Bravo's new reality series, The Real Housewives of Dubai, is causing the network and Andy Cohen to receive backlash from human rights groups and activists. The new series was announced in 2021, and the reactions from fans varied. On one end, fans were excited about the luxurious lifestyle they would get to experience through the women in Dubai. However, many questioned why Dubai was chosen since the city is known for its out-of-date ideas about women's rights and the LGBTQ+ community.
The series will debut June 1 on Bravo and will feature former Ladies of London cast member Caroline Stanbury, Dr. Sara Al Madani, Chanel Ayan, Nina Ali, Caroline Brooks and Lesa Milan. The recently released trailer promised great dramatic moments, but it also exhibited strong moments of friendship between the women. Fans of the franchise were surprised to see Phaedra Parks, a former housewife from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, appear in the trailer and are curious about what role she will play on the show.
The controversy surrounding The Real Housewives of Dubai resurfaced after the trailer was released as 12 human rights groups wrote letters to Bravo, NBC Universal, Truly Original and its producers, including Andy Cohen, to discuss the issue with using the United Arab Emirates as a host country for the reality series. The groups that reached out to the networks are Freedom Forward, Action Corps, Clearinghouse on Women's Issues, CODEPINK, European Centre For Democracy and Human Rights, and FairSquare, to name a few, according to Yahoo. According to the letter, Bravo should not use the UAE for a Real Housewives series because "Dubai is an absolute monarchy that is part of the dictatorship of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)." These groups believe that filming in Dubai is "helping the UAE dictatorship hide its male rulers’ misogyny, legalized homophobia and mass violence against women." The letter even listed human rights violations by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan to provide examples of what the show could potentially be covering up.
It was also mentioned that the UAE continues to contribute to the death of Yemeni women, and target and criminalize members of the LGBTQ+ community. "By producing and launching the Real Housewives of Dubai, you risk providing the rulers of the UAE and Dubai with the soft propaganda they need to hide their human rights crimes from the world," said the letter. Real Housewives network Bravo, Andy and the other networks are encouraged to educate fans of the franchise about the UAE's shortcomings as well as provide resources that will allow fans to be activists for these social issues. The networks are also being encouraged to use a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode to disassociate themselves from the country's cruelty and donate profits from the reality series to human rights organizations dedicated to writing the wrongs of certain social issues in UAE. The groups also asked the networks to be transparent about which Dubai rulers are financially contributing to the series. The letter ended with the strong urge to "demonstrate your rejection of the human rights violations, homophobia and predatory male behavior of the rulers of the United Arab Emirates and Dubai."
Andy Cohen, executive producer of The Real Housewives of Dubai, and Bravo have not released a statement about the backlash they are receiving, but it is unlikely that they will, seeing that their issues are hardly addressed publicly. Following the suggestions provided by the human rights groups would be a great step for the network to take to prove they are concerned with the lives they may be affecting. If these steps are followed and the show continues to stir controversy, there is no telling whether it will be produced for a second season.
The Real Housewives of Dubai premieres June 1 at 9 p.m. EDT on Bravo.
Source: Yahoo