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Bravo seems to be in damage control mode once again following controversial remarks by Jeff Lewis. The incident occurred during the “Ask Andy” panel at BravoCon on Friday, November 14, where Lewis made an ill-judged joke about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a critical resource providing food assistance to low-income families.
As Andy Cohen was poised to respond to a question, Lewis interjected with, “Didn’t her food benefits just get frozen?” This comment alluded to the government shutdown’s impact on SNAP benefits, leaving many families temporarily without crucial aid. Cohen, however, swiftly redirected the focus, defending Garcia by praising her contribution to the latest season of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City as one of the best, emphasizing that the season’s success was largely due to her presence.
Per TikTok videos captured by attendees, Lewis can be heard asking Cohen about the type of women who get cast on Real Housewives. “You’ve brought in women that are not as affluent. I’m just curious, [about] why you needed to put that original…like Monica Garcia, for example,” he said, referring to the former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, who famously cried over purchasing a Louis Vuitton bag to fit in with her wealthier co-stars.
Garcia, choosing not to stay silent, addressed the situation through social media. She expressed her frustration with Lewis, who was attending BravoCon to promote his new show, Still Flipping Out. In her Instagram Story, Garcia articulated her anger, highlighting the insensitivity of Lewis’s comment given the hardships faced by many American families, including single parents and the elderly, due to the SNAP situation.
“Let me be so clear, I have so much said about me that I let slide and don’t care to acknowledge, but considering what so many families, single moms, elderly, and Americans have been and are dealing with lately in relation to this situation, this is HORRIBLE,” Garcia wrote, before directly addressing Lewis with, “F*ck you. You are F*CKING TRASH for this!!!!!! Elitist, entitled, privileged, PRICK.”
“Let me be so clear, I have so much said about me that I let slide and don’t care to acknowledge, but considering what so many families, single moms, elderly, and Americans have been and are dealing with lately in relation to this situation, this is HORRIBLE,” she wrote on her Instagram Story, before telling Lewis, “F*ck you. You are F*CKING TRASH for this!!!!!! Elitist, entitled, privileged, PRICK.”
Bravo fans were also frustrated with Lewis’ distasteful joke.
“You have to be one miserable human being to find humor in a single mom’s food stamps being frozen,” one wrote, while another added, “Oh that’s nasty. You don’t have to like her and many don’t. But she’s a single mother. That’s nothing to take pleasure in.”
A third person said, “Food benefits jokes in the same month a lot of Bravo viewers didn’t get theirs because of the gov’t shutdown. SO classy! Jeff Lewis is too messy to be a main Bravo commentator, the network gives him too much leeway.”
Someone else wrote, “I didn’t like Monica, but this should really be taken seriously. This shouldn’t be brushed off and Jeff Lewis should have NOTHING to do with Bravo anymore. There are single parents and low income families that do everything they can to have a meal for their kids.”
The joke clearly didn’t land well with those in charge at Bravo, since it was seemingly removed from the version of “Ask Andy” that’s currently streaming on Peacock, per Parade. Lewis also told Us Weekly that he apologized to Cohen for making the insensitive comment.
“I have apologized,” he said. “Look, I know the guy. We’ve known each other for 18 years. He vents and, look, I sincerely did apologize. Now I gotta give him time to cool off. My experience with him, he’ll get back to me in one to three weeks.”