This season on Vanderpump Rules, we were introduced to a woman who brings a charming candor about her private life and personal journey to a national audience. With matriarch Lisa Vanderpump as a known LGBTQ proponent, it is notable that the newest cast member Billie Lee is Vanderpump Rules’ first transgender cast member. In an interview with Danny Pellegrino for his podcast Everything Iconic, Billie Lee disclosed that viewers will get to see much more about her life and the anxieties she grapples with. She also spoke about how difficult it has been to open up about her journey and how she is adjusting to suddenly finding herself in the spotlight. To read more about Billie Lee’s interview with Danny Pellegrino, see my article on the website All About The Real Housewives (AllAboutTRH.com): http://www.allabouttrh.com/2018/02/21/vanderpump-rules-billie-lee-inspiring-story-still-truth/.
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Vanderpump Rules’ Lala Kent on Building Relationships, Exuding Confidence and Becoming an Entrepreneur (AllAboutTRH.com)
This season of Vanderpump Rules has been one about personal growth and maturity for Lala Kent who has made it clear that her female cast mates should be building one another up rather than tearing each other down. In an interview with Kate Casey of the eponymous podcast Reality Life with Kate Casey, Kent made it clear that she has regrets over any disparaging remarks she made to female cast mates in past seasons of the show. She is bringing her authentic “girl’s girl” persona to the current season, hoping to make up for past mistakes. To read more about this interview between Lala Kent and Kate Casey, read my article on the website All About the Real Housewives, AllAboutTRH.com: http://www.allabouttrh.com/2018/02/21/vanderpump-rules-lala-kent-building-relationships-exuding-confidence-becoming-entrepreneur/.
She Survived a Terrorist Attack and Now Helps Other Victims
As someone who lived in Israel for a year and visited many times, I am passionate about the land. I am also concerned with the safety of all people there. I can tell you that each visit of mine was a quiet and calm one with no incident, despite what we may see on the news. Reports by the BBC and on CNN often amplify the unrest and contentiousness between Palestinians and Israelis, but do not spotlight the positive daily interactions that restore hope. I desperately crave peace and coexistence in the “promised land,” wanting Muslims and Jews to somehow miraculously come to an impasse.
In my own personal life, a close friend is a religious, American Muslim of Pakistani descent and I’m from an observant Jewish American family with Eastern European roots. The two of us have joked about wanting to start a podcast called “Peace in the Middle East” to discuss how similar our cultures are, while dissecting differences and points of debate. Our end goal would be to convey to those who see “the other side” as the enemy: Why can’t we all just get along?! Look at how much we actually have in common. (It goes without saying that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is way more complicated than this and there is so much to examine.)
Sarri Singer is another friend of mine who is focused on bringing together people of different religions (Christians, Jews, Muslims…) and people of all backgrounds. For her, it is for a specific mission that aligns with her personal passion: helping victims of terrorism. Sarri started an organization after surviving a horrifying bombing attack on an Israeli bus. To this day, when a glass drops, she’s reflexively brought back to what she describes as a “silence of death all around.”
On June 11, 2003, the daughter of New Jersey state senator Robert Singer was on Bus 14 in Jerusalem when an 18-year-old suicide bomber boarded. Minutes later, 17 people were killed and more than 100 people were injured, including Sarri, who could not fully open her eyes to see the casualties around her. She screamed and a man from blocks away, not a paramedic or an EMT, but a civilian, brought her to safety.
“In Israel, people instinctively know to help everybody,” she says, adding: “He didn’t pause, but just ran over and jumped right into action.” After being rescued from the carnage, Sarri was hospitalized for two weeks and says, “I’m happy with my injuries because I’m lucky, I am still here when others did not come home that day” referring to the minor loss of hearing in one ear and shrapnel in parts of her body that aren’t removable.
Sarri had never imagined she would find herself in a hospital bed, the survivor of a bombing. Until September 11th, she had worked as Director of Recruitment for National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) a few blocks from the World Trade Center in New York City. After walking the streets and seeing the destruction from that day, observing tourists snapping photos and feeling a desperate need to do something, Sarri resigned from her position and moved to Israel to help terror victims.
