Harry Hamlin Said Lisa Rinna's Honesty on RHOBH Got Her into 'a Lot of Trouble' Before Her Exit

Rich Fury/Getty

Harry Hamlin is standing by his wife Lisa Rinna and her actions on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Two weeks before Rinna announced her departure from the Bravo series, the 71-year-old actor told PEOPLE that Rinna, 59, often got in hot water on RHOBH because she was not afraid to speak out.

"She does her job. Her job is to show up on time, interact with the people on the show in an honest and authentic way," he said, while talking about his upcoming projects, 80 for Brady and Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches, in this week's issue of PEOPLE.

"Her hot button issue, I suppose, is injustice or when somebody else is not behaving honestly, she'll call it out," Hamlin added. "And that gets into a lot of trouble. But it also helps the show."

bravo

RELATED: Lisa Rinna Is 'Grateful' as She Announces Exit from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills After 8 Seasons

Hamlin also revealed the biggest misconception about his wife — with whom he shares daughters Delilah, 24, and Amelia, 21 — since she joined the cast of RHOBH in 2014.

For more on Lisa Rinna, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

"I've known her for 30 years… She has never once, in all of that time, uttered an untruth," he said. "And something that wasn't absolutely and honestly true."

"And yet she's being accused of being a liar on the show," he continued. "And I don't pay much attention to that because I know she isn't."

Hamlin added that he knows that there is no way for Rinna to make everyone happy, saying, "There's always going to be 50 percent of the people who like you, 50 percent of the people who hate you. I think the like-hate factor is much more — like 80 percent [of] people like Lisa, 20 percent don't."

Cindy Ord/Bravo/Getty Lisa Rinna

RELATED: RHOBH Alum Denise Richards Slams Lisa Rinna for 'Being So Cruel & So Vindictive'

On Rinna's final season of RHOBH, she raised her voice repeatedly at Sutton Stracke after her costar claimed to have never received a thank you for purchasing Rinna and Hamlin's tickets for Elton John's annual charity benefit.

Rinna also garnered backlash from the franchise's vocal fanbase when she blamed "grief" as the cause of her many online rants after her mother's November 2021 death, and criticized the most recent RHOBH season over its failure to adequately memorialize her mom. (At the time, the series highlighted unimportant drama between her castmates that resurfaced from a previous season, even though Lois was beloved by fans.)

Later, fans — and current RHOBH stars — took issue with how Rinna continued to leverage over Kathy Hilton's alleged meltdown during the cast's Aspen trip.

Faye Sadou/MediaPunch

RELATED: Lisa Rinna Mocks 'Biggest Bully in Hollywood' Reputation with Halloween Jack-o'-Lantern: 'I Win'

For her part, Rinna has appeared to be unbothered by the backlash — even when she received loud boos from the crowd at BravoCon 2022.

"I got booed! It was fabulous," Rinna told PEOPLE exclusively. "I'm like a wrestler. The wrestlers get booed. The most famous wrestlers in the world get booed. The Rock [Dwayne Johnson] got booed for God's sake. I loved it. I've been in this business for 32 years."

After the intense fan reaction, the reality star was eager to tell Hamlin saying, "I've never gotten booed in my life. I can't wait to tell Harry Hamlin I got booed."

Despite the reception, Rinna said she was happy to still "have the number one show on cable on Bravo of the Housewives," and noted that she was not fazed by RHOBH fans who called her hypocritical for her onscreen behavior.

"It's a TV show, for God's sake," she shared. "Call me whatever you want, believe whatever you want, I tell the truth. I always have. Go back to that."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Nearly four months after BravoCon, Rinna announced her decision to leave the Bravo series.

"This is the longest job I have held in my 35 year career and I am grateful to everyone at Bravo and all those involved in the series," Rinna told PEOPLE exclusively. "It has been a fun eight-year run and I am excited for what is to come!"

For more on Harry Hamlin, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.