A 'RHOA' Trial: Did Kenya Moore Go Too Far?

- Real Housewives Of Atlanta -
A 'RHOA' Trial: Did Kenya Moore Go Too Far?

Cynthia Bailey’s bachelorette party was the most-teased part of Season 13 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Before the season even began rumors were circulating — thanks, in part, to a truly next level headline — that two cast members, said to be Porsha Williams and Tanya Sam, hooked up with a stripper at the party. (Tanya has denied the rumor; Porsha has said Kenya spread it as a way to attack her.)

What happens in the dungeon is supposed to stay in the dungeon… but not if Kenya Moore is around.

As soon as Bolo the stripper fled that South Carolina beach house, Kenya started putting her cast members on trial when it came to their involvement with him.

Well, now the tables are turning. I’m putting Kenya on trial. The charge? Taking things too far when it comes to invading her cast mates’ privacy. The verdict? To be determined.

To help, four Bravo superfans weighed in on a number of crimes Kenya may have committed and whether they think she should be sentenced to removal from the show or be allowed to walk free — or, you know, keep holding a peach. Court is in session!

Setting the Scene

Image: Bravo

The night of the bachelorette party was technically work for the women, since it was being taped for the show. While we watched the women enjoy Kandi Burruss’ Welcome to the Dungeon-themed party with their costumes, entertainment from Bolo, and copious amounts of alcohol, they were also surrounded by their production team.

But, at one point in the night, production wrapped and the women were excited to keep partying off-camera. As far as viewers could tell, they all agreed to keep this part of the night private and try to not let it be part of the reality show. They even covered up the additional cameras that were placed around the house.

The Charge: Kenya took things too far

Screenshot of the lovebscott article

The morning after the bachelorette party, Kenya immediately began gossiping about “noises” she heard coming from one of the downstairs bedrooms and how she knew for sure that one (or more) of the women on the trip was having sex with Bolo.

But she didn’t stop there. Kenya put cast members “on trial” by the pool, questioning them about their whereabouts during the early morning when the Bolo hookup was supposedly happening. In episodes to follow, it became clear that this wasn’t all fun and games, Kenya was truly set on outing the person (or persons) who had sex with Bolo.

Kenya admitted that it was important to reveal who hooked up with Bolo, because she believes her cast mates can’t expect their behavior not to get out “with all these eyes” around them.

Further, if she had been the one to get with Bolo, the other women would do the same to her. In one episode, she admitted that she wouldn’t leak a story to Page Six, but if it was a B Scott or if it was a TMZ, maybe.” Here I will link to Exhibit A (shown above).

Question 1: Is Kenya found guilty of being a bad friend and co-star?

Image: Bravo

Many of the RHOA cast members clearly believe that Kenya shouldn’t have kept talking about the activity of the bachelorette party after it was over. Let’s see what the jury thinks.

Aaron, who co-runs the Instagram account @bravowhileblack, says. “I don’t think Kenya is a bad friend. However, I do believe she can be cruel to her associates or people who aren’t too fond of her (Porsha, Tanya). If you’re not a part of the Kenya Moore fan club she will do you dirty without hesitation.”

Steve, who is also known as @facesbybravo, says, “Let the girls live and let loose. [Kenya] made it clear during that last dinner that this was her opportunity to slut shame. Just because she’s not getting laid doesn’t mean the rest of the group can’t get it.”

Kaya, who also runs @bravowhileblack, simply adds, “Kenya is… Kenya. I personally hate to love her.”

Question 2: Is Kenya found guilty of trying to produce the show too much?

Image: Bravo

Kenya has had a number of moments on the show during her eight seasons that felt obviously made for TV. See: “Kenya Moore hair care!” and the marching band at Marlo Hampton’s Season 12 event.

Kaya and Aaron both believe that Kenya is just being herself. Kaya explains, “She’s a person who can dish it, but unfortunately, as she is learning, it will come back tenfold in other ways.”

Maggie, who runs the account @bestofbravo, applauds Kenya’s messiness. “Kenya is messy as hell, but the episode wouldn’t have been the same without her,” she says.

“We heard about Bolo and the sex dungeon literally months ago, and the episode lived up to the hype. If not for Kenya, would it have been nearly as good? We wouldn’t have seen anything and no one would have even discussed it! They would have gone on to catch their fishies and laid by the pool, acting like nothing ever happened.”

