r/RHOA • u/Mindless_Routine_763 • 1d ago

🍑 Discussion 🍑 OG fans please explain

Please I am begging an OG fan to explain to me how you can defend Kenya over and over again. I keep reading on here that OG fans feel triggered or upset when new fans criticize Kenya. I am watching for the first time, on S15 rn. And I have tried to give this woman grace but she’s simply disrespectful. I can see that she’s deeply hurt too ofc, but let’s be honest all the women have really hard backstories and no one weaponizes theirs as much as Kenya. She’s rude and jealous and hits below the belt allllll the time. like why pls why do you have so many excuses for her behavior. she might be good tv but even if she’s just doing it for the sake of the show - do something else????? what’s the role? worst human around??

15 Upvotes

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u/Calm-Passion-2697 1d ago

Currently on my first rewatch too and just got to season 15. I started off not liking her but then slowly as the show went on I started to really like her comedic relief she’ll bring. Yeah ofc she stirres pot more than anyone else but when she’s not there I lowkey miss her. Like Sheree

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u/Hot_Benefit_9671 1d ago

While Kenya, "plays a necessary character" on the show, when she is gone, it is some relief. S10 Spain trip - her absence made that trip actually good. Nobody missed her. In season 11 she leaves to have her baby, it was still a great season! We got Shamari. We got to see the other heavy hitters play off of each other in a way that is never allowed when Kenya is there. I wish she had taken more breaks or been more of a "friend of" who came on trips to stir the pot rather than an overbearing full-time cast mate for 11 seasons.

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u/Emotional_Mess261 I SAID WHAT I SAID 15h ago

Definitely a change in the behaviors of the group without her, delightfully so. Less aggression and fewer fights

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u/HypnotizeEm 1d ago

She is the Omarosa of the franchise. She KNOWS she is a villain and leans into it too hard, if you ask me. But that’s her role. And she plays the hell out of it. Basically, Kenya does it for the plot and nothing more.

I do think it’s overboard but hell, RHOA was her moneymaker. She had to do something, I guess. But she always takes it a touch too far and is genuinely shocked when someone reacts as they should because that wasn’t in her script. SMH. She’s a trip.

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u/chooseshoes Whatever happened to…customer service? 1d ago

The role is clock in and be a villain. It’s very simple.

I don’t have to like a character to understand they are needed on the show. You can’t have a cast full of the same person. If everyone was a Cynthia, you’d have no drama. If you didn’t have a Cynthia, you wouldn’t have fun shade and silliness. You can’t have a cast that’s all Nene, all Marlo, all Sheree, etc.

Balance is needed. I can’t take Kenya seriously 75% of the time.

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u/Mindless_Routine_763 1d ago

okay now that makes sense to me. so you don’t actually agree with the things she does? you’re just able to see that as „she does what needs to be done“. I get that to a degree but sometimes she’s so below the belt and then for her to start crying everytime about her trauma.

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u/chooseshoes Whatever happened to…customer service? 1d ago

Exactly.

  1. Her flirting with Apollo—WRONG. But it was excellent TV. Ultimately, he was the one who lied on her.

  2. Her antagonizing Porsha—WRONG. She used her mouth to really get people going. Should Porsha have laid hands on Kenya? No. Did Kenya exacerbate the situation? HELL YEAH. Does that give anyone the right to lay hands on someone else? NO. 😩

  3. Her vs. Kim Fields—WRONG. Pulling her chair was ridiculous. Saying homophobic things are her husband? WRONG. Did we need Kenya that season? YES.

  4. The Cookie Lady fiasco—WRONG.

  5. Season 16–WRONG. She took it way too far. I won’t say much else because you’re not there yet.

However, Kenya standing up against Bob when he antagonized Sheree? RIGHT.

Kenya producing a PSA on domestic violence and got the whole cast involved? RIGHT.

Kenya donating $20k to Detroit schools? RIGHT.

The problem with most viewers is that get so caught up in their personal feelings that they forget that this is entertainment and heavily produced.

In my opinion, Kenya is an effective Housewife because she understood that reality TV doesn’t get made without someone willing to advance the plot. Kenya understood that conflict by itself isn’t enough; it needs theater (Kenya 🥁 Moore 🥁 Hair 🥁 Care!).

I think people should also watch Housewives Ultimate Girls’ Trip to see her in an environment that isn’t RHOA (and to see Cynthia in a different light, too!).

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u/Mindless_Routine_763 1d ago

thank you for this!! and i definitely need to say that i agreed with her when tammy’s nephew was being rude and aggressive and horrible. it pissed me off when the other girls tried to say that she was just being bitter. and yeah it’s true she’s behind of a lot of good story lines. but i feel like i just can’t grow that soft spot for her because she’s never taken accountability for anything she’s done. i think i would like her well more if she’d admit to some wrongdoing.