There she coordinated bone marrow drives for Gift of Life, volunteered with organizations such as KEDMA, Kids4Kids, The Koby Mandell Foundation and the One Family Fund. Then, on her way to meet a friend that fateful day in June, she boarded Bus 14 and her life changed forever, making her mission a more personal one.
She would later return to Israel after convalescing at her parents’ home in New Jersey, determined not to show fear or let the terrorists win. Israel was where her heart belonged. She loved the land and its people and would not be chased away by fear.
“I went back in September 2003 after the attack because I wanted to be there,” she explains, “I didn’t want that 18-year-old who boarded the bus to hurt and murder innocent people to make me scared. Terrorism is about paralyzing us with fear. I didn’t want to be the victim that the terrorist wanted.”
Sarri went on to work as an administrator in a school until medical issues brought her back to the U.S. In June 2012 she founded an international organization Strength to Strength (originally called One Heart) which is based out of NYC and assists terror victims worldwide by bringing them together to heal and move forward.
Strength to Strength specifically focuses on the long term psychological care and peer to peer support for victims and their families. The organization continues to share insight into the ongoing struggle for those affected by these types of tragedies globally.
“We work to bring survivors together,” Sarri explains, “Dealing with the residual trauma and helping people heal over time.” Sarri notes how in the Israel people don’t think twice about assisting right away, giving of themselves, their money and their hearts.
Rami Levy is exemplary of this concept. He is the owner of one of the largest eponymous supermarket chains in Israel and came over daily to stock cupboards and refrigerators of a family that lost relatives suddenly and tragically in an attack. When one family member expressed their appreciation to him, he replied, “You will get used to my face. I have committed myself to that every week. I will deliver food and stock your home until the youngest orphan turns 18 years old.”
People like Rami Levy are Sarri’s inspiration. She says that just like the many incredible people who gave of themselves despite not knowing her – including her hospital visitors (“The Arab-Israeli politics that we hear about in the news do not exist in the hospital,” she explains, “It was such a pleasure to welcome anyone who came to visit me”) – we must keep “recognizing that we are all responsible for each other, and that those directly impacted by terrorism, injury, or the loss of a loved one deserve no less than our very best.”
Each spring, Strength to Strength brings a group of terror survivors to New York City as part of its mission of healing for their Young Ambassadors Program.” The participants of the annual trip are between the ages of 15-20 and lost either a parent or immediate family member in a terrorist attack, or were injured themselves. The teens hail from around the globe including (but not limited to): Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, England, France, Israel, Kenya, Northern Ireland, Spain, Uganda and the United States.
Sarri explains that in addition to meeting with community and political leaders, the teens embark on a tour, visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the Tribute Center, SONY Technology Labs, a museum, FAO Schwartz, NY Sky Ride and the Empire State Building. The trip aims to bring together those affected by terrorism in solidarity, to be able to support and comfort one another and build a global peer support group where the participants are in touch long after the program finishes.
“Restaurants, companies and individual donors contribute their resources to make these trips not only possible, but absolutely incredible,” Sarri says. “The goal is to ensure a week filled with exciting and fun activities combined with meetings with leaders. We want to empower these teens to take their personal experiences of trauma and share them with each other to bring about healing.”
For more information about how you can support those affected by terrorism, visit Strength to Strength http://stosglobal.org/.
**(An earlier version of this article appeared on my Huffington Post blog. The above has been updated and revised with new information.)**
Fifteen Minutes with Fredrik: The Dynamic Realtor of Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing NY
What you should know is that Fredrik makes everything worth tuning into, with his “high kicks,” his blazing energy, dedication to work and attentiveness to others. Last season, his candor was on full display when he opened about trying to have a child with his partner Derek and revealed that their surrogate (who was carrying twins) had suffered a devastating miscarriage. After an emotional and tearful journey, Fredrik says he is enjoying watching the current season which is a much lighter and entertaining one so far.
We only had fifteen minutes in a really jam-packed day, but Fredrik and I caught up to discuss Season 6 of Million Dollar Listing New York:
How do you feel about the new dynamic this season? We see a slightly different trio now that the show is focused on you, Ryan Serhant and Steve Gold.
I knew Louis (former cast mate) was not going to continue on the show and production was searching for a replacement. I was always pushing for Steve to join us because he’s so handsome, so funny and such a great broker. When we’re filming i don’t know what the others film unless I’m with them, but we’re off working separately and being filmed. Each season, when the show is airing, I don’t pay as much attention as I am this season.
