Some past Potomac drama is far from finished, in part because someone says she’s still owed an apology.
Candiace Dillard-Bassett is speaking out following Monique Samuels’ recent appearance on the Dec. 2 episode of the Lip Service podcast with Angela Yee, where Monique claimed she apologized to her five years ago at The Real Housewives of Potomac reunion and had since “moved on” from their winery fight. But the comment didn’t sit well with the new mom, who believes “that girl” [Monique] lacks relevance unless it involves her.
Candiace Dillard-Bassett reacts to Monique Samuels’ comments on Lip Service
On the Dec. 10 episode of her Undomesticated podcast, the “I See You” singer told co-host Michael Arceneaux that she did not recall receiving any sincere apology from Monique following the pair’s fist-flying Shiraz skirmish in 2019.
“I have PTSD from the entire experience, so it’s possible that I could be misremembering, but I do not recall ever receiving an apology from that girl,” the Bravo alum, who exited RHOP after Season 8, said at the 49:39 minute mark. “I mean, and I see a lot of clips of her talking about how she was unhealed, I’m like paraphrasing, and much of her behavior was because she was an unhealed girl, which, okay, child. We all got pain. We all got some healing to do and therapy to do, but it all just reeks to me of like skirting around real accountability, mostly because… if you wanted to apologize to me, you would have, and could have called me directly.”
Candiace suggested Monique may have delivered a performative, camera-ready apology to save face, calling it “a crack of sh-t.”
“When you inflict real-life pain on people and real-life trauma on people, you need to offer a real-life apology that does not need to involve cameras,” the star added. “So it’s just all these conversations about me or that involve me, or are me adjacent…I don’t consider it as remorse or apologetic. And I also think it’s cute, because I don’t really see her out in the public much speaking, unless she is talking about me. So what does that say about your relevance or lack thereof?”
Whether the two ever reconciled privately remains unclear. But Monique did, in fact, offer Candiace an on-camera apology during the #RHOP 2020 reunion. In part three of the finale, Monique explained why their 2019 altercation escalated into physical violence—and ultimately legal charges that were later dismissed. She said Candiace allegedly putting her hand in her face during the fight triggered traumatic childhood memories, adding that the fight was “not about” her. Monique broke down after maintaining an emotional wall throughout the taping.
“[Candiace] took me back to a place when I was a child and I could not stand up to my dad and say, ‘get your hand out my face.’ That’s why everything happened the way it happened,” Monique told Candiace at the time. “I take full responsibility for my part and my actions in the altercation — that fight wasn’t about you. Nothing that you said or did in that moment warranted the response that you received. I offer you my apology, and I’m sorry for the pain that you are still going through and the fact that you still haven’t healed from it, and I hope that you are able to heal and move forward.”
Monique Samuels doubles down: She and Candiace were never friends
While Monique has yet to respond to Candiace’s latest comments, she recently doubled down on her stance during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. The Bravolebrity—who returned to #RHOP this season as a friend of the show—claimed she had “no relationship” with Candiace, ever, a point she reiterated during a recent fan Q&A.
“I didn’t misspeak. Exactly what I said is what I meant,” said Monique when asked if she regretted the comment. “In order to have a relationship with one, it requires two people partaking in a relationship in a very reciprocated, equal manner, so no, there wasn’t a relationship.”
She continued, “If you’re trying to create a friendship with someone and they’re not reciprocating, then no, that’s not a relationship. And that’s why I stopped using the word friends so much, because I feel like, as a society, we use it way too loosely. We think we got so many relationships, and we really don’t. We up in friendships by ourselves.”
Asked whether she could co-exist with Candiace if she ever returned to #RHOP, Monique was clear:
“I can definitely co-exist with anybody… Now, do I have to be friends with everybody? Absolutely not. Do things have to be reconciled and rekindled? No.”
Candiace Dillard Bassett on returning to RHOP
Candiace also addressed whether she’d ever return to RHOP during an interview with The Reality Rundown on the red carpet at Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea Awards. She said she’s leaving that decision up to timing and faith.
“If I need to bargain to be somewhere, I don’t need to be there. And if I need to be there, I want to be there. There’s no living or dead soul that is going to preclude me from being there. So I am where I am right now. If and when the time comes, and the Lord says it’s time to go back, I follow Jesus, as you know, I come from him,” she said.
For now, her priorities rest elsewhere.
“There are so many other things that I am excited about, that I’m working on so many projects that need my attention, and a whole baby and a whole husband and a mom, there’s a lot of people in this camp that need my attention, and so I’m not hurting or missing anything at this time. But you know, I come from there. That is, that’s where I got started for so many of you who’ve gotten to know me. I’m grateful for the platform. It will always have a special place in my heart. And if I go back, I go back.”
Do you think Monique Samuels and Candiace Dillard-Bassett will ever make amends?
