‘Real Housewives Of Dallas’ Star Brandi Redmond Faces Backlash For Offensive Video Mocking Asians
Brandi Redmond is facing some intense backlash after an old video recently resurfaced, showing the Real Housewives of Dallas star mocking Asian people with a fake accent and squinting her eyes.
According to NBC News, the video was originally posted on Redmond’s Instagram account in her stories in 2017. In it, she speaks in her version of an Asian accent while pinching her eyes at the camera.
“They ask me what Asian I am because of my eyes, they squinty,” she says. “But I have a new hairdo!”
Two of Redmond’s kids appear in the background as she plays with her hair and speaks to the camera.
The video was brought back into the spotlight by Steve Kemble, who helped fellow castmate LeeAnne Locken plan her wedding. He has appeared on the show, though he isn’t a regular cast member. Kemble posted the video in order to defend Locken, who has recently faced charges of racism herself from Redmond.
Redmond’s video was met with backlash, with several prominent Asian Americans criticizing the reality star for her behavior.
“I didn’t want to bring this up but I have so many childhood memories of kids making slanty eyes and mocking me or calling us rice pickers which made me ashamed to be Chinese,” said Tina Craig, who runs the site Bag Snob. “I hope by speaking out against this behavior, young Asians today won’t feel ashamed to be who they are and Caucasians would think twice before making ‘harmless jokes.'”
Others said that her accent was stereotyping a culture and was hurtful. Another pointed out that mocking a culture is different than mocking yourself, which Redmond argued she was doing.
“But you’re using an entire culture as the punchline in the ‘joke’ about yourself. It’s awful and massively offensive,” wrote one person.
All About the Tea reports that Redmond attempted to address the controversy on her Twitter account in a series of now-deleted tweets. Initially, she tagged Saturday Night Live in a tweet, saying that she has always dreamed of appearing on the show and that she was attempting to be humorous and not hurtful.
Redmond made an attempt at an apology, saying that she felt sorry if people thought she was being racist. She said that the video was taken out of context and was apologetic if anyone was offended by her attempt at humor.
The reality star has been focused on raising her family after adopting a baby boy last year, and viewers have been watching her parenting struggles. They’ve also watched the drama between herself and the other cast members on the fourth season of the show, which concludes this week.
