Gizelle Bryant and Karen Huger hosted dueling events on Sunday night’s episode of The Real Housewives of Potomac, causing a divide among the women.
After the episode picked up with Mia Thornton, 39, crying in the bathroom and accepting an apology from Gizelle Bryant, 54, and Karen Huger, 61, who had suggested on last week’s episode that she didn’t put her kids first as she embarked on a romance with boyfriend Incognito amid her split from Gordon Thornton, 72, the cast found themselves having to decide whether they’d attend Gizelle or Karen’s event.
After their tense brunch with Mia, Gizelle and Karen met up to discuss their upcoming plans, and Karen shared that she would be receiving an award on the same night that Gizelle was hosting an event.
According to the Daily Mail, Karen assured Gizelle that even though she was being honored at the Femme Powered bash, she was still planning to attend her event, which was for her and Ashley Darby‘s GNA brand and the National Brain Tumor Society (Gizelle’s father had died from a brain tumor less than one year prior).
“I got an invitation to this, like, three months ago from someone else and guess who wasn’t on the list, Karen, the freak, Huger,” Gizelle said in a cast confessional. “I think some people who were originally being honored couldn’t make it, so I think she asked to be honored, so she could say, ‘Look at me. I’m Karen, the grande dame, Huger, and I’m being honored.’ Forgetting the fact that she had nine citations or eight, or I don’t know how many. That aside, let’s honor Karen.”
After learning that the events were being held at the same time, Karen texted the women and said there would be a “shuttle service” between them.
Still, Gizelle wasn’t happy.
“I thought we were friends. I just threw you a freaking birthday party. That’s not what friends do to each other,” Gizelle continued in her confessional. “My event is in honor of my father. What is she being honored for, running into a tree?”
In her own confessional, Karen said, “I’m sorry it’s on the same day, but should I not have people at my event because Gizelle is having an event? No.”
In response, Wendy Osefo, 40, said she would be there “to support Karen,” and Mia suggested Karen “needs attention.”
Stacey Rusch also weighed in, saying, “I would never send an invitation to a group of women who have already committed to another friend’s event, but I am not Karen Huger.”
Once the night of the events rolled around, Wendy, Mia, Stacey, Keiarna Stewart, 36, and Jassi Rideaux started off at Karen’s, which prompted Karen to note that she was “more likable” than Gizelle, which is why they left Gizelle “high and dry.”
“[It was] not my intention, but the people have spoken,” Karen concluded.
Then, as Wendy and Keiarna remained at Karen’s, the other women left for Gizelle’s, arriving just after 8:00, an hour before her party ended.
After seeing how tardy the cast was for her party, Gizelle was livid and enlisted the help of security to boot Mia, Stacey, and Jassi from the event.
Elsewhere, Gizelle went to lunch with Ashley, 36, in the hopes of settling their differences. They then found themselves bonding over their amusement in Inc’s short stature, with Gizelle joking, “They don’t see eye to eye.”
Later, continuing her efforts to move forward with certain women, Gizelle met with Wendy, who came into the discussion with “open arms” as she allowed Gizelle to speak her mind.
“I’m not coming into this conversation with any isms, any nothing. I feel like, whatever you feel, I wanna listen to. And hopefully, it will be reciprocated,” Gizelle stated. “But you know, when I think about us, I have felt like when you’re fine, you’re fine. When you’re angry, it’s like, ‘I’m coming at you very condescending,’ and that has always just been like, nothing that I like.”
Also on the episode, Stacey opened up about her relationship with her boyfriend Thomas Anthony “TJ” Jones during a hike with Ashley, revealing that they hadn’t been intimate since he was saving himself for marriage.
Stacey then prompted even more shock as she noted that while she had a “crash pad” in Washington, D.C., she was still living with her estranged husband — and keeping their divorce secret from their daughter until it’s finalized.
The Real Housewives of Potomac season nine airs Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo.
