#2887 Crappy Hour 6/6/2025: Bravo Hellos, Goodbyes, and Give Me 20 Mils w Justinian Huang

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1:27Get some stories in your life, okay? Audible is perfect for that. I use it while I'm cleaning the house, while I'm running errands. I listen to books all day, every day with Audible.

1:38Ben Mandelker: Yeah, they have a massive library of audiobooks and ad-free podcasts. And it is really the perfect thing to turn on when you're taking a long drive, washing some dishes. Like, enrich yourself. New members can start listening with a 30-day free trial at audible.com slash WWC.

2:12Ben Mandelker: What happens when there's so much that crappens?

2:42Ben Mandelker: It's all happening. Yes, we have a lot to talk about. Our guest tonight is hot, so prepare yourselves. He's always like that. He's also an extremely funny and talented writer. He wrote the book The Emperor and the Endless Palace, and his new book, Lucky Seed, comes out on November 11th. Please welcome author and hottie Justinian Wang. Oh, my gosh. Hi, Justinian. This is so surreal. You know, I've been listening to you two since Housewives Hoedown. Really? Yes. I've been. Yes. You have been my paranormal Bravo sisters for like - Paranormal? Parasocial. Okay. Yeah. Snow team. Guys, we have been making cabinets open and closed in his house for all this time.

3:30Oh, it's you guys. I see. I actually do have a ghost in my house, but that's a different podcast. um but yeah i've been you know i remember you had a third person who was like the fact guy i remember yes and then he was yes matt that's right and then um the fact guy did you call him yeah the fact guy he was always the person with the two have always been the funny ones you saw those in impersonators but you've been making me laugh like on a weekly basis for 15 years you know i've never had a boyfriend so you guys are like my funny boyfriends i think oh my god i never have a boyfriend either it's good to meet another one of me in the wild i know right um and when i was living in china for five years you you two and wendy williams were like my connection to to america so yeah it's it's been yeah it means a lot for me to be here i've had to do i've been able to do a lot of fun stuff since becoming an author like i've gone to bangkok and um a lot of met a lot of interesting people but this is like the giddy full circle moment for me i'm really appreciate it here right before we started this show justin was like oh yeah well i was in norway and i was on this boat with a bunch of billionaires and we're like wait hold on we have to start the show so we didn't even get that so that's the thing but that's the thing about being like it's so funny so few things have a sheen on them anymore but being a published author people just tend to be like oh that's something that's still fancy for some reason when really it's not you know it's even reading is considered fancy because people don't really read as much so when I'm like, oh, I'm in the middle of this book and it's so good.

5:03They're like, oh, really, Ronnie? Meanwhile, it's like the dumbest piece of trash book that I'm reading. It's absolute brain rot, you know?

5:11Ben Mandelker: I just want to say that being a podcaster, we are treated very fancy. Like, for instance, sometimes we'll get free stickers. Don't be humble. like i said y 'all were when i was listening to y 'all back when back when we were both at la fitness together ben um yes i like like you guys were like you were hustling and now you guys are bigger than abba i guess i'm so proud right i'm so maybe maybe abba tribute but still you're like building you're filling stadiums i'm very very yes now justinian you said you have a story about how we first met because my first thought was we ran into each other la fitness and like no before then and then i was like wait a second there was an app that we talked on tell tell us the story but first of all that l.a fitness was also the one where um uh sandoval jacks worked out there sandoval worked out there kristin kristin worked out there i i never i'll never forget katie yes sandoval and kristin would always stand at the front entrance and just wait for someone to recognize them it was so cute but uh okay so then we met pretty much i mean depending on how you look at it i mean it's that way you know what is sad yeah um ben you and i matched on tinder i think literally the first week it was out like uh we were like early adopters of tinder and the reason why this story is relevant is because it's miami week and we had a lovely conversation where we were talking about bravo and then you ghosted me after i said something really yes you asked me who my favorite housewife was and i said adriana demora and then you know you stopped talking i just ghosted you that's crazy for i think well you actually like her well what season i know i was worried that you were gonna maybe that was the season she turned on black or something no i would never know it wasn't i would never yeah i was i was hoping the story would be that you said larsa pippen and i could be like well sorry i have taste but like adriana that's not really ghostworthy i don't know why i think it's because y 'all were bet i think you still are but y 'all were like besties with leah right and then like they were going through a really rough time and it was we love leah but we still always liked adriana i mean listen it's it's boxing so you can like one boxer but you still gotta like the other one so yeah it's always been hilarious why don't y 'all think they've promoted her to a full-time housewife like why do they just keep her in the wings like that is this some sort of like to keep i think it's actually because i think that like she's not she doesn't have enough or she's not interesting enough on her own and i think that there's some people who actually uh perform really well in like a mitigated role i actually thought that vicky for instance and think that vicky has worked really well as a friend of as opposed to a full-fledged housewife and then there have been a few others that have like been downgraded in a really strong way so i feel like adriana coming in as this agent of chaos is really good because she can be chaotic and then she could go away and we don't have to pretend like we actually care about what's going on in her personal life that's fair you know that is fair yeah listen we've already got a lady with a fucking goat and martina you know what i mean yeah how can you compete um yeah but i think it's to keep her thirsty uh candy in the comments said to keep her thirsty and i think that's true because her and marisol too marisol's yeah look at all the they stir up to try and get more camera time to make sure they get those episode orders so So, yeah, you got to keep them on their toes.

