Kristen Doute Says Vanderpump Rules Should Have Filmed Scandal, Not Fired Her For It

Kristen Doute doesn’t believe she should have been fired from “Vanderpump Rules” and instead thinks the show should have filmed her racism controversy and used it as a teachable moment.

Doute was one of four cast members who was fired over racist behavior. She and Stassi Schroeder were axed after former costar Faith Stowers, who is Black, resurfaced how the two reported her to the police for a crime she didn’t commit — and told military police she had gone AWOL. Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni were also let go for racist tweets, which were actually surfaced before their first season aired.

Kristen’s full interview on the Hollywood Raw podcast with Dax Holt and Adam Glyn dropped on Wednesday, in which she revealed how she found out she wouldn’t be returning, what she wished had happened instead and who she’s been in contact with since the decision was made.

“I think if the phone call I got had been five minutes later, I probably would have gotten [the announcement] from the news,” revealed Kristen. “My lawyer actually called me and dropped the note to me that Bravo was no longer … that I was no longer going to be on the show.”

“I never got to speak to anyone, which is really hard because I would have liked to have a conversation,” she added.

Doute said she believes it “would have been a lot smarter” for Bravo to film the unfolding controversy on the show, saying the network should have taken “initiative and have this conversation” instead of just firing everyone.

“I know this probably sounds super selfish for someone that’s canceled to say they don’t believe in cancel-culture,” she added, but expressed her desire to be “forced to have these difficult conversations” on the series and “show the public that we are doing action.”

Doute believes that route would have not only helped her and others in the show’s sprawling cast, but also the public watching at home. “Just push people to do better, rather than saying, ‘We don’t like that mistake you made so therefore you’re canceled, we don’t want to hear from you ever again,'” she added.

The ousted reality star was also asked whether Lisa Vanderpump or Andy Cohen had reached out to her since she was fired. “Lisa, nope, not at all,” she said, adding, “Andy DMed me and said, ‘Hang in there.'”

Doute confirmed she has seen Stassi a few times since everything went down and said her own boyfriend Alex has been her support system through it all. She also said “all of the OG cast members” from the show have been there for her, but didn’t name names.

“I just think cancel culture is such a detriment to our society because we are shutting people up rather than making them learn and change,” she continued, saying she would “love a second chance” but doesn’t think she’ll ever return to “Vanderpump Rules.”

While she said the “first couple of weeks” after she was fired were “really emotional” for her, Doute said she “started listening” — especially to her Black friends, who told her to “shut up and listen.”

In the time since, Doute claims she’s “tried to stay off social media as much as possible, call my friends, listen to resources, read, watch TED Talks, just kind of do as much as I could to understand what was going on around me rather than what happened to me regarding my job.”

She said that, while she doesn’t “want to be the asshole that says I’m writing checks,” she has been donating to various causes personally and has been using her James Mae clothing company to reach out to Black designers and raise funds through fashion.

“I hope at one point I can be on social media again or be in the public eye again in order to push people to do the same things I’m doing a little more publicly than I am right now,” she added. “But I think that if we are all just doing our part, than it’s better than doing nothing at all.”