Where Do Charrisse Jackson Jordan and Gizelle Bryant Stand After That Cease and Desist Letter?
The #RHOP ladies explain the real root of their fierce fallout.
This season of The Real Housewives of Potomac has only just begun, and a major feud is already in full swing. Charrisse Jackson Jordan and Gizelle Bryant kicked off this season with a shade-filled spat outside of Ashley Darby's Manifest Your Destiny charity dance competition.
Both ladies were still feeling pretty salty about what went down last season, with Gizelle accusing Charrisse of calling her a "whore" at the reunion and Charrisse very upset with Gizelle for alleging that she and her husband Eddie Jordan had both been unfaithful while they were still married on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen last April.
Gizelle said that things between the two were as bad as they seemed before the start of this season of RHOP. "It was horrible. It was absolutely horrible. She, I felt like, was intentionally trying to hurt me. I wasn't trying to intentionally hurt her; I was just speaking her truth, which I should've allowed her to speak," Gizelle recently told The Daily Dish. "It was as bad as it could be between us. We're still trying to dig ourselves out of that hole."
Charrisse still maintains today that she didn't actually call Gizelle a "whore," telling The Daily Dish, "but what I said was, 'I could call you a whore,' because of the things that she says about herself." She also said that she is "still not pleased" about Gizelle's comments and denies her claims. Charrisse said that she never discussed anything of the sort about her marriage with Gizelle, and that Gizelle doesn't even know Eddie. "It wasn't something I shared with her; it was a blatant lie," Charrisse said. "But I understand how this works now. Some people will say and do anything, and she's one of them."
Gizelle explained that her comments on WWHL were in response to host Andy Cohen asking for her reaction to the reunion bombshell that Charrisse's husband, Eddie, had not spoken to her since Season 1 began airing. "We all kind of sat there at the reunion like, 'OK,' because we know that. I just talked about what her husband told to me," she explained. "Was that right? No. Should Charrisse tell her own life's business? Absolutely. So I have apologized. Now, am I saying it's not true? I'm not saying that."
Charrisse ended up sending Gizelle a cease and desist letter over her comments, as we discovered in the RHOP season premiere. "I didn't think it was extreme. If someone is publicly defaming your character, I mean for her to take a stand and go out and make a statement like that, to me that was what the issue was. I just wanted it to stop," Charrisse explained. "And I realized the type of person that I'm dealing with. So that's why I [sent a] cease and desist, because she was spreading false lies about me. For her to do that, there was no way to resolve that rationally."
When Gizelle received the cease and desist letter, she said she "thought it was absolutely hilarious." "I would have rather her say to me, 'Hey, Gizelle, that's not true.' And I would have realized, 'Hey, my bad.' But she sent me a cease and desist, like don't ever talk about that?" Gizelle said with a laugh. "OK. I just felt like it was funny, and if she wants to get a lawyer, to waste her money creating a cease and desist letter, have at it."
Gizelle said she thinks Charrisse took that measure "because she didn't know what else to do" and "because she's not ready to deal with whatever's going on in her life, publicly."
After everything that's been said and done, Charrisse said that she doesn't think she can trust Gizelle again. "She's just not friend material," she said. "When you stoop to that level to do something like that, I don't think many people would welcome you back and embrace your friendship, because now you're sitting, waiting, 'What else is she gonna do?' And with her, it's always gonna be something."
But Gizelle is more optimistic that they can one day get back on track. "Well, we're trying. All we can do at the end of this is talk about it," she said. "That's what I would have rather happened, as opposed to her sending me a letter. I would have preferred for her to pick up the phone and call me."
Gizelle also has an idea of what it would take to start repairing this friendship. "Probably, Champagne is involved. We just need to sit down and hash it out, just me and her," she said. "And drinks."
Relive Charrisse and Gizelle's drama from last season, below.
