Lisa Vanderpump is speaking out after being accused of making a “transphobic” remark to Erika Girardi during Tuesday night’s episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills .
In a statement to Radar Online on May 22, the longtime reality star and Los Angeles-based restaurateur apologized for her “poor choice of words” and made it clear that she has nothing but “respect and love” for transgender people.
Vanderpump also reminded her critics that she’s been a big supporter of the LGBTQ community over the past several years.
“It was not my intention to belittle the Trans community with my poor choice of words directed toward Erika,” Vanderpump said. “I have nothing but respect and love for Trans people around the world, as I have been a staunch supporter, provided employment, offered emotional support, and championed LGBTQ issues.”
“With recent news of Trans women losing their lives for living their authentic truth in a world of discrimination and hate, I never want to diminish the very real pain and struggle that Trans people go through every day,” she added.
As fans saw on Tuesday night’s show, Vanderpump said during a cast confessional that Girardi was “tucking” and said the issue was not something she was able to lie about. Prior to the comment, Vanderpump had been accused of lying about leaking a story to Radar Online about Dorit Kemsley and her decision to re-home a dog she adopted from Vanderpump Dogs.
After Vanderpump’s comment was made on Tuesday night’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills , she faced tons of backlash online from a number of celebrities, including transgender actress Candis Cayne and her Bravo co-star, Lisa Rinna, who labeled her “transphobic” on Twitter.
As for her own Twitter page, Vanderpump has been fairly silent since Tuesday.
While Vanderpump has long been a fixture of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills , many of the series’ viewers are concerned that she may not be returning for the show’s upcoming 10th season due to the fact that she’s been estranged from her co-stars since sometime last year.
There has also been speculation swirling that Vanderpump will skip the upcoming Season 9 reunion, which is set to film some time in the coming weeks. That said, nothing has been confirmed when it comes to the upcoming taping.
To see more of Vanderpump and her co-stars, tune into new episodes of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 9 on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. on Bravo TV.
