Heavy/Bravo Mauricio Umansky and Kyle Richards.
Kyle Richards clarified comments she made about her husband, Mauricio Umansky, missing a Celebration of Life event she hosted last year in honor of her late best friend, Lorene Shea.
In response to an Instagram post in January 2024, “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star said her confessional comment, which made it appear that she was upset with Umansky, came after a producer’s prompt.
Here’s what you need to know:
Kyle Richards Responded To a Commenter Who Accused Her of Changing Her Story
In April 2023, before her separation from Umansky was announced, Richards hosted a benefit for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) at The Fleur Room in Los Angeles, California. All four of Richards’ daughters, her sister Kim, pal Morgan Wade, and the RHOBH cast attended the event, along with Shea’s family. The event was featured on the RHOBH season 13 episode, “A Celebration of Love.”
When Shea’s mother asked Richards, “Is Mauricio going to be here?,” Richards replied that he was out of town.
Speaking in a confessional in the episode “Bitter Pill to Swallow,” Richards lamented over her husband’s absence from the event that was very close to her heart. “Would it have meant something to me if all of a sudden he showed up at the event for Lorene? Of course, it would have. He was close with her also,” Richards said.
After the episode aired, Richards took to her Instagram story to set the record straight on the situation. “I want to clarify this,” she told fans. “Mo offered to cancel his trip multiple times. Even though there were many people involved in this trip. I told him he did not need to do that. The date of the event was changed last minute and none of the other men were attending. I had a lot of support around me that night. It’s not fair to put that on him.”
When her explanation was reshared by the All About THR Instagram fan account, one commenter called her out. “Yeah, she did say it would’ve meant something to her if he would’ve been there, so stop lying Kyle,” the critic wrote.
“Because they asked me that specific question: ‘Would it have meant something if he just showed up?’ Should I have said ‘No’?” Richards responded.
Kyle Richards Seemed Disappointed in Mauricio on RHOBH & Sutton Stracke Definitely Was
BravoKyle Richards.
Richards did appear to be upset with Umansky when the episode played out. In a confessional, she said, “Mo can’t be here because he had to go out of town for business. Had this been a few years ago, I would have really relied on him on a night like tonight.”
She later explained to co-star Sutton Stracke that Umansky was in Mexico City at the time for a work event. But Stracke wasn’t buying it. “I’m not accepting the excuse that Mo is giving. Unless you are in the hospital, or dead in a ditch, you show up for your wife, and your wife’s dead, best friend’s family,” Stracke said in the episode “A Bitter Pill to Swallow.”
On the RHOBH Aftershow, Stracke said she felt Umansky’s absence was a major red flag. But Richards defended her husband of 28 years once again, despite their split. “He was out of town, okay?” Richards said. “He also loved Lorene, you know he really did, and she loved him so much.”
Richards explained again the date she chose for the event coincided with something Umansky had already organized. “It’s been hard enough as it is,” Richards added. “And I didn’t want him to feel bad hearing that on camera when it genuinely was not his fault at all. He would have been there for her and for me. But I had to choose this date for a certain reason and he had already had something in the books for a long time for The Agency that he couldn’t change. So that’s the kind of stuff I’m like, okay great, now it’s going to look like ‘Oh Mo didn’t show up to support you.’”
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