"Vanderpump Rules" reality star Stassi Schroeder issues a public apology after she was criticized for allegedly bashing the #metoo campaign through her podcast "Straight Up with Stassi."
In the since-deleted episode, titled "Are We on a Male Witch Hunt?," Schroeder appeared to be censuring the many victims of sexual harassment, who have started coming out with their own stories following the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
The TV personality was accused of generalizing the people who joined the #metoo campaign, causing advertisers to pull out from her podcast. According to E! News, Rent the Runway and Simple Contacts have announced last week that they are cutting ties with the "Vanderpump Rules" star.
In light of the apparent backlash, Schroeder has issued a series of apologies via Twitter.
Daily Mail UK was able to record a now-deleted tweet, where she said "Hold up. There is ZERO bashing" in her podcast episode. She added that she had all "the best intentions," and her statements were misinterpreted.
This was followed by a longer post, where she explained that her podcast is an outlet to "share her unfiltered opinion," but admitted that she has crossed a line with her comments.
"It was irresponsible for me to make generalized statements about a very serious topic, such as sexual harassment, as it is not my place to speak about anyone else's experiences. I apologize," she said in the post. Schroeder also promised to "put more thought behind my dialogue moving forward."
The 29-year-old "Vanderpump Rules" star explained to Daily Mail that she did not mean to call anyone a liar and that her comments were taken out of context. "Every 10 minutes in the episode I said "this is about the victims, I want this to be all about the victims," she shared.
In another Twitter post, Schroeder said those 24 hours "have been sobering." She also encouraged both victims of sexual harassment, as well as those who are wrongly accused, to share their stories through her podcast.