Steve, meanwhile, believes Kenya is fully responsible for this being a storyline on the show, including the fact that we heard about it months ago.

“This wouldn’t be a storyline if Kenya didn’t spend all this time investigating and bringing it up on camera... and leaking it to the blogs. Everyone was talking about the Page Six article and Kenya ended up telling on herself!” he says, referring to that article. “She will take advantage of any moment she can to be messy — she thrives on it.”

He recognizes that Kenya knows what she’s doing. “I will give her props from a production standpoint. She knows this story will make controversial TV.”

Question 3: Is Kenya found guilty of outing the people who hooked up with Bolo?

Image: Bravo

On the show, Kenya strongly implies that Porsha and Tanya were the people who hooked up with Bolo. Shamea Morton warns Porsha and Tanya on camera that Kenya is coming after them. At one point, Tanya tries to defend Porsha by saying that she was with Porsha at the time, so it couldn’t have been her. This was viewed by some, including Kenya and Kandi, to be Tanya accidentally implicating herself.

Kaya says that there’s “no doubt” it’s Kenya’s fault that Tanya and Porsha’s names were put out there. “It doesn’t matter if Shamea was the first to name names or Tanya snitched on herself. Kenya was obviously implying it.”

She adds, "At the end of the day, they’re on a reality show and know that if cameras didn’t pick something up, a troublemaker would fill in the blanks. However, had Kenya not started spilling the tea it wouldn’t have been as bad because it would’ve been left up to viewers’ imagination."

Kaya’s cohort Aaron doesn’t put all the blame on Kenya. “I don’t fully fault Kenya for that because Kandi spilled some tea afterwards with Don Juan.”

The Verdict

Image: Bravo

Three of the four jury members believe that Kenya took things too far at some point during her mission.

Kaya thinks that Kenya went too far because she wouldn't let it go. “I think it obviously had to be talked about to create drama on the show, but at the dinner table when she wouldn’t let it go is when she took it too far,” she says.

“What happens at the bach party stays at the bach party. She should’ve followed girl code and left it alone,” adds Aaron.

Steve believes that Kenya crossed the line because she doesn’t have proof that anything happened at all, much less that it involved Porsha and Tanya. “I don’t like a made-up rumor or storyline,” he says. “If Porsha did sleep with Bolo, I don’t know why she wouldn’t just admit it! She doesn’t really have any reason to lie and once coined herself the ‘Princess of THOTlandia.’”

Plus, he has another theory: “How do we know Kenya’s not making this scenario up and it was her that slept with Bolo? Only one person can recount in detail each of those 45 minutes…”

Maggie is the sole outlier from our jurors. All the jurors agree that the women know they're on a reality show and their lives are the topic, but she says that's why "Kenya was just doing her job." She says that it's fair game to bring up what happened off-camera while the show is in production. "People may view that as crossing the line, but I view that as a job well done.”

The Sentence

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Our jurors rule that Kenya remains on the show and walks without punishment.

“Kenya is one of the best Housewives and she delivers every season, and the show needs someone like her whether you like her or not. Kenya continuously crosses the line, but I’m okay with it,” says Maggie.

“After all, the episode would not have been the same without her. The ladies would have come down for breakfast, and there would have been the ‘what happens in the dungeon, stays in the dungeon’ mentality. BORING!!"

Kaya made this assessment: “Let me be clear, what Kenya did was shitty but not unexpected. With that being said, it’s not like she’s a white supremacist or raging homophobe like some other Housewives. She in no way should be fired for this.”

Aaron would be okay with Kenya leaving, in general, not just because of this incident. “I think Kenya plays a great villain but I wouldn’t mind seeing a season without her. The show could definitely go on.”

Steve thinks Kenya plays a role in RHOA ushering in a new era. “RHOA hasn’t had a new full-time cast member that lasted more than one or two seasons since Porsha and Kenya in Season 5,” he points out.

“While I do not like Kenya for the show, I do think it’s important that she’s still around for another season or two as we transition to a new era of RHOA. Keeping veteran cast members will help maintain viewership while bringing on fresh faces to the group.”

Kenya twirls on... for now. Case closed.

Image: Bravo

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