‘Vanderpump Rules’ Star Stassi Schroeder Issues Apology After Controversial #MeToo Comments
Vanderpump Rules star Stassi Schroeder has been in some hot water recently after she made some controversial comments regarding the #MeToo campaign on her podcast. Since the episode was released, Schroeder has been losing advertisers and now she has come out to apologize for those comments on the now-deleted episode called “Are We on a Male Witch Hunt?”
The controversy started when the Vanderpump Rules star referenced victims of sexual assault on her Straight Up With Stassi podcast. She has now deleted the episode and all of the tweets she sent out regarding that episode, Us Weekly reported. Schroeder tweeted out an apology on Saturday, as the heat was getting to her.
“My podcast is an outlet for me to share my unfiltered opinion with my listeners, but on my latest episode, I crossed a line. It was irresponsible for me to make generalized statements about a very serious topic, such as sexual harassment, as it is not my place to speak about anyone else’s experiences. I apologize. I will continue to speak my mind on my podcast, but will put more thought behind my dialogue moving forward.”
Since the apology came out, she went back on Twitter and was wanting to stay on this topic for a future episode of Straight Up With Stassi.
These 24 hours have been sobering: I want to share your stories on my podcast: on either side, being accused of something you didn't do or being victimized & left helpless. Let’s discuss it all. Stassi@juststassi.com
— Stassi Schroeder Clark (@stassi) November 26, 2017
In the episode, Us Weekly reported that Schroeder claimed many of these victims were originally “willing” to go to hotel rooms. She went on to say that these victims were only speaking out now against the sexual harassment because of the “hashtag me too trend.” To top it off, Stassi also said that “no one can make me suck someone’s d**k.”
As expected, many listeners were outraged over these comments and they took to Twitter to express their outrage. Advertisers also showed their disgust with Schroeder’s comments, as Rent The Runway, Simple Contacts, and Framebridge all publicly terminated their business relationships with her.
While Schroeder did issue an apology, some fans were not buying it. They thought it was a PR move and she was only issuing the apology for the sake of her business. The fans were not holding back either in their tweets.
“You say this after tweeting that you only deleted the episode because people ‘weren’t ready’ to hear what you had to say? Too late for this bullshit PR move to save you. The damage is done.”
The #MeToo campaign was started by Alyssa Milano on social media back in October. As E! News reported, she was encouraging survivors of sexual misconduct to further amplify just how widespread the issue truly is by sharing their own experiences online.
The hashtag blew up, as it was trending on social media quickly. Celebrities were participating also, as we saw that Anna Paquin, Debra Messing, Lady Gaga, Ellen DeGeneres, Rosario Dawson, Sophia Bush, and Rose McGowan have all shared their stories in solidarity.
[Featured Image by Monica Schipper/Getty Images]
