Garcelle Beauvais Says RHOBH Co-Star Sutton Stracke ‘Misunderstood’ After Racially Charged Conversation

Garcelle Beauvais has had her own experiences with racially charged moments as a cast-member on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” but the reality star nevertheless voiced her support for co-star Sutton Stracke after her own experience.

Sutton got into it with new cast-member Crystal Kung Minkoff, who is of Asian descent, on a recent episode of the reality series, pushing back against Crystal’s share about the types of stereotyping she’s experienced due to her ethnic heritage.

Sutton’s pushback, though, was an absolutely horrible argument, with her insisting that she’s also faced stereotypes as a white woman from Georgia. And she said this seriously, as if there was any comparison to those experiences.

“Are you one of those people that says you don’t see color?” Crystal asked her after this shocking interruption. Crystal struggled to get Sutton to see and understand how dismissive and potentially harmful her false equivalency was, but Sutton has since apologized and Garcelle believes she’s just “misunderstood.”

“Sutton is not a racist,” Garcelle told Hollywood Life. “Nobody on the show is a racist.”

Garcelle further said that with lack of sleep, busy production schedules and free-flowing alcohol, it’s not uncommon for the ladies to start talking over one another. And when it happens, it’s never about dismissing that person’s experience.

“I don’t think she was trying to take anything away from Crystal’s story,” Garcelle said. “Sometimes you want to tell your story too and you might talk over a friend and I think people can be really hard and she owned up to what people were saying in terms of her interrupting Crystal. She didn’t mean any harm.”

In her apology, Sutton admitted “it was disrespectful to interupt her and not listen to her express her truth.”

She then took it a step further by saying she is “committed to become a better listener to understand the painful realities experienced by people of color.” She closed by writing, “I am sorry. I will do better and be better.”

In a lengthy comment to Sutton’s apology, Crystal thanked her for her words. “Your apology means a lot to me, and I’m sure it means a lot to many others with similar lived experiences,” she wrote.

“Asian Americans are often expected not to share their opinions, but despite this stereotype, I believe that everyone deserves to be heard,” she continued. “I consciously re-wired myself to be outspoken and share my feelings whenever possible and I encourage my children to do the same.”

“Now that my platform has grown, I feel I have a duty to speak up for others who don’t yet feel safe using their own voices,” she continued. “Listening to one another and validating our different experiences and perspectives are how we will all grow as individuals, and as a society. Thank you for that commitment, Sutton.”