The Summer House Love Triangle Scandal Explained

Have you checked on your Bravo fans lately, Besties? You should. They are not okay. In this very special episode, Lauren and Emily go FULL detective mode and take you through the Summer House scandal that has ROCKED the internet. If you've been in a coma for the past week, newly separated Amanda and newly redeemed f*** boy West are an ITEM. One small problem – West is the on-again, off-again love of Amanda’s best friend (and fellow Bed BugTM) Ciara. This story is developing so quickly that we got our first-ever breaking news while recording (and it legit made us feel like Katie Couric). Outside of Summer House, the Besties discuss the season finale of Love Story (Constance Zimmer is the GOAT), Lindy West, the new hot book, Strangers, and why magazines are so back, baby.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:05

I'm Lauren, and I'm Emily. And we're Midwest besties.

SPEAKER_05 0:23

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

We're on the case.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

We are on Law and Order Special Bravo Victims Unit.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Welcome to Midwest Besties Docket.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

What we are talking about, obviously, is um in the Bravo universe, the Summerhouse universe, there is big drama happening. It is alleged that West and Amanda are hooking up.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Yeah. It is, it has rocked Bravo fans and Summerhouse fans for the past like, I mean, like four days, it's been, it's reached a fever pitch. It's constant.

SPEAKER_03 1:05

It is, and I think people are just We're crashing out.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

We're yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

We're crashing out. So don't worry. The Royal Wee. For those of you who don't watch Summer House, we are going to take you on a journey because it is really interesting.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

There's a lot to know, there's a lot to understand to get to where we are today. Yeah. So we because we really wanted to give you kind of the full picture and not just talk about like current day. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

First off, I want to um th uh thank the cosmopolitan uh timeline article, which was really in-depth. There were a few things that I didn't know that other people weren't reporting on. Oh, okay. Because um Amanda, one of the stars of Summer House, is divorcing Kyle, who's another big star of Summer House. She is having like a very meteoric rise and she was doing a ton of press. Yeah. So there was a ton of little snippets in there. But anyway, before we get into that, let me take you back to 2023. Let's travel back in time. Um uh Sierra and West. Sierra are beautiful queen. Fabulous queen, Sierra. Uh West joins Summer House and they start to date. Um after Summerhouse, and like I mean, really like fall in love. Like they meet each other's parents. Yep. Um after Summer House wraps up before um it because basically the way Summer House works is that like they film obviously in the summer and then the the season drops the spring after that. Right. Okay. So uh it's starting to get known after this season drops that Wes basically dumped Sierra because he didn't want to be, quote, the boyfriend of anyone. He really didn't all he also was just like, I'm not gonna be dating you if I'm single for the first time or famous for the first time.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Right, and he had such a good, it was his first season on Summer House, yes, along with Jesse Solomon, and they had amazing entry seasons, stellar rookie seasons, like so, so good. So the fan base loved them, and so he got tons of attention and he decided to really capitalize on it.

SPEAKER_03 3:18

And the internet crucified him. There's something you have to know, like Sierra, insane how beautiful this woman is.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

She's also really smart. She's a nurse by trade, she's so funny. Her costumes for the theme parties are like historic, they're the best. She is hilarious. She's a good friend.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

Her personality is insane.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Yeah, like she is the she's the total package.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

Obviously, her one downside is her terrible taste in fuckboys. I know. Um, so last summer, like two, I would say this is 2024. Uh Sierra is a total dick to West all summer. This is last season on Summer House, and West takes it on the chin. He lays low, he does small things to curry favor with both Sierra and the audience. We as the audience are are warming back up to West with Sierra at the same time. Correct. Brings us to this summer. This summer this current this current season, yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

And in this current season, West has like really want us, want us back. And Sierra is she has like 90% defrosted to him. She's still a little, a little cold. She's still kind of keeping him on his toes. But we see like their relationship is starting to like defrost. They're both getting pretty flirty with one another at night. Um, but he has really done an amazing job. Winning people back. Winning people back.

SPEAKER_03 4:46

Winning up to the fact that he was really insensitive and used the media to try to be like, uh I don't like her anymore. And people didn't like it. It's not great behavior. Yeah. And he said from day one, like, I I was unknown. I did not know how to be famous. I did not act right. Yeah. We have talked about this on the podcast at Nauseum. Yes. Because where we were at the start of this um season was, I feel like Lauren, you were very much like, I kind of want a second chance.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Yeah, the romance girly in me. It's that second chance like romance trope. So just like I'm gonna go walk into traffic now.

SPEAKER_03 5:25

No, I don't think you should. We were left with this uh trailer of what's going to happen for the rest of the season. Mind you, this is all happening last summer. Yeah. And it becomes very clear that some like lines are getting blurred and that there is a potential hookup that happens between Sierra and West again. But West is very clear he does not want to settle settle down.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Yeah. In the midst of all of this, before the season of Summerhouse Drops, Amanda and Kyle announce their separation and divorce. So we go into this season knowing they are very much on the rocks. Yes. Like more so than ever. They have been on the rocks before, but they have they are on boulders. They are on sharp, jagged cliffs this season. So like we are watching their relationship truly deteriorate in front of our eyes, knowing truly hate each other. Knowing that it ends in their separation and divorce.

