Mind your manners was a theme lost on the premiere episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, season 16. While we understand that “shock ya moments” are the fabric of the Real Housewives franchise across the board, there’s a level of decorum that one would expect in real-life circumstances, and more importantly, a level of respect we’d like Black women to have for one another. So, I’m calling the ladies out.
Let’s talk about the night’s biggest faux pas: the first interaction between Kelli Ferrell and Porsha Williams. Yes, the whole scenario was set from the moment the show started. Among a group of pals, Kelli asked why Porsha had stolen her now estranged and soon to be divorced husband, Simon Guobadia, from former RHOA star Falynn Pina. Word got back to Porsha, who spoke about it in the confessional, setting up a showdown at Shamea Morton Mwangi’s birthday party.
Porsha had barely sat down for intros when Kelli asked, “Why did she take that woman’s husband?”
Hello? Porsha don’t even have a cocktail in hand, and you’re asking such an invasive question? While it may warrant asking, doing it in public at someone else’s celebration was the wrong place, wrong time, right along the lines of asking Drew Sidora if she’s dating Porsha’s first ex Dennis McKinley now.
As the EBONY team pondered this moment, one editor pointed out that Kelli was an RHOA superfan before she joined the cast, so she would ask the questions we all wanted answers to. But this moment seemed more staged than authentic (again, Bravo’s M.O.). Maybe the proper time to ask would have been a heartfelt one-on-one?
But Porsha has her own problems. She showed up “not” fashionably late to Shamea’s birthday party, just as the woman of the hour was enjoying her birthday gift from her husband Gerard: a $430,000 Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Shamea noted that while they are best friends, Porsha should have gone “to the left” during her special moment.
The crazy thing was that Porsha answered her etiquette question by explaining that you have to leave early to bypass the traffic. “If you don’t leave at this magical hour, you will be at least two hours late to wherever you’re going.” Then leave THREE hours before to get there on time, girl.
Now for Shamea. She shared that on one of her first dates with her husband, she blew up his bathroom. We’re not saying this is an etiquette issue in any manner (when you gotta go, you gotta go!). But a little tip from Miss Manners: Take baby wipes and a little Poo-Pourri spray to keep that bathroom smelling nice when you’re done… or maybe not, since her mess got her her man!
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs Sundays on Bravo.
