Caroline Manzo is suing Bravo and the producers of “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” over an alleged sexual harassment incident involving co-star Brandi Glanville.
The former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court on Friday, alleging that Glanville sexually assaulted and harassed Manzo during filming of an upcoming season of “Ultimate Girls Trip” in Morocco in January 2023, according to a legal filing obtained by USA TODAY.
Manzo accuses the show's producers of hiring Glanville as a performer despite being “overwhelmingly informed in advance of Ms. Glanville's past deviant sexual proclivities and sexually harassing behavior.”
In addition to Bravo, the defendants named in the lawsuit include Warner Bros. Entertainment and NBCUniversal Media. USA TODAY has reached out to company representatives for comment.
In a statement to USA TODAY on Friday, Manzo's attorney, Derek Smith, said, “We believe this case is about the networks selfishly sacrificing the well-being of their talent for ratings and profit.” Brandi Glanville said she simply did, do what the producers told her to do.
“Reality TV causes severe emotional and physical harm to its talents. That has to stop. We are outraged by the behavior of Bravo, Peacock and NBC and look forward to the matter being decided by a jury. Sexual harassment should never be entertainment!”
What else does Caroline Manzo's lawsuit against Bravo allege?
The lawsuit alleges that Glanville kissed Manzo multiple times without her consent, which made the former New Jersey housewife “uncomfortable” during filming.
USA Today has reached out to Glanville's manager for comment.
The “Manzo'd with Children” matriarch said that after the first kissing incident, Granville mounted Manzo on the couch and held her body before forcefully kissing and fucking her. The lawsuit says Manzo was sexually abused as a 7-year-old and that Glanville's alleged sexual assault “immediately brought all of those dormant and terrible memories back to the surface.”
“Manzo felt like a seven-year-old again and began reliving her previous sexual assaults in the context of this sexual assault. She was in a state of shock,” the lawsuit states. “The defendants filmed the plaintiff the entire time, even though she was very distressed by the sexual assault.”
Manzo's lawsuit says that shortly after the alleged incidents, she spoke to producers about the assaults and also received “help” to ease her “emotional distress” from “Girls Trip” co-star Alex McCord, the psychologist who previously Starred in “New York” Leaving Reality TV. Manzo said the network prioritized filming over her safety.
“Despite the fact that Manzo was so emotionally distraught and despite the fact that Manzo asked not to be near Granville, the defendants still wanted Manzo to meet with Granville. “The defendants were more focused on continuing the show than on the health and well-being of Manzo after she was sexually abused,” the lawsuit says.
Who was in the cast of Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip?
Manzo was an original cast member and breakout star on “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” where she starred for five seasons before landing a Bravo spinoff about her family, “Manzo'd with Children,” which runs three Aired for seasons. Glanville appeared in four seasons of “Beverly Hills” before being fired by Bravo. She later guest-starred in several seasons of the series, but never fully returned to the series.
In addition to Glanville, Manzo and McCord, Peacock announced in January 2023 that former “Orange County” housewives Vicki Gunvalson and Gretchen Rossi, former “Atlanta” peach keepers Eva Marcille and Phaedra Parks, and Glanville's frenemy Camille Grammer Meyer are also joining the cast would pour.
Each Girls Trip season features a cast of former and current Housewives, hand-picked by Bravo executives, who travel to far-flung destinations to engage in brawls, drama and intimate conversations about their respective personal lives. The Morocco season has not yet aired.
If you are a victim of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE & online.rainn.org).
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Contributor: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY