The Valley star Michelle Lally is insisting she’s “not homophobic,” even though it’s rumored that she supported Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
“To be honest, I don’t follow politics,” she says. “I don’t know exactly what that bill does, so I don’t talk about it because I don’t have an opinion.”
“I don’t believe any of those things,” she adds. “Like, I am not homophobic in any way.”
“A teachable moment”
During the March 26 episode of the Vanderpump Rules spinoff, co-star Janet Caperna implied in a confessional that Michelle agreed with the new Florida law. The controversial law bans discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms.
“Michelle, Brittany [Cartwright], and I were at dinner a few months ago,” Janet related. “And Michelle said something along the lines of, ‘Don’t Say Gay laws protect children.’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, no … you’re wrong.’”
According to Page Six, Janet shared details of the conversation with castmate Jasmine Goode, who is openly bisexual. She told Jasmine that Michelle’s misguided support of the discriminatory law could offer a “teachable moment.”
In a separate scene, Janet explained the situation to her husband, Jason Caperna, and that she’d discussed it with Jasmine.
“I was like, ‘Since it’s related to the LGBTQ community if you happen to hear her talking about it and sense the same thing I did, it might be a teachable moment,’” Janet repeated.
The allegations get ugly
Eventually, the gist of the conversation reached Valley castmate Zack Wickham, who is gay. Zack shared the information with Kristen Doute, who discussed the issue on camera. From there the story grew, as the Vanderpump Rules alum extrapolated that Michelle must also be a Republican and a racist, too.
Michelle vehemently denies that she is a “racist” or “any of these things” Kristen implied.
“We were trying to figure it out,” the mom of one said. “Finally, we got where this conversation came from, which was a long time ago. And it wasn’t really [even] a conversation.”
“It was just a dinner,” the luxury real estate agent continued. “I might have made a comment … that turned into something so much uglier. It was very upsetting because Kristen had the opportunity to tell me this before filming, and that’s the first time she mentions it? And she did add and twist a lot, so it was hard to deal with.”
In her defense, Michelle says that she’s a vocal advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. In addition, her and estranged husband Jesse Lally’s shared best friend, a gay man, was the officiant at their October 2018 wedding.
“I have so many [gay] friends,” she says. “I embrace anybody and everybody.”
The Valley continues Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – HAVE YOU SEEN ANY SIGNS THAT MICHELLE’S A HOMOPHOBE? DO YOU THINK JANET AND KRISTEN ARE JUST SPREADING MALICIOUS GOSSIP?
