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'RHONY' Season 13: Eboni K Williams to be 1st Black housewife, fans say Ramona will ‘chew up’ young TV host

Ramona Singer allegedly seems to be having a tough time with new cast members coming in and several fans expect she's going to clash with Williams because of their age differences and politics

On Thursday, October 8, journalist, TV host, attorney, and author Eboni K. Williams joined the cast of ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’ for its upcoming 13th season, news reports indicated. Williams will appear in the new season, alongside Leah McSweeney (who joined last season), and veterans Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer, and Sonja Morgan. She is, reportedly, the Bravo reality show’s first Black housewife.

“NYC is filled with successful and dynamic Black women. I’m excited to join this legendary franchise as the first Black housewife,” Williams said in a statement. “Can’t wait to share a slice of life in this city that hasn’t been seen before. Anyone who’s aware of my work knows I don’t hold back. I’m going to keep it just as real here as I do everywhere else.”

Williams, who is currently the host and executive producer of ‘Revolt Black News’, graduated with a law degree from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. As a journalist, she became a CBS News correspondent in 2014 and later joined Fox News, appearing on shows such as ‘Hannity’, ‘Fox News Specialists’, and more. In 2017, she authored ‘Pretty Powerful: Appearance, Substance, and Success’.

While Williams joining ‘RHONY’ has been taken well by fans, especially considering that the reality show is trying to be more diverse (or at least as diverse as its other variants on Bravo), there were some concerns raised by fans. On the show’s Instagram page, where the announcement was also made, a fan commented, “How is she connected to the cast? The rest are/were friends off the show so they have a natural bond which makes NY the best franchise.”

But this doesn’t seem to be the only concern. One fan of the reality show commented on Instagram, “Too young. Ramona will chew her up and spit her out lol,” adding further comments, “It’s the age for me, Ramona feels threatened by younger ladies.” On Twitter as well, a fan raised a similar concern. The fan wrote, “Eboni Williams looks fabulous and I hope she brings it. However, she's 37 years old. If they wanna bring younger housewives every season, then they need to get rid of Ramona, who's a great asset to #RHONY, but also almost 30 years older than Eboni and Leah. It doesn't make sense.” While another fan contended, “This is going to be a series of epic proportions... Eboni will take none of Sonja's drunk BS and Ramona's self-entitlement will be shut down and I will be sat here clapping all the livelong day!!!” 

One fan of the show said, “I can already see Eboni reading Ramona for filth and I’m here for it.” Another fan said, “I have no idea who she is, but I'm already pre-stanning Eboni K Williams. Congratulations on scoring an apple. #rhony. I already know Ramona will not like her, an extra incentive. Bring it on!”

The Sun reported on Wednesday that an insider on the show alleged that "Ramona seems to be having a tough time with someone new coming in since she’s an OG, but they’ve known each other for years and years. That’ll be an interesting dynamic to watch this season. The ladies will start filming with one another this month."

Fans of the show also called Ramona racist and wondered how this new addition would work. One fan wrote on Twitter, “So at what episode will Ramona do something racist to Eboni this coming season?” Another fan said, “And then you’re going to put Ramona’s Trump-loving a** with Eboni!??? Her name probably gives Ramona Singer hives.”

The reason Ramona is being called racist is that back at the end of May when the killing of George Floyd triggered Black Lives Matter protests across the country, the ‘RHONY’ star was called out on Instagram for not raising her voice in support of Black Lives Matter. In response to the follower, she wrote, “All lives matter,” which led to further flak. Days later she apologized and said that her daughter Avery was helping her understand the protests.

Ramona has also cultivated a personality that doesn’t endear her to a lot of fans (and cast members). In season 12, Leah called Ramona an "evil stepmother”, making it clear what she thought of the senior housewife. She has also a history of bad behavior with her other fellow housewives, including making ill-conceived comments on mental health, throwing wine glasses at others, and having a particularly nasty comment on Aviva Drescher talking about her prosthetic leg -- “Does she bring this half-limb to the store?”.

It’ll be fun to see how this new addition changes the dynamics of the show. Whether it is for the better or for the worse, only time will tell.