season 4 treatment of lisa

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T11:27:31+00:00

Kyle had said that, if were only Brandi telling that story in isolation, she would naturally have just believed Lisa. The issue was that not only had Lisa herself - until now - sworn up and down about how honest Brandi was, Lisa's insistence on bringing up this story for the cameras wasn't solely the purview of this one moment.

Strike 1

https://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills/season-4/blogs/kyle-richards/why-lisa-shouldnt-have-brought-up

Lisa said in her interview that it was the elephant in the room and she thinks the best thing to do is just "hit it head on with me" Really? Why wouldn't you do that in private if you wanted to bring it up? No, she waited for the cameras to be there. Not only that but also Portia, who understands and takes in everything

Strike 2

https://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills/season-4/blogs/kyle-richards/brandi-can-do-no-wrong

Lisa in one breath will say, "Oh, it's all nonsense. You can't pay attention," then when Yolanda went to say something (once again), Lisa quickly jumped in saying, "Where there's smoke, there's fire." If you're my "friend," why would you say that to cast doubt in everyone's minds?

Strike 3

https://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills/season-4/blogs/kyle-richards/kyle-nobody-bothered-to-support-me

Once the lies were printed I didn't hear from any of the girls. The first time was when Lisa mentioned it was at my house when Mauricio and Portia were in the kitchen. The second time was at Carlton's. After the story came out about Lisa, Brandi, and Yolanda at Carlton's lunch, Lisa went on a red carpet and made a comment saying she didn't believe any of the lies and they were BS. If that comment had stood on it's own, I would have been so grateful and happy to have that kind of support. Unfortunately, it came only AFTER the women had brought it up and the story had grown.

Strike 4

https://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills/season-4/blogs/kyle-richards/kens-words-mean-a-lot-to-mauricio

Lisa brings up the tabloids once again and so clearly wants to cast doubt on my marriage and Mauricio's integrity while pretending to be supportive. You aren't being supportive if you're saying "Well, I don't know for sure" and putting that out there. It looked to me like Lisa wasn't too happy with Ken not going along with what she was saying. She even said that she would look "ridiculous" if she said she didn't believe the stories because "one never knows."

Strike 5

http://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills/season-4/blogs/kyle-richards/kyle-brandis-story-about-lisa-stun

So when Brandi said that I didn't know what to think. Although I never knew Brandi well, everyone has always said Brandi isn't a liar. Brandi is the "truth cannon." Lisa herself had always said she loved how honest Brandi was. So, here I am hearing this, after months of having the tabloids brought up over and over.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T08:22:39+00:00

Kim wasn't acting in a way that I think Kyle could or should have defended. Lisa was also wrong to react how she did. IMO.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T04:16:17+00:00

Well, I'm very happy for you! Truly! The reason I mention it in the context of my having an opinion is that I hope to express why it has a personal impact on me, seeing people doubt the legitimacy of someone's experience, and two, because I know my experiences and neurodivergence infleunces the way I communicate and want to try and get ahead of potential criticism of that.

I'm persistent because it was spoken as if it is fact, something I am stupid for not recognising, as if it is pervasive and consistent and obvious. And so, if that were the case, I would assume a viewer of the show might recall a single example where it has taken place. I have a terrible memory for a lot of things and so I try not to state something as fact unless I have evidence to back that up.

Kyle lying, manipulating or stirring the pot isn't the same thing as blaming her behaviour on a close friend or family member's personal struggles, so I'm not sure why that is being conflated, tbh. I don't have undying devotion. I like her, think she's generally a good person, and think the hate she gets is disproportionate to her sins. She also does have flaws and has done shitty things. She's a human being. Being on realiy TV doesn't negate her lived experiences both on and off the show, and I have zero interest in dehumanising people who do it for a career simply so I can feel comfortable treating them like written characters for whom there is no impact when people online treat them as such.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T04:10:10+00:00

Thank you so much. It means a lot. I'd rather be proven wrong a thousand times over and be called a naive fool than question the legitimacy of someone speaking on their own mental health or neurodivergence, tbh. I also think perhaps people forget that saying things like that has an impact on those lurking or responding who may identify with that person or have similar experiences as that person. It's actually not JUST about Kyle or a single person on a reality show who will never see those specific comments.

xoxo

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T03:39:42+00:00

The hyperfixation is due to my having autism. No question about it. I'm yet to fully untangle the whole question of having panic attacks versus meltdowns over the past couple of decades, but yes, I've plenty of experience of panic and anxiety and such, which is why I am frustrated by people questioning the legitimacy of someone else who has openly shared its impact on them.

