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'RHONY' Season 14: Erin Lichy and Sai De Silva slammed for questioning Jessel Taank's immigrant story

Jessel Taank's stories are seen by Sai De Silva and Brynn Whitfield as analogies to their own challenging upbringings

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Erin Lichy informed Brynn Whitfield on episode 10 of 'The Real Housewives of New York' that Jessel Taank tried to explain to the group yet again that she didn't have the most fortunate background, but no one seemed to believe her.

Right after the episode aired on September 17, viewers turned to social media to criticize Erin, aka the cast's "Michelin star shit-stirrer," for relaying any drama with some creative liberties.

The last episode concluded with all the women going out to supper and Brynn staying in her bed to eat half a package of spaghetti.

This episode begins with Brynn receiving information from Erin regarding what transpired at dinner. Yes, the meal is so dull that fans only get a summary the next day.

Erin claims they addressed Jessel about whether her family helped her get to where she is now.

This follows the previous night's supper, during which she informed the women of her family's expulsion from Kenya before she was born, and how she endured as a poor fashion intern during her first days in New York.

According to the flashbacks, Jessel was saying that her parents paid for her to attend King's College, one of the top ten colleges in England, but they didn't support her relocation to New York, so she had to live with her uncle while interning and making no money.

Jessel, Erin believes, hears Ubah Hassan, Brynn, and Sai De Silva's stories about their terrible upbringings and wants to hear a similar narrative.

Fans despise Erin's decision to become the group's arbitrator of truth and right. Jessel subsequently informs Ubah and Brynn that Erin and Sai had been after her the night before. Jessel claims that Erin believes she is lying when she claims she has no background.

Everyone on the boat talks about it, and Jessel admits that she didn't have much when she went to New York.

She claims to have had $17 in her bank account several times, and Sai claims, "I lived in overdraft. It was always negative $498." Ubah claims that they were all impoverished when they initially arrived in New York; what's the difference?

This is a fight in which fans believe Jessel is correct, the other ladies are correct, and they are all correct in various hues and vagaries.

Jessel's anecdotes are seen by Sai and Brynn as analogies to their own terrible childhoods, but Jessel is merely attempting to share her story in her own unique way.

Granted, she has some intrinsically arrogant overtones, but that's just who she is, and that's why admirers fell in love with her so soon. 

On X, fans wrote, "Sai & Erin are weird. Why does your struggle have to be worse than someone else’s? If that’s what Jessel endured, it’s what she’s sharing, as y’all asked. Why so salty?"

Another person chimed in, "For some reason, Erin and Sai had an assumed perception of Jessel's life, complete with a whole backstory. Now, they're upset because Jessel isn't complying with the backstory that THEY made up for her. It's weird. Lol."

One user further wrote, "Erin and Sai are such lames. All Jessel did was explain her background. I didn’t really get the vibe that she was trying to say “woe is me” at all."

One user tweeted, "Jessel clearly isn’t the one trying to make the comparisons about how she grew up, It’s Erin and particularly Sai trying to turn it into a competition."

Another person added, "Watching Sai and Erin come after Jessel on this boat is pissing me the fuck off. Erin is absolutely projecting her privilege on to Jessel and I’m not sure exactly what Sai’s problem is but Ubah is right, it’s very embarrassing."

Others noted, "I do get the vibe from Jessel that she wants to have more struggle in her story, but Erin and Sai have made it clear that the price of admission in this group is sharing your worst, darkest trauma. So they set this up and then decide that Jessel never measures up."

Who are 'RHONY' star Jessel Taank's uncles?

Max Vadukul, Jessel's famous photographer uncle, was born in 1961 in Nairobi, Kenya, to Indian parents from the early twentieth-century Gujarati diaspora that had migrated to what was then British East Africa.

He went to England at the age of nine, amid the turbulence that followed Kenya's independence and was raised in a working-class district in North London.

Max discovered an idle camera in his house during his elementary school years, abandoned by his father, who worked for Zeiss, the German lens manufacturer.

His desire to become a photographer was born at that time.

Max was discovered at the age of 22 by designer Yohji Yamamoto, who engaged him in numerous major ad campaigns.

His work has appeared in French and Italian Vogue with David Bailey, Paolo Roversi, Deborah Turbeville, Barry Lategan, and Helmut Newton, among others.

Max's extraordinary 39-year career also includes key creative chapters with Vogue Paris, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Égoste, W, Town & Country, and The New Yorker.

In 1996, he took over as The New Yorker's second staff photographer, succeeding Richard Avedon.

Nitin, Max's younger brother, was born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1965. According to The New York Times, he moved to England with his family in 1969.

According to The New York Times, he got his start as an assistant for Ray Massey, an advertising photographer who employed special effects.

He began performing advertising photography projects in Paris, much like his brother, shooting campaigns for Nike and IBM.

He relocated to New York City with his brother in the 1990s.

Nitin married Marianna Morrison, and the pair had two children, Nitin and Aysha, before divorcing.

According to The New York Times, he died in February 2018 at the age of 52 from colon cancer that had spread to his liver.

When did 'RHONY' star Sai De Silva move to New York?

Sai was born in Los Angeles, California, on November 22, 1980. When she was two years old, her family relocated to New York City, where she grew up.

Sai attended Stuyvesant High School, one of New York City's most renowned public high schools.

She was an intelligent student who excelled in both academics and extracurricular activities. She was also interested in fashion and art, and she enjoyed experimenting with various styles and looks.

Sai graduated from high school in 2002 and went on to study marketing and media at New York University. She was a dedicated student who worked part-time and interned at numerous fashion journals and firms while studying.

Sai graduated from college in 2006 and began working as a marketing manager for a clothing firm.

She worked there for four years before deciding in 2010 to pursue her love for blogging and content development. Scout the City began as a pastime and quickly evolved into a full-time company that allowed her to express her creativity and share her lifestyle with the globe.

What does 'RHONY' star Erin Lichy do?

Erin has spent her whole life working in the NYC real estate industry. She started working on a prosperous new development project in Gramercy as soon as she had her undergraduate degree.

Having successfully worked on eight new development projects, she is now a true specialist in the industry thanks to her love for new buildings, which inspired her to acquire her master's degree in sustainable development from NYU two years later.

River Park was awarded the best-selling building in Brooklyn for two years running while Erin served as sales director. Erin has real estate expertise far beyond what is typically known about the market.

Erin has a good eye for what would sell at the highest price point as the creator of an interior design business that specializes in makeovers that respond to market demands and maximize profitability.

She has extensive experience in both development and brokerage due to her family's more than four decades-long involvement in the real estate industry, which strengthens her position.

'The Real Housewives of New York City' airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on Bravo