Kristen Doute is speaking out after being fired from Vanderpump Rules.
During an appearance on the Hollywood Raw podcast with Dax Holt and Adam Glyn, Doute opened up about what she has learned since Bravo terminated her and Stassi Schroeder’s contracts after past racist actions against former co-star Faith Stowers resurfaced.
“I’m just trying to learn more and do better, be better. Bottom line is I’m a fixer and I think everyone kind of knows that about me,” she said. “I am a troubleshooter, I want to right the wrong, I want to make things better.”
Doute continued on, saying she “would be lying” if she said that things haven’t been difficult.
“I’m not used to being silenced and it was a lot to take in that people had a certain perception of me that I didn’t hold myself,” she said. “Then shortly thereafter I just started listening because I was having conversations with a lot of my friends, and specifically, to be honest, my Black friends. They told me to shut up and listen. So that’s exactly what I did.”
Doute said that she’s learned a lot in the past few weeks, and her goal from here is to “keep moving forward.”
“I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned is that I have so much to learn. I know that’s super cliché and a lot of people say that but it’s absolutely true,” she said. “I thought that I understood racism but now I’m really learning about unconscious bias. Learning about anti-racism. Learning about how we can do things locally to really, truly make changes and putting work into your community locally to make those changes. I think that’s so important for everyone to do.”
“If I said it wasn’t hard to lose my job and essentially lose everything that I’ve worked for I would be totally lying and bullstting you guys,” she continued. “It was really fking hard, but again, the world is bigger than I am. I can do better, I can be better, I can gain the respect of people back by showing by action.”
Doute confessed that at the end of the day, she’s “not a f**king saint,” but she’s “doing the best that I can.” She said that along with her clothing company, James Mae, she’s been taking action by donating, working with Black female fashion entrepreneurs to create a protest collection and more.
“I’m human and I make mistakes all the time,” she admitted. “I’m just trying to do something every day that makes this a little bit better for everyone.”
In a statement to 360aproko last month, Bravo and Evolution Media confirmed that Schroeder and Doute, as well as Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni, would “not be returning to Vanderpump Rules.” The fallout came just days after Stowers recalled a 2018 incident involving Schroeder and Doute during an Instagram Live session.
“There was this article on Daily Mail where there was an African American lady. It was a weird photo, so she looked very light-skinned and had these different, weird tattoos,” Stowers recalled. “They showcased her, and I guess this woman was robbing people. And they called the cops and said it was me.”
“This is, like, a true story. I heard this from actually Stassi during an interview,” Stowers added, seemingly referencing Schroeder’s past appearance on the B*tch Bible podcast.
Around that same time, Doute tweeted the Daily Mail article, along with a message to her followers. “Hey tweeties, doesn’t this ex #pumprules thief look familiar?” she wrote. “Someone put her on MTV and gave her a platform for press. I didn’t wanna go there but I’m going there.”
During the initial fallout, Schroeder and Doute both apologized via Instagram, while Stowers told 360aproko she believes there’s still a lot more work to be done on Vanderpump Rules. Recalling the incident, Stowers said that what her former co-stars did was “very painful.”
“I was in a very bad spot because I had never experienced that kind of bullying before,” she shared. “I was just getting over the bullying that I was getting from the Vanderpump fans with me and Brittany [Cartwright] and I was trying to move forward with my life.”
“I was excited for this new chapter of my life and then here I am trying to go and do that … then I get this boom in my face saying that they were trying to pretty much destroy me,” she added. “Especially dealing with the cops, because I have kind of a fear of police enforcement because of all the things happening.”
