*Trigger Warning*
A few weeks ago on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Crystal Kung-Minkoff continued to open up to her castmates about her eating disorder; however, several of their reactions made fans do a double take. Erika Jayne received the most blowback for her comments to Crystal during Diana Jenkins' Christmas party. However, fans also called out Garcelle Beauvais for some unsolicited compliments that seemed insensitive.
Crystal first opened up about her eating disorder last season with Lisa Rinna after her daughter Amelia Hamlin opened up about her issues. Crystal later discussed going public on the topic with her husband, Rob Minkoff. She said she didn't feel like she could admit she loved food when she was younger and shared, "my body stuff is deeply rooted in my childhood. I kind of always felt like the chubby one wanting to be blonde, blue-eyed, and skinny." She admitted she wanted to be American, which compounded her body image issues.
The topic first came about after Sutton Stracke walked in on Crystal naked in Lake Tahoe during RHOBH season 11. Crystal said her body issues contributed to her feeling violated that night. It's important to note that while Crystal wished Sutton's innocent intentions hadn't gotten wrapped up with her feelings around her eating disorder, she also wouldn't back down from the fact that she did feel violated.
Last week on RHOBH, Crystal opened up again about the topic with Kyle Richards and Diana Jenkins. After Crystal discussed her eating disorder on Instagram, Kyle wanted to check in with her and asked if it was about appearance or control. Kyle had her own issues when she was younger, sharing, "I would eat very little and worry about the little I'd eaten." Crystal said for her, "it's physically feeling like I've overconsumed," and that the food "physically being in my body sucks." Overall, Crystal feels "exhausted," and she wants "to eat a meal and be okay with it." Her biggest fear is that she'll pass it on to her kids. However, Kyle and Diana encouraged her to keep being open about it.
While this initial conversation went fine, fans were unhappy with Erika or Garcelle's comments later in the episode. A usually compassionate Erika started asking questions much like Kyle but crossed a boundary when she said laxatives were her go-to to feel better after overeating. Garcelle was stunned and said, "wow," and "you don't prescribe laxatives to someone with an eating disorder." Fans later took to Twitter to call out the women for their insensitive remarks. CG tweeted, "Is Erika serious???? So u giving a person with an eating disorder another method of continuing that disorder? Ahhh Kyle u still like care free and drunk Erika now?" Erika was also under fire for saying Crystal couldn't have a chicken tender. Heather Gay's Fat Tongue said, "Erika not letting Crystal eat a chicken tender was FOUL. That poor girl ran towards that platter with such excitement, only to be shoed away. idk that was hard to watch."
Erika got the brunt of getting called out, but many fans also pointed out Garcelle's compliments were just as damaging. Samantha Bush said, "So are we going to discuss Garcelle saying Crystal looks skinny then telling her to say thank you??? Or???" Don Gunvalson Parody agreed, tweeting, "Erika isn't a doctor, but Garcelle isn't a therapist- and her comment was pretty out of line too." For fans across the board who've struggled with eating disorders, the franchise's repeated attempts to discuss the topic with uneducated casts could be triggering and damaging.
In reality, Crystal is not the only woman on RHOBH with food issues, and it's a topic that merits a deeper and more sensitive discussion. In addition to Kyle and Crystal, Garcelle and Erika have discussed efforts to lose weight, and Garcelle accused Lisa of passing on bad habits to her daughters. When it comes to body image, eating disorders, and food issues, there is a massive range of experiences for folks struggling. Crystal even told E! News that there's also a wide range of responses when someone feels awkward discussing eating disorders, and she felt the best decision was to walk away from Erika. Crystal has not responded to the criticism of Garcelle's comments, but it's a topic that will be addressed further in RHOBH season 12.
Sources: CG/Twitter, Samantha Bush/Twitter, Don Gunvalson/Twitter, Heather Gay's Fat Tongue/Twitter, E! News
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m, EST on Bravo.