Coming off of season eight of Vanderpump Rules, it’s fair to say that the future of the show is more than a little uncertain. The show has almost always filmed during the summer months, but with the ongoing pandemic shuttering the restaurants at the center of the show, that timeline obviously wasn’t going to work. We still don’t know when filming for a ninth season will commence, but more than that, we don’t even know who will be on the ninth season, or how the show will move forward after the extreme controversy of the past few months. (Or if it should move forward, depending on who you ask.)
As we all know by now, season nine, if it goes forward, won’t feature Max, Brett, Stassi, or Kristen, who were all dropped from the show in June following renewed attention on their past problematic behavior. That controversy feels like it was a year ago, but there’s never a dull moment with the Vanderpump crew, and now there’s fresh controversy surrounding another one of last season’s newbies, Danica Dow. On the show, Danica, an assistant manager, was dating SUR bartender Brett Willis (different Brett), and throughout the season, there were numerous references to the couple getting in major fights and arguments. At one point, Danica was even suspended from SUR for fighting with Brett at the restaurant.
They’ve since broken up, and their tumultuous relationship is now playing out in the legal system. Earlier this month, Danica received a restraining order against Brett, after she claimed that he “broke into her home and cut up her clothes.” But Brett quickly filed his own restraining order against Danica, and his version of the events are drastically different than Danica’s. In his filing, obtained by TMZ, he says that Danica “was pissed he wouldn’t clean his dish until after a 90 Day Fiancé episode ended,” and she ultimately grabbed his neck, “digging her nails deep and pulling hard enough to scratch off some skin.” He also alleged that another similar attack happened several months prior, and she also bit his arm, drawing blood. Brett’s restraining order was granted, and they’re now required to stay 10 feet away from each other when they’re working together at Pump (which is open for outdoor dining), and 100 yards otherwise. Yup, they still work together, which doesn’t sound unsafe at all.
Perez Hilton recently published a photo of the alleged bite mark that Danica left on Brett’s arm, and it looks f*cking serious. Obviously, these two should not be around each other, but Danica’s abusive behavior could, and should, cost her a spot on Vanderpump Rules. We’ve already seen flashes of Danica’s aggressive tendencies on the show, like at the TomTom anniversary party, where Lisa kicked her out after she got into a fight with Vegas Scheana Karrah. According to Perez’s source, given the recent developments, many of the VPR cast members “do not feel comfortable around Danica,” saying that she has “anger issues.” On a show like this, there’s a fine line between being messy in a fun way and being a toxic liability, and it seems likely that Danica falls into the latter category. Vanderpump Rules already has a complicated history of giving a platform to abusers and all-around problematic people, so hopefully the decision-makers avoid going down that path this time.
Okay, so Danica’s future on the show is uncertain, but is season nine even happening? Pump and TomTom are now open for outdoor dining, but SUR is still closed completely, and it’s unclear when that will change. But Lisa Vanderpump recently spoke to Entertainment Tonight, and though she said timing is up in the air, another season is definitely happening. She confirmed that “there are new cast members,” and that we can expect more diversity in the cast. According to her, the main reason the cast has been almost exclusively white is because her BIPOC employees just aren’t interested in being on camera. She said that “our companies are like the United Nations” but that “it’s really up to people that want to be front and center.” Uh… okay, sure.
Lisa also told ET that if it were up to her, Stassi and Kristen would still be on the show. She said that she is “not into just kind of getting rid of people, because they get it wrong,” and that she wishes they had a second chance on the show to “have a better understanding of where they went wrong.” Well, sadly for them, they won’t have the reality TV paycheck, but hopefully they’re still just as committed to owning their sh*t.
Moving down the list, Scheana Shay has been making big moves this summer. Last month, she announced on Twitter that she was moving to San Diego with her boyfriend Brock, which naturally raised a lot of questions about her future on Vanderpump Rules. Thankfully, she quickly cleared up our concerns, clarifying that the move makes sense now because she doesn’t have a reason to be paying rent in LA, but she’ll definitely come back once “work opens”, which is obviously code for “once I’m getting paid to pretend to work on camera.”
