‘RHOC’: Kelly Dodd Has Started Season 15 in an Unusual Way
Kelly Dodd is one of the most controversial figures on The Real Housewives of Orange County. The recently married star has been embroiled in multiple controversies over the course of the year: about coronavirus and Black Lives Matter. Dodd has been relatively absent from promoting season 15 of the show which has fans and critics alike wondering if this is a hint about what will happen next between Dodd and Bravo.
What did Kelly Dodd say about COVID-19?
Dodd has always been an outspoken housewife and that is something that fans were drawn to when she first appeared on RHOC Season 11. Viewers loved that Dodd was not afraid of confrontation and calling things out. However, things have shifted since then, particularly this year.
As the world copes with the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a sector of American citizens that have denied the severity of it. Back in April of this year, she compared the statistics of COVID-19 to those of the H1N1 virus and the swine flu. Not only that, but she said the coronavirus was “God’s way of thinning the herd.”
“That many that die anyway, they would’ve died this year, they were compromised,” Dodd wrote on Instagram. “Do you know how many people died from the H1N1, the Swine Flu or Sars? It’s 25%, get your facts straight. You are only hearing numbers, not the reality. It’s God’s way of thinning the herd. If you are vulnerable or compromised, stay inside. If you don’t protect others by wearing masks and gloves, keep your distance and don’t go out if you are ill. It’s common sense.”
Dodd was hit with severe backlash from fans calling for her to get fired from Bravo. It wasn’t long before Dodd issued an apology for her comments.
“I want to give a public apology,” Dodd said. “What I meant was, do these pandemics happen because it’s God’s way? I’m not God, I’m not insensitive. I feel bad for all the families who have lost loved ones. And I do think we should all stay home and protect everybody. That’s not what I meant, and I want to apologize to anybody who got offended. I’m sorry.”
Dodd’s Black Lives Matter controversy
The RHOC housewife found herself back in the middle of controversy when she appeared to make light of the Black Lives Matter movement. During her bridal shower, a friend gave her a hat with the words “Drunk Wives Matter.” The play on words with the social cause did not sit well with fans. Once again, some Bravo viewers asked for Dodd to be dumped from the network.
Dodd released an apology and explained that the hat was in no way making fun of the social justice movement.
“Over the weekend at my bridal shower, I got lots of gifts and briefly displayed them,” Dodd apologized on Instagram. “One was a hat with a play on words since I’m about to be a wife, I’m on a Housewives TV show and might be drunk once in a while.”
She’s been oddly quiet about promoting the new season
The reality TV personality has not done any press for the series as of late. All of Dodd’s co-stars have done interviews to promote their storylines this season but the Positive Beverage promoter has been notably absent.
The alarm was seemingly rung loud and clear when Dodd called out her co-star Shannon Beador. Dodd has yet to appear on Watch What Happens Live and she blasted Beador for being on the late-night show twice already.
“That’s why I haven’t been [on] WWHL but Shannon Beador will be on twice next week,” Dodd replied to a fan that said she was not a sheep like the rest of the Bravo celebrities.
Andy Cohen, who hosts WWHL, recently talked about Dodd but gave no clear indication of her future on RHOC or the cable network.
“People have always celebrated Kelly for her outspokenness,” Cohen said on Everything Iconic podcast. “People are usually celebrated for [being outspoken and polarizing]. But there’s been a reckoning of sorts, and the line is being drawn by some fans as to what they’ll accept and what they won’t and that’s entirely their right.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
