Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards wants to quit her Los Angeles life and move to a farm to escape social media trolls, she revealed to DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
The entrepreneur and reality star, 56, is ready to ditch her $8.5million Encino mansion and her fame from the long-running hit Bravo series, to get 'off the grid' due to online attacks, she said.
Richards, who has over four million Instagram followers, has faced abuse on social media over her separation from LA celebrity realtor Mauricio Umansky and mean comments over her daughter Sophia experiencing balding after taking a weight loss drug.
Her RHOBH co-star Teddi Mellencamp was even targeted during her fight with stage four cancer and brain tumors, Richards said.
'Social media is just such a scary place,' she told DailyMail.com. 'It's so toxic, it's so negative. I can't stand it.
'I've been telling my friends lately, that's it, I'm moving to a farm. I am going off the grid.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards told DailyMail.com she's tired of the internet trolls going after her family and said even her co-star Teddi Mellencamp (left) dealt with the onslaught during her battle with stage four cancer
Richards has faced a torrent of online abuse over her separation from LA celebrity realtor Mauricio Umansky
The reality star told DailyMail.com that she's said to her friends in the past that she's ready to sell her $8.5million Encino mansion and move to a farm
I'm going to live off the land. I don't want to go on any social media.'
Richards revealed she sometimes thinks to herself 'Oh, it's fun', posts a picture and then is appalled by a 'negative and toxic' reaction.
'I think about the young children and teens, how it affects their mental health,' she said. 'It's scary, social media.
'It's very unhealthy. I know there can be a lot of good things. A lot of people make money on social media and when we have something positive to share or we can bring awareness it is great.
'But there's a very dark side to it that is very upsetting to me as a mom and as a human being.'
Richards is sickened at reading vile comments about her family and friends even when they post positive or inspiring news.
Richards with the season 14 cast of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which from what she told DailyMail.com she'd be willing to throw away after 15 years of being on the show
Richards spoke to DailyMail.com at a fundraising event for the Women's Cancer Research Fund, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on April 29
Richards with Umansky and their children. She is sickened at reading vile comments about her family and friends even when they post positive or inspiring news
The actress was stunned that Mellencamp, who has stage four cancer and recently underwent emergency surgery to remove multiple brain tumors, received mixed comments on her fight.
'People will be so nice and supportive and then they'll be mean about something else,' Richards said. 'Why can't people just all come together and be kind? If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all.
'Even Teddi's had comments. What is wrong with people?'
Richards said she tries to 'tune that stuff out' and focus on 'how to use your platform for the good when you can'.
'I tell myself every day, these comments do not reflect the truth of what everybody thinks. We have to tell ourselves that all the time,' she said.
Richards expressed she is proud that her four daughters have ignored the hatred and said they have trusted advice from their parents on how to deal with internet trolls and bullying posts.
Her daughter Sophia Umanksy faced backlash for a recent post where she revealed she lost hair from the weight loss drug Mounjaro
She showed her fans footage of 'everything I brush out of my hair before the shower (left) and everything that comes out during the shower' (right) from the weight loss drug
This month her daughter Sophia Umansky, 25, told naysayers to 'calm down' after she was criticized for suffering hair loss from taking the weight-loss drug Mounjaro.
In 2022, youngest daughter Portia, then 14, was 'harassed' over her appearance on RHOBH and her social media posts, but her mother said she refused to take comments seriously.
When the teen posted a picture on Instagram of herself on a family trip to London, one commenter wrote 'get the f*** outta here' and another wrote 'f*** off'.
'It really has to start with what you teach them at home and how that impacts them and how not letting outside forces affect them,' her mother said.
'I'm fortunate that my daughters are very confident.
'They are bullied on there all the time. They let it roll off their shoulders and it doesn't bother them, but they've also seen their mom be bullied.
Richards said she's 'fortunate' her daughters are confident and that she believes children shouldn't have access to phones to keep them off social media 'as long as possible'
Richards and Umansky separated in 2023 after 27 years of marriage. But the reality star has admitted they have yet to file divorce papers
'So not everyone's in that situation. So, I really think it's how you talk to your kids at home.
'Kids shouldn't have phones really young, and as long as you keep them off social media as long as possible. It's getting harder and harder these days, but I think it really starts at home, that conversation.'
Richards spoke at a fundraising event for the Women's Cancer Research Fund, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on April 29.
The event honored campaigners and gave tributes to cancer survivors and the memory of those impacted by cancer. Richards' mother died of breast cancer in 2002.
For 26 years, the event has brought together leaders in entertainment, cancer research and corporate philanthropy to raise funds for pioneering cancer research conducted at leading medical and academic institutions in California and across the US.
Richards attended, proudly supporting Mellencamp as well as actress and activist Olivia Munn, who received the 'Courage Award' for selflessly sharing her ongoing breast cancer journey.
Richards was stunned by how Mellencamp, who has stage four cancer and recently underwent emergency surgery to remove multiple brain tumors, received mixed comments on her fight
Richards said a positive about her reality TV career and having millions of Instagram followers has been encouraging women to get cancer screenings by getting mammograms on camera
Richards said a positive outcome of her reality TV career and having 4.3 million Instagram followers has been encouraging women to get regular cancer screenings.
'That's why one of the reasons on the Housewives I go and have mammograms on camera, is to remind women to go get their mammograms and about early detection,' she said.
'My mom didn't have a mammogram for five years. If she had, she'd maybe still be here today.
'So whenever you can use your platform to bring awareness is huge and to inspire people and give hope.'
Offline, Richards has also helped friends with cancer-related issues.
She told People Magazine in 2023 that after country music star Morgan Wade had a preventative double mastectomy, Richards helped connect her with the nonprofit Mission Plasticos, which provides no-cost reconstructive surgical care to people without health insurance or who are under-insured.
She said if her mother Kathleen Richards had gotten a screening five years before her cancer diagnosis, she may still be alive today
Richards gushed about Mellencamp at the fundraiser saying she was 'so strong' and admired her ability to 'show up here and give people hope and bring awareness'
Richards also gushed about her Real Housewives co-star and cancer sufferer Mellencamp.
'Teddi being so strong as she is and going through what she's gone through and the severity of what she's gone through, and to be able to show up here and give people hope and bring awareness, I mean, she's inundated with people, who are saying that because of her they're going to get a full body check,' Richards told DailyMail.com.
'Everybody I know tells me that and she's saving lives by talking about it and by showing up and just being who she is. She's giving people so much hope too.'
The WCRF, a program of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, supports the advancement of the world's most promising research directed at the development of innovative approaches to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and metastasis of breast cancer.