Y’all just bc I’m moving now, does NOT mean I’m quitting the show. I love my job!! We aren’t filming right now. SUR/LA is closed. I’m wasting so much $ on rent and I’m lonely all the way out in PS. It just makes sense. Once work opens/picks back up, I will too have an apt in LA!
— 🏳️🌈Scheana (@scheana) July 21, 2020
Honestly, good for Scheana. She seems happier in San Diego anyway, and at this point, she has enough money that she can just get an apartment in LA for the four months out of the year that she actually needs to be in LA for filming. (I just Googled condos in San Diego, and sadly, I am not rich enough to do this. Maybe by next pandemic!)
As for Jax Taylor, for a minute there, it really seemed like he was going to be fired along with Stassi and Kristen, but somehow it appears he weathered the storm. Last month, an “insider” told Us Weekly that Jax “definitely plans to return” for the upcoming ninth season. Great. Who wants this? Jax has spent his summer between LA and Kentucky, where he and Brittany hung out with Kristen and Summer House alum Stephen McGee. Sounds fun. Jax also recently posted his negative COVID results on Twitter, sharing that he has “piece” of mind now.
Piece of mind. pic.twitter.com/CBSsz2uyVn
— Jax (@mrjaxtaylor) August 14, 2020
So, where does all of this information leave us when it comes to a ninth season of Vanderpump Rules? We’ll definitely be seeing Scheana and Jax, and we’ll hopefully be seeing more of this diversity that Lisa is bragging about. We definitely won’t be seeing Stassi, Kristen, Max, or Brett, and it seems pretty unlikely that they’ll risk having Danica around for another season. And of course, we have no f*cking clue when any of this will actually be happening. Isn’t 2020 fun?!
Don’t miss out on any pop culture or entertainment news. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.
Images:Chris Haston/Bravo; scheana, mrjaxtaylor / Twitter
This season of Vanderpump Rules has been a frustratingly mixed bag. For every hilarious one-liner or moment of genuine drama, we’ve spent an hour watching Jax be an asshole or Dayna pretend to care about Max and/or Brett. It’s safe to say this has been one of the weaker seasons of the show, but there have still been a few bright spots. Of course, we got to see pure coke rage Jax make his return, but I’ve mostly been enjoying the energy of the new women on the show—especially Danica Dow.
Danica isn’t a full-time cast member, which means we haven’t gotten a lot of details about her life, but we know that she’s an assistant manager at SUR, she’s gotten suspended for fighting at work, and she has at least two ex-boyfriends with restraining orders against her. I’m intrigued. Last month, Danica clapped back at Stassi for a tone-deaf tweet about working at SUR during the pandemic, and this week, she went on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, hosted by Amanda Hirsch, where she shared her thoughts on some of the other VPR OGs.
First up, who’s number one on Danica’s sh*t list? Ding ding ding! It’s Jax! Danica said, “I was blocked right when he found out that I was gonna be on the show. He’s disgusting. He is gross. He and I had never even talked before them.”
What a clown. I totally get if some of the OGs aren’t excited to pretend to be friends with half a dozen new people, but Jax and his block button need to calm the f*ck down. Bravo still made half the season about his dumb wedding, so he really has no reason to be so angry about the new people on the show.
And in case you’ve been skeptical of everyone on the show acting like Jax still works as a bartender, Danica said that Jax works at SUR “a total of like, five times a month.” Yeah, okay. I’m sure that’s just during filming, and he’s drunk the whole time. Sounds like a hard job.
Danica also talked about her friendship with Scheana, but she threw a little shade in the process. She said that she’s “close” with Scheana, but that they’ve “struggled a little bit lately” as Danica has gotten closer with Dayna. Danica added that Scheana and Dayna are fine with each other now, but that Scheana is “a little possessive over her friends,” so she doesn’t want Danica to be too close with Dayna. Ah yes, classic Scheana. Honestly, when people call her boy crazy, they’re conveniently forgetting that she’s the exact same way with her female friends. I love Scheana, but she’s always been like this.
And of course, Danica also talked about calling Stassi out on Twitter. She said that Stassi’s tweet about SUR “triggered” her, and that many of the other SURvers who aren’t on the show were also upset by the tweet. And of course, she got plenty of backlash from Stassi stans, including some death threats. Ah, Vanderpump Rules fans, the most sane people in the world. Danica teased that they talked about the tweet on the VPR reunion, so I’m definitely intrigued to see if we’ll get some kind of apology out of Stassi.
Danica hasn’t been given too many chances to get in on the drama this season, but if coronavirus ever f*cks off and lets them film a season 9, I have a feeling that might change. They have to cut some people from this bloated cast, and I feel like Danica actually has potential to bring some exciting new storylines. Sorry, but I don’t want to watch Jax and Brittany bicker forever!
Images: Casey Durkin/Bravo
As much as I hate to admit it, this season of Vanderpump Rules has been disappointing. We had to sit through nearly a dozen episodes dedicated mostly to Jax and Brittany’s nightmare fairytale wedding, and things haven’t gotten much more interesting in the weeks since. But just because the actual episodes have been slow doesn’t mean there’s not some interesting drama playing out in real life—or, because we’re all quarantined, playing out on social media.
Last Friday, Stassi Schroeder tweeted a joke about how she would willingly go back to being a waitress at SUR if it meant the quarantine would be over. If you watch the show, you know that Stassi never actually liked working at SUR, so this is a pretty big statement for her.
I’m willing to go back to waitressing at SUR for this quarantine to be over. Honestly— at this point, I’d pay to put on that SUR dress and clock in.
— Stassi Schroeder (@stassi) April 10, 2020
Stassi obviously meant it as a joke, and plenty of people found it funny, including SUR manager Peter Madrigal, who responded to Stassi with a shift assignment. But not everyone appreciated Stassi’s joke. Danica Dow, a SURver who is new to Vanderpump Rules this season, called Stassi out for being tone-deaf. She noted that due to the closure, SUR employees have had to file for unemployment, and Stassi is “insensitively cracking jokes” while the Toms are raising money for their employees (more on that in a minute).
While Tom & Tom are raising money for their employees, you’re kind of insulting this pandemic that has left everyone at sur having to file for unemployment. Everyone at sur is struggling while you’re insensitively cracking jokes & sitting pretty in your new house smh.
— Danica (@Danicadowww) April 11, 2020
While I wasn’t immediately offended by Stassi’s tweet, Danica definitely has a point. Though COVID-19 has affected everyone—Stassi even had to postpone her tour—it’s not quite the same. She’ll probably be just fine, while all of the people who actually work at SUR (they’re not all TV stars) are struggling, and would probably love to be able to go back to work right now.
Some people replied calling Danica thirsty or jealous, but even if that’s true, she’s not wrong about the situation at SUR. According to some reports, Lisa Vanderpump and the other owners aren’t doing anything to help out their restaurant employees right now, which is really disappointing. Lisa even told Andy Cohen that “they’re all on unemployment.” I don’t know the details of her finances, but if she’s anywhere near as rich as she comes across on the show, paying some bartenders seems like the least she could do. Lisa, what’s up?
But who here is actually doing the right thing? Tom and Tom! As much as Tom Schwartz is on my sh*t list right now on the show, he and Tom Sandoval are at least trying to do something good for their employees. The Toms are together during quarantine, and they joined Cameo to raise money for the TomTom staff. 100% of the money they earn from Cameo goes to the employees, and they’re matching everything up to $10,000. I’m not expecting these people to be writing million-dollar checks, but this feels like they’re really doing what they can.
In Tom Sandoval’s comments, someone tried to come for him for not just paying his employees normally. Tom, who is an angel on earth, responded that “as a 5% owner, this what I can do.” Okay, we stan. As we all know, Tom and Tom are not actually the majority owners here—that’s Lisa Vanderpump! This response from Tom feels like both an actual explanation and some subtle shade at Lisa, and she kinda deserves it.
So what does this all boil down to? Right now is an extremely tough time for people in service industries, and it’s sad that more employers (especially those with money) aren’t helping their staff out. So Stassi’s joke was probably in poor taste, and Danica wasn’t wrong to point that out, but the real issue here is that Lisa Vanderpump could probably be doing more to help her employees. Thankfully, Tom and Tom are doing what they can, but it’s just not enough. All I know is that when this is all over, I’m going to SUR, and I will be tipping generously to thank these people for all they’ve given us. It’s the least I can do!
Images: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com; stassi, danicadowww / Twitter; tomsandoval1 / Instagram
