We independently selected these deals and products because we love them, and we think you might like them at these prices. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may get a commission if you...Former RuPaul’s Drag Race runners Eureka O’Hara, Bob the Drag Queen (Purse First, please), and Shangela are followed in the popular HBO program We’re Here. They’re packed with things that sparkle, more clothes than I’ve ever owned, and a healthy dose of love.
The show’s premise transforms small communities into “one night only” drag events. It also educates folks on different avenues of having fun. Unfortunately, a previous crew member has claimed Shangela allegedly sexually assaulted him. Shangela, government name, Darius Jeremy “DJ” Pierce, denies any wrongdoing. Deadline has the details.
Daniel McGarrigle filed a lawsuit against DJ with quite a list of allegations. They include sexual harassment, sexual assault, gender violence, and false imprisonment. Daniel said the incident occurred after a wrap party in February 2020.
The complaint states DJ plied Daniel with alcohol during a party at an LA bar. Daniel said DJ asked him to assist with packing for a flight the morning in his hotel room. The lawsuit further advises Daniel “did not drink often” and started puking all over the hotel room. At that time DJ suggested he lie down – ALLEGEDLY.
The civil suit lists the plaintiff woke up at some point and “felt Pierce on the lower half of his body” allegedly attempting to perform a sexual act. Daniel claims he screamed “No!” But “felt extremely weak.” He also said, “fear overcame him during the sexual assault.”
Legal docs also included “Pierce was aggressive physically and verbally, telling McGarrigle, ‘I know you want it, and you’re going to take it.’” Daniel did not report the alleged ordeal straight away because he was afraid of losing his paycheck. He apparently wished to maintain “a cordial relationship with Pierce.”
According to Daniel, DJ “had always been flirtatious and inappropriate with Plaintiff, who just dealt with it as part of the job.” He resigned from the job in July 2021 after “incessant flirting and touching by Pierce were extremely distressing, affecting his daily work activities.”
“I can’t begin to explain how hurt and disgusted I am by these totally untrue allegations. They are personally offensive and perpetuate damaging stereotypes that are harmful not only to me but also to my entire community. An external investigation into this embittered individual’s claims previously concluded that they were completely without merit. This newest filing is nothing but an attempt to shake down both me and a well-regarded television company. No one should be fooled: It has no basis in fact or in law, and it will not succeed.”
The production company behind We’re Here, Buckingham Television, is also named in the suit as a defendant. They are on the hook for “failure to prevent sexual assault,” among other serious charges. Daniel is requesting unspecified punitive damages, lawyer fees, and other compensation that is not detailed.
“Buckingham Television, the production company for We’re Here, received a complaint late summer 2021 regarding an incident that was alleged to have occurred in early 2020. Buckingham and HBO take the safety and well-being of personnel on our shows very seriously, and Buckingham immediately launched an investigation. The investigation concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support these allegations.”
Hopefully all of this mess is cleaned soon, and truth prevails.
The post RuPaul’s Drag Race Star Shangela Accused of Rape, Denies All Allegations appeared first on Reality Tea.
Former Bachelorette alum Josh Seiter has found love. Despite his recent drama with former flame Karine Martins, the reality TV star is moving on up. He told us all about making it official with his new partner, Katrina, after enjoying an on-off dating relationship for the past few months.
Despite their unconventional way of meeting – Josh was performing as a stripper at a Bachelorette party – love’s been on the brain for Josh for quite some time. “We spent Valentine’s together,” he shared, “but she was doing the whole traveling nurse thing and applying to medical school at the time, which made it hard to find time for one another.”
Never one to let options pass him by, Josh maintained a friendly relationship with Katrina through March, but broke things off when he started talking to another woman. That didn’t work out, and the two parted ways in April.
Love always finds a way, however, with Josh and Katrina having spent “most of” their free time together over the past few weeks, as Katrina picked up a job at a hospital in Chicago. “We kept an open, non-monogamous relationship and have been seeing [and] talking to whoever we want,” Josh revealed. Now though, there has been forward momentum. Something he’s thankful for, as he describes Katrina as “an extremely hard working and genuine person.”
