Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
On the Real Housewives of Potomac, cast privilege has become a central theme of conversation. In the past, Candiace Dillard Bassett has pointed to Ashley Darby‘s privilege as “a lighter-skinned woman.”
Both Candiace and Dr. Wendy Osefo have indicated that their co-stars get away with certain behavior because of their ‘lighter skin.’
Regarding the castmates’ hair, Candiace once told Ashley, via Yahoo.com, “You have a privilege being a lighter-skinned woman with a looser curl.”
In a recent video posted on Instagram, shared by @JaysRealityBlog on Twitter, Ashley addressed accusations of being “colorist.”
“So I really hate that I have to say anything about this, that I have to address this, but it seems to have just gotten like way out of control,” said Ashley. “First and foremost, I am not a colorist.”
The 34-year-old continued, “I know everyone wants to deem me that. They want to make all these accusations about me because of my own skin tone, but I don’t claim that because that’s not me.”
She also addressed certain problems within the cast. “I feel like people forget that I have had issues or disagreements with every single woman on the show for whatever reason, for whatever thing that we disagreed upon at some point in time, irrespective of the hue of her skin.”
She went on to say, “I always start at a hundred with people until you give me a reason to take it down, alright? That is all that transpired. And I still care about the women on this show.”
Ashley says that she’s not a colorist, & has had issues with every woman on the show no matter what the color of their skin was. #RHOP pic.twitter.com/DyvzbgtrRb
— jay (@JaysRealityBlog) November 15, 2022
The mother of two added, “I hope that everyone, including them, knows that nothing that I will ever feel about you is because of your color of your skin!”
Around the same time, Ashley took to Instagram and gave a public shout-out to Luke Gulbranson from Bravo’s Summer House amid dating rumors. The two stars have been spotted in public several times since Andy Cohen expressed interest in setting them up at BravoCon.
“Happy National Pickle Day!” wrote Ashley over a photo of herself, shared by Queens of Bravo on Instagram.
“Especially to @lukegulbranson.”
Image credit: @ashleyboalchdarby/Instagram via Queens of Bravo
Recently, Ashley posted a TikTok video in what appeared to be Luke’s apartment, leading fans to believe they’re entering an actual relationship.
The Real Housewives of Potomac season seven airs Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo.