‘The Real World: New York’: Why Did Julie Gentry Break the 4th Wall and Demand That Producers Stop Filming?

Julie Gentry from MTV’s The Real World: New York broke the fourth wall during The Real World Homecoming: New York and asked producers to stop filming during a dramatic moment.

Becky Blasband and Kevin Powell had just gotten into a heated dispute about racism, which left Blasband feeling frustrated and upset. Powell tried to make a point, but Blasband struggled to receive his message, continuously interrupting him to prove she was not racist. Eventually, Norman Korpi got involved and actually told Blasband to “shut up” in an effort to do damage control.

Blasband retreated to her room, which is when Gentry followed her. Blasband felt ganged up on and battered for simply trying to share her story.

Julie Gentry tells producers to back off

While the rest of the cast were left looking shocked, Gentry wanted to comfort Blasband. “I feel really used,” Blasband is heard whispering to Gentry from behind closed doors. “It’s not even like an ego thing it was just hurtful.” The conversation moved beyond a dispute about race and into elitism. Cast members noticed that Blasband touted her travels to Europe and her home in France.

“I don’t think I’m that much of an arrogant person,” Blasband continued. Gentry said, “You’re not … “

However, Korpi’s comments stuck with Blasband. Korpi and Blasband remained in touch after the 1992 series wrapped and formed a very close bond. “Norman was yelling at me,” Blasband shared.

Gentry spied a camera operator coming into the bedroom. “Yeah, we’re not,” she said to the production crew, waiving them away. “You gotta stop. We’re not. You really do have to stop.” A stationary camera captured the camera operator walking away from the room and back into the main part of the loft.

Becky Blasband ultimately leaves the show

Although cameras backed off, audio still picked up Blasband’s despair. “I don’t want to do this,” she is heard sobbing. “I’m sorry Julie.”

“Your presence here though is so important,” Gentry said. But Blasband held onto Korpi’s words when he told her to stop speaking during the dispute. Korpi reminded Blasband that footage of the conversation is going to appear months later and it would not look good for her.

“It really hurt me,” Blasband whispered. Gentry asked Blasband what she wanted to do. “Do you wanna pull mics off?” The women seemingly remove their microphones because the rest of their conversation was not captured on audio or video.

While they may have had a heartfelt conversation, Blasband ultimately decided to leave the show. She suddenly showed up with her bags packed and with no warning, started marching for the door. Now it was Korpi’s turn to feel hurt as he expressed his shock in a confessional.

“I figured we’re gonna get through this,” Korpi said in a confessional. “We’re a strong cast. And then the next thing I knew, like bags were coming out. She was walking to the door. And it hurt me.” 

Does Blasband return to finish the reunion? Stay tuned. The Real World Homecoming: New York is currently streaming on Paramount +.