Bankruptcies? Check. Baby daddy drama? Check. Beef? Double check. This week’s episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta took us on a journey, and of course, we have some thoughts.
When we last left off, K. Michelle was still recovering from her emergency surgery, and Porsha made things even worse with a poorly-timed “miscarriage” comment. Meanwhile, Pinky started coming clean about her complicated financial crisis—which brings us to this latest episode.
In The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 17 Episode 4, “Where’s the Beef… and the Budget?” Pinky’s money troubles took center stage, and so did her dietary preferences.
What happened on The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 17 Episode 4?
Despite Pinky’s highly publicized financial issues, the Slutty Vegan founder hosted a community giveback day and looped in the entire cast for help. But, this is RHOA, so naturally, the giveback day also served as a backdrop for some petty drama, as rumors swirled through the friend group that Pinky had been lying about her veganism. The chaotic game of telephone got so out of control that Maury Povich had to weigh in. Yes, really!
Bonding over bankruptcy
From the moment Pinky joined the show, she’s been incredibly open about the complicated financial situation tied to her evolving restaurant empire. In real time, we know that she has already filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. However, in Episode 4, she was still on the fence.
With the weight of millions of dollars on her shoulders, Pinky decided to confide in her friends, and she quickly learned she wasn’t the only one staring down that cliff. Kelli is right there with her.
“It’s been rough for me the last couple of days, and I’m thinking about filing for bankruptcy,” Pinky admitted.
“Me too,” Kelli replied, without missing a beat.
Just like Pinky, Kelli said she became the sole guarantor for a mountain of business-related debt, and now that her divorce is behind her, bankruptcy is looking more and more like the inevitable next step. The two found real comfort in each other, but Pinky’s biggest problem wasn’t about the dollars. It was the fact that her husband had no idea any of this was happening.
Phaedra and Pinky are beefing over beef
As if a looming bankruptcy isn’t enough for Pinky to handle, she’s also navigating her first taste of Housewives-style gossip. Word got back to her, via Shamea, that Phaedra had been running around Atlanta telling people that she secretly eats meat.
We first heard a glimpse of this accusation last week, and Pinky brushed it off by claiming that Phaedra “eats dead people.” Since then, the meat rumor made its way across the friend group. Porsha and Angela, our two bone collectors, met up with Phaedra to get to the bottom of it.
Phaedra denied saying anything about her veganism and was not thrilled about hearing these accusations—especially since Pinky had just asked her to donate $4,000 worth of baby formula for the community giveback day. In response, Phaedra started throwing some very pointed shade towards Pinky, calling out the headlines about her money problems.
“Me talking about you being the Hamburglar is the least of your issues,” Phaedra said, before erupting into a giggle that would send a chill down K. Michelle’s spine.
The jury might still be out on whether Phaedra was actually questioning Pinky’s diet. But now? They’ve definitely got something real to fight about.
Meatgate: Is Pinky really vegan?
At the community giveback day, Pinky confronted Phaedra about the meat-eating rumors, and things got murkier from there. Shamea said Phaedra said it. The producers rolled back the footage. She didn’t.
The meatgate footage showed that Phaedra was talking about a Jamaican restaurant Pinky used to own that wasn’t vegan. So how did Shamea get that tea so twisted? That’s a whole separate issue they’re going to have to untangle.
According to Phaedra, Shamea made this up simply because of the fact that she doesn’t like her. Cue the footage of Shamea on some random podcast, making comments about motherhood that Phaedra interpreted as a personal dig. Meanwhile, Shamea swore up and down in her confessional that she genuinely thought Phaedra told her Pinky ate meat.
This whole thing felt so perfectly petty that it’s hard to believe that this time last season, we had a Housewife making gun threats. Thank goodness we’re back to this lightweight brand of drama.
This newly revealed tension between Shamea and Pheadra will be addressed at a later date. In the meantime, Pinky called in some reinforcements. She tapped her former boss from the Maury show to help set the record straight about her veganism once and for all.
“Pinky, when it comes to the accusation that you’ve been secretly eating meat, the lie detector test says: that was a lie,” Maury said in a hilariously unexpected cameo.
Porsha and Dennis clashed—again
Let’s take a brief moment away from Pinky, because Porsha also had a lot going on, and most of it seems questionable.
First, she brought back Mike, the actor/ former reality TV participant she’s been parading around as a love interest. They had a conversation about his desire for more kids, something Porsha didn’t seem remotely interested in. She’s already quietly writing his exit.
Later in the episode, Porsha invited her baby daddy, Dennis, over to discuss their plans to turn their daughter Pilar into a YouTube star and podcaster. Dennis came through with a business partner in tow, ready to build a studio in Simon’s old house. It seemed like a productive meeting right up until it wasn’t.
Dennis started asking questions about the Mystic Island party we saw in the premiere, and more specifically, about this Mike dude. Apparently, he and Dennis used to live in the same building, which made the whole situation feel a little too close for comfort. He warned Porsha to be careful, noting that she has a tendency to get caught up with odd people.
Of course, he would know, but Porsha was not here for any of it. She decided to pull the plug on their business plan before it even got off the ground.
“I’m going to make an executive decision,” she declared. “We’re not doing a YouTube together because I’m not going to be doing business with you if you’re bringing up my personal life.”
Looks like Dennis is going to have to stick with working with Drew instead.
Pinky came clean to her husband about the bankruptcy
Back to Pinky, who at this point managed to tell pretty much everyone in Atlanta about her financial situation—the cast, the cameras, her lawyers, and the audience. The one person who didn’t know was her husband, Derrick.
By the end of Episode 4, she finally told him, and to his enormous credit, Derrick was exactly the kind of husband you hope someone has in a moment like that. We know a few Real Househusbands who could take note.
“I met with the bankruptcy attorney,” Pinky reluctantly told him.
Slowly but surely, Pinky peeled back the layers. She’s $5 million in the hole. In response, Derrick warned her that filing for bankruptcy would be a public nightmare and offered to just hand her the cash she needed. Pinky refused.
“I can’t pull you down while I’m trying to figure it out,” a tearful Pinky told him.
As the tears fell, Derrick pulled his wife into a hug and told her that they would figure it out together, no matter what. Even if he doesn’t Cash App her the $5 million, he made it clear that he’s going to have her back in any way that he can.
Derick said, “I know that you’re mighty and you’re tough and all these things, but I’m ten toes down with you.”
“You’re going to bounce back, and I’m going to make sure you bounce back,” he told his wife, who lowkey just carried an entire episode.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo. It streams the next day on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA SEASON 17 EPISODE 4? DO YOU THINK SHAMEA INTENTIONALLY STARTED MEATGATE? DID YOU LOVE SEEING DERRICK’S UNWAVERING SUPPORT FOR PINKY?