“We decided to change that … and make it official.” Josh says he is “optimistic” about his future with Katrina, but says that she has just gotten into medical school, which will “make things interesting.” He leans on his law degree as something that will help him “provide some good emotional support” during Katrina’s studies, as he has been through a similar experience.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK JOSH AND KATRINA WILL GO THE DISTANCE? ARE YOU EXCITED FOR HIS NEWFOUND LOVE?
The post EXCLUSIVE: Josh Seiter Moving on With New Woman After Karine Martins Drama appeared first on Reality Tea.
How does one gauge the credit owed to a reality TV show star? Some might say reality stars get far too much credit — that they’re famous for nothing. Most viewers would probably agree that they don’t watch a show like Real Housewives of New Jersey for the talent but for the drama.
Melissa Gorga in particular has been criticized by fans for not bringing much to the show besides her feud with Teresa Giudice. Unfortunately for Mel, fans are becoming a little tired of the constant bickering between the two, even if Teresa might often be the instigator, intentionally digging at Melissa.
But throughout it all, Melissa has always had a friend in Margaret Josephs. Their camaraderie has become just as predictable as the feuds between the stars. No matter what happens, Marge and Mel will always tend to flock together and agree.
So, it comes as no surprise that in RHONJ season 13 episode 12’s After Show, Marge said, “People don’t give Melissa enough credit that she is very sensitive and emotional. I think sometimes Melissa puts a block up. People have said, ‘Oh, she’s cold.’ She’s not cold. Teresa does come across warmer to people sometimes, on the outside, but Melissa is very warm.”
Notice how Margaret slips in a subtle put-down toward Teresa while complimenting Melissa. She says that Mel comes off as very cold on the outside, but has a warm interior. At the same time, she says that Teresa has a seemingly warm exterior, but doesn’t finish that thought. On top of her looks, Margaret may have been serving shade.
Granted, perhaps Margaret didn’t mean to imply anything at all about Teresa. Still, in comparing the two, she’d inevitably draw a bit of a value judgment. Best case scenario, she was just defending her friend amid a storm of drama between the Gorga and Giudice families. Worst case scenario, Marge may have been adding to the drama.
Real Housewives of New Jersey continues Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK MARGARET WAS INTENTIONALLY SHADING TERESA? IS MARGARET RIGHT? DOES MELISSA DESERVE MORE CREDIT?
The post Margaret Josephs Thinks Melissa Gorga Doesn’t Get ‘Enough Credit’ appeared first on Reality Tea.
Last week’s episode of Top Chef was all about speed. The chefs competed in a mise en place race inspired by the Fast and the Furious, where the winning team got to go to the premiere of Fast X. Coolest tie-in ever. Sadly, the only true Fast fan of the bunch was Victoire Gouloubi and she missed out on the win.
The cheftestants continued on with a thirty minute elimination challenge using the ingredients from the mise en place race. The winning team of Tom Goetter, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Ali Ghzawi celebrated the vegetables they were given and made gorgeous and tasty veggie forward dishes. Amar Santana and Charbel Hayek were in the bottom two with uninspired lamb dishes, womp womp. Charbel got the boot, and all the chefs poured one out to celebrate onion boy.
Did Padma Lakshmi’s stylist miss the memo that the Fast and Furious challenge was last week? Padma rocked a bustier top that looked like a motorcycle jacket as she greeted the chefs with the dreaded news that it was time for restaurant wars! No pesky quickfire challenge today, it was all down to business.
Three Michelin star chef Clare Smyth also shared the chefs would be cooking at her restaurant, which meant no building out a restaurant was required. Buddha Lo took several big gulps and felt the pressure as he used to work with Clare. Padma then had the chefs draw knives and Victoire and Buddha got to pick their teams. Sara Bradley was picked last and swore vengeance in the form of drowning her fellow contestants in butter.
Victoire picked Tom, Nicole Gomes, and Gabriel. Tom immediately took the lead and suggested they call their restaurant “Roots” and focus on the flavors they are familiar with. Nicole wasn’t sold, but no one else seemed to mind so she was overruled. Buddha took the lead on his team and suggested to Amar, Ali, and Sara that their theme be classic British dishes with a twist. The team lacked enthusiasm but couldn’t come up with a better concept so Buddha won by default.
