One of Brittany Cartwright‘s closest friends is coming to the defense of several Vanderpump Rules cast members.
As the Bravo series continues to make headlines after the cable network and Evolution Media decided to fire Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute, one frequent guest of the series is speaking out.
In an Instagram post shared Thursday evening, Zack Wickham addressed the news regarding “the people that I consider my family.”
“Kristen is one of the most generous and kind humans I know that goes to bat for everyone. She has never said or insinuated anything racist online or on a podcast. We call her ‘Detective Doute’ because she will get to the bottom of anything. She is also the most fiercely (in the best way) loyal human to her friends,” Zack shared. “That blinded her in the moment when this situation went down and she is now having to pay for it with her livelihood and reputation, which is not deserved in any way.”
He continued, “Her recent book launch fell on Blackout Tuesday and she chose not to promote it, not even once. She didn’t want to pull focus from the Black Lives Matter cause because she truly believes in it and wants to make a difference.”
As for Stassi, Zack admits that she has made some controversial statements in the past. At the same time, he claims the former Bravo star was always growing.
“Whenever Stassi made beyond cringe worthy comments on her podcast in the past, she and I then did another podcast together where I explained white privilege and why her comments needed to be checked, although, nobody brought that up when the podcast with the negative comments resurfaced,” he wrote. “She lost all her (podcast) sponsors at that time and it made her really look at her white privilege and examine why she thought the way she did. Yes, she has made mistakes and I know she will continue to grow and learn from them.”
Earlier this week, Bravo and Evolution Media announced Kristen and Stassi would not be returning to Vanderpump Rules. The decision came after former cast member Faith Stowers appeared on Instagram Live with MTV star Candace Renee Rice in which she detailed her experience on the Bravo show.
During the interview, Faith alleged that Kristen and Stassi decided they were going to call the cops on her during an off-camera moment. The pair would ultimately make public apologizes to Faith on Instagram.
In his post, Zack admitted that he will likely get “so much hate” online. At the same time, he explained why he didn’t want to stay silent.
“Standing up for those I love is more important to me then the hundreds of hate comments I will likely receive,” he shared. “As someone who was a bridesman at Brittany and Jax’s wedding, you might think my opinion is skewed or unreliable, but I hold my friends accountable for their actions.”
Zack continued, “In the end, what I am trying to convey is that these are individuals that you can easily forget are real people too and are essentially ‘growing up’ on national television and in the public eye. They have all grown and have learned over the better part of a decade, and that is what I feel is the greatest thing about reality TV. It’s that it can bring out a national conversation and bring things to light that might not have been addressed otherwise. While we should be holding people accountable one hundred percent, let’s give them the opportunity to educate themselves so they can actively change their way of thinking into more open-minded knowledgeable citizens.”
Read Zack’s full Instagram statement where he also defends Jax online now.
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