SPEAKER_03 6:20

During this, I would say you really see a friendship bloom between West and Amanda.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Specifically, really shines there's a real light shown on it in the last episode, which like, haha, I thought we were gonna be like be talking about like West is so amazing. It's amazing how much can change in seven days. Because the last episode, it is a really Kyle has like one of his worst uh episodes where he's calling her a fucking dumbass bitch, un totally unprovoked, like like just being so nasty to her. And West, we see West like telling Kyle that's not okay. He's comforting Amanda, he's checking on her. Like clearly he cares a lot and he is like firmly on her side.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

And we've seen Kyle call Amanda a bitch before. Yeah, not the first time. It's not the first time, but we've never seen, especially a man on the cast, stand up to Kyle.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Which, like, I think was impactful and important to see. I mean, I just wish it was like Jesse Solomon now and not West.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

It's so crazy. It's so crazy. Do you think we'd be seeing here being like, and I literally saw a TikTok where it's like Jesse Solomon's a lot, but he would never do this. I would like to go on the record on Mike to say Jesse Solomon would 100%.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Jesse Solomon is mad he didn't do this. So I think that pretty well brings us to where we are today. Yes. On March 5th, Dumois has a post and they say they people submit blinds and like anonymous tips to Dumois all the time. So they have this post, they're saying they're seen holding hands under the table, they being West and Amanda. Rumors are swirling, but I think they're pretty quickly like they die down. I totally smashed it. Yep. Like Dumois, and I will just say, like, I have to eat, I have to fucking eat crow here. Like, I was like rolling my eyes at Dumois because Dumois does post a lot of fake shit. Like they get so many submissions, and I swear they just like post all of them. Dumois is is the National Enquirer.

SPEAKER_03 8:19

Totally. Dumois is your standard tabloid. So what I mean by that is there are for there are 10 stories that she posts, and half to one of them are true. But that 1%, that 10% is fucking true. A broken clock is right twice a day, baby. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

So I say these rumors are pretty quickly dismissed. Amanda's on Watch What Happens live. She's asked about it. She's like, I would never date any of my cast members. All of them are asked about it. Kyle's asked about it, and he and I did go back and revisit, and it was weird. I did too.

SPEAKER_04 8:55

And what was your reaction to the West and Amanda rumors?

SPEAKER_00 8:58

I mean, I kind of thought it was outrageous. Like, you know, for it to go as long as it has in the in the news cycles, kind of shocking, but no, I don't think there's any merit to it. If you found out that it was true, would you be upset? It would certainly catch me by surprise and feel a little reckless, and I think I'd probably be the last person people would be worried about. I think Sierra would probably have something to say. But if it made Amanda happy, I think I just would have to vote yay. So no, no truth at all to it. I I don't believe so, no.

SPEAKER_03 9:32

Yeah. Like denies it with an asterisk. Totally how I would describe it.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

So it dies down for a while, and then rumors start sort of like picking up steam again in the past week. And then we see on March 25th, 24th, this is the smoking gun. Okay. Yes. This is it. This is when everybody, this is like it starts to like really reach a fever pitch again. Amanda and Sierra are scheduled to do an Amazon live together. And Emily says in parentheses, this is millennial QVC. She's correct. Um, they had this brand deal that they had been like like posting about, I think, with Ollie, and it was like a cute spin on like their bed bugs, like it was like sleeping supplements. Yeah. So they're scheduled to do this Amazon Live together, but then they end up doing it separately, and people immediately take notice. And then the internet sleuths, thank God for them, they're out there, they're looking and they're realizing hey, Sierra and Amanda's Instagram activity between the two of them has really died down.

SPEAKER_03 10:37

And Amanda and um Sierra are very much, especially when they're doing a promotional run of Summer House, which they are doing. Every time there is a post, it's like a fire emoji. It's like a go girl. You got this. I love this. It's been dead silent.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

It's been nothing. And this is also just like this is how we like we can see the status of things. Then West is on Watch What Happens Live and acts like a total weirdo. I mean, total fucking weirdo. I would say he's not the best in these interview formats. Like, even in his talking heads, sometimes I'm like, he's so awkward. You can like see the wheels turning in his brain.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

Yeah. It's actually like it reminds me so much of my guy friends when they lie. Like when I catch them, like his blinking was like rapid. It was you know, he was sweating. Like body language experts, I mean, had a field day. I'm sure. I don't know if I saw it. And mind you, I really want to add here, just like to include that Des Mois this whole time is like, I am right. Yep. They are hooking up. Yeah. She never wants back down.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

No, she didn't.

SPEAKER_03 11:45

We started ignoring her, but she's still like, it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true. Anyway, continue.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

So he's on Watch What Happens Live, and Andy asks him if there's anything to these rumors. And at the same time, you know, while Andy does these like audience polls, and like you can see them immediately. And he's like, ask the audience, would you ship Amanda and West? 89% say no. And you can see the panic.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

You can see how uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Because West cares about audience perception very, very, very much.

SPEAKER_03 12:16

So does Amanda. Which makes it a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

We'll get the clip in here too.

SPEAKER_04 12:20

We're just we still want to ask hypothetically, would you ship West and Amanda? West, what were you what was your reaction to the rumors of you and Amanda? I she's single now, and it's happened already to other people that she's hung out with. But um, you were just hanging out? Yeah, we were just hanging out in New York. She's single. I kind of gotta show her the streets a little bit, you know. But if it's not clear, that's a very important person to me, and I like care about her a lot. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

This is your this is your homegirl.

SPEAKER_04 12:46

Right. Okay, as opposed to your romