‘RHOP’: Candiace Dillard Accuses Monique Samuels of ‘Gaslighting’ Her: ‘It’s What We Expect From Your Kind’
During The Real Housewives of Potomac season 5, former friends Candiace Dillard and Monique Samuels got into a physical altercation that divided the entire group. Dillard pressed charges due to the fight and doesn’t appreciate how Samuels speaks of Dillard’s choice to make the matter legal.
According to the former Miss United States, she believes the Not For Lazy Moms owner is “gaslighting” her, or a type of manipulation in which the manipulator attempts to make someone question their memory or perceptions.
Candiace Dillard and Monique Samuels got into a physical altercation
Following their fallout from last season, Candiace Dillard and Monique Samuels attempted to fix their friendship. However, they failed to get on the same page, and the ladies ended up coming to blows shortly later.
While celebrating Gizelle Bryant’s award at a winery, the former friends got into an argument, and Samuels took it to a physical level by grabbing Dillard’s hair.
She yanked the former Miss United States down to the table and hit her on the top of the head several times.
The former Miss United States attempted to protect herself by swinging a glass, which cut Samuels’ lip.
Dillard pressed charges against Samuels for the fight
A week after the altercation, Samuels met with the other housewives at Karen Huger’s house to apologize for putting them in harm’s way. While Huger and Ashley Darby noted they wanted to support Samuels, Robyn Dixon, Wendy Osefo, and Bryant thought the podcast host needed to work on herself before they wanted to hang out with her again.
Samuels admitted she didn’t feel remorse for the situation at the time, which Dixon shared with Dillard. Even though the Not For Lazy Moms owner later came to terms with her faults in the fight, she failed to reach out to Dillard.
After not hearing from her ex-friend for a few weeks, the former Miss United States felt she “had no choice” but to file a complaint against Samuels for the physical altercation.
The courts pressed a second-degree assault charge on the podcast host, and she countered, slapping Dillard with the same count.
Dillard accuses Samuels of ‘gaslighting’ her in the situation
The counter upset Dillard because she felt the podcast host should accept the consequences of getting violent at the winery. However, Samuels claimed she thought she had to protect herself from going to jail.
Additionally, the Not For Lazy Moms owner blamed both of them for the fight happening. Therefore, she asked Darby to help strengthen her case by writing a statement to the courts documenting negative interactions with Dillard, including the infamous butter knife incident from last season.
When speaking about the situation during the show, Samuels seems not to understand why Dillard filed the suit and insists she refuses to interact with her former friend because “she made it legal,” even though Samuels has admitted Dillard didn’t “deserve” what happened.
The former Miss United States took to Twitter during episode 18 to accuse her ex-friend of “gaslighting” and explained she filed the complaint because Samuels became “violent.”
Additionally, Dillard compared the Not For Lazy Moms owner’s actions to what “they do in the zoo” and claimed she expects that behavior “from your [Samuels] kind.”
A few fans replied to her tweet, agreeing with her, while some believed Dillard has also acted aggressively in the past. The Real Housewives of Potomac airs Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo.
