Thelife- "
Vanderpump Rules " starsStassi Schroeder andKristen Doute were fired from thereality TV series after fan outrage over a 2018 incident when the two publicly, falsely accused their former Black co-starFaith Stowers of robbery and reported her to police multiple times. - Stowers told Insider that the incident "completely destroyed" her mentally, that she and her family were mortified by the false reports, and that she sought "professional help" after facing questions about the accusations during interviews and auditions.
- The actress and TV personality also told Insider that she wasn't expecting her story to "get this big," and that she's been able to find "closure" now that Bravo has fired several of its cast members who were involved in the false reports — even though Schroeder never apologized to Stowers personally.
Now that the television network Bravo has confirmed that Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute won't be returning to "Vanderpump Rules," Faith Stowers feels like she's found closure. Also, all things considered, Schroeder, Doute, and their remaining fans should perhaps be grateful Stowers left it at that.
"There were a few people who didn't agree with Bravo's decision to do this, and they're blaming it on me, because those characters for them were their favorite," Stowers told Insider over the phone. "But at the end of the day I feel like I'm doing them a favor, because I could have filed suit. And I would have won."
Stowers, who appeared on "Vanderpump Rules" as a recurring cast member in season 4 and the show's only Black star, never expected that retelling what Schroeder and Doute did to her in 2018 would end with the two getting cut from the series, along with Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni, or that Schroeder's sponsors would publicly cut ties with her.
But after sharing the story on Instagram Live of how Schroeder and Doute lobbed false, defamatory accusations her way that year, going so far as to call police on Stowers repeatedly for crimes she didn't commit, an online firestorm of angry "Vanderpump Rules" fans called for change.
"Honestly, I didn't think it was going to get this big. I talked about this a few years ago when it first happened and didn't have anyone care," Stowers said. "I think now we're starting to see around the world, people are ready for change. That includes 'Vanderpump Rules' fans."
Schroeder and Doute became famous for petty drama, but their false criminal accusations carried a heavy burden for Stowers
Representatives for Schroeder and Doute didn't respond to Insider's request for comment, but both posted apologies to their Instagram pages (they have a combined following of nearly 3 million). Stowers told Insider that Schroeder has yet to reach out to her privately, and while Doute sent a DM, Stowers wasn't impressed.
"I felt like if I had reached out to them before this, they would have ignored me. I don't think they would have cared," Stowers said. "Both of their statements are very uniform. I felt like if anything I should say thank you to their teams, because it didn't feel genuine at all."
Like most Bravo reality series, "Vanderpump Rules" is a show about interpersonal drama. But unlike other petty feuds that cross over into real life, Stowers told Insider that she didn't really know Schroeder and Doute personally before they wrongfully identified her as an at-large suspect in an LA robbery case in April 2018.
"I didn't judge Stassi and Kristen at first. It was when they made these accusations against me that I realized 'Wow, maybe what people are saying about them is true, they're very, very big mean girls,'" Stowers said. "But for me, it wasn't even like anything I'd ever seen them do to each other. It was a blatant attack on my life."
And from Stowers' perspective, she didn't even know what Schroeder and Doute were doing until it started to affect her career. After leaving "Vanderpump Rules" in 2017, Stowers begin appearing on MTV, and during more than one audition interview, Stowers told Insider she was asked whether she had ever drugged anyone, or stolen anything, or whether there were warrants out for her arrest.
"That's when I was like 'Something's not right, I'm getting asked this too much,'" Stowers said. "Someone actually sent me the 'B---- Bible' podcast. [...] I listened to it, and I was mortified. My family heard it, and they were mortified."
As Doute tweeted and Schroeder went on to brag about on the "B---- Bible" podcast, the two saw news articles about a Black female suspect drugging men at LA night clubs and robbing them. A photo of the suspect obtained from security camera footage ran alongside the description of her crimes, and the two "Vanderpump Rules" stars identified the woman as Stowers.
They were wrong, but as Schroeder said on the podcast, she and Doute felt as though they "solved a crime," and Doute went on to call West Hollywood police multiple times on more than one day. Stowers told Insider that in addition to calling West Hollywood police, they also called the military police, since Stowers is a veteran.
"The levels they went to, I hate to say it, but it was a lynch mob. They were trying every avenue they could to bring me down and to completely destroy my life," Stowers said. "I'm being asked if I'm a car thief, I'm being asked if I'm like Bill Cosby, if I'm drugging people, I'm being asked if I robbed them, it was just like 'Girl, what am I, at large?' It was insane, like out of a movie, like 'Hustlers.' It was that outrageous."
One night when Stowers was at a popular LA club, Schroeder said on the "B---- Bible" podcast that Doute specifically called the West Hollywood police to try and catch Stowers in the act. Stowers told Insider that police authorities never acted on any of Doute's calls (Schroeder expressed frustration about this on the podcast), but hearing about her former castmembers' attempts to get her arrested was devastating.
"It completely destroyed me emotionally. I sought professional help," Stowers said. "It was a terrible thing to do, especially since I was seeing stories of people of color being taken down by the police, being murdered by the police. [...] I'm not going to stand there and be arrested for something I didn't do, so it was just a very dangerous situation I could have been in."
Two years later, Stowers told Insider she's been able to find new closure over what happened now that the production companies and networks behind shows like "Vanderpump Rules" are cutting ties over racist actions. Stowers said she hopes the show goes on to hire a more diverse cast, in addition to firing Schroeder and Doute. Personally, Stowers is pursuing more acting roles beyond her career as a reality TV personality and hopes to work with directors who value diversity and social justice.
"They did hurt me, but the fact is that it's now bigger than them," Stowers said. "These fans want to watch something that they can be proud of [...] because they are die hard fans of 'Vanderpump Rules.' It doesn't necessarily need to go away, it just needs to be revamped in a more positive direction. I think Bravo, NBC Universal, and the 'Vanderpump Rules' production company is headed toward that."
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