Teddi Mellencamp made a joke about Lisa Vanderpump paying Raquel Leviss to sleep with Tom Sandoval amid his nine-year relationship with Ariana Madix on Melissa Gorga‘s On Display podcast and has faced a whirlwind of backlash for doing so.
After suggesting that her former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills castmate funded the affair in an effort to increase viewership on Vanderpump Rules, which Vanderpump quickly denied, Teddi claims her words have been “twisted” and called out a double standard involving Vanderpump.
“Clearly, I was making a joke, and I’m being eviscerated for making a joke, which wasn’t even being reported correctly, because everyone conveniently leaves out I said ‘probably’ and was laughing,” Teddi told Entertainment Tonight on March 16.
“I love Bravo fans, I think how passionate they are is obviously why Two Ts is so successful, but it feels like my words will continue to get twisted, and when people will come at you and say, ‘I wish you weren’t alive, I wish you died!'” she continued.
Although Teddi said people are more than welcome to come to her page and share their opinions, even if they’re not positive, she doesn’t understand their more “brutal” commentary.
“If you’re saying my mother was a dumb woman to ever get pregnant with me because I’m disgusting on this earth? I don’t know if you really have a leg to stand on there. I’m not really taking your feedback,” she noted, adding that the death threats are unwarranted.
“I just don’t get why it turns so dark,” she shared.
Teddi clarified that when it comes to “Scandoval,” she doesn’t truly think that Vanderpump paid Raquel.
“If we’re gonna really dig into it, anybody on a reality show is paid to cause drama,” she explained. “I wasn’t [really] saying that she was paid to cause an affair, but that is what anybody on a reality show is doing.”
As Pump Rules fans may have seen, Vanderpump spoke out against the payment theory in a tweet shortly after Melissa’s podcast episode aired.
“I didn’t pay cast members to sleep together for ratings [Pump Rules] they do that on their own … [Fake news],” she wrote.
After confirming that she’s “happy” to see that Pump Rules is doing well, Teddi further stated that she “made a joke” and signaled to a double standard involving Vanderpump, explaining that a joke Vanderpump recently made on Watch What Happens Live didn’t seem to offend anyone in the way that her Scandoval joke did.
“This kind of vigilante justice, I don’t agree with at all … unless it’s to, you know, [Kyle Richards] or Lisa Rinna,” Vanderpump had said.
“People can laugh at a joke that she says that’s clearly, like, she was opening up other people to come for two other people that are on that same network,” Teddi noted.
Then, in response to people accusing her of being “thirsty,” Teddi said, “This is supposed to be the fun part. If you don’t listen to the whole thing, why are you so angry about it? And if you do listen to it, do your research.”
“Take a breath before making a comment that could ultimately hurt somebody,” she added. “Agree with me, or disagree with me. Think I’m funny, or think I’m annoying. Have an opinion, but you don’t need to go to that level.”
Source: realityblurb.com