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u/EstablishmentOk6325 1d ago

Anyone who feels "triggered" or "upset" about someone's opinions of the housewives, should really introduce themselves to the world outside their house 😬

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u/Mindless_Routine_763 1d ago

babe this is the rhoa reddit. if you‘re triggered by what someone is posting on here I think it’s time to log off. I just asked people to explain their view on things, to understand both sides you know? you should try.

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u/EstablishmentOk6325 1d ago

You seem confused by my comment 🤦🤣

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u/Mindless_Routine_763 1d ago

i might be lol. english is not my first language. i take it back then. what did you mean? 🫣

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u/EstablishmentOk6325 1d ago

I was agreeing with you and saying housewives isn't serious enough to be taken so seriously that people get triggered ❤️

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u/Mindless_Routine_763 1d ago

and i guess i proved your point by accident 😭
im the one who needs to log off and touch grass

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u/Mindless_Routine_763 1d ago

sorry babe 😭 my mistake!!!

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u/YourInternetCousin 🗣️ She’s disrespectful as f*ck! 🏃🏾‍♀️💨 1d ago

People seem to think that people who like Kenya for the show have no moral compass lol. Kenya has been wrong many times. So has ALL the women. Those who are triggered by Kenya are the ones who take what Kenya does on a reality show personal. You’d think Kenya fkkd everybody’s husband in this sub and stole their baby.

Zoom out and watch the show from a production stand point. It’s a SHOW. The show cannot be successful without DRAMA and CONFLICT. The moments we love and quote in our daily lives have come out of said drama and conflict. A lot of it has been provoked by something Kenya has said or done. Whether right or wrong, she clocks tf in and gives to the show. Examples:

White refrigerator quote we Stan Nene for was about who? KENYA.

Phaedra/Apollo/Kenya storyline carried season 5 and 6 a season 6 being credited as the best season of RHOA.

Pillow Talk? KENYA

Bye Ashy? KENYA

So nasty, so rude? KENYA

I could go on, honestly.

A reality show is nothing without a villain and characters that move the story forward. Kenya is the best to have ever done it. She’s smart, she’s witty and she doesn’t miss a beat.

I’ll also add: watch the first season of Ultimate Girl’s Trip and you’ll see a different side of her (and Cynthia, for that matter). The ladies are very different outside of their franchise. Kenya is well liked among the other housewives in other franchises.

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u/Mindless_Routine_763 1d ago

I really try to understand that pov. And I mean I do to a degree. Ofc it wouldn’t be the same show without her. I can admit that and there have been times where I take her side. For example the miami/tammy nephew situation. I think the other ladies were wrong for that for sure. But I think it’s the lack of accountability that really bugs me. She can never admit to being wrong or too much. Something in me can’t grow that soft spot for her for that reason I think. I guess I hold them to a certain standard that’s not realistic? idk man.

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u/YourInternetCousin 🗣️ She’s disrespectful as f*ck! 🏃🏾‍♀️💨 1d ago

You know who can never take accountability?

NENE loool.

But people like Nene, so they tend to forget.
Most of these women don’t take accountability for anything.

Kenya can actually apologize and take accountability and she has done so over the years - to those closest to her. Nene has literally never done that. The closest you’ll get is “I receive it.”

You don’t have to like Kenya at all. She’s very polarizing on the show. But she is not evil and mean spirited like a lot of people on this sub paint her to be. And she has been a huge part of RHOA’s success. Anyone who tries to deny that because of their personal feelings towards her is delusional.

There is a really disgusting discourse around Kenya, and housewives in general, that is very disturbing. Hating someone you don’t know and that you see a very edited and produced version of on TV is weird AF.

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u/Enough_Face4362 19h ago

Respectfully I disagree with this take. There is a misconception that Kenya was casted to be the villain on this show, and she simply wasn’t. That was something she decided to lean into on her own from day 1. It’s not that the viewers take their personal feelings too seriously, it’s that Kenya took it way too seriously. That woman was not acting to make good TV, that’s genuinely just who she is. She is mean spirited hence why she got fired. No producer put a battery in Kenya’s back and told her to do all of that, that’s why people don’t like her

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u/YourInternetCousin 🗣️ She’s disrespectful as f*ck! 🏃🏾‍♀️💨 13h ago

I never said she was cast to be the villain. It was absolutely something she leaned into. I never said she was acting either, however this is a show about drama, conflict and resolution. Nothing these ladies on the show do is normal. Do you go out to lunch with your friend/colleague to specifically talk shit? Are you asked or told by a producer you have to relay certain information because it’s good for a storyline? It’s an edited show and you’re in a specific environment that is fabricated. Kenya was constantly the scapegoat so she might as well just be the villain because she was villainized season after season (according to her, anyway).

