Lisa Vanderpump Sounds Off on 'RHOBH' Puppygate and If She'll Make It to the Reunion (Exclusive)
Puppygate doesn’t seem to have Lisa Vanderpump too worried.
"I didn’t watch," the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star admits of season nine, so far. "I actually spoke to the producers about it, because we have to write blogs, and they said, '... in one way, maybe you should revisit that now.' Because I've come through, you know?"
Vanderpump says, from what she’s heard, the drama surrounding the dog that co-star Dorit Kemsley adopted from her rescue center, Lucy Lucy Apple Juice, isn’t as bad as she braced for. Vanderpump’s castmates allege that the restaurateur conspired with her Vanderpump Dogs employees to spread gossip about the dog -- namely that Lucy wound up in a shelter, through some turn of events -- by sharing information with Teddi Mellencamp, all in an effort to make Kemsley look bad. The whole thing is being called "puppygate."
Vanderpump has denied any involvement in the alleged plot, and answers, "You tell me" when asked, "Why would you want to make Dorit look bad?"
"It just goes on and on and on," she says of puppygate. "And it's a shame, really. Because the focus was on the dog. The dog's fine now. and I think it all got very convoluted. I haven't seen it, but I don't like what I'm hearing."
On the most recent episode, the group confronted Vanderpump over the issue at Camille Grammer’s 50th birthday party. Mellencamp pulled up "receipts" in the form of text messages between her and Vanderpump Dogs employee John Blizzard, who seemed to be speaking on behalf of Vanderpump and her husband, Ken Todd.
"I know you’re not going to take any ownership for your part," Mellencamp told Vanderpump in front of the cast. "I’ve taken ownership, I’ve told the truth. I have apologized. If you can live with yourself, doing this, then go for it. It’s been working for you for a long time."
"Let’s all just coexist," she added. "Put on a little happy face. I know I’m not gonna change you. So, if you’re not gonna admit anything, it is what it is."
Vanderpump then drove away from the party with Kyle Richards, laughing at Mellencamp’s offer to "coexist" with the line, "You should be so lucky, b***h!"
Vanderpump laughed off the comment while chatting with ET, just saying she was "in the back of a car with Kyle with her legs in the air," which is true. Vanderpump has also not cleared up the timeline of a text she sent to Kemsley, warning her that Mellencamp knew about the dog drama. It’s unclear if she sent it before Mellencamp and the Vanderpump Dogs employees tipped off Richards to Lucy’s story or after. All of this is leading to Richards’ heated confrontation with Vanderpump at her home, first teased on the season premiere. In the moment, Vanderpump kicks Richards out of her house. It’s the last time the two spoke.
"It's horrible to have any animosity with any of them, but Kyle and I have been very good friends," she shares. "I was gobsmacked when that kinda went down."
Now, the big question is if Vanderpump will face her co-stars at the cast reunion, set to film this summer. Vanderpump hasn't seen the women in months, having skipped out on filming group events for the second half of the season.
"[The reunion’s] not for two or three months, so I have no idea how I'll feel then," she admits. "But they said I wouldn't show up on the red carpet [at the premiere party], didn't they? I think it was Lisa Rinna who was tweeting, 'You mother f-ers you better f-ing show up.' I mean, who talks like that? But I was there, yes."
Vanderpump goes on to note that her appearance at the premiere party in February wasn’t due to a contractual obligation, simply stating, "I make my own choices."
And Rinna’s tweets aren’t the only ones Vanderpump isn’t fond of; she’s also not keen on the threats some of her supporters are sending to her RHOBH co-stars over the doggy drama.
"I don't support that at all," she declares. "I don't support threats of any kind, ever … I can't control what people, they watch the show and their opinion, but I don't condone that. Who would?"
ET spoke with Vanderpump at her restaurant, SUR, where she was filming a commercial for an upcoming SERIES: Your Story Universe interactive mobile game based on her other Bravo show, Vanderpump Rules. The game is coming soon, while Vanderpump Rules is wrapping up its seventh season shortly.
"I mean, this show moves very quickly, they don't really talk about the same thing over and over and over again,” Vanderpump notes, seemingly throwing shade at RHOBH being caught up in "puppygate" for six episodes and counting.
"Every week, there's something happening, which is quite a lot to deal with for me," she adds, noting that the show also follows her life, though not to the extent of Housewives.
"It's called Vanderpump Rules,” she says. "I have five restaurants, so... you know, of course, it's gonna move from place to place, and you see some of it takes place at the dog center, as well."
"I have three shows on the air right now, [with] The Most Amazing Dog in the World, right?" Vanderpump adds. "Maybe there could be another [show in the works]. Who knows?"
Vanderpump Rules airs Mondays on Bravo, while The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays.
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