"Staying silent in the face of racism and hate is something that I refuse to do," said the Bravo star in a social media video following false claims about Haitian immigrants that the Republican presidential candidate amplified on the national debate stage.
Garcelle Beauvais says she has been holding her thoughts for a week. But, now, she says: “This madness has got to stop.”
In a video posted to her social media on Sunday, the Haitian actress, producer and star of Bravo‘s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills says she has decided to speak out against the dangerous conspiracy theories that have been targeting her community.
“Staying silent in the face of racism and hate is something that I refuse to do,” she explained. “This past week, the lies that have been spewed about the Haitian community — about my community — have been disgusting, deeply hurtful and dangerous.”
President Donald Trump and his 2024 running mate Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance have been spreading baseless conspiracy theories that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating dogs and other pets. During the first and perhaps only presidential debate between Republican candidate Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC News Sept. 10, Trump brought the bizarre and false claim to the national debate stage while discussing U.S. border control and immigration.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” he proclaimed, to which Harris replied, “What? Talk about extremes!” The moderators fact-checked and debunked the claims. Since then, however, and despite city officials also repeatedly debunking the claims that have put an unwanted spotlight on Springfield, Vance has doubled down.
Saying this is not about politics, but is “about humanity,” Beauvais, who was born in Saint-Marc, Haiti, and moved to the U.S. when she was 7, said, “We must condemn this kind of hatred, this kind of racism, for anyone.
Beauvais, who wrote about her life in memoir Love Me As I Am: My Journey from Haiti to Hollywood to Happiness, has dealt with her fair share of drama and social blowback targeting both herself and her family, as is par for the course on the Real Housewives franchise. She speaks out as the memefied conspiracy theories have even led to bomb threats and immigrants in Springfield reportedly feeling unsafe.
“I have always been a proud Hatian immigrant. Coming to America, working hard, that’s what we do,” she continued. “Coming from gratitude. And I will not sit by and let people talk about my community in any way they want for their own gain.”
Speaking directly to her community, she said in dual languages, “The power we have is to vote, to register and vote, and stop this madness, this chaos.” Beauvais added: “We’re supposed to be uplifting each other, from our leaders to our neighbors. This has got to stop… we can’t just sit by. Register to vote. We have 50-something days. Go out and vote. We need to stop this chaos.”
Beauvais’ screen credits include The Jamie Foxx Show, NYPD Blue, Coming to America and Spider-Man: Homecoming. She has been starring on RHOBH since 2020, co-hosted talk show The Real for two seasons and has most recently turned to producing in collaboration with Lifetime on Black Girl Missing and Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted by Love. She will return on the forthcoming 14th season of RHOBH, which is currently in production.
Her comments came on the same day of a second attempted assassination attempt against Trump from a gunman at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The attempt comes just nine weeks after Trump was shot during a rally in Pennsylvania, when a bullet grazed his ear.