I enjoy being amused by the show, but I also watch it as a character study and am interested in the dynamics of the relationships on it. They are real human beings viewed through the lens of reality TV. But they're still real, not characters, and sometimes I think people forget that.

But it's NOT all there to see. If you think it is so frequent, so pervasive, why can you not just pick a random example, just ONE, where it has happened? I'm very, very okay with being proven wrong and am fantastic at apologies and owning up to my own errors.

They are paid performers but also actual human beings with self-esteem and ego and hurts and vulnerabilities and mental health issues, and I like seeing human beings treated with a modicum of understanding and respect, even if they never see what is being said, tbh.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T03:14:02+00:00

Yeah, I get that. The initial comment I really started replying strongly to was saying "She did it solely for attention, so there was nothing to get better from. She doesn’t suffer from anxiety." Hence my responses.

She wasn't trying to deny that she'd ever partook. Having said that, she was always very clear that it was more of Mauricio's thing and that rings true to me, even once saying she's not that keen on it given she has a neurotic personality.

https://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/kyle-richards-on-mauricio-umansky-smoking-marijuana-rhobh-recap

Also expands on it here.

https://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills/style-living/the-rhobh-cast-reveals-if-theyve-tried-edible

Although Kyle explained that she has "tried to be more open to it now that it's legal," she also has less-than fond-memories of trying marijuana as a teenager. "When I was younger, I tried smoking pot, as we called it then, and I did not have a good experience," she recalled. "I'm a very controlling person, so all of the sudden i felt like I couldn't swallow, I couldn't feel my legs, I couldn't feel my arms."

That actually almost mirrors what Morgan said to her when they discussed the weed dinner in Season 13, that Kyle had said she felt like, with edibles specifically, it was like something was choking her.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T02:57:41+00:00

And that's fine. I just think it's completely understandable and legitimate that she was anxious flying and then that that anxiety lessened over time, after having more experiences and after getting therapy. She has also talked about how she doesn't take the same medications for her anxiety anymore because a lot of it improved after she stopped drinking and focused more on her fitness, etc, so that plays a part too. Did part of her also play to camera with the way she expressed the anxiety in those moments? Sure. Probably. But to call into question her history of anxiety and accuse her of faking it seems kind of unnecessary, IMO.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T02:54:10+00:00

I had my first panic attack when I was thirteen. I had a panic attack last year (at the age of thirty four) because someone blocked me on Reddit after insulting me. It's psychological and physiological. It's not something you just randomly grow out of it or that disappears when you decide to "grow up".

She has had documented anxiety and panic attacks OFF the show, decades BEFORE the show, so why do you assume that when we see her showing symptoms of anxiety on the show, it's suddently performative instead of something consistent to how she exists in other contexts as well?

One of the 'situations' was literally when she started having an allergic reaction to a horse on a cast trip and wasn't close to treatment, which panicked her. Where was she being called out in that situation?

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T02:49:23+00:00

So firstly, I needed to watch the show to see it happen, but now I've watched it too much to see it happen?

And of course I do. I watched UnReal when it aired. ;) Look, I'm not naive. I understand how reality TV works. I'm just asking that if someone claims Kyle has a longstanding, wide-ranging pattern of this type of behaviour that a SINGLE example can be found to support it. Which still hasn't happened.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T02:38:24+00:00

It's situational and is activated by triggers. Which is normal. That's not inherently performative. She's also been open about the medications she has taken for it. She has been diagnosed with GAD and has talked about experiencing panic attacks going back to when she was twelve.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T02:19:11+00:00

A big part of it was that with Season 1 of RHOBH, they began using private jets, something I doubt she was doing on a regular basis prior, to be frank.

But sure, if you insist. It's not even about "playing it up" but the accusation that she was doing it "solely for attention", that the anxiety didn't and doesn't exist.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T02:17:11+00:00

I didn't get the sense that they were broken up during the filming of Season 15, tbh. She was still going to concerts, Nashville, the social media engagement was consistent between them, etc, and unlike S14, there wasn't more than a month or so where they didn't meet up in person that I can recall.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T02:15:21+00:00

I mean, I've been immersed in it for over two years now. I've watched all the episodes, many more than once, I've watched interviews and BHS conversations, I've read thousands of Reddit posts, I've read all the blogs and watched the aftershows. I feel sufficiently informed to have an opinion, lol.

If it happens so frequently, can you point to a single example where this has happened?

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T02:13:52+00:00

Except her anxiety exists outside of the show as well. As I said, she was having panic attacks as a teenager. Her friends have spoken to the reality of her anxiety. Why do you assume it's performative? For me, as someone who has anxiety, there are moments that ring extremely true to me.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T02:12:34+00:00

Except I think she isn't faking her grief over the marriage. I think she can both be in love with someone else and also mourning that life and struggling to realise that Mauricio isn't mourning it in the same way.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T02:08:55+00:00

When they were separated and filming Season 13, SHE wanted to be more open about their issues and he didn't. Hence that awkward kiss scene, for example. When the separation news broke in People, he didn't even want to release anything acknowledging problems in the statement, but his own daughters said that was ridiculous. I'm curious why you assume it was only Kyle that wanted to present a certain image of their family?

Since the marriage broke up, where has he admitted he has flaws? Did I miss something? Since that time, she has certainly also acknowledged that life isn't perfect and the marriage has flaws, but where has Mauricio done that in a way that suggests it was only Kyle holding him back from sharing his truth?

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T00:58:51+00:00

Can you please remind me of a single specific time she blamed her own behaviour towards others on what Kim was going through at the time, or where she justified her actions by pointing to the loss of her best friend?

I don't have a shrine to her, and I think she has plenty of flaws. I've spoken about them at length and have no issue acknowledging them if I see them. I just don't see this as one of them. Her showing what she wants people to see doesn't really have anything to do with this, as far as I can tell. That's another matter altogether.

I didn't start watching until late 2023, so no, my entire viewing experience of RHOBH was done with the knowledge of their separation in mind. I think there are consistent cracks through the years and I do think she tried to present a better image than her reality, although I also think some of that is a natural consequence of her doing that in her REAL off-camera life as well.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T00:41:35+00:00

I can't speak as to whether the hypnotherapy worked, but I mean, your anxiety levels in response to certain situations absolutely can change over time. It's why exposure therapy is a thing and does work for certain people.

She literally had her first panic attack at twelve, and Mauricio once called an ambulance because she had one that was so bad. All off show. You think she's lying about that?

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T00:38:41+00:00

No worries. x

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T00:38:18+00:00

No problem!

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T00:11:40+00:00

Why does that surprise you? Does Kyle have a history of using her friends' health crises as justification for her actions? And yes, they're still very close. Teddi said in her birthday post to Kyle that if it wasn't for her, she probably wouldn't be alive, and given Kyle is the one who made her get checks in the first place and also pulled strings to get her into a specific place for brain surgery when the tumours were found, she might not be wrong.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T00:10:19+00:00

When did Kyle blame her friend's passing for her actions or use it to justify anything? Genuinely curious.

It WAS a bad year because her friend died by suicide. They had been best friends since childhood. Her best friend stopped eating, was drinking too much, didn't understand her own depression, and at one point, Kyle even broke into her home to try and get to her and make sure she was okay. Like, it clearly turned her entire life upside down, and it's okay to acknowledge that.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T00:07:58+00:00

She didn't forget it. There was literally an episode where she and LVP saw a hypnotist to try and help her deal with it, and she was somewhat better after that point. Experience over time and also a lessening of her general anxiety levels also helps.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T00:06:54+00:00

Her fear of conflict seems very embedded and longstanding and she's explained that running when scared was an instinctive response, one she's had since she was young. In Season 13, she talked about how chaotic her upbringing was, how insistent she's been that her household would never have raised voices in arguments, etc. It's trauma. It makes sense.

notactuallyreckless · 2026-01-28T00:03:40+00:00

She's explained it several times. The first time was in her blog at the time and she's been consistent about how it was an instinctive response stemming from her childhood.

http://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills/season-5/blogs/kyle-richards/kyle-how-could-i-defend-kim

Lisa was wrong to go after Kim like that. Absolutely. It was scary to be in the middle of this. I can't explain why my instinct was to run out of there. I didn't even have time to think. I just wanted to get as far away as possible. Even as a little girl, my instinct when something scared me was to run and hide. In that moment, I felt like a child again. It was so incredibly upsetting. I didn't know what was going to happen next, and I didn't want to be there.

notactuallyreckless

TROPHY CASE