Melissa Etheridge Reveals All on the Drama at Dorit Kemsley’s Charity Event

Melissa Etheridge’s performance at Dorit Kemsley’s Homeless Not Toothless charity gala helped The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast achieve a peaceful reconciliation after an evening spent arguing — namely, Lisa Rinna and Sutton Stracke — but it turns out the singer-songwriter wasn’t exactly feeling zen herself.

Why? As Melissa revealed during a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, she could actually hear all the drama playing out. “The dinner table was below, and I was above them on this balcony,” she recalled. “They couldn’t see me.”

Melissa, meanwhile, had a front-row seat to Sutton and Lisa (loudly!) arguing over the Elton John Oscars party drama, as well as the validity of Sutton’s apology to Lisa’s husband, Harry Hamlin. As Crystal Kung Minkoff put it at the time, “We’re not alone! There’s other people here, including my friends, who are totally freaking out and texting me, ‘What the f--k is going on?’”

Dorit Kemsley Reflects on the “So Intense” Energy at Her Charity Gala

Melissa wasn’t sure either, but she told Andy she was “hiding” while waiting to perform for “half an hour at least.” Thankfully, overhearing the argument didn’t affect her performance. 

The drama may have affected how Melissa feels about Lisa though. “I knew Rinna like 20 years ago,” she said, admitting she was “surprised” to witness what she did. “We actually didn’t talk there. It was weird. That was a little strange, because we were good friends about 20 years ago.”

Hear more from Melissa about the charity event by pressing play on the WWHL clip above.

Watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Bravo Wednesdays at 8/7c and the next day on Peacock. Catch up on the Bravo app.