Real Housewives of New York newbie Eboni K. Williams may not be completely enjoying reliving her time on the show.
In an interview with Insider, Eboni revealed that watching the show has been tough. She said,
“I’m having to frankly be re-traumatized in some way because I’m having to revisit what happened in these scenes over and over again each week when they air.”
She continued,
“I’ve never been one to sit around and rewatch myself on TV or radio. With this show and platform, that is unavoidable. It feels much more taxing.”
In fact, she says the experience has been even worse than her time on Fox News (she was the host of a short-lived show called The Specialists).
She explained,
“I find myself having a more emotional experience than I ever did at Fox News, which is saying a lot, because I was literally getting death threats. I feel more vulnerable.”
One of the most difficult things for her to watch so far has been an interaction with Luann de Lesseps in which Luann called her an angry Black woman. She subsequently had to sit down with Luann and the other housewives to explain exactly why it was so problematic and hurtful.
In an essay for USA Today, Eboni commented on the incident and said,
“I knew what was going to happen with those episodes, but I relived the pain as I saw audience reactions. To be a Black woman in America, a free one and a thriving one, the lone one in a room full of white people — well, we know this story by now, or I thought we did.”
Eboni has certainly had to tolerate a lot, both on and off the show. As the sole Black housewife in a sea of white fragility, Eboni is constantly having to sit down and explain various microaggressions to her white co-stars.
In just a few episodes, she’s had to spell out the problem with the term “the help” to Ramona Singer, teach Luann about the implications of calling a Black woman “angry”, and explain the issue with calling a Black woman “articulate” to Heather Thomson.
Meanwhile, off-screen, she’s had to deal with Heather attacking her and calling her a “race-baiter” as well as fans who complain that she’s making the show “too political.”
The whole thing became so overwhelming that Eboni even decided to take a few weeks off from social media because of two particularly “intense” episodes. She explained,
“I’m not going to avail myself to a lot of the toxicity that’s on social media in this moment.”
Regardless of how emotionally taxing the show has been, Eboni mostly seems happy with her decision to appear on RHONY. On Instagram, she wrote,
“I’m extremely proud of myself and my castmates. We didn’t always say or do the exact right thing. But we were always honest, authentic and curious enough to build true and beautiful connections with each other. And yes, we ended up having a fucking blast.”
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