After Monday night’s airing of Below Deck, deckhand Rayna Lindsey dropped by Watch What Happens Live!
While on the show, Rayna shared her thoughts on how the current season is going and how she’s still feeling about her relationship — or lack thereof after the “N-Word” scandal — with chief stew Heather Chase.
Andy immediately dived in and asked Rayna what her initial reaction was to hearing the word on the original night out and the aftermath that followed.
“It’s so uncomfortable and cringey to watch especially because we’re all adults and it’s 2021,” she began. “It’s something that should be known, you know what I mean? “
Rayna also said that she felt bad for hurting Heather’s feelings by calling her out, but she suggests it should be the other way around.
“Instead of worrying about her feelings, she could be a little bit concerned with other people,” she said.
Andy went on to say that many viewers “applauded” Rayna for the way she calmly handled herself and the situation in the galley following the incident, but he wanted to know what started to change in the days going forward.
“As an African American woman, there’s always a stereotype for us being aggressive or being too loud or being the angry aggressive Black woman. Like that was running through my head like every second on the show,” she revealed.
She goes on to say that she didn’t want to do anything to fuel that trope, but she was genuinely hurt.
“But I’m genuinely hurt, and I wanted my voice to be heard. But I didn’t want it to happen to be ‘over the top,’ you know what I mean?”
#BelowDeck deckhand Rayna Lindsey tells Andy Cohen how she felt about chief stew Heather Chase using the N-word. #WWHL pic.twitter.com/V2bETvuZZr
— WWHL (@BravoWWHL) January 4, 2022
Rayna also went on to express her disappointment in how Eddie Lucas handled the situation.
“You’re more concerned with Heather eating spaghetti with her fingers, but it was low of me to correct an adult versus when I go to him, and he says, ‘Oh, well that doesn’t affect your job’ if Heather uses the N-Word. It shows his priorities and what he thinks is important as well,” she said.
All of this has left fans divided over the scandal. Some fans say that Heather wasn’t using the word maliciously and was just singing along, not referring to anyone at all. However, others say it is NEVER okay for someone who isn’t a person of color to use that word regardless of context.
Even more confusing, Heather has apologized repeatedly several times, and Rayna seems to hug it out and appreciate it only to later change her mind.
In a past Instagram Live Q&A, she even said Heather should have been fired on the spot.
Even after filming, Heather has also apologized excessively.
Thoughts?
Below Deck currently airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. EST on Bravo