I’m really into what they are doing. When we were doing press interviews at the beginning of the season, I felt that we are all so different on a personal level, but we are all the same in terms of real estate. You will see though: It gets very intense towards the end of the season when we’re all in Paris for my 40th birthday celebration. We do have different personalities and there will be arguments. It gets a little rocky, but I am proud of all of them as I’m watching this season.
Do you guys hang out off camera?
While it’s airing, it’s easier to hang out than when we’re filming. While we’re filming, they want to capture those things like the drama, but we are friends. Steve is more shy than he comes off and I like that about him. The audience is realizing what I’ve always known, that despite being this intense, assertive broker who is great at his job and focused on the profession, Steve is a really kind person and also a shy guy.
You’re self–made and you seem very humble. You brought up “gentrification” to a board on the last episode. Prior to that, you were talking to everybody in the neighborhood and trying to get insight into their histories there. I found that to be very down to earth and very in touch.
At the end of the day, it’s about my upbringing. I grew up in a country, within a society, in a family where none of these things mattered (NY real estate). Kindness, friendship, nature and health were important things. Living here is a big contrast. The buildings are taller, there’s a lot of neon and I’m in a cut-throat business. What I do professionally makes me consumed with making money. There are those polar opposites within me which make for an internal battle. You can easily be fooled by money and glitz, but I feel like everyone is the same really. I see that when I speak to people. In my heart, it doesn’t really matter.
I know that you had a fertility journey and I went through infertility myself so it resonated, the crazy highs and lows and a miscarriage as well. I remember when I thought I would never have kids. I think viewers appreciated hearing your story and it was very brave of you to open up. I feel it will happen for you (as it eventually and miraculously did for me) and I’m wondering how you think having a child will impact your career?
I’m very emotionally prepared to professionally handle it. I have so much to be thankful for in my career and I’m not afraid about anything professionally changing when I have a child. I’m in charge and I don’t question my abilities. Of course, children and family will change a lot of things, but I’ve been waiting for it for so long that I’ll welcome it.
I saw you just put out a single called “It Gets Better.”
It was an old demo of a song I always loved years back and I went to LA and recorded it in a studio. I wanted to have a lot of fun with it and enjoyed filming and then Bravo was filming that as well for the new show I am doing with Bethenny. Well, I can’t really discuss Bethenny and my spinoff yet, but I will share that one detail. Part of the proceeds from the song will go to the It Gets Better Foundation, so I am in touch with them about things we can do together. The whole idea of the single cover is that it’s me as a 7 or 8 year old with green hair. I felt different back then and just odd on the outside because of a lot that was going on with me on the inside. I wish I could tell Little Fredrik that everything would turn out great…that I would have Derek and this career.
You and Bethenny seem to have a great dynamic and we see her this season on MDLNY and you on RHONY.
I stayed with her in the Hamptons this past weekend and I’m very close to her. I now consider her a very real, real, friend. She’s a lot of everything. She’s very fast, her brain works in quick ways and I’ve told Derek: I feel younger with her. She’s fun – she really is fun!
You mentioned that you are honing in on what the other guys are doing as you watch this season. What is one thing you see yourself do that you would like to do better? What would you like to see from Ryan and Steve?
I was told that this season has the highest ratings of MDLNY seasons so far, so whatever is happening has brought viewers. I just wish I could see a little more of the personal stories. There’s a big focus this season on how we do our jobs, but I want to know more about what’s going on personally with the others. I know there’s a lot more coming toward the end of this season.
You’ll see some drama and conflict that plays out in Paris when we all go there for my 40th birthday celebration. What people love about this show and what they want to see more of is what drives us, what is it that makes everyone work so hard. I wish we could go deeper and explore that drive. I find Ryan and Emilia’s relationship so interesting, so I wish we could see more of that too. There may have been that decision from production to focus more on real estate this season, and in either case, more people are tuning in. I felt like I had so much fun filming this season and I feel so happy that I’ve come to this point in my heart. I’m watching it and I feel like there’s this joy coming from the me I see onscreen. It looks like I’m having a lot of fun. It was more of an uphill thing for me in the past and you really see that in prior seasons. This season is light and I feel good. As for what I would change about myself…I don’t know if I want to change anything from what I watch back this season. I just want to be the best in the moment.
Fredrik Eklund stars on Million Dollar Listing New York and will also star with Bethenny Frankel in the upcoming Bravo show Bethenny and Fredrik, premiering 2/6/18.
Special thanks to Richard H., Elie S., Rachel K., Melissa B. and Ari G.
‘The Elephant in the Pahhhluhhr’: The Controversy & Intrigue Surrounding #SouthernCharm
(An earlier version of this ran on Huffington Post, June 13th, 2017. The following article is a revised and updated version.)
BRAVO TV, NBCUniversal
When Southern Charm began airing on Bravo in March of 2014, it took a while for viewership to make an impact for the network. By season 2 however, a rapt audience had tuned in to the drama that played out between privileged Southerners while a disapproving matriarch tutted about improprieties and a former Real World star begged the “Southern Gents” to settle down. The show, now approaching its 5th season, is currently popular enough for Bravo to have introduced a spinoff that just aired (Relationshep, about cast member Shep Rose, a ladies’ man looking for long term love – allegedly). The newer Southern Charm Savannah is another offshoot of the original. It premiered on May 8th, 2017 and Season 2 is filming now.
THE ELEPHANT
It is no surprise that shows about privileged white people in the South have garnered criticism and sparked wild rumors to make heads roll (a much-debated Page Six blind item referred to one Southern Charm costar’s “negrobilia,” a prized collection of artwork by black slaves. Of course, speculation abounds that the item was planted by a conniving adversary).
Many viewers have overtly stated in the comments sections of articles about the original SC – set in Charleston – that these people don’t seem to do very much for a living, yet have impressive wealth. The implication isn’t something that needs to be stated outright, though of course it is brought up periodically: Some of the cast members descended from plantation owners who kept slaves.
Sexism and double standards for women have also been brought up by critics in connection with the franchise and thoughts on this vary today. Here we are prior to the start of Southern Charm’s Season 5 (and Southern Charm Savannah’s Season 2): Viewers hone in on specific words used, things left unsaid, issues that are ignored and political sentiments tweeted out by cast members (including a barrage of tweets by cast mate Thomas Ravenel, including one directed at Bravo honcho Andy Cohen that has since been deleted). A contingent has expressed feeling offended by certain cast members’ actions, yet manage to return and tune in each season…despite protest. This attests to what we observe time and again with Bravo shows and those airing on other cable networks: the compelling nature of material that provokes ire.
A SHOW ABOUT PETER PAN PLAYBOYS
Both Southern Charm and its Savannah offshoot have struck viewers as exuding an “all boys club” vibe. While it is impossible to pin that on production, some insiders (who requested anonymity) have speculated that Haymaker executives (both founders who sit at the company’s helm are male) http://www.haymakercontent.com/ – who originally packaged the show as Southern Gentlemen – have a “boys will be boys” mentality,
According to writer Amy Feinstein of Inquistr.com: “Southern Gentlemen turned into Southern Charm when Bravo said that the show needed some women in the cast and not just as accessories and dates for the ‘gentlemen.’ So Cameran Eubanks, Jenna King, and eventually, Kathryn Calhoun Dennis were added in to round out the cast.”
The “Bible” for Southern Gentlemen. From Amy Feinstein of Inquistr.com: “Initially, Southern Charm executive producers Whitney Sudler-Smith and Bryan Kestner wanted to do a show set in Charleston that would highlight the life of an upper-crust Peter Pan in the Holy City. They put together a promotional video for a show that would have been called Southern Gentlemen. In the Southern Gentlemen video, Thomas Ravenel and Shep Rose talk about their life before Southern Charm.”
While it would be nice for Haymaker and Bravo to bring Ashley back for her “redemption season”, the rumor (based on those who recently spotted the cast filming and captured photos) is that she will not be returning as a full time cast member.
