Jennie Nguyen confronted Mary Cosby on last night’s episode of ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ for comments she made at a luncheon where she told Jennie that she loved her “slanted eyes.”
via People:
Early in the episode, Jennie discussed Mary’s comments with husband Duy, which she said left her “frustrated” and “very mad.”
Jennie then told Duy that she was looking to express her frustrations to Mary and explain how her comment made her feel. “You don’t say things like that,” she said.
“It is insulting to our Asian culture to call me that, and it comes across as racist,” Jennie added in a confessional. “And it’s shocking cause Mary should be more educated and understand it’s not appropriate to say stuff like that.”
Later in the episode, while the ladies all showed up to support Whitney Rose at a brand relaunch party, Jennie gathered them together and took them aside so she could speak to Mary with witnesses to back her up.
“Mary has a tendency to say, ‘Oh, I didn’t say that,’ [or] ‘I don’t remember that,’ so I want all the ladies to witness when I confront her, because she’s not going to run away this time,” Jennie said.
As the group sat down, Jennie explained to Mary that her comments about her eyes left her feeling “insulted.”
Mary, however, was surprised to hear that come from Jennie. “Really? I love slanted eyes,” she said, reiterating the statement that originally offended Jennie.
As Jennie pointed out that Mary was still using the term, Mary told Jennie that she didn’t “mean any harm” by her statement.
“You’re an adult, take some responsibility,” Jennie told her in response. “Right now, there is a lot of Asian hate. Take responsibility for your words.”
“I didn’t mean any harm by that. Like, for me, it’s a compliment,” Mary replied. Jennie then told her, however, “You can say things differently, like, I love your beautiful eyes. But when you reference ‘I love your slanted eyes,’ you know, it’s very insulting to me.”
In the moment, Mary did apologize to Jennie for her remarks. “I will never walk down that road,” she said. “I apologize.”
As the ladies’ discussion at Whitney’s party continued, Whitney couldn’t help but feel as though the group was glossing over Mary’s repeated insensitive offenses. “I’m very uncomfortable with saying, like, racially derogatory things, and I feel like everyone’s just kind of letting it go,” she explained.
Lisa Barlow then chimed into the conversation, noting how Mary had made comments about Jen Shah that offended her while the group was on a getaway to Vail, Colorado. There, Mary called Jen a “thug” and compared her to “those Mexican people that make all those drugs.” (Mary has since issued an apology for those remarks.)
Mary, however, did not recall saying such, as she told Lisa, “What? I don’t even talk like that.” The episode then cut to a flashback scene, showing Mary making the derogatory comments.
“We’ve got to stop saying things like that to each other,” Whitney told the group.
‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