8:43Yeah. The boat ride in Mexico was like, it was like, it met scary island proportions. It was just the funniest thing. I'm so excited for this season. Oh, my God. I know. We've been in such a dearth, haven't we? There has been no Housewives.

9:01Ben Mandelker: I mean, there's been Atlanta has been on, which has been fine. It's been doing, you know, I feel like the season started stronger than it is now, but it's still like a perfectly fine season. in. But I know you're saying normally we have three of them on at the same time. Maybe this would be a good time to talk about all the stuff that's happening in the Real Housewives universe because shit's going down on multiple shows. People are leaving, people are coming, and it's a wild, wild situation. They're going and they're coming and going and going and coming, but always too soon. Little blazing saddles there for any dads in the audience.

9:41Any dad jokes out there? Yeah, a lot has been going on. One thing I read today, I didn't put it in the document, but just speaking of Miami, I think Todd's daughter is like, she came out with something that was like, that show is fake and everything is fake and stupid. I was like, shut up, Todd's daughter, okay? No one needs to hear from you. And we know this shit is fake and we like it anyway. This show struggles enough without your stupid ass on it. You go back to your room. Go to your room.

10:05Ben Mandelker: Excuse me, I would like to issue a formal apology from my daughter. She's a lovely woman. It was not up to her to say those things. Everything here is absolutely authentic. And I apologize on behalf of me and the Todd family. Thank you very much. I will now put down my paper. Okay, so a lot of what's been going on has been hirings and firings. A lot of, and pretend quittings. Today, Bryn Whitfield, which I've got this on my phone, so I've got to pull it up so I can read her statement. Bryn Whitfield claims that she quit The Real Housewives of New York City, but earlier this week she was on, I think, the Page Six Boys show, Virtual Reality, and she was talking about how she was supposed to be on Love Hotel, but she just couldn't take it after New York because she was so traumatized by the season.

11:02You weren't a traumatizer. What are you talking about? So she couldn't go on that because she was too traumatized, and so they replaced her with Giselle. which we kind of already knew, but, you know, in case anybody didn't. So then it seems like she's going to be going back to the show. But then today we get, I'm trying to turn this up so I can read it because my ass is 90 years old. He's turn over. Hold on. Do I have it on lock? Oh, yeah, I already had it unlocked. Okay. Making it big. Oh, geez, that's real big. Okay. It's really long. Okay.

11:33Ben Mandelker: You should be narrating this in Britain voice. That's really big. A little life update. After a lot of thought, I've made the decision to walk away from reality TV. For now, winky face. Last week, Hoppy, the dating app I co-founded and proudly serve as chief marketing officer, hit a massive download milestone. I can't even put into words how surreal it feels. All I want to do now is pour every ounce of energy into building Hoppy into the number one dating app in the world. I love that her dating app is named after Bethany's ex. Yeah, I was about to say. That's a bad sign. That's a crash and burn sign.

12:17Ben Mandelker: I know, that's terrifying. Cheetah brand. Cheetah brand. Oh my god. I'm literally a cheetah brand. I've been rewatching old Roni episodes just to commemorate the non-cancellation of new Roni. We had it so good. Even this season with Cindy Barshop, we had it so good. Oh, that was an amazing season. The Vajastler. Yeah, absolutely. That was a good season. We don't appreciate what we have until it's gone. I think a better rephrasing of that is, even the season with Barbara, or actually, let me update that again. Even the season with Elise. Barbara was good. She's like, I'm bisexual. I'm a builder.

12:57Bisexual builder, Barbara.

12:59Ben Mandelker: Toolkits, and I'm running for mayor. Yeah, I remember when she ran for mayor, and she was like, these liberal idiots Ruling in the streets So Bryn has a big long one I won't read the whole thing but I did like this part And check out my podcast And prepare to laugh, cry And possibly poop when you read my book Coming out later this year And she's splitting her time between London And NYC offices Hoppy guys, she's very busy As Sheryl Sandberg said If you're offered a great seat on a rocket ship Don't ask what seat and just get on So here we go. Rocket ship emojis. What if that rocket ship destroys Western civilization?

13:42That's why they were rumored she was on Ladies of London. Oh, I get it now. Because I was hearing people say that she might be on Ladies of London.

13:49Ben Mandelker: Oh, because she's working part time. I don't think that Bravo wants to deal with Brim. Brim was very detested. And honestly, everything that happened at the end of the Roni season, where she was really setting Uba up, She was really weaponizing, you know, her sexual assault in a way that was like really gross to a lot of people. I don't think Bravo wants to mess with that. And I don't think they want to mess with her. I think they see her as a liability. And for her to be like, I decided to quit, Roni. I'm like, at best you were fired. But also like, you were all fired. Why are you acting like you quit?

14:22Ben Mandelker: They just put the show. They basically put the show on ice. And you're acting like you quit. I'm like, you weren't asked back. None of you were. obviously obviously hoppy paid for that article you know like that's what it was but i love that she quoted cheryl sandberg american technology executive of meta platforms she's like see i have an app so i'm quoting someone from meta cheryl sandberg ultimately i could be wrong about this i would love to hear what people have to say but wasn't it like cheryl sandberg originally people were like yes we love cheryl sandberg lean in all that and then nowadays like her advice her sort of girl boss advice has actually been viewed as more toxic i could be wrong please let me know in the comments i don't think she's toxic look i don't know a lot about her but i know that she believes in creating a bottom-up culture and listen it's about time bottoms took over i agree those poor things they've gone through a lot give them give them the reins for a while can it get worse really goodbye brin thanks for You're back to Pride Month, Ronnie.

15:28I love that. Yes.

15:32Ben Mandelker: So Bryn is out, but we have some people coming back to Beverly Hills or coming back to Bravo. First, the big thing that people were talking about over the weekend was that Rachel Zoe, Bananas, coming back to Bravo. I think this is, I don't know if this is great for Beverly Hills, but I think it's great for Watcher Crappens. I'm excited for us. I don't know if it's really going to help the show. I feel like I can't imagine her getting into drama. I just see her being on the sidelines and being like, this is like bananas. Like, literally, I die. I die right now. Can I make a case for her? Even though I am.

16:08I'm just trying to be optimistic, you know? We love that. We don't do that often, so bring it on. My thing about Rachel was that she was in some pretty iconic feuds. Do you remember when she and And she was in a huge feud with Paris Hilton's friend on Simple Life. No, Paris Hilton, The Simple Life. Oh, Richie? Nicole Richie. She and Nicole Richie were in an epic feud that went on for months, I remember, because she was her designer. And then, I don't know. Oh. Yeah. So I feel like Rachel Zoe, I think she does have a bitch flower that can bloom. You just love that. I'm sure we'll first get a very manufacturer.

16:53Is she still with Roger with a D?

16:55Ben Mandelker: No, they broke up last year. Oh, no. They got divorced. It was the extra vowel. She couldn't take it. But people are pointing out that her designer, Joey Malouf, or her makeup artist, Joey Malouf, also caused beef already on Beverly Hills between Sutton and Rinna. Remember that whole thing? That's where the, let the mouse go. Let the mouse go. Oh, that was Joey Malouf. He was the mouse. Yeah. He was the mouse. And don't forget that Rachel Zoe was part of the original, one of the original controversies of the 2000s of tabloid times with Lindsay Mulham. Exactly. So she has had some pretty epic feats.

17:35You know, obviously this season, like it's going to be one of the seasons where there's a specter of a former housewife, which is obviously going to be Garcelle. And everyone's just going to turn on Sutton being like, you're such a terrible friend to Garcelle. I feel like this is going to be sad. The people will be. the people will be i think the housewives will be too like you know like we even though they i

17:54Ben Mandelker: don't think they liked garcelle but oh no see i don't think the housewives are going to care about something like that now in terms of like sun stands on garcelle um i think that sun is now going to be definitely out to dry and on top of that teddy mellencamp is coming back to well it's rumored yeah it's rumored that she's coming back i can't believe they're doing that you can't give us one rachel and then cancel it out with the teddy like i'm sorry teddy's going through medical stuff and i wish her nothing for the best on that but please do it off of my tv heal off of my television medical stuff she should stay home and rest seriously this is very serious i mean yeah yeah she's just she was never great do you remember when she tried to take down vanderpump and it was just so painful to wait what wait that happened i don't remember that at all are you trying to trigger me are you trying to trigger me oh my god one of the worst seasons ever of ever yeah but the rumors kyle finally won and got teddy back and so now we're gonna have all of the final five or the Fox Force.

