Getty Ashley Darby in 2018
It looks like Real Housewives of Potomac star Ashley Boalch Darby’s husband, Michael Darby, is caught in yet another scandal.
In a video leaked in May 2020 by MTO News, it shows Darby in bed with another woman who is not Ashley Darby. In the video, Darby asks the woman to “spank him.” In the remainder of the video, it cuts to them in what appears to be a hotel bar, while they spend time together hanging out and drinking.
The scandal will be addressed in the upcoming Season 5 of The Real Housewives of Potomac, as viewers can see in the sneak preview posted by Bravo. The news breaks that Darby was “seen in a room with several strippers,” as other Housewives like Candiace Dillard react. In the sneak preview, we also see Ashley Darby and her husband out to dinner, when he says, “we ended up going back to a hotel…”
Viewers will get to see the drama play out on Sundays at 9/8c.
Michael Darby Has Faced Scandals Before
This is not the first time that Darby has faced a scandal. During Season 4 of The Real Housewives of Potomac, Darby found himself in a huge scandal involving him and Real Housewives of Potomac cameraman, Orville Palmer.
According to People, on September 4, 2018, Palmer claimed in court documents that Darby had “grabbed and groped” his butt three days earlier, during cast member Monique Samuels‘ baby shower. Darby was charged with “felony assault as well as misdemeanor improper sexual contact,” according to People. The maximum punishment for Darby’s crimes would have been 11 years in prison, but on October 4, 2018, a Montgomery County court dismissed the charges due to insufficient evidence.
During the first season of The Real Housewives of Potomac, Darby was also accused of grabbing another castmate’s butt. This incident was caught on camera, as he grabbed former Real Housewives of Potomac star Katie Rosts‘ ex-fiancee, Andrew Martin’s butt.
Ashley Darby Has Responded To The Cheating Claims
In a July 2020 interview with E! News, Darby spoke about the cheating scandal. “My relationship went through, it was a difficult time after having Dean,” Darby told E! News, “The way that our relationship looked changed and we had a major speed bump. And what Michael and I committed to do is to work through issues in our marriage and even though that’s not something that either of us is looking forward to reliving and seeing again, it was the reality of our relationship at the time. So it’s going to be rough but it’s true.”
Darby continued, “Marriage is always a work in progress as I know you know. You’re always compromising and working through things and as your lives change, which they inevitably do, so does the look of your marriage. So we are steadily working and have worked every day to find out and work to make it look and be healthy for us and for our child. So yes, we are in a better place.”
In July 2019, Darby and her husband welcomed a son named Dean.
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