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Jill Zarin, a name synonymous with the original Real Housewives of New York City (RHONY), has consistently dismissed allegations linking her to the downfall of the highly anticipated RHONY: Legacy. However, Reza Farahan, known for his role in The Valley: Persian Style, suggests a different narrative. During their joint appearance on Prime Video’s The GOAT in 2024, Farahan claims Zarin admitted to being the catalyst for the show’s demise.
The Bravo network’s 2023 reboot of RHONY introduced an entirely new cast, while fans eagerly awaited the return of the original stars in a separate project titled RHONY: Legacy. Unfortunately, the series was scaled back to a season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, reportedly due to unsuccessful contract negotiations. Zarin previously told Page Six in 2023 that the project’s failure was simply fate, denying any involvement and refuting claims she held out for a larger paycheck.
Yet, it appears there might be more to the story than previously disclosed.
This week, Farahan, who starred in Shahs of Sunset, visited DECIDER’s studio and recounted his conversation with Zarin during their stint on The GOAT. Alongside Kristen Doute, a former star of Vanderpump Rules, Farahan shared that Zarin admitted her demands for a salary comparable to co-star Luann de Lesseps were a stumbling block for Legacy.
“While we were filming The GOAT, Jill confided in me that her insistence on equal pay to Luann was the reason Legacy crumbled,” Farahan explained. “According to her, the network’s reluctance to meet her demands led to the project’s collapse.”
Per Farahan, Zarin is “one of those people who cannot get out of her own way.” Case in point, the reality star was just dropped from E!’s upcoming RHONY reboot, The Golden Life, over her controversial rant about Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance. In a since-deleted social media video, Zarin complained about the show’s lack of “white people,” and that she couldn’t understand Bad Bunny’s Spanish lyrics, calling the performance “inappropriate.”
Following backlash to the video, Blink49 Studios, the production company behind The Golden Life, announced that Zarin would no longer appear in the show alongside fellow OGs de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer, and Kelly Bensimon, who are slated to start filming in the spring.
“It’s ironic now that she got in her own way, and she kind of wrote herself off the show before it ever started,” Farahan said. “It’s just the lesson, like there was no reason for [the video]. It was hateful. It seemed angry. I understand why people were so upset with it. I hope that it’s a lesson for other people that if you have a controversial opinion or something negative to say, sometimes it’s just better to keep it on the inside.”
Farahan compared Zarin’s situation to that of his former co-star, Mike Shouhed, who was not brought back to The Valley: Persian Style after a series of domestic violence allegations.
“Mike, when The Valley: Persian Style came out, he started posting agitated things like, ‘OGs can’t be duplicated.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Jill is going to have to now sit and watch this new show that she was going to be a part of,’” Farahan said. “It would be very hard for me. I would have to move to a foreign country that doesn’t get Housewives over there. People wouldn’t know, I would start my life over in a new country.”
But, as Farahan noted, “Maybe now they’ll bring Dorinda [Medley].”
The Valley: Persian Style airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.