And yes, viewers absolutely take their personal feelings way too seriously when it comes to her. You cannot tell me it’s normal to have that amount of vitriol towards someone you don’t know. Have you read the posts that are constantly made about her on this sub?

Kenya was fired because she did something absolutely egregious, there’s no doubt about that. However the lack of nuance when it comes to the discourse around her is old and tired. You do not have to like her at all, but calling her everything but a child of God is unwarranted. All of these ladies have done things that can be viewed as mean spirited, but somehow Kenya’s feet get held to the fire and not others. Phaedra literally said Kandi wanted to r*pe Porsha. But somehow Kenya is the devil? OK.

Kenya deserves her flowers for making RHOA what it is today, love her or hate her. She clocked in and did her job extremely well. Without her we would have way less shit to talk about. That’s not even up for debate imo.

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u/Enough_Face4362 9h ago

Just to be clear I’m not saying you said that any of that either, I was just pointing out a general misconception. I personally did not enjoy her on the show especially when she took things too far, neither did I enjoy Phaedra when she lied on Kandi. I don’t think anyone’s taking away from what the other women do but this post is about Kenya. We can agree to disagree, I still think she’s a mean spirited person

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u/YourInternetCousin 🗣️ She’s disrespectful as f*ck! 🏃🏾‍♀️💨 5h ago

That’s fine 🥰

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u/Mindless_Routine_763 22h ago

It’s not that I hate her, I’m grateful for all the housewives cause they provide entertainment and laughter. Also I just don’t care enough to actually hate her and think of her on a daily basis. but when I watch the show I do feel like she’s a very toxic and disrespectful person.

aaaand i love the nene comparison, cause to me they are really similar. the difference is that nene shuts down and invalidates other people’s feelings which is horrible too. nene takes on lithe naynay persona and acts like a child. which makes sense both probably never healed their inner child. nene is dismissive of other people’s feelings. but to me kenya doubles down on her insults and bullying. she actively searches for arguments, she’s often the one to bring up gossip. bring props and people in on purpose to humiliate others. and nene doesn’t pull out all her traumas anytime she’s accused of something.

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u/YourInternetCousin 🗣️ She’s disrespectful as f*ck! 🏃🏾‍♀️💨 13h ago

Nene and Kenya are literally the same person. 😂
And I’m sorry, but Nene was the biggest bully on that show. Are you serious? Lol.

They all bring up gossip, they all talk each other’s business because that’s literally what they’re paid to do. If they didn’t, there would be no show. Shereé was the bone collected for two seasons - all she did was run everyone’s business back to everybody.

See, this is my point: they all do the exact same thing for the most part, but Kenya somehow gets the most shit for it.

Kenya has definitely done some foul shit. Some warranted if you look at it from her POV, some of it not. But she never gets any grace or understanding. The incident with Tammy’s nephew that you mentioned is such a great example. If you constantly felt treated unfairly like that, you might turn into a villain too. 🤷🏾‍♀️

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u/miarosalier 21h ago

She’s problematic but she’s our problematic fave. Every franchise needs a Kenya.

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u/Ghoulish_kitten Creonta..? 20h ago

OGs have more experience with life pre-reality tv, we know the formula and buy into it less.

Im not even sure it’s an age thing— I just feel like some people are more gullible to the fact that reality TV is basically full of people who tried to make it work in Hollywood and this is their back up.

It’s mostly improv acting, and involves a mishmash of made up sht and yes genuinely real sht.

Production goes with what they are given most of the time, and Kenya knew how to give them that.

My main issue is I always find myself arguing for her* in a few very specific events in the show, but I don’t even really like her lol.

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u/cosmicaje 18h ago

I think people who watched it in real time just have some strange sense of loyalty to her. I do agree that she brought a lot of iconic moments but I can’t condone her behavior. I binged the whole series for the first time like last year & I never respected her. She’s a hurt person who loves to hurt people

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u/rosechelsea BYE WIG! 1d ago

I agree with you completely!

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u/labyrinth-elona 1d ago

Great for the show's longevity, exhausting as a person both things can be true at once.

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u/sophiamaet 20h ago

Honestly both sides are exhausting. You can like Kenya and still admit when she's wrong.

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u/Lower-Vanilla8104 20h ago

I love Kenya the same way I love Tiffany Pollard. Some folks are just at work to do a job when it comes to these reality shows.

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u/DaQuackx 1d ago

I'd never defend her, unfortunately... true cnt of a thing that 1