Ramona Singer can be remembered for a lot of things during her tenure on Real Housewives of New York. She’s an OG of the East Coast and ran her RHONY co-stars through the wringer. And then, just like that, the Real Housewives franchise that was a Bravo staple disappeared into thin air.
The bombshell Vanity Fair article has just come out and I’m still waiting for the bombshells. It didn’t tell us anything shocking and might surprise a casual viewer. To most hardcore fans it was kind of, meh. What it did confirm allege is that the Ramonacoaster made several pit stops at racism.
Was Bravo protecting Ramona’s alleged racism?
While RHONY fans were very familiar with the way Ramona treated anyone in the service industry over the years (aka the help), apparently her lack of couth spilled over into production.
During Season 13, Ramona had some type of “racial hostility” meltdown and ALLEGEDLY used the N-word while in a conversation with a Black member of the crew. A complaint was issued inside of Shed Media, Warner Bros. Discovery, Bravo, and NBCUniversal.
Here’s where I remind you Season 13 was the first time RHONY opened the door to their first Black cast member, Eboni K. Williams. Additionally, it was the only season to not have a reunion, and the series was completely rebooted with an all-new cast.
Back in November 2021, Ramona ALLEGEDLY said, “This is why we shouldn’t have black people on the show” after Eboni got upset and left Luann de Lesseps’ house. Along with the other allegations, Ramona denies this as well. “I never said that. It’s a terrible lie. It’s very disappointing that even after my name was cleared that people still want to slander me.”
During one of the more unsavory moments, Eboni had left the scene and the crew stayed behind. A source shared that Darian Edmondson, a Black producer, had a conversation with Ramona. Ramona allegedly told Darian her interaction with Eboni reminded her of when Jewish colleagues would call her a “shiksa.” That’s a Yiddish term for a non-Jewish female. Darian had never heard this term before and said, “Ramona, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Ramona allegedly replied, “Oh, it’s literally like somebody calling you a n–r.”
Ramona denied saying the slur.
Blame it on the “Open Dialogue”
Before Season 13 the cast, including Eboni, had a “virtual education session” which reviewed the topic of race and what is and is not permissible to say on television. Yes friends, a group of adult women had to take a class to learn how not to say racist things.
On the call were Ramona, Eboni, Leah McSweeney, Sonja Morgan, and Luann. NBCUniversal communications executives and Bravo publicists were also there, along with two reps from a racial justice organization.
And Ramona had questions. Eboni revealed Ramona wondered why she couldn’t discuss the stereotype of Black fathers not being in their kids’ lives. “What if they don’t have a father? Why can’t I say that,” Ramona inquired. According to Eboni, at that point, Ramona added, “Most of them don’t.”
I mean, Ramona has been open about her childhood and admitted her father was an alcoholic who abused her mother, so I’m not sure what point she was trying to make, bless her heart.
The Bravo publicist who was on the call, also a Black woman, advised Ramona she had a present father. That said, Ramona had done her own research and stood by her statement after “reading a study” that confirmed most Black children are fatherless.
Leah co-signed this disturbing conversation took place, which I’m sure comes as a shock to no one.
More denial from Ramona
In response, Ramona explained, “The training included ‘open dialogue.’ In that spirit, I asked a question about a statistic I had read about single-parent households, where children with single-parent households were statistically less likely to succeed than two-parent households.”
The Vanity Fair article did add one little tidbit and shared that Ramona also said about hiring Eboni, “This is gonna ruin our show.” Naturally, she denied this as well. “In fact, I supported adding diverse cast members well before before [sic] Eboni was added,” Ramona noted.
The Hot Sheet
Let’s talk about the Hot Sheet. The “hot sheet” is a document that details on-camera dialogue and action within production. The comment Ramona made that she vehemently denies made it to the hot sheet and Andy Cohen. He responded, “These are incredible reads and will be amazing episodes. The fact that this particular journey through white fragility ends with Ramona DM’ing Bryan Cranston is next level.”
Here’s another little anecdote. During Season 13 Ramona allegedly said to a Black female employee in production, “There’s so many of you guys here now, please don’t change your hair as I’m not gonna be able to remember anybody’s names.”
As far as Ramona is concerned, that’s how she rolls due to her “inability to remember names.” Two separate insiders close to the matter told Vanity Fair Ramona also shouted, “There’s so many Black chicks!” This was also denied by Ramona but she’s featured in the show saying “Black chicks.”
So all of this happens and then RHONY is over. No reunion, no closure, no nothing. The question remains, was Bravo protecting the problem this whole time?
TELL US – WERE YOU SHOCKED BY ANYTHING USED IN THE VANITY FAIR ARTICLE? DO YOU BELIEVE RAMONA WAS RACIALLY INSENSITIVE?
