedly given her numerous chances to clean up her act. During seasons 1 – 3, she was largely absent from many filming events, delayed things indefinitely, was impossible to work with, plus she had to enter rehab. She semi got it together for season 4, but it was mostly that production and the show ‘shot and edited around Kim’ and treated her with kid-gloves.
The whole Paris trip with poopy pillow-gate was featured, despite the show’s best efforts to keep Kim’s issues hidden. Additionally, it seems Kim never fulfills her contracts! She rarely writes blogs, she doesn’t often appear for press or on WWHL, she seldom gives interviews promoting RHOBH, and cumulatively she’s been extremely absent from several filming events – as a result rumors have long-circulated that she was paid less than co-stars.
Basically Kim has never been in recovery but is in denial. Now with this arrest, Bravo is in “serious discussion about about giving Kim the axe,” says TMZ. They are considering her arrest an “alarm” which indicates the severity of Kim’s situation.
However the show doesn’t begin filming season 6 for a few months, thus giving producers and Bravo time before making up their minds, although the network is supposedly leaning towards firing Kim.
I also wonder if other ladies will refuse to film with Kim this giving the network added impetus to let her go – they’re definitely going to choose someone like Eileen or the Lisas over Kim.
TELL US – DO YOU BELIEVE KIM HAS NEVER BEEN SOBER ON RHOBH? SHOULD BRAVO GIVE HER ANOTHER CHANCE, OR FIRE HER?
[Photo Credit: Michael Larsen/Bravo]
