The Stassi-Katie-Kristen Feud Heats Up On 'Vanderpump Rules'
But it’s what’s happening off-camera among the Witches of WeHo that’s really caught fans’ attention
We were first tipped off to a tear in the Witches of WeHo best-friendship months ago. And now, five episodes into Season 8, we’re finally watching the Stassi Schroeder and Katie Maloney-Schwartz versus Kristen Doute feud intensify before our very eyes. “It used to be the Witches of WeHo: me, Katie, and Kristen sitting on the beach with our purse full of wine talking shit about other people,” Stassi says in a talking head during the episode. “And now, it’s me and Katie sitting on the beach talking shit about Kristen. It’s actually, it’s kind of sad.”
We second that, Stassi.
Tonight, we watched Katie, Kristen, and Stassi argue at dinner in Miami during Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor’s joint bachelorette-bachelor party.
The next morning, two groups split off: Stassi, Beau, Katie, Lala, and Brittany in a cabana; and Kristen and Scheana at the pool.
“I don’t know if Kristen didn’t want to come down because of all the drama last night, if they went to the pool because of that or what,” Brittany says. “It’s the last day.”
Meanwhile, at the pool, Kristen tells Scheana: “I was literally choking back tears. I was like, ‘Stay strong.’ Katie was like, ‘Fuck you. I don’t want to be friends with you.’ I would literally take a bullet; I would lay down in traffic for Katie and Stassi, and I don’t feel like it’s even slightly reciprocated.”
Brittany gets worked up (for good reason), telling the girls to keep her out of their drama. “I’m getting tired of this, and I don’t want to keep getting brought into this. I told Kristen to please stop as well,” she says. “I said from the get-go that I was not going to give up on Kristen. I agree with you guys that she needs to take a break from Carter; I told that to her face. But, I’m still going to be there for Kristen.”
And then Lala drops a truth bomb that not even Stassi could refute.
“Katie, you tell it how it is; I love that about you,” Lala starts. “But, I feel like if you want to talk to someone that way, then you shouldn’t be friends with each other.”
“That was like taking a bullet,” Stassi admits, “but it’s true.”
“It literally feels I can do no right,” Kristen says back at the pool.
This season, Kristen’s split from her ex Brian Carter has taken a toll on Katie and Stassi. In fact, the season kicked off with Stassi telling SUR owner Lisa Vanderpump that the trio has had their “fair share of ups and downs, but this feels different,” adding that she doesn’t think the person she’s growing into can be friends with Kristen moving forward. “I just really hope we can get to an honest place.”
Alas, this isn’t happening — at least, not anytime soon based on not only what we’ve seen so far on Vanderpump Rules, but also based on recent tweets by the girls and recent interviews.
Following last week’s episode, Katie took to Twitter to address the tension between the three girls — and why she’s at her wits’ end with Kristen.
“I have been silent regarding a pretty big topic and found a comment that said it better than I could honestly,” Katie tweeted. “It’s been a hard couple of years. I have so much love for Kristen and have supported her to the point it became truly difficult. It became poison.”
Katie shared a screenshot of a fan comment that read, in part: “I think [Kristen] just wants to be able to vent everyday to them. They want her to be happy, but she refuses to make any changes that lead her to happiness. At some point (two years later), your friend venting about the same issue everyday [becomes] a mental drain on you and can even start [affecting] your own mental health.”
Stassi then spoke to Us Weekly today, telling the publication that they’re currently trying to figure out their friendship “and what it is.”
“I’m not going to invite someone [to my wedding] that I’m not even really speaking to or hanging out with. But I’m not not inviting her,” Stassi said, adding that she’s waiting until the Season 8 reunion to decide. “It’s weird to say, but when the reunion rolls around, it’s our time to really hash things out. Of course I would want Kristen [at our wedding], but I think we need to get to a point where it would be normal for her to be there.”
According to Stassi, she and Kristen still run into each other from time to time, more recently at a Super Bowl party on Sunday.
“It’s fine. I say, ‘Hello, how are you? What’s going on?’ She does the same. But it’s not like we’re hanging out,” Stassi said. “We’re not hearing each other’s sides. Both of us are not capable of understanding where the other comes from.”
Kristen told the same publication last month that if she isn’t invited to Stassi’s wedding, which is set for October 2020 in Rome, then that’d be the “final nail in the coffin” for their friendship.
“I know what a great friend I’ve always been to them,” Kristen told Us Weekly. “I know that I’m kind and that I’m loyal and I’ve always been there for them and if that’s not something they want in their lives, there are a lot of other people that I can give that love to.”
Like Brittany and Jax:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8KXeQRl1yw/
Kristen also told The Daily Dish that she didn’t understand “what the witches’ problem is.”
“I don’t get it… With Katie and Stassi, I’m gonna figure it out as I watch the rest of the season. Hopefully I will figure out why they ended our friendship,” she said, adding that last summer, overall, was tough for her.
“There were a lot of aspects of the summer that were really hard because it was like going through my break-up with Carter, moving out of my apartment, buying a house for the first time, doing all of that on my own, and then having my two best friends kick me to the curb,” she said. “So that wasn’t so much fun. It was a little difficult.”
What will the rest of the season bring regarding the trio’s fallout? Guess we’ll just have to stay tuned to find out.
