Candiace Dillard Bassett made headlines when she accused fans of The Real Housewives of Potomac of not holding her co-star Ashley Darby accountable for her behavior in the past. According to Dillard Bassett, she gets beatings from fans due to colorism.
“Because she’s [Darby] light-skinned,” Dillard said in response to fans who questioned why Darby appears to be getting a pass. “There. It was said. I said it. Now, let’s see how fast it gets around.” The moment was captured by an Instagram blog from @AllTrueTea and spread like wildfire.
Dillard Bassett doubled down on her claims in a later Tweet, writing: “Having light skin imbues one w/ a certain level of privilege that darker hued counterparts are not allotted. Standards are different. Implicit biases spewed by the outside world run different. Sometimes it works in their favor, sometimes not. But the privilege is always there.”
But BFFs Robyn Dixon and Gizelle Bryant are calling BS on Dillard Bassett’s claim. During an interview with TheJasmineBRAND, the Reasonably Shady podcast hosts were asked about Dillard Bassett’s colorism comments and they aren’t buying it.
“It was stupid,” said Bryant. “I’ll tell you why, who gets the most shade? Who gets the most backlash? Who gets the most hateration? This girl or this girl,” she said, pointing to her and Dixon.
Dixon agreed and also came to Darby’s defense, noting that Darby was blasted mercilessly during her first few seasons for her messiness from her co-stars, fans, and even Andy Cohen at reunion tapings. She says Darby’s growth can be attributed to age and becoming a mother.
“Ashley’s spent three seasons being dragged by the fans and the only reason why Ashley has gone to better favor of the fans and because we got to see a different side of her as a mother,” Dixon notes. “I think people have short memories, Candaice’s memory is a little short.”
Bryant had one more point to make, noting, “Ashely does not say half the things Candiace says that are bad.”
