Shut down! Kelly Dodd dismissed rumors she was fired from The Real Housewives of Orange County on Friday, January 29.
The Bravo star, 45, addressed the drama in a tweet, blaming former costar Vicki Gunvalson for starting the rumors.
“No I am not fired !!! Contacts [sic] haven’t come out yet ! Vicki stop being a hater,” she wrote.
Her comments came days after Dodd told Hollywood Life she wouldn’t welcome Gunvalson, 58, back to RHOC. “I don’t think Vicki fits into the group,” she explained in the interview posted on January 21. “She just doesn’t. At least Tamra [Judge] is pretty to look at. She’s got a good body, she’s got a good husband, she’s a go-getter at things and she’s fun.”
The Positive Beverage founder said in the same interview that she did not want to see Braunwyn Windham-Burke return to the series. She reiterated that point on Wednesday, January 27, during an Instagram Live. “I know I cannot film with Braunwyn,” she said in the video. “I know for a fact that I cannot film with her. There’s just no way, and if she comes back then I’m out because I know for a fact that I cannot. She’s dangerous and calling people racists and homophobic.”
Dodd’s comments come amid calls from viewers to cancel RHOC altogether. Writer Evan Ross Katz recently tweeted, “It’s time to cancel RHOC.” Meghan McCain replied, “Yes.” It seems, however, that the franchise’s executive producer Andy Cohen disagrees. He responded to the tweets with, “I think you mean reBOOT.”
The show, which premiered in 2006, has come under fire from fans after season 15, which featured Windham-Burke, 43, Dodd, Shannon Beador, Gina Kirschenheiter, Emily Simpson and Elizabeth Lyn Vargas. Windham-Burke, who came out as gay in December 2020, butted heads with Dodd several times throughout the season and after filming wrapped. Dodd even accused her costar of faking her alcoholism story line — comments she was later criticized for.
Dodd was also scrutinized for controversial comments about the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement. RHOC alum Heather Dubrow slammed her in an interview with Us Weekly earlier this month, saying, “A leopard doesn’t change its spots.”
She continued, “People show you who they are. And at some point, you have to listen.”
Dodd apologized for her comments about coronavirus during a December 2020 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. She admitted, “It was insensitive and I apologize if I hurt or offended anybody.”