Each team broke off to shop for proteins or vegetables. Nicole went through three seafood stores until she found live lobsters. She knew any dish made from frozen food would send you straight to the bottom. Tom and Victoire grabbed a bunch of vegetables but accidentally left one of their baskets behind. Sara saw it on her vegetable run but understandably didn’t want to help the competition so all those veggies stayed at the store.
The person that got screwed from the lack of vegetables was Gabriel. He was supposed to have a dish with cauliflower and squid ink. Time for plan B! Buddha was overconfident and decided to take on two dishes. His first course was a full english breakfast, and strawberries and cream for dessert. In order to subtly manipulate his teammates into cooking their dishes how he wanted, Buddha noted he needed to speak up but not speak too loud. Guess he learned a lesson from when he straight up told Luciana Berry her potato puree tasted like glue and he completely remade them.
When the chefs arrived at Core they met Rob Rose, Clare’s restaurant director, who would be their front of house. Let me get this straight. The chefs did not have to design a restaurant, or have someone be front of house. And they had a professional waitstaff. Where are the fake waiters they normally pull from Craig’s List? The spirit of restaurant wars was severely lacking here.
Victoire’s team got to cook first. Gabriel bounced back from the cauliflower debacle and Nicole had drama with her tortellini’s seeping filling. Soon after, Padma, Gail Simmons, Tom Colicchio, and Clare all sat down directly in front of the kitchen. No pressure. Padma also dropped the bomb there was a secret food critic, Jimi Famurewa, in the dining room doing recon to make sure the quality of the food was just as good for the non famous people as it was for the judges.
Tom served his confit leek and black garlic chestnut puree dish first and it was a hit. Nicole was a bit late with all the pasta orders but managed to serve her shellfish tortellini to the judges which got mixed reviews. Gabriel made a sea bream with black huatape and trout caviar. Tom thought the dish was too similar in texture to Nicole’s. The judges liked the sorbet palette cleanser, but weren’t fans of Victoire’s tiramisu.
Buddha’s team was next up in the kitchen. Buddha realized he might have bit off more than he could chew with the amount of work that goes into making a full English breakfast. Still, his team worked together well and were continually tasting each other’s dishes. No bickering here.
Buddha served his full English breakfast to the judges, and in typical fashion somehow made a heavy dish into a light and delicate meal. Amar made a scallop tartare with vadouvan and pickled vegetables, and Sara served a leek wrapped in cod with potato and smoked onion. Both dishes were winners with the judges and diners. Ali served up two dishes. The first was a lamb loin with freekeh and apricots, and the second was a cornish pasty of braised lamb wrapped in filo. The lamb was so dry Tom ran into the kitchen to double check if Ali forgot to put a sauce on it. Oops. Buddha wrapped it up with strawberries and basil ice cream for dessert. Delish.
At the judges table, Jimi the secret food critic showed up ready to spill the tea. He thought Root was a mixed bag with food and concept, and that United Kitchen was more defined. No one could argue, and Buddha’s team was called out as the winners. They nailed it on concept and taste. However, the main winner was … Buddha!
Root was called up next and someone had to go home. Everyone loved Tom’s dish, and Jimi favored Victoire’s. Padma thought Gabriel’s dish had too much sauce, but the majority thought Nicole’s pasta dish wasn’t very modern. And with that, Nicole was out. As lackluster as this restaurant wars was, it was still pretty shocking to see Nicole go as she had been in the top quite often. Hopefully next week’s challenge kicks it up a notch.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK NICOLE WAS THE RIGHT CHEF TO GO HOME? WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE SECRET FOOD CRITIC TWIST? WERE YOU DISAPPOINTED RESTAURANT WARS ONLY FOCUSED ON THE FOOD?
The post Top Chef Season 20 Episode 9 Recap: Restaurant Wars appeared first on Reality Tea.
Bridgerton's new prequel series quite literally received the royal treatment. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story will bring the drama come May 4, as the Netflix show explores the courtship...
