Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo, Randy Shropshire/USA Network
Braunwyn Windham-Burke admitted to physically abusing her husband, Sean Burke, on a number of occasions during the December 9 episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County and in the days since, fans have flooded social media, demanding she be fired.
In addition to many viewers pointing out that physical violence is never okay, others called out Bravo for having double standards and said that if the roles were reversed, Sean’s contract would have likely been terminated immediately.
“Can we not ignore [Braunwyn] being violent towards her husband?” one person tweeted. “Just because it’s a wife hitting her husband, doesn’t make it any less serious. Men suffer in violent marriages too and we need to protect them.”
Can we not ignore @braunwyn being violent towards her husband? Just because it’s a wife hitting her husband, doesn’t make it any less serious. Men suffer in violent marriages too and we need to protect them #RHOC
— 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 & 𝐿𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓈 (@icedcoffeeboo) December 11, 2020
A second fan wondered why Bravo didn’t include a disclaimer during the episode after calling out Bravo for glossing over the fact that Braunwyn admitted to hitting Sean.
“Ummmmm we’re just gonna gloss right past Braunwyn physically abusing her husband on multiple occasions!? Was there even a domestic violence disclaimer on this episode!? Imagine if any of the husbands made that same statement,” that person wrote.
Ummmmm we’re just gonna gloss right past Braunwyn physically abusing her husband on multiple occasions!? Was there even a domestic violence disclaimer on this episode!? Imagine if any of the husbands made that same statement… #RHOC @BravoTV pic.twitter.com/1G6v2gYMjO
— 𝔛𝔦𝔞 💀 (@xiaaa00) December 11, 2020
According to a third fan, Bravo should be more careful about who they allow to star on their shows.
“Braunwyn is verbally and physically abusive to her husband. Do you really want this monster representing your network?” another person asked, adding the hashtag for “Cancel Braunwyn.”
https://twitter.com/DawnJaleen/status/1337248619783729152
As the tweets continued to be shared, another person compared Braunwyn’s domestic abuse against Sean to the racial behavior exhibited by several Vanderpump Rules cast members, including Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens, and Brett Caprioni, all of whom were fired from the show in June.
“Braunwyn should absolutely be fired! She is abusive and basically threw it in our faces,” one fan ranted. “Ridiculous Bravo has double standards and fires people for ‘racial’ comments, and I’m SURE would fire a MAN if it were reversed but let’s this pass.”
Braunwyn should absolutely be fired! She is abusive and basically threw it in our faces. Ridiculous Bravo has double standards and fires people for "racial" comments, and im SURE would fire a MAN if it were reversed but let's this pass. @BravoTV @rhoc
— chelsea winters (@freska4) December 11, 2020
“I’m just saying, if Sean admitted on camera that he had hit Braunwyn, [Andy Cohen] and Bravo would have fired him before he could have finished his sentence. Abuse of any kind, even wife against husband, is not ok,” another person stated.
https://twitter.com/AgentEndive/status/1337241493329891328
Following the latest episode of RHOC, Braunwyn took to her Instagram Stories and admitted that when it came to fan backlash, the comments she received were far worse than she anticipated.
“I’m trying to tell the sobriety story as honestly as I can, that it’s not been easy, that I have had moments where I was very close to relapsing and to see how hard you guys… I’m still only 60 days sober when we’re watching the show,” she explained. “It was hard for me and I’m sorry if you guys don’t like that it’s hard for me but it was.”
Sean also addressed the backlash, saying that he was disgusted by the negative comments people had made about his marriage and slamming commenters for attacking Braunwyn and failing to show her “an ounce of support.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 13 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.