Reality Recap: A misconception, a misstep, a backup plan

Despite not being much of a Love Island watcher, this season’s winners really captured my heart. And Apollo Nida, remember him from Real Housewives of Atlanta? Well he’s in legal trouble yet again after being charged with domestic violence. Lastly, Jacqueline Laurita and Teresa Giudice are friends again! And she appears to be a real ride or die.

Vicious College Hill fight scene released amid Amber Rose’s political commentary

Back in 2022, there was a show called College Hill Celebrity. The show was a revamp of an earlier series that aired from 2004 to 2009 on BET and followed the lives of students at historically Black colleges. In fact, our girl Lesa Milan from the Real Housewives of Dubai actually appeared in a season and its believed that’s where she got her start on reality TV.

But the reason the show is coming up now, two years later in 2024, is because Amber Rose was one of the cast members of the show’s revamp that aired on BET+ in 2022. During one episode, she and reality TV star Joseline Hernandez got into a huge altercation, from which the footage was never released. But this week, TMZ released the footage.

The fight was about remarks made about Amber’s racial identity. During an assignment, Joseline read Amber for filth, telling her that she denied her Blackness and didn’t want to be Black - that she enjoyed being white-passing. This set Amber off and prompted her to get out of her chair and start a physical altercation with Joseline. 

To be clear, I am not in the business of letting someone else determine how someone should identify, particularly if that is based simply on how a person looks. I am a biracial person myself and have written about the frustrations that can come from everything from the politics of hair to the politics of being the product of an interracial couple. We have no say in which features, skin tone, or hair texture we get, or who we’re born to.

But that being said, when Amber recently went public in throwing her support behind Donald Trump, even speaking at the Republican National Convention, it made me understand the remarks Joseline made two years ago a bit more. And that’s why many people in the Black community have been reminding each other about that fight on College Hill. 

Despite Amber having two Black kids, one with rapper Wiz Khalifa and the other with Alexander “AE” Edwards, Cher’s man, she somehow thinks Donald Trump is going to make life better for her and her sons. And she’s just categorically incorrect. 

So why does this matter? Why does it matter that Amber is a Trump supporter? And how does it tie into what Joseline said two years ago? Because while life may become easier for her as a white-passing woman, it won’t be any easier for her sons. And this oversight is what is prompting people to point the finger at her for not truly understanding the Black experience. 

Secondly, people are calling attention to her Slut Walk project, which she hosted to destigmatize the proverbial “walk of shame” that women endure after sleeping with a man. 

A lot of people are suggesting that it’s ironic to vote for a party and a candidate notorious for the restrictions they intend to place (and already have placed) on women’s bodies and reproductive rights, yet celebrate sexual liberty. 

But lastly, with the recent murder of Sonya Massey, we’re all being reminded that one of Trump’s campaign promises is to indemnify police from lawsuits that “could upend their lives”. And anyone who faces the daily threat of being Black in America knows that that is a risk that they cannot afford. 

When you are white passing, however, as Joseline suggested Amber not only is, but enjoys being, you simply don’t face the same level of fear and terror that most Black people with darker skin, and identifiably Black features do. 

Ayan’s misstep

This season of Real Housewives of Dubai has been incredibly messy so far. This week, a private voice note from Sara Al-Madani to Lesa Milan was passed around, thanks to Chanel Ayan. This put Lesa in a very bad spot with Sara, and she made her disappointment with Ayan very clear. Lesa and Ayan’s friendship, prior to this season, anyway, has been impermeable. But with Ayan getting a bit too friendly with Caroline Stanbury, not the most well-liked person in Lesa’s books, it’s left a bad taste in Lesa’s mouth.

Though Lesa really should have never shared the private voice note with Ayan in the first place, I can understand her reasoning. She was just trying to decode the voice note from Sara. She was under the impression that Sara was suggesting that she wasn’t the biggest fan of Caroline Brooks, but that wasn’t the case at all. Through a tough discussion, the group was able to clarify that Sara was actually saying she wasn’t the biggest fan of cast newbie Taleen Marie, not Caroline Brooks. 

At the table, Sara informed Taleen that her remarks during her argument with Caroline Brooks, which I wrote about in last week’s Reality Recap, turned her off. Sara said that when Taleen started going off and asking Caroline where her husband is, it upset Sara, and that makes sense. 

One of Sara’s main storylines is what it’s like being a non-traditional woman born and raised in the United Arab Emirates. She’s a single mom with no husband and tattoos who is openly dating throughout the season. Of course Taleen asking Caroline where her husband is would affect the only other woman on the show with no husband. 

All of this ties into a bigger theme that we’re seeing in reality TV, though, and particularly this year. We saw it when Lala Kent blew Katie Maloney’s sh-t right open, spilling the tea about how she resented the impact Ariana Madix’s success was having on their business ventures. And we saw it when Margaret Josephs sent the screenshot of Jackie Goldschneider talking sh-t about Dolores Catania while they were all in the same room (still not over that, btw. Iconic move). It’s a reminder that what’s done in the dark will always come to light. Especially when you’re on a reality show. Duh. 

Gia takes a break from law school to…influence

During a recent Amazon Live, Gia Giudice revealed that she is taking a break before starting law school. Her reasoning? She’s enjoying her time as an influencer, but she made it clear that she is still studying for the LSATs. 

“Right now, I'm honestly just taking a pause from law school but it's not out of my cards. Law will always be my passion and I'm honestly just having fun right now with my influencer career and just doing things with you guys. So, I'm really happy, and I am living out this part of my life right now,” she said during the live.

Typically, I would turn my nose up at something like this. Like, the nepo baby reality sh-t is very real. But as I’ve written before, if you’re going to be a nepo baby, be a nepo baby with your whole chest! 

Unlike what we saw with Avery Singer complaining about a) how her association with Real Housewives has deterred people from hiring her and b) how the other kids ride their parents coattails while she was doing that exact thing and doing a podcast with her mom and also starting a business that she promoted on Watch What Happens Live, Gia has always been a lot more forward about opportunities that came her way thanks to her mom – but she’s also been a go-getter.

I think this is a really strategic move on Gia’s part. Time is on her side. Law school isn’t going anywhere, but the window in which she can be a successful influencer and turn a noticeable profit from it is fleeting. We know she’s smart. We know she’s a hit with multiple generations of the show’s audience. She’s got nothing to lose, everything to gain and most importantly, a really admirable backup plan that she will tend to when the time is right. Go get ‘em Gia!