RHONY’s Brynn Whitfield Reveals She Was Sexually Assaulted Aged 34: ‘I Blamed Myself’

TW: This article contains discussion of sexual assault.

Real Housewives of New York’s Brynn Whitfield hopes that opening up about being a survivor of sexual assault will resonate with others who’ve had the same harrowing experience.

Last night’s episode of RHONY saw Brynn briefly discussing the assault with a ghostwriter she’s working with. Now, she’s giving further insight into the ordeal, how it affected her, and why she decided to share her story.

Brynn shared more about the assault with PEOPLE. She revealed that when she was 34, a prominent man in the NYC social scene who had been “courting” her committed the assault. Until then, it hadn’t occurred to her that someone at her stage of life and status would become a victim.

Brynn Whitfield: “It wasn’t in my brain that that happened to 30-year-old women living in Manhattan”

Brynn explained that as a 34-year-old chief communications officer at a pet company at the time, she had many things on her mind. Those things were marriage, money, and becoming a mom – sexual assault wasn’t on her radar. “There’s all these things I had in my head. I’m privileged, but sexual assault wasn’t one of them.”

“I was fearful of that in college and early 20s, and I would hear stories from my friends. It wasn’t in my brain that that happened to 30-year-old women living in Manhattan,” she added.

Brynn says she returned home in a blur after the assault. If she were speaking to a friend who had just gone through it, she says she’d tell them to file a police report. However, she couldn’t face it that way herself.

Brynn emotionally shared, “You just go home, and you just shower, and you just want to pretend like it didn’t happen. I think my water bill probably that month was like $10,000…and just there’s not enough soap in the world [to get clean]…”

Brynn returned to work the next day and was “hyper-efficient,” but she completely isolated herself from friends and family.

“I didn’t smile, I didn’t laugh, I didn’t bat an eyelash, I didn’t do anything. I blamed myself.” She continued, “I was like, ‘How am I 34 years old and dealing with this now?’ I just didn’t believe that it happened and it was hard.”

Unfortunately, she still sometimes runs into her attacker. “I put on a brave face and I refuse to cause a scene. I don’t like loudness, I don’t like screaming or yelling because of my childhood…I pick up the check and I sign. That’s what I do. That’s that.” she explained.

It wasn’t until she acknowledged what happened and went to therapy that she started to feel more herself. Now, she wants to be as open about it as possible to help others.

Brynn concluded, “If I can help one person feel something, feel how I felt, if I can help one person feel better, then I’ll tattoo it on me. Then it’s worth it, a billion percent.”

Thank you, Brynn, for sharing your story.

If you’ve been impacted by sexual assault, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673.

The Real Housewives of New York continues Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.

TELL US – FEEL FREE TO LEAVE KIND WORDS FOR BRYNN AND HER BRAVE CHOICE TO SPEAK OUT