‘RHOBH’: Melissa Etheridge and Lisa Rinna Were ‘Good Friends’ 20 Years Ago but No Longer Speak – ‘It Was Weird’
Singer Melissa Etheridge recounted her cameo appearance during an extremely awkward fight on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. And made some pretty interesting remarks about a past friendship with Lisa Rinna.
She was Dorit and PK Kemsley’s special guest, who was scheduled to perform at their “Homeless but not Toothless” event. But (of course) a fight broke out during dinner with Rinna lashing out at the cast in anger. In an effort to extinguish the tension in the room, Kemsley announced her “special guest” and Etheridge appeared to play “Come to My Window.” Her appearance and song lightened the mood, but Etheridge said she could hear them fighting. She’s also known Rinna for about 20 years but said they strangely stopped speaking.
Melissa Etheridge knew Lisa Rinna from ‘RHOBH’ 20 years ago
Etheridge has known Rinna for decades and said they stopped speaking. “I knew Rinna like 20 years ago,” Etheridge dished on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. Host Andy Cohen then wondered if she was surprised by how Rinna lashed out.
“I was,” she said. “And we actually didn’t talk there. It was weird, it was a little strange. We were good friends about 20 years ago.”
Melissa Etheridge could hear the ‘RHOBH’ cast fighting as she waited to perform
Etheridge didn’t go any further about her friendship with Rinna or why they didn’t speak for some time. But she did spill about what she saw while waiting in wings to perform. Etheridge could hear the fight while she waited. Adding, “The dinner table was below and I was above them. Like on this balcony. They couldn’t see me,” she dished.
Etheridge said she waited to perform for quite a while thanks to the fight. “I was there for half an hour at least,” she said. And, despite the anger and fighting, Etheridge enjoyed performing and it had no impact on her delivery at the event.
But then she had a little bit of shade about her hosts. Cohen asked Etheridge how long she’s known PK Kemsley and she wouldn’t exactly answer, implying she did not have a longstanding relationship with him. She also shared how much she knew about the “Homeless but not Toothless” charity. “Since they asked me to play for it,” she said as Cohen laughed.
Lisa Rinna admits she struggled with her loss before ‘RHOBH’ aired
Etheridge joked on Twitter how she was the dinner party from hell fight defuser. “I have new calling!!” And while Etheridge’s appearance cut the tension in the room, this wasn’t Rinna’s only angry outburst since the death of her mother Lois this season.
Shortly after her mother’s death out she took to Instagram, admitting that she was navigating murky waters with her loss. “Nobody tells you how to do this. You know, there’s not a handbook. There’s never a way to be ready to let go,” she said. “We’re just not taught that death is OK. It’s never talked about, and we’re never told that it’s OK to let go.”
Rinna continued, “It’s like a crash course all of a sudden when one of your loved ones is in this position, especially your mom or your dad. And I have such empathy for everyone who’s gone through this.” Rinna’s mother died while she was filming RHOBH. She soldiered on but was clearly struggling throughout the season. The fight during Kemsley’s charity event was only the tip of the iceberg leading up to the Aspen trip.
Rinna claimed that Kathy Hilton make explosive and angry remarks about the entire cast, especially her sister Kyle Richards to her off camera. And clung to the shock from those remarks.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is on Wed. at 8 pm ET on Bravo.
