After announcing her exit from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Lisa Rinna explained why she "hated" her final season on the Bravo reality show. Lisa surprised fans when she announced her departure from RHOBH after eight seasons as the reigning villain. Lisa seemingly became accustomed to all the backlash and criticism she received from viewers for her antics on and off RHOBH. The calls for her removal took new heights during RHOBH season 12, resulting in her being met with a crowd of boos at BravoCon. But when Lisa responded to the crowd's jeers by giving Bravo fans two middle fingers, the move was seen as the beginning of the end for Lisa's time as Real Housewives star.
One week after announcing her exit, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Lisa Rinna opened up about her decision to leave and how much she "f***ing hated" her final season because of the alleged "smear campaign" against her. Between losing her mother Lois and her huge blowout with Kathy Hilton, Lisa felt she became a target. “The story just didn’t get told as two-sidedly as I would’ve liked,” Lisa told Interview Magazine. She remains adamant about Kathy's Aspen meltdown and the horrible things she heard her say about Kyle Richards and the rest of the RHOBH cast. “It was unfortunate that there weren’t cameras in Aspen," Lisa said. "It was something that happened so spontaneously."
RHOBH's Lisa Rinna Says Kathy Hilton Had 'Nuclear Breakdown'
The Melrose Place star was the only one to witness Kathy's meltdown and speak about it on camera. Lisa explained why she didn't think to film Kathy's tirade, which would've supported her claims rather than it being word-of-mouth. "In the moment, I didn’t think to turn on my voice memos," Lisa admitted. "When somebody’s having a nuclear breakdown, you don’t think, ‘Oh, I should be filming this.’” But Lisa went full force against Kathy after the meltdown and accused her of threatening to "take down" her sister Kyle. Lisa also claimed Kathy said mean things about everyone on the RHOBH cast except for her since she was there to witness the tirade. Kathy has admitted to saying some hurtful things about her sister and apologized but denied most of what Lisa and Erika Jayne accused her of.
Kathy and Lisa went at it during the RHOBH season 12 reunion, with Kathy calling Lisa one of the "biggest bullies" in Hollywood. After the season wrapped, Kathy claimed that she would not return to RHOBH unless two people were removed. It was clear that Kathy was giving an ultimatum to remove Lisa and Erika or lose her. With Lisa announcing her exit, rumors swirled that she was pushed out and didn't exactly choose to leave on her own. Kathy is just a friend on RHOBH but likely has a lot of pull due to her power as a Hilton and the older sister of the reality show's reigning OG.
No one expected Lisa to actually leave RHOBH, considering how much she seemed to enjoy stirring the pot. Lisa appeared to have little-to-no storyline outside of interjecting herself into other people's drama and picking petty feuds with Sutton Stracke and Garcelle Beauvais. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is experiencing a major cast shakeup. With Lisa and Diana Jenkins gone, speculation is mounting over whether someone else will make an exit or be demoted to a friend to make space for some new or returning faces.
Sources: Interview Magazine, Lisa Rinna/Instagram