The Real Housewives of Atlanta know how to throw shade — but Kenya Moore knows how to make a giant, destructive storm. All of the trouble began on the Sunday, January 31, episode when Cynthia Bailey told her husband, Peter Thomas, that she'd decided to let Kim Fields (and not Kenya) produce and direct the sunglasses commercial she was shooting in Jamaica. Peter warned her Kenya "might hate on that a little bit," but Cynthia thought it would be fine. Spoiler alert: Cynthia was wrong. Very wrong.
In an effort to mix business and pleasure, Cynthia and Peter turned the Caribbean getaway into a couples' trip (for the most part, anyway). Phaedra Parks and Porsha Williams each came solo, and Kim brought not only her husband, Christopher Morgan, but her kids and a nanny as well. The others, however, were pleasantly paired off: Kenya with her new "friend" Matt (the one she hung out with instead of attending Cynthia's pitch meeting), NeNe Leakes and her husband, Gregg (oh yeah, NeNe came too!), and Sheree and Bob Whitfield (yes, Sheree showed up with her ex-husband). Pregnant Kandi Burruss skipped the trip, which was probably a good call.
Cynthia Breaks the News to Kenya — In Front of Everyone
Put on the spot about whether Kenya and Kim would be working together, Cynthia explained, "To make a long story short, I'm a little pressed for time. Kenya was not able to make the creative meeting, so I was still able to have my meeting with Kim. I loved everything she pitched."
Phaedra helpfully cut in, asking, "So you're kicking your friend to the curb?"
Cynthia mumbled something about Kim saying you can't have one director and a different producer, but the fuse had already been lit. Smiling sweetly at the camera, Kenya promised, "I have some wonderful ideas for Cynthia. Trust me; she is going to love it." (Kenya conveniently ignored the fact that she'd blown off the pitch meeting, which would have been her chance to share her "wonderful ideas" with her friend and potential client.)
Kenya Goes 'Gone With the Wind Crazy'
In an effort to diffuse Kenya's bomb before it went off, Cynthia invited her to a meeting with Kim and told the mistress of Moore Manor that she wanted her to be involved. Kenya, however, was playing defense from the moment she sat down.
"I wasn't available to make the pitch meeting, but I could have had a conversation with you easily after that," she began. "I said I would be willing to work with Kim … and now you're telling me you already made a decision. I don't appreciate that." Before Cynthia could get more than a few words out, Kenya declared, "No one typically makes a decision without hearing multiple pitches. That's a respectful thing." And that's when Cynthia hit her own boiling point.
"You want to put respect on the table?" she asked. "This is all about professionalism. When it comes to anything you do, I show up early." Rather than apologize for not showing up for the pitch meeting (and not giving Cynthia any advance notice that she wasn't going to be there), Kenya turned her rage to Kim.
"You're trying to alienate me from one of my best friends!" she shouted. For her part, Kim told Kenya that every client has the right to do things however they want to, which prompted Kenya to ask Kim how many commercials she'd done before. That's when things got ugly.
Kim told Kenya she was "at the kiddie table," and Kenya blasted back that Kim was a "50-year-old woman." Kim replied, "I am not 50 and even if I were, I certainly don't look it." Kenya then informed Kim that someone had told her "some lies." Kim and Kenya exchanged a few more insults before Kenya got up and attempted to pull Kim's chair out from under her. That's when Kim finally decided to just walk away.
"I'm mortified," a stunned Cynthia told the camera. "I don't know how to deal with the situation. Kenya is really 'Gone With the Wind crazy' right now, and it's not okay." On the bright side, she at least seemed to finally realize what a disaster it would have been had she forced these two to collaborate.
A Group Dinner May Not Have Been the Best Idea
Despite the explosion earlier, the group dinner went ahead as scheduled. Everyone was surprised when NeNe and Greg showed up, but only Kenya seemed upset about it. In a perhaps very misguided attempt to make peace, Peter tried to get Kenya and Kim to talk it out.
"I would rather take a spoon off the table and gouge my eyes out one at a time than talk about this," Kenya declared.
"Does anyone have a spoon?" Phaedra quipped to the camera.
Kenya then decided she was "bored" and headed back to her room with Matt while the rest of the group debriefed. Kim's husband speculated that Kenya's feelings were hurt that she was replaced. When someone commented that Cynthia and Kenya were besties, however, a new voice chimed in, and that voice was NeNe's.
"Y'all are besties?" NeNe asked Cynthia. "Kenya and I are still getting to know each other, but no, you don't just wake up and you're BFFs overnight," the eyewear purveyor claimed. No one seemed to buy this answer, except for NeNe, who later coined a new acronym: BFFN — "Best Friends For Now." Yikes.
Sheree Reports to Kenya, Kenya Confronts Cynthia
Because there hadn't been enough drama yet, Sheree took it upon herself to ask Kenya, "Would you consider Cynthia one of your best friends?" When Kenya said she would, Sheree broke the news that Cynthia had claimed they weren't anything of the sort.
Naturally, Kenya wasted no time confronting Cynthia. Looking rather tired and maybe a bit terrified, Cynthia claimed she'd said that they were "very close" and their friendship was "evolving." That's not what she said, but it hardly mattered, because she quickly added, "In my mind, we don't have that best friend relationship yet." If looks could kill, Kenya would have murdered Cynthia at that very moment.
"We'll see how far you get when [NeNe] leaves again and stabs you from the front this time," Kenya said to the camera.
Tell Us: Do you think Kenya overreacted to Kim getting the sunglasses commercial?
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs on Bravo on Sundays at 8 p.m. EST.
