This past Sunday, a new era began for Real Housewives of New York as Season 14 saw an entirely rebooted cast. The jury’s still out on the new season’s performance and viewership. But even before the show hit the airwaves, controversy was brewing.
The new cast announcement included Lizzy Savetsky, a New York influencer known for her proud Jewish heritage. But leave it to the internet to see a proud Jewish woman and immediately try to knock her down. Lizzy reported receiving a storm of antisemitic hate online.
The hate, along with some other racial controversy, became too much to bear, and Lizzy decided to leave production just a few weeks into filming. It all happened so fast that it was hard to register. But now, RHONY newbie Erin Lichy is speaking out on Lizzy’s behalf.
Erin’s perspective on Lizzy’s RHONY exit
People got the chance to speak with Erin at the Season 14 premiere. During their conversation, Erin spoke about the online hate Lizzy received when filming. “It’s horrible,” Erin said. “I’m Israeli and I’m very proud of being Jewish and it’s despicable. And it still is happening. It shouldn’t happen to any group of people at all.”
It shouldn’t be a hot take to say that Erin is correct. Racially charged attacks shouldn’t happen to anyone. What’s interesting is that Erin, despite also being Jewish, isn’t apparently receiving the same level of hate that Lizzy did.
But Lizzy’s departure truly is a shame for so many reasons. It goes without saying how condemnable antisemitism is. But if there’s one thing that Housewife fans are constantly begging for, it’s more diversity. Bringing together Housewives with diverse life experiences generally makes for better interactions, so it’s genuinely tragic to lose Lizzy to overt hate.
Real Housewives of New York Season 14 continues Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo.
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