Vanderpump Rules stars Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute broke their silence on Sunday, June 7, over former costar Faith Stowers‘ claims they were racist and called the police on her for an alleged robbery.
“I’ve been taking some time to really process what I’ve been seeing, feeling and learning. And I need to address something specifically that happened a few years ago with my former castmate, Faith Stowers,” Doute, 37, wrote in an Instagram post. “Although, my actions were not racially driven, I am now completely aware of how my privilege blinded me from the reality of law enforcement’s treatment of the black community, and how dangerous my actions could have been to her. It was never my intention to add to the injustice and imbalance. I’m ashamed, embarrassed, and incredibly sorry. I will do better. I have to do better.”
Schroeder, 31, who lost endorsements this week after Stowers, 31, recalled the 2018 incident in a recent Instagram Live, also posted a statement on Instagram on Sunday.
“Racially insensitive comments from my past have resurfaced,” she wrote in a post. “It is important that I continue to take accountability for what I have said and done, while pushing myself to do better. I have grown significantly from the person I was then, and I am still filled with remorse and regret for the hurt I caused.”
“I am grateful for the people in my life that continue to check me and push me to evolve into a more educated person,” the Next Level Basic author continued. “I also want to address my former castmate, Faith Stowers. My emotions over something that happened between our friends outweighed my logic, and there is no excuse for that. I did not recognize then the serious ramifications that could have transpired because of my actions. What I did to Faith was wrong. I apologize and I do not expect forgiveness. I am also sorry to anyone else that feels disappointed in me. I am going to continue to look closer at myself and my actions – to take the time to listen, to learn, and to take accountability for my own privilege.”
Shaving brand Billie and vitamin company Ritual confirmed they had ended their partnerships with Schroeder.
Stowers, who appeared on season 4 of the Bravo series, spoke about what Schroeder and Doute had done during a conversation with Floribama Shore star Candace Rice. She explained that after the Daily Mail shared a photo of a light-skinned African-American woman with tattoos who was accused of robbing people, the pair “called the cops and said it was me.”
Schroeder said in a since-deleted episode of the “Bitch Bible” podcast in 2018 that she and Doute thought Stowers’ hair and tattoos were similar to the woman’s in the security footage of the robbery.
The He’s Making You Crazy author shared the photo on Twitter at the time and wrote, “Hey tweeties, doesn’t this ex #pumprules thief look familiar? I didn’t wanna go there but I’m going there.”
Stowers, who was the only black cast member on the show, had an affair with Jax Taylor, who was dating now-wife Brittany Cartwright at the time.
“I felt like after their friend did something that we both were involved in — that he’s done, like, a thousand times — they wanted to attack me instead of him. They wanted to attack, attack, attack, attack, attack,” the Challenge alum told Rice. “I was wrong, I was this, I was that, calling me names, saying my hair was nappy, which is weird coming out of their mouths.”
