Plus, Shamea Morton makes a stunning fourth-wall-breaking declaration on Porsha Williams' off-camera behavior.
Given their decades of history, The Real Housewives of Atlanta's Shamea Morton and Porsha Williams' friendship has naturally endured plenty of ups and downs. The childhood besties appeared to reach an all-time low, though, after Shamea ascended to full-time peach-holder for Season 16.
On The Real Housewives of Atlanta After Show for Episode 11, Shamea got emotional while discussing what happened once the public started "picking up on the division" in their relationship, along with the fact the once-tight duo was "not really speaking" anymore.
"I've gotten so many DMs and messages and even to those, I still give grace because it’s hurtful," Shamea began, as her voice began to break. "And the stuff that people have said, 'Oh, I wanted to tell you a long time ago that your friend ain't your friend, and she don't want you in this space with her. She don't want to share this platform with you…'"
That's when Shamea — overcome with emotion — tearfully told producers she needed a minute, got up, and walked off the RHOA After Show set, prompting Kelli Ferrell to say, "I really hate that for her."
Off camera, Kelli went to check on her castmate, and their hot mics picked up their conversation.
"I didn't want to do this s–t for the longest time because … I was being respectful of the fact that this is her space," Shamea vented to Kelli backstage. "I just wanted it to be OK. Like, ya know, this is your thing. I don't need this. I'm happy with the life I'm living off-camera, ya know? … But I thought we could be like, we could show people, like, how great our friendship is."
Following a "little power speech" from Kelli, which you can also hear in the above After Show clip, however, Shama returned, fully-charged, joking about being on "some cry s–t."
Shamea Morton and Porsha Williams open up about their friendship
Prior to her walk-off, Shamea named Angela Oakley, Brit Eady, and Drew Sidora as the castmates who had accused Porsha of "not being a good friend" to her. In their view, she explained, Porsha did not support or speak up for her the same way she did for her.
"But I never gave them anything," she insisted. "So the fact that [Porsha] opened that up for them to judge and evaluate and dictate our friendship and what it was and what it was not, that's on her."
As far as Shamea was concerned, she had been supporting "everything Porsha," including promoting her song, "Flatline," on Instagram and asking DJs to play it. She also recalled inviting Porsha to sing the national anthem with her at various sporting events.
"I want you to win just like I want to win," Shamea added.
Elsewhere, Porsha described the "worst thing" happening when Shamea joined RHOA full-time — something she claimed she "wanted to celebrate" — and the other women pitted them against each other. Referencing their Episode 11 sitdown, she explained, "I just wanted to really get into the nitty-gritty of what was happening. … That's what I was really fighting for at that point."
Shamea Morton makes a fourth wall-breaking declaration on Porsha Williams
You could cut the tension with a knife during the duo's aforementioned lunch meeting in RHOA's May 18 episode, as they unpacked their issues in an attempt to "possibly salvage" their friendship. Ultimately, Shamea felt Porsha was being "dismissive" of her feelings, though.
As it turns out, Shamea and Porsha first became tight when they were little girls because their mothers — who have since had their own falling out — were also best friends. Shamea brought up that she was "really hurt" that Porsha "pulled back" from the friendship after her mom, Ms. Diane, said she couldn't trust her because "apples don't fall far from the tree." When Porsha denied doing that, Shamea broke the fourth wall.
"If you're not gonna be honest about things that happened off-camera, then why are we doing it?" Shamea asked. "I just told you the other day, I said, 'Porsha, I wish we could be the way we are off camera, on camera.' And you know what you said? 'They would have to pay me more money for that.' Why can't we be that way? Why can't we be how we are off camera, on camera?"
Despite tearfully trying to avoid an argument "for the show," Porsha contended that Shamea was "not allowing" that dynamic to play out.
"You can't put a dollar amount on that," Shamea responded. "I want you to do that because you love me and you enjoy being around me, not because you want to get paid to do it."
"This is scary that this show has caused you to sit here and try to argue with me," Porsha vented, to which Shamea shot back, "This is scary that the show has caused you to not be honest about your feelings. I want the Porsha that's not on camera. … The fact that you have minimized my feelings to be about the show is really unfortunate 'cause it's not about the show for me."
How Shamea Morton and Porsha Williams' friendship conversation ended
Unable to fight back her tears any longer, Porsha excused herself to the restroom, and, upon returning, they got their food to-go and never really dug much deeper into their underlying issues.
"I really hate that you couldn't finish your food and we're leaving here without resolve because I definitely came for that," Shamea said. "So, I’ll just continue to pray for us…"
After Porsha explained that she was "just a little overwhelmed," Shamea admitted to sometimes masking her feelings and handling their friendship "with care" because she knows Porsha is often "in a fragile phase," especially amid her ongoing divorce from Simon Guobadia.
"I don't wanna upset you or, um, bring you more grief, more drama," she told Porsha. "But I also want you to find the bandwidth to care about things that hurt me, and I don't wanna feel like I'm being dismissed."
With her voice breaking, Porsha replied, "I don't wanna break up with you, Shamea. I want us to, like, get past this. I don't want this for us. I'm sorry, OK?"
Shamea returned the apology and after joining hands across the table and vowing to discuss their issues one-on-one moving forward, they exchanged I love you's and hugged it out.
As Porsha summarized in a confessional, "I'm just hoping that we can get back to a better place and move on."
As the two continue to work towards repairing their friendship on RHOA, don't miss how Shamea reacted to Porsha's recent birthday tribute.
