For ages, now, Tamra Judge and Vicki Gunvalson of The Real Housewives of Orange County have been playing a proverbial game of cat-and-also-cat.
Their feud makes for great television (well, okay television), but it has to be toxic to both of their lives. Some of their costars have tried to mediate, and many think that they should put the past in the past and try to rekindle their former friendship.
But Tamra Judge says that it won’t happen.
In a new interview with People Now, Tamra Judge says she isn’t interested in mending fences with Vicki Gunvalson.
“She’s done too much damage to me.”
Just recently, Vicki Gunvalson blindsided Tamra Judge by playing a diss track of her on The Real Housewives of Orange County.
But that’s only one of many jabs that she’s made at her former friend.
The two have had a lasting power struggle for airtime …
… We mean, “popularity” …
… On The Real Housewives of Orange County, and it’s turned their friendship into a bitter feud.
“Personally, she has no boundaries and so that’s where you’re like, ‘Is that the kind of friend I want?”
That makes sense.
Everybody has lines and, once you cross them, there’s usually no going back.
Unfortunately, Tamra used that same interview to put her foot in her mouth.
Like, fair warning, she’s about to get homophobic:
“She was spreading rumors about Eddie saying that Eddie is gay — it’s disgusting.”
This isn’t the first time that Tamra Judge has denied that her husband is gay, but the issue isn’t that she’s denying a rumor.
The issue is the use of the word “disgusting.”
Her language is a little ambiguous, but she sure doesn’t make it clear that she’s saying that rumor-spreading is disgusting.
In fact, it sounds like she’s saying that gay people are disgusting.
“It’s not true for one, but it’s still very hurtful. Why spread that around?”
It’s clear that Vicki is spreading it around because it bothers Tamra so much.
As we all learned when we were, like, 8 years old, if it doesn’t bother you, the bully will get bored and move on to something else.
“She’s like, ‘It’s just a rumor, why do you care?’”
That’s a good question — though, obviously, any sort of rumor can be annoying.
“And it’s like, ‘You’re validating it, you’re spreading it, and you’ve never once come up to me about it.’”
Here’s an example of a non-homophobic way for Tamra to have phrased this:
I hate that Vicki Gunvalson keeps repeating the rumor that my husband, Eddie, is gay. Eddie isn’t gay, but rumors cause problems. More to the point, does Vicki really think that calling someone gay is an insult? It’s 2017 and she needs to grow up.
Something like that.
Not everything that Tamra has to say is casually offensive to countless millions of Americans, thankfully.
“She makes up stories about her own life, she fakes cancer.”
Tamra is referring to when Vicki’s ex Brooks Ayers fabricated medical documents to “prove” cancer, which is part of what might be the weirdest thing to ever have happened on any Real Housewives show.
“If someone lies about their own life they’re going to lie about your life too.”
That’s true.
Some people lie with purpose.
Some people lie compulsively, with little or nothing to gain.
In either case, it can be very habit-forming.
And Tamra says that the whole of her experience with Vicki has just been a dealbreaker on what was once a friendship.
“So I have no desire [to be friends]. It’s just such a negative thing.”
You don’t need toxicity in your life, right?
And Tamra says that her husband agrees.
“Eddie has no time for bulls—, so when it comes to Vicki, he doesn’t want anything to do with her.”
We can almost hear Vicki replying: Of course he doesn’t want anything to do with me; he’s gay!
Or something like that.
No, but really, Eddie’s smart to want nothing to do with anyone who would spread rumors about him.
“He thinks she’s trash.”
That’s fair.
These ladies are so immature.
Exchanging barbs like they do was something that everyone we knew had outgrown before high school.
But it’s perfectly suited for reality show drama.
The Real Housewives of Orange County has been around forever, and this sort of nonsense like what’s going on between Tamra and Vicki is part of that success.
We do hope that Tamra apologizes for her phrasing, though.
Bigotry makes it awfully hard to feel sorry for someone.