KEEPING UP WITH KATHRYN
The Twittersphere has often been abuzz with speculation about how Kathryn Calhoun Dennis, the ginger-haired vixen of the original Southern Charm, has been scrutinized for her “bad behavior” (a subjective term) much more so than cast mates Thomas Ravenel and Shep Rose. Neither gent has been depicted as an angel (Shep’s drinking and impulse control were issues brought up last season), but there’s the contention that the “playboys” get away with a mere slap on the wrist. The idea of having children out of wedlock is also likely seen as the most shocking of offenses for a Southern gal, but we have to wonder if matriarch Patricia Altschul remembers that Thomas Ravenel, who she is visibly fond of, fathered Kathryn’s children.
A PROFESSOR TAKES A SOCIOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Ned Rinalducci, Ph.D. is a professor living in Savannah and teaching there at Armstrong State University. As a Political Sociologist, he also researches and examines religious and ethnic political movements and cultural identity. He writes on Islam, religious politics, ethnic politics, and ethnic nationalism. Every summer he teaches a pop culture course that focuses on reality television and last year, he assigned his class a show that was filmed in their own city, Southern Charm Savannah.
He explains: “Even before I started watching Southern Charm Savannah, I gave assignments in a summer pop culture class where we examine race, class and gender through reality TV. What we note is that it’s always done in a stereotypical way to really drive the narrative they’re trying to deliver. A large portion of Savannah is actually African American so Savannah viewers said: ‘this isn’t about Savannah. This is about rich, entitled white guys.’”
“The majority of the population here is not represented by this show. There definitely are circles where the social hierarchies are stressed, but most people living here are not a part of that. It is very real though – I have been in Savannah for 18 years and I’ll never be a ‘Savannian’ because I wasn’t born here and my family is not from Savannah. Southern Charm does what so many reality TV shows do: There are story arcs and narratives about characters and the shows exaggerate things like gender stereotypes (we see that with the original Southern Charm, the greater expectations upon women to be proper), social class and race. On some level, this makes people connect to the characters and it’s disconcerting – It’s reality television, but it’s not real.”
“Last summer, I had my students really examine how race, class and gender were depicted on Southern Charm Savannah. They looked at signs of Southern culture and discussed whether it seemed authentic. My wife, who is a true Southerner, saw part of an episode where Catherine hosted a bridge party in the hopes of embracing an old tradition. She said to me ‘Nobody plays bridge anymore!’ I thought that was funny because my own mom, a Northerner, actually plays bridge!”
A PERSPECTIVE ON SOUTHERN CHARM FROM A BLACK, GAY AMERICAN MALE
Troy McEady of the podcasts Emotionally Broken Psychos (he has co-hosted with Molly McAleer) and EBP’s The Smush Room (which he alone hosts) admits that being a black, gay American male does not prevent him from watching Southern Charm and Southern Charm Savannah. McEady feels that bigotry stares you in the face with Savannah, whereas on the Charleston show there’s an “underlying sentiment.”
He elaborates: “Kathryn comes from a long bloodline of people that owned huge plantations in the South. We’ve been watching Charleston long enough that we’re almost used to it – as gross as that is to say. It’s not overt, but it’s still uncomfortable. With Savannah, they used it in a sort of ‘cutesy’ way last season. Catherine (not to be confused with Kathryn of Charleston) talks about how it’s uncouth to discuss where money comes from, but we know where that money comes from – owners of large plantations. It’s a weird thing to lightly dance around – because it’s embarrassing.”
One Savannah character from last season (who is likely also not returning — based upon cast trip photos that recently surfaced) used the Yiddish “S word” to joke around with Daniel. McEady observes: “In that case, it was social awkwardness and social unawareness when it comes to race. This is also a character who needs to be more self-aware. The statements came across as boldly racist. However, it was almost less offensive coming from him because he seemed not to possess the appropriate thought processes.”
McEady adds: “I’m hoping that things turns around with Southern Charm Savannah. It feels like those characters were uninteresting for the most part. The things Bravo used as filler (in Season One) were there because there wasn’t much to show. I’m not surprised that there’s an upcoming Season 2 because Bravo decided to give it another chance, but I doubt there will be a Season 3 unless there are major changes. Personally, now I’m invested so I’ve got to watch regardless. Unless they shake up the cast in some way, these people are uninteresting – with the exception of Ashley…and perhaps Daniel. While watching, I actually had to remind myself what was happening in terms of story lines. There didn’t seem to be too much there.”
Shira's Got The Scoop! 