What Did RHOC Producers Tell Emily Simpson ‘Not to Talk About’ on Season 18?

Heavy/Bravo/YouTube Emily Simpson

“The Real Housewives” stars are encouraged to be themselves on camera and live their lives as normal, with usually nothing off limits, but in an October 31 interview with Variety, “The Real Housewives of Orange County” star Emily Simpson admitted that there was one topic that producers didn’t want the cast discussing after it was first broached on camera.

“I’m going to tell you something — and I don’t know, [Bravo] might tell me to cut it out,” Simpson shared when asked if she felt bad for not speaking up sooner after Alexis Bellino claimed John Janssen had Ring camera footage of his ex Shannon Beador the night of her DUI. “When the videos first came up, I filmed a scene with Katie [Ginella] at the candy store and I was literally blown away by it. I honestly didn’t really know what to say at that moment, because I’m very analytical. I had to step away from it. Then I received a call from our executive producer that told me not to talk about it, because Bravo was dealing with it.”

Emily Simpson Shares Her Thoughts on John Janssen’s Videos of Shannon Beador

Simpson went on to share that she was happy to not mention Janssen’s videos again, as she thought they may have been, “‘blackmail. This sounds like extortion. This is disgusting. I don’t want anything to do with this. If it’s going that route, then I’m going to do what I’m told to do, because it’s being handled by the legal department.'”

Eventually, Simpson’s close friend Gina Kirchenheiter mentioned the videos to Beador while the ladies were away in Sonoma together. “That’s why my face is literally like [jaw drops, opens mouth wide]. I assumed when I got that phone call, that everybody got that phone call. So when Gina brought it up, I didn’t know what to do. I was so confused at that moment. I wondered whether I was the only one to get the call, or whether she was the only one not to get the call. I’m just speculating, but I think maybe, because I’m an attorney, maybe I got the call because they didn’t want me to reach out to Shannon? I don’t know,” Simpson added.

Simpson shared her thoughts on Janssen’s videos in a September 2024 video for the Bravo YouTube channel, saying, “To me it sounded very threatening, it sounded very extortion-like. It sounded very blackmail-ish, and I did not like that. That when you don’t get the outcome that you’re seeking immediately that your first resort is to humilate someone, and I thought that was really disgusting.”

Emily Simpson Pokes Fun at ‘Housewives’ on Social Media

Simpson often posts comical content on her social media pages alongside her on-screen pal and real-life bestie Gina Kirschenheiter, and one of their latest videos from October 30 sees the two RHOC stars poking fun at the “Housewives” franchise as a whole.

“How Housewives take accountability…” Simpson captioned the video post, which features her and Kirschenheiter lipsyncing along to “Blame It On The Rain” by Milli Vanilli, with the lyrics, “Gotta blame it on something/Blame it on the rain that was fallin’, fallin’/Blame it on the stars that didn’t shine that night/Whatever you do, don’t put the blame on you.”

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