18:51Ben Mandelker: Here's the thing. If Teddy were not like super close with Kyle, the way she is, she might actually be a good addition because Teddy has really kind of leaned into a, like, I don't care anymore. She's got a lot of Tamara now rubbed off on her and she sort of says it like it is. Honestly, when we went on to their show, like Teddy was, I thought she was very funny. And she was like, I did like how she sort of like gave shit to people. but it's like it's all going to be in service of defending Kyle all over again that's going to be really unpleasant to go through that you know like it's so you know I I dislike Kyle as much as you do Ronnie but like she's also my Capricorn sister I'm a Capricorn I totally get why she is the way she is we Capricorns are like manipulative and Machiavellian and we're like petty and we're gaslighters this is the worst version of myself so i used to really hate on her until i realized if i was on a reality show i would be like that but at the same time the problem is is that like capricorns are too emotionally constipated for you to build an entire cast around them which is why i think real houses beverly hills has not been as interesting as its heyday you know yeah i think you're right it's still riveting isn't it it's still riveting my kyle hatred like i used to like kyle i thought she was really funny i think she i think fame makes a lot of them just cuckoo and she's too sensitive and you know i've shared my feelings a million times i don't need to do it it's not like a real hate it's just like a stop fucking crying and being a victim that just makes me crazy but everything else is fine and she you know like this season she made me laugh a lot it's just whenever it comes back to anything on her it's like you can't do this she literally was like you can't do this to the lgbtq like the lgbtq plus community you're not allowed to question people's sexuality i'm like well you are when you're banging a country star on tv like you don't get to make up the rules you just fucking got here yeah i think the thing with kyle that's so frustrating is that like when she's being real she's actually like very compelling i think and remember the first season she was real and maybe the second season too but eventually she sort of just like went into fakery to protect herself you know i understand that as a human instinct but i don't love it as a reality star instinct and she has building the cast around her simply yes i agree don't give her teddy it was decent this year because they more and more people had been chipped away from kyle and so she had a lot of crying moments that's what i knew i think i think i think what was so sad was watching how like sudden has always been kind of someone who's liked kyle but has the sudden and Garcelle Alliance and anyone who was previously in their Alliance, like crystal, they always sort of saw the, like what bullshit Kyle was like, they saw through the bullshit and you sort of felt like given the right tools, they were ready to just take her down and take over the show and seeing sudden ultimately sort of capitulate to just her, her need to be part of like the cool girls at this, at the expense of Garcelle was actually such a sad moment.

21:48Ben Mandelker: She's got Jennifer Tilly to help her out, but like, it's going to be hard. My hope is just that Dorit continues to be mad at Kyle and then Dorit and Boz can sort of start a like a rebel alliance. But I am I am very concerned that Kyle, Erica and Teddy are going to be too much. I'm going to drag it into the doldrums of like the of like the post Vanderpump seasons there that were there's like post Vanderpump pre Sutton moment that was like really kind of dull. Yes. Yeah. Well, guess what? It's not news. Kyle Richard sex. OK. it's time for a commercial it's time for a crap it's commercial there was a time about 10 years ago when i was in the worst credit card debt of my life it was insane i could just i couldn't get out of it like no matter what i did it just it just was always there i was in the hole but then i finally you know i got my stuff together and and i was able to chip away at it and you see the light at the end of the tunnel and and when you're finally able to claw out of it.

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23:26My favorite thing about Monarch is their weekly recaps.

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24:08Ben Mandelker: And its psychology based science backed program pairs GLP ones with behavioral changes, daily lessons, and food logging to support weight loss that lasts. The Noom GLP one program starts at$39 and is delivered to your door in as little as seven days. Start your GLP one journey today at Noom.com. That's N-O-O-M.com. Initial one month subscription from$39 plus tax and$99 plus tax per month thereafter. Cost of medication not included final pricing depends on program selection results based on a january 2026 analysis of 14 203 noom glp1 rx program members who logged weight over a 40-week period higher app engagement was associated with greater weight loss at 16 weeks other headlines is that are that wait what are they i was just gonna oh monique samuels other yeah thank you i got blocked on my own miseducation.

25:08What's her buns? Monique Samuels returning to Potomac as a friend of. Why only a friend? I need some full-time Monique. I don't need to see Monique at a couple of parties. I need Monique. I don't know if I need full-time Monique.

25:21Ben Mandelker: I actually don't feel like full-time Monique was always that interesting. And especially, I don't know, she was okay. I think this will be good. People were ragging on Giselle on Twitter because they were like, Giselle was so proud to get rid of Mia only to have Monique come back into her life. And I was like, that is kind of a hilarious boomerang. They never let you just win on this show, you know? It's like you kill all the zombies, and then you're like, we're fine, we got all the zombies, now we can move past that wall. And then you get past the wall, and there's five times as many zombies.

25:50You never win. Watch The Walking Dead.

25:53Ben Mandelker: So I guess this also means that Candace is not necessarily coming back because there were rumors that Candace was coming back. And then she had that thing where she was like, I'm at NBCU taking a picture. Sure, so everyone's like, Candace is coming back. But maybe, is she still, I'm assuming she's not coming back. If you could only choose one, if you were in charge, would you want Candace or Monique? Unpopular opinion, but I would take Monique. Candace was too much for me. I actually think I would take Candace over Monique, believe it or not. A tiebreaker situation. What about you? Who would you pick?

26:24I would choose Monique only because it's been a second since we've seen her. And by the way, I have a theory about why she's only a friend of. I think it's because she crossed over and went to another network and they tend to be a little bit like, oh, we're going to, you know. Oh, like they're going to make her earn it now. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. She's also divorced now.

26:41Ben Mandelker: I think people keep forgetting that like she's she's divorced. And in fact, Chris is Chris was like romantically linked with someone really random. But like, I forget who it was. I need to look it up. But yeah, she may not have any. I don't know what her financial status is either. And Bravo does not like does not like poor unless it's going to be Monica Garcia. Not anymore. Or, I mean, they threw those rules out the window. We've got Britt Eadie on Atlanta, and she's not poor for long after she sues for$20 million. We have to get into this. This is the big one. For sure. This is the big one. This is the big one.

27:16We buried the lead.

27:16Ben Mandelker: This is the big one. It's the big one. Are we ready for the Britt Eadie, Rittville Housewives of Atlanta second? Because it's starting up right now. Oh, my God. So it started with Britt coming on with this big long post about not going to the reunion. I'm not going to the reunion. I've been traumatized. So this big, long post. Please stop writing such long posts on your Instagram. My eyes are bad. All of you. Bryn. Bryn. It's just a narrow font. Just everybody with it. Bronwyn from Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Stop with the shit. You need to put it in three lines that are like 15 font. Okay.

27:52Because I can't be enlarging your shit and taking off the lock on my phone just to reorient everything so I can read your 20-page post. Okay, but she had one of those. But basically, she's out of there. She's not going to go because she's been traumatized by the season. The show has done nothing but traumatize her. And she looks forward to, I don't know how she worded it. What did I say earlier?

28:14Ben Mandelker: I will tell you. I have it up. So she says, well, there's a few things that she says in this post. She's like, not only is she not going to the reunion, she's like, the events in this season have devastated me. And while I cannot say much right now, because State Farm has me under embargo, I do want to set the record straight about one thing. The graphic sexual photo surrounding the events in episode 5, that photo was not me. However, as the episode makes clear, I did not see the photo at the time, rather was made aware of the photo being presented at the event. And based on what I was told, assumed that it was somehow a photo of me, which is why I reacted the way I did.

28:58Ben Mandelker: By the way, this is not, this is a bad case you're making. I do not know who was in the photo, but upon seeing it for the first time recently, I now know it was not me. I look forward to seeking accountability and moving past this dark part of my life. Right. Okay. So she says moving forward with seeking accountability. So I was like, she's going to sue. And then the next day she's like, and I'm selling for$20 million. Yeah. I'm so confused about this because, okay, let's say that picture wasn't her. Let's just believe that that picture wasn't her. It was just somebody else. So she never saw the picture.

29:35How come? They're saying production didn't show her. I mean, this is just all online speculation now. Some people are saying, well, production didn't show her. They refused to show her the pictures. Why would they refuse to show her the pictures? and then she said on the show she's like well i do have pictures floating around out there but how would she get them and then she said she had cam stuff so how is it defamation if if somebody just said that there's dirty photos of you i don't understand i need what is the

30:03Ben Mandelker: defamation what is the defamation i that's what i don't understand is it defamation if somebody says i have nude photos of you and i showed them but then they didn't really show them And she and she she believed that they were her. So there must be something out. It's not like we're they're accusing her of, you know, being in adult media. And it's never happened because she believed that those pictures were her. Right. So she said they were out there. I think it's purposely convoluted. I think I actually think she's working with a pretty smart lawyer because she just wants a quick payday. She just wants to be paid and she can leave.

30:38and their amount they're gonna pay her is gonna be many times more than she would have made like had she stayed on the show for a long time she knows the audience doesn't like her so she was like this is the my best way to cash out this situation as yeah as a bravo watcher i'm sad the way it's panned out i'd rather have to have everything happen on camera why didn't they have her why didn't they invite why didn't they invite um why didn't they invite her and also have um I'm having a blank. The person who showed her photos. Kenya. Why did they not invite Kenya to the reunion? And why didn't they chain Brit to a sofa and make her stay there?

31:19And we get that confrontation. Where was that? Because they put themselves, by airing it in the first place, by airing that whole thing, they put themselves in the situation where they can't bring Kenya back. Because they're like, we're punishing Kenya. So they can't bring Kenya back. Because they put themselves. All they had to do was cut that episode. like they never needed to show if it was this bad that everybody needs to get fired why are you showing it in the first place you know and then it turns out that was really all they had for the season so that's why they showed it but then there was another scene that somebody just brought this up in comments that on the show she was insinuating that those were pictures from when she was a teenager so she's insinuating that the that that was child porn basically that can you put out

31:59Ben Mandelker: there so she was 19 18 or 19 is okay well that's true that's true but she's kind of making people think this could have been like an underage situation so bravo by airing that in the first place um they're idiots i mean they're gonna have to pay something i don't know i think that like uh i'm not i'm not a lawyer lawyer but i think the moment that she makes a public declaration that she was not in those photos i think she probably undermined a huge amount of her case right that's Because, again, not as a legal expert, but by even just saying that, I guarantee she will go back on it. And she's like, I said that because I was embarrassed, because I didn't want people to think it was me, but it was me in the photo.

32:39Ben Mandelker: But I think that she is going to be unreliable, because it's like, you're being defamed, but I don't see where the defamation is beyond the typical rumors and whatever that happen on these shows. And like, I think as a public figure, my understanding is that like in order to, um, in order for the, uh, a defamation case to like, to win a defamation case, you sort of have to go like, there's much higher standards for someone who is public. I, you know, as a Bravo watcher, I'm sad the way this is panned out. I think it's a big mess. I think that it's been way too many lawsuits. I think that Bravo legal needs to be fricking restructured.

