Eboni K. Williams dealt with the aftermath of her fight withLuann de Lesseps on the latest "RHONY."- In many conversations, Heather Thomson was seen speaking in support of Williams.
- Still, the former Fox News host felt Thomson was "whitesplaining."
Eboni K. Williams is continuing to deal with the aftermath of her fight with fellow castmember Luann de Lesseps, who called her "angry" during a heated argument last week on "The
The first Black castmember on the series immediately called out the word de Lesseps chose to use, later pointing out that it plays into an oft-spoken stereotype for Black women.
It didn't help that during a sit down when the castmembers were all discussing the incident, Heather Thomson, a "friend of the show," continued to interject and engaged in "whitesplaining" without her consent, Williams said.
"Heather's insertion, while I think her intention was pure and positive, I actually think it ended up doing much more harm than good," the former Fox News host told Insider.
After Thomson issued "action items" to the other women present that Williams had not asked her to delegate, Thomson referred to Williams as "articulate," a term many Black people find demeaning because its use implies ones ability to speak clearly and effectively is rare enough to warrant comment.
"To have this white woman, despite her intentions, step into the space of translator, it furthers a narrative that there's some inability to connect with me directly in shared humanity."
Williams attributed Thomson's actions to a self-appointed authority.
"I don't need to be translated, let alone translated by a woman who doesn't have an adequate lens of my experience or even know me, beyond meeting me 48 hours prior to," she added. "So in those ways I do think Heather was unproductive."
Insider reached out to a rep for Thomson, but didn't immediately hear back.
Williams says she was treated differently than her castmate Leah McSweeney, even though they both were grieving their grandmothers
During the ladies' trip to The Hamptons, an upscale area of Long Island, New York, all of the women gathered in a "healing" ceremony to discuss what was on their hearts. That's when both Leah McSweeney and Williams opened up about their dying grandmothers.
Still, Williams told Insider she felt that she was treated with less empathy from her castmates compared to McSweeney.
In last week's episode, Williams pointed out that McSweeeny shouted at the women, called them "hos," and stormed off moments before - and was not called angry.
Fellow castmember Ramona Singer interjected that McSweeny was given "a pass" because her grandmother was dying.
"You see the goalpost moved again around the notion of who gets to grieve the loss of their grandmother and who does not," Williams added.
"For me, it just reinforced what I had suspected, which is, I am not fully humanized to these women at this point because to not give me that same compassion and empathy around my grandmother's upcoming transition in the way that they did for Leah told me that they do not see me as fully human," she continued." That is very clear to me."
Other Housewives from different franchises have reached out to Williams after these last two episodes
Although Williams necessarily didn't feel supported by all of her castmates in that moment, the TV personality did say other Housewives from different franchises have expressed support publicly and privately after the episodes aired.
"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Crystal Kung Minkoff, the first Asian-American cast on that series, and "Dallas" star Tiffany Moon, the second woman of color on her show, both reached out to Williams.
"We all know what it is to experience being the first and the only in our respective representations of our cultures on these platforms that have been historically white," Williams explained. "So they've just basically shown up ... to just say, they see me. They're here if I need to talk."
The reality star also told Insider that "RHONY's" production company, Shed Media, has also been very supportive of Williams - even when she went on a social media hiatus because of these "taxing" episodes. She added they've even held "listening sessions" where she can describe her experiences.
"The Real Housewives of New York" airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.