Getty Images Andy Cohen revealed the word he once banned on "Real Housewives."
Andy Cohen recently revealed the word that he had banned on the “Real Housewives.” The Bravo star sat down for a chat with Meghan Markle for the final episode of her “Archetypes” podcast, during which, he revealed that he once banned the word “b****” from the popular show.
During their discussion, Markle and Cohen talked about the word “b****” and how the term has been controversial when it comes to women over the years.
“I was doing an episode purely on the B-word, but most of the women I spoke to had very little issue with the word cuz it’s so oversaturated that it’s almost diffused. And instead they were saying, what is charged for them, is how easily women are now being called ‘difficult,’ and that it’s really just a euphemism for the same thing but it has more of a dig to it,” Meghan explained.
Cohen then shared his take on the word “b****” — and explained why he once banned it from the “Real Housewives” franchise.
Here’s what you need to know:
Cohen Said Bravo Execs Didn’t Want the ‘B-Word’ in Any Taglines
Cohen said that the “Real Housewives” franchise has dealt with the word in various ways over the years.
“You know, it’s funny. We banned the word ‘b****.’ We’ve had a weird relationship with the B-word on the Housewives,” Cohen told Markle.
“And there was a housewife that wanted to use it in her tagline and we finally — the women who ran Bravo said, ‘we don’t want the B-word in the show open for the Housewives. This is a negative,” he explained.
“I think that what ultimately wound up happening was… the case was made by the woman like, ‘no, this is a positive to me,'” Cohen continued, comparing the word “b****” to the word “queer” when it comes to owning the archetype.
The Word ‘B****’ Has Been Used by Multiple ‘Housewives’ Stars Over the Years
Cohen didn’t explain the timeline for when the word “b****” was banned, but there have been several “Real Housewives” stars who have used the word “b****” as part of their taglines in the time since.
In her first two seasons on “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” for example, Dina Manzo’s tagline was “If you think I’m a b****, then bring it on.” In season 6, she said “I’m back to bring the zen. Namaste, b******!”
Eileen Davidson’s tagline on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” season 5 was, “I’m not a b****, but I’ve played one on TV.”
In season 6, Lisa Vanderpump referred to other women as “b******” in her tagline on the show.
“I’m passionate about dogs, just not crazy about b******,” she said.
Several years later, Lisa Rinna used the word “b****” in her tagline for season 12 of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
“Hi, I’m karma. And yes, I am a b****,” Rinna said during the opening credits of each episode.
It seems like the “Real Housewives” stars who want to use the word are being permitted to do so, despite any past controversy or conversation about it being derogatory toward women.
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