Kathy Hilton has found herself in hot water after confusing Lizzo with Precious actress Gabourey Sidibe on Wednesday night’s episode of Watch What Happens Live.
Months after rumors surfaced in which Kathy was accused of using a slur, which she denied, amid the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast’s season 12 trip to Aspen, Colorado, Kathy played a game of “Will! Kathy! Know Them!?” with co-guest Crystal Kung-Minkoff. And during the game, she guessed, “Precious,” when host Andy Cohen showed her a photo of Lizzo.
“I feel like I do [know her]… Precious?” Kathy wondered on the August 10 episode of WWHL.
Right away, things got awkward on set as Crystal attempted to downplay the incident.
“She is precious though, Lizzo’s precious,” Crystal stated.
And then Kathy added, “That’s what I call her. Her nickname is ‘Precious’ to me.”
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After sharing the clip on their Instagram page, Everything Housewives posted screenshots of a series of comments written on Twitter, many of which came from viewers who found themselves offended by Kathy’s mixup.
“The Kathy Hilton clip is messed up and y’all know it is. Lizzo minds her own business but all people do is make her a joke and this time it wasn’t even intentional. This time she caught a stray and I wish someone would’ve stepped up and said something,” wrote YouTuber Kalen Allen.
But another person was more blunt, saying, “Kathy Hilton just called Lizzo ‘Precious.’ She needs her a– whopped.” And someone else said that if Kathy thought Lizzo was Precious, “a fictional character from a movie which was adapted from a book by the same name,” she’s either a liar, a lying idiot, a racist, or a lying, racist, idiot.”
Journalist Shar Jossell also got in on the action, tweeting, “Now, I know Kathy Hilton doesn’t know much, but how the hell did she manage to confuse Lizzo with Gabourey Sidibe? That certainly plays into the ‘we all look alike to them’ trope.”
The outlet also received comments from fans who defended Kathy against claims of potential racism.
“Kathy really. She’s guilty but it was funny I mean come on,” one person stated.
“Ohhh get over it,” another agreed.
“Not racist just Kathy,” pointed out a third.
And another person asked, “Can someone explain to me how comparing two Black people is racist?”
Also on Instagram, a fan said that while Kathy’s comments were “ignorant,” they wouldn’t say “it’s racist.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 12 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.