Kim Richards’ Arrest: Did Watching The ‘RHOBH’ Reunion Send Reality TV Star Over The Edge?

Kim Richards had a lot on her plate leading up to her arrest for public drunkenness on Thursday. Sources close to the reality TV star say watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion show was what caused her to relapse.

As fans saw during the fifth season of RHOBH, Kim had a variety of issues she was trying to deal with throughout the entire season. In addition to taking care of her terminally ill ex-husband, trying to plan her daughter’s wedding, and being under financial stress, she was dealing with a deteriorating relationship with her sister Kyle Richards. As the Inquisitr previously reported, Kim Richards was served last month in the dog attack lawsuit brought by a family friend who alleges Kim’s dog, Kingsley, bit her.

TMZ reports a source close to Kim and sources connected to the show as saying that the reality TV star was struggling to cope with all the issues going on in her life, but what triggered her relapse that led to her arrest at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday was her binge watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion show. The third, and final, episode of the reunion aired Tuesday, April 14, two days before her arrest.

“Kim went to Brooke’s house, where they watched the 3-part reunion. Kim had put it off because it was too upsetting, but she had to binge watch in order to fulfill her obligation to blog about the shows. And reliving what went down crushed her.”

Kim then left her daughter’s house and ended up alone at the Polo Lounge.

The sources tell TMZ that Kim has been particularly upset with Lisa Vanderpump and Lisa Rinna, who, she claims, “intentionally drove a wedge” between the Richards’ sisters. During the three-part Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion, Lisa V. urged the two to settle their issues. Kim claims that was not her co-star’s stance behind the scenes. In fact, Richards alleges that off camera, Vanderpump is the one who told Kyle that Kim did not want her at Brooke’s wedding. On the first part of the reunion, Kyle Richards did accuse her sister of not wanting her to attend the wedding, but Kyle did not reveal the source of that information.

Lisa Rinna’s relentless questioning of Kim Richards’ sobriety, or lack thereof, throughout the entire fifth season of RHOBH also brought unwanted attention to the reality TV star’s struggle with addiction. Although Kim Richards maintained throughout the reunion that she has been sober for three years, her arrest calls into question whether Kim was suffering a relapse during filming, as Lisa R. believed.

As E! Online reports, Kim Richards was arrested around 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She was described as “belligerent with slurred speech and reeking of a strong odor of alcohol.” After being taken to the Beverly Hills Police Station for booking, she allegedly kicked a police officer. She was charged with public intoxication, battery on a police officer, trespassing, and resisting an officer.

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