The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards was taken aback by Dorit Kemsley sharing one of her text messages during the season 13 reunion.
“I was really shocked, honestly. I was really surprised by that,” Kyle, 55, said during a Thursday, February 29, Amazon Live when asked how she felt about the situation. “Because in all of the years of doing this show — 14 years there now — I’ve never, ever shared anything that’s been said to me off-camera or a text that’s off camera [and] private.”
Kyle acknowledged that cast members will occasionally read text messages aloud if they are sent “to the group” or pertain to something that “happened actually in the show.”
“But a personal one?” she continued. “No. I’ve never done that.”
The reality star noted that it wouldn’t matter if someone was her “enemy,” she would “never” share private text messages on RHOBH.
“I never have and that’s just a rule that I have, and so that really surprised me,” she said.
Dorit, 47, shared the text in question with Erika Jayne, who read the message aloud, during a teaser for the reunion.
In the lengthy message, Kyle wrote that she didn’t “see the need” to bring up her and Dorit’s friendship issues during the reunion, adding, “especially when we have enough battles to handle as it is.”
Dorit told Erika that she saw the text as an attempt to “silence” her and called it “manipulative” and “calculated.”
Both RHOBH alum Teddi Mellencamp and The Real Housewives of New York City alum Bethenny Frankel slammed Dorit’s decision to share the message.
“At what point is that drawing the line? It is one thing to say, ‘Listen, Kyle sent me a text yesterday where she said she didn’t want to argue with me.’ But to go there and show a private message I really think is crossing the line,” Teddi, 42, said during the Tuesday, February 27, episode of her “Two Ts in a Pod” podcast, adding that she felt “disgusted” by Dorit’s actions.
Frankel, meanwhile, called the move a “violation” in a Sunday, February 25, TikTok video.
“I cannot believe a private, personal, emotional, heartfelt, guttural text from Kyle to a friend off camera when not working, when not filming, was aired,” she said. “When you’re working, you’re working, and that’s vile enough. But when you’re not working and you’re off the clock, are they also going to own your thoughts? That’s a private text. That’s insane!”
Dorit and Kyle clashed throughout the season as Dorit pressed Kyle to open up about her marital woes with husband Mauricio Umansky. The tension came to a head during the season finale when news broke that Kyle and Mauricio, 53, had separated after 27 years of marriage. (Us Weekly confirmed their split in July 2023).
“Kyle never gave an indication that they were separating,” Dorit told her husband, PK Kemsley, on the phone after hearing the news.
Although an update at the end of the season finale noted that Dorit and Kyle hadn’t spoken since December 2023, Kyle answered affirmatively on Thursday when asked whether she and Dorit are friends.
“Yes, we’re friends,” she said before admitting, “Right now, it’s not good.”
Kyle went on to detail one of the ways Dorit has hurt her that she didn’t get to articulate during the reunion. She explained that at BravoCon in November 2023, Dorit wavered when asked to name her favorite Richards sister.
“That’s an easy answer, hello, it’s me. You’re not even close with my sisters,” Kyle said of siblings Kim Richards and Kathy Hilton, noting that she felt “hurt” by Dorit’s hesitancy. “Yes, she’s my friend but she did hurt me a lot. … She’s someone that I care about and her family, but it’s just gonna take me a minute.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays on Bravo at 8 p.m. ET.