33:15What the hell? What's going on with the handling over there? Why are there endless lawsuits going on? You know? Well, one thing I'm noticing, too, is that they're not settling these lawsuits. So Britt could have a longer fight than she thinks, because they're not just handing out money over there. They're like, nope, we're not giving you shit, okay? We will fight you. I mean, it's taking years. And Leah's is going crazy, too. Leah's is like, you didn't let me go to an AA meeting, and you didn't support my disability, which is alcoholism. I'm like, what? Come on now. So she's going crazy for years, and it's getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

33:48And they're still not settling.

33:49Ben Mandelker: But I mean, part of the, also the issue is that these, these shows, they do kind of, you know, they, they cast lunatics, you know, sorry. They're a lot of them are lunatics and a lot of them are, have narcissistic tendencies or at least are very self-involved. And you just see already on this season that Brit, like she turns everything into a crime against her. and I'm not saying that like therefore she should be okay with if her photos were bandied about on a poster you know when she was like nude that we all agree that that if that if those were her photos that it's like horrifying and it's embarrassing but if it's someone else I understand also if she was if she was led to believe that and then she's like mortified but then it turns out it's not even her I'm kind of like you know we're talking about like what's wrong with Bravo legal I'm like part of it unfortunately comes down to the casting that You sort of are on this razor's edge of you want to cast someone who's just off-kilter enough to make good TV, but it can blow up in your face because these are people who, when things don't work out the way they want, they will turn it into something.

34:54Ben Mandelker: And so you saw that happen with Leah, and now you see it happening with Brit. Brit's wildly unpopular. She probably got fired from the show, and she fell out with all her casts. And is anyone really surprised that she would do this and she would sue Bravo as one final swan song? No, of course not. I had high hopes for Brit. I don't know. Just something aesthetically about her. For me as a gay man, she's just like, there's something so camp about her that I just really loved. Like the way she turns at her side. I was like, oh, she has like a face card. I was really, really excited about her. I love Kelly.

35:26I think Kelly is so cute. I think we got one out of two of these two new friends, right?

35:32Ben Mandelker: No, we got two out of three because Angela is excellent. Of course. How can I forget Angela? Yes, totally. Yeah, I love her. I'm worried about her marriage, but I love her. I thought it was iconic that she was filming the girls from the upstairs. Yes. I think it's a good transitional season. I agree, too. I actually agree, too. I think for a transitional season, it's very strong. I think Kelly has some upside, but she does not fulfill the promise of what she seemed like she would be at the top of the season. she went from being someone who's like a bit of an instigator to just someone who's like a cheerleader and that's like not quite as fun for me it's giving me like the roni transitional vibes do you remember like like you know like aviva is brit is aviva right oh in new jersey right like there were there were a couple that would fall off but then the cast would start gelling i have yeah brit's like there was a viva heather carol i mean that one people bitched when that happened because they axed half the cast.

36:33Jarring. But I mean, still looking back, that was a great season. It was.

36:38Ben Mandelker: I think like maybe a good comparison might be New Jersey coming out of the Teresa Doldrums of like around season five. Like this is a little bit like Brit's kind of in that Siggy Flicker role. Although I would argue that Siggy Flicker was way more entertaining before she like lost the thread. But I agree. I think it's a good transition. I think that Brit is this is just her big flame out. And the question is, does Kenya Moore come back after this? Because they had to, Bravo had to sideline Kenya after all, after everything. And Kenya wrote a tweet during the reunion where she was like, I take full accountability for everything I did.

37:17Ben Mandelker: And I wholeheartedly apologize to Brittany and her family and friends and the viewers. And I look forward to seeing you all on Bravo again soon. It was like Kenya was, I think Kenya realized like, there's an opening for me and I have to stop. I have to play ball right now and yeah still sorry but then you know also Kenya's been doing her YouTube you know Kenya's also been doing other stuff and there's rumors the streets are telling us that Kenya was the one who took Britt to lunch and showed her the pictures now who knows if that's true but those are the online rumors is that Kenya met up with her showed her the pictures and she's like wait those aren't even me you know so who knows if that's true but that would be so funny of Kenya to do.

37:59Ben Mandelker: Just shamed a stranger instead. Yeah, I don't know that we need Kenya back necessarily because everything was, I think bringing back all the old people doesn't necessarily help anything. Like that's why the show was tanking in the first place. Kenya was at the helm of that show as it tanked for the last four years. Like three or four years, the seasons have been terrible. So I don't know that we need Kenya to fix something that was broken when she was there. or she helped break it. We need new people, but I don't know how. It's easier for me to just complain. I don't know what the real answers are.

38:34But I just figure there can't only be one Nene. I mean, there's only one Nene, but there can't only be one hilarious fucking lady out there who's not afraid and who's only doing a shit for Instagram likes.

38:47Ben Mandelker: Yeah. Well, I think Angela was a great find. Everyone has connected with Angela. Everyone likes Angela. And what I like is that she's kind of flawed too and I it's almost good when someone is like not like white-hot popular but just like solidly popular because that way there there won't be as much of a backlash I think it's a slow bird yeah like everyone's starting to realize oh she's super funny she's super quick she's fascinating to look at I could stare at her nose all day I don't care what the current cast is kind of like when they started putting like electric checkout machines and everybody had to start bagging their own groceries at the grocery store there's no carriers i need carriers remember when they used to carry your groceries to the car there needs to be a carrier otherwise what are we doing here you know angela's good angela's great i think um kelly's fine like she's okay um shimmy is not carrying like she's no porsche's fun but she's not carrying there's no carriers there has to be like a couple of anchors here to carry this shimmy just did like the number one cliche which is turn on your best friend the very first season your cast like that that's just for me just so basic textbook i don't care if it's actually justified like it would have been more interesting to have simmering tension between them yeah he is sort of giving me a little bit of like anne hathaway vibes a little bit you know like she sort of gives that kind of drama club she's gonna she's gonna sing songs where she can and she's gonna cry about her children i mean justifiably often.

40:19It's what the children call pick me energy. She has intense pick me energy. Yes.

40:24Ben Mandelker: Yeah. I like Shamia, but maybe she's not quite a peach holder status, you know? Yeah. But, okay, so let's move on. So the conclusion is that Atlanta is, we're going to see what happens in this quagmire. Just keep working on it. She's awful. It's like, I tell the Botox lady, just keep working, just keep working at it. We'll try again in another few months.

40:47Ben Mandelker: let's see what happens you know um let's see we want to see some other uh housewives headlines because you you shamefully don't really watch summer house which i know how are we gonna fix this i mean could you give me like the elevator pitch about why a housewives girly like me should be watching summer house um vapid people doing vapid things in a house for a summer if that doesn't do it for you nothing will you know i started watching oh go ahead please i was just gonna say it's not the same vibe at all as housewives i don't know that i would have stuck with it had we not been doing this it's one of those that i was like this is stupid what a stupid fucking show but then just watching it all the time doing this i got really addicted to it yeah um i i was i i watched the children's show oh next chat the children's the next The children's show.

41:43I need to stop hoping it's going to be Gallery Girls, and then I think I'm going to like it. It's pretty close, actually. It's good, though. Nobody complained about Oregon wine. They don't

41:59Ben Mandelker: know about Oregon yet, but when they find out, they don't know that that place exists. By the way, Justine and I were both in Norway at the same time on dueling trips and I just got my haircut this afternoon and I told my barber, I was like, yeah, I just got back from Norway. She goes, oh yeah, Norway. Where's that again? I was like, it's in the north. Surprisingly north. Way more north than you think. I was like, she could be on Next Gen New York City. All right, Dustin, well, we're going to move on with some non-Bravo stuff. Tell everyone about your book before you go away tell everyone about your book and why they should buy it I'm an author, I've completely forgotten that I've written books my god, this was okay, so these are, this is my book this is the hardcover and it came out as a softcover a paperback, which is a huge honor yes, and then I want yeah, that's great so I'm really, really proud this book is, the very first shout-out of this book was on Watch What Crappens you two shouted it out before it came out so it means so much to me i really appreciate it oh come on now it's now been optioned it's i just that's so cool i remember we first talked i remember when you were first talking about this thank you um so the the book is really pretty but don't be fooled it's very erotic it's about two soulmates who keep reincarnating as doomed lovers over 2 000 years and it's got it's got real housewives references in it um but it also has ancient chinese courts where there are like you know um emperor empresses who poison the who poison their guards etc so it's it's got a little bit of everything it's got a little bit of everything but um yeah that's wonderful it's just what a cool cover by the ride month thank you add it to your pride month reading list and yeah in november my second book comes out lucky seed um and that also has been optioned too which is crazy oh my god are they related or they're two separate books they're two completely separate books the second book is very real housewives it's about a wealthy family um in west la who are um who all the cousins compete over who gives birth to like the male heir the baby boy that inherits everything and that's just like i just wanted to create like a crazy like oh it's like a pre-succession succession i love it it's totally succession meets crazy rich asians and that's called lucky seed so love it we'll kill it go fantastic go find those books everybody and follow justin on instagram at justinian wang love you buddy so much for coming on you're great congratulations we'll talk to you later bye all right everybody i I love that guy.

44:50He's so good at this, too. He can sit here and talk all day. We just need to get him to watch more shows.

44:55Ben Mandelker: We need to get him to watch Summer House. Sometimes it's really hard to get people to cross out of Real Housewives into Summer House, especially because Summer House is so like, so much of it is kind of like security cam footage, and it can be weird to just even watch that. But we'll get him. We'll get him. Well, now let's talk about the Summer House stuff. Now that he's gone. Well, last week we talked, obviously, about Paige DeSorbo leaving. RIP. Very sad about that. But the latest news, maybe not surprisingly, but a little surprisingly, because I thought maybe she would get another shot. Lexi would.

45:27Ben Mandelker: She's out. Lexi would out of here. She's like, oh, my God. Like, I was really like great. It wasn't the summer that I expected. But I'm glad I came out here and stood up for women everywhere. OK. OK, Lexi, you're overselling it a little bit. But, you know, bye. I did think she would get another shot as well. Yeah, I thought so, especially with Paige leaving. I feel like they don't want to have too much of a, too much of like a bloodbath over there. And they can still sit in like the post Jesse and Lexi, um, breakup and mind that. But there, I think that Lexi is just not the brand. She is just too young.

46:08Ben Mandelker: Like she really should be like next gen New York city, to be honest. Yes. And then, um, did you see the Carl stuff? The Carl Rath. Yeah. somebody posted an instagram story of him being like oh i love summer house it's been like really hard but you know it's gotten soft and um it's time for me to go i've got to go sell soft soft soft soft soft and then um he came out immediately later and denied that he ever posted that and um he told somebody who emailed him about it he's like oh this is an absolute lie can you please report this post because carl needs that funding for soft he's not going anywhere he needs to come on the tv and beg people for his go fund his 1.2 million go fund me account to make that business happen so he's not going anywhere unless they make him yeah you know what um i mean but the good news is that even if they do get rid of carl radke he's got a good guard clause oh good guard clause good guy you gotta get rid of a good guy yeah i don't know they they definitely need to boost their female casting for Summer House because Amanda and Sierra are just not going to be enough to anchor that show.

47:21Ben Mandelker: I know Sierra's coming more into her own, but they're going to need support, and it's got to feel authentic, too. Please don't bring back Danielle. Obviously, Lindsay will be in and out, but we're going to need some big good choices for the Summer House casting people. And I know that they can do it because they found Hannah and Paige. And now they're like massively popular. So we just have to find the next Hannah and Paige or just something. Something. But like, yeah. Time to call in the big guns. Yeah. Time to call in the big guns. So how are they going to do it? Are they going to find like actual people from the city who are friends who are working?

47:59Or are they going to find like Love Island people? Because I feel like they're going to go more like Lexi. I think they're going to do a lot of Lexi casting. Yes.

48:08Ben Mandelker: The problem is that a lot of those Love Island USA people seem to live in Texas. Remember half the cast last year was from Houston? I don't see Love Island USA people necessarily being a culture match for the house either because they're very much in their Love Island USA bubble. And one of the things that's been very interesting with Summer House as it's evolved over the years is that it does kind of represent this young group of people who are part of the New York City media and tech scene to a certain degree. Kyle is kind of like tech bro adjacent, even though he's an entrepreneur. And you have Hannah and Paige and all of them.

48:50They're kind of like, you know, they come from the world of betches.

48:54Ben Mandelker: They're media savvy people. there people who i imagine read um not vulture but the one like they would have read gawker if gawker were still around i forget what the one um like the cut they might read the cut i don't know i just i don't see anyone from um love island usa being that type of person i think one of the things that made that show so funny was that it was people who looked up to the hamptons as the ideal it was like that kind of new yorker who's like oh my god oh we're in the hamptons and we're amazing and i just dumped a girl with a private plane so yeah like their whole lives were like based on being cool enough and rich enough to be in the hamptons whereas i feel a lot of the people that they've brought on in the last few years like whatever the hamptons is gross it's far away i'm just doing it for tv you know they don't it's not that specific kind of new york douchebag who really craves the hamptons lifestyle yeah that's a very specific person and i think they're out there but But the show being on for 10 years, most people are too smart to do it.

49:58They know they'll just they know that doing it will make them the opposite of what they're trying to be. You know? Yeah.

50:04Ben Mandelker: So, Timmy and Lauren in the comments both said, are you thinking of Jezebel? I wasn't thinking of Jezebel, but that's exactly the right. That's exactly right. Comparison, which is that people would be I don't see anyone from Love Island be ever interested in reading things like that. No one from Love Island knows how to read. That's the first problem. Ponies anyone? That is from CSPS. I see CSPS in the comments. That is correct. Other people are suggesting nylon or paper, busts, 100%. All these things, like no one from Love Island, USA is reading these at all. Yeah. All right. It is time to turn it over to you, the audience, to come up here and talk with us on Vidja.

50:42This will be airing on YouTube, but it won't be in the audio portion. So, everybody, for the audio, we sure love you. Come talk to us every other Monday, 530 Pacific Time. YouTube, Patreon, all that good stuff. Love you guys. We'll talk to you soon.

50:57Ben Mandelker: Bye, guys. Watch what Crappens would like to thank its premium sponsors. Ain't no thing like Alison King. Our way is the Amber way. It's the Foster and the Furious. It's Amanda Foster. She can run my country. It's Angie McGovern. It's Always Automatic with Ashley Otto. Put your hands together for Carly Clapp. Get on the right foot with Chrissy Offutt. We never miss her call. It's Diane Call. Aaron McNicholas. She don't miss no trickless. Hava Nagila Weber. You'll never hide from Heidi Eleanor Jones. I go, you go, we all go for Hugo. Jamie, she has no less namey. She's our kind of mess, it's Jennifer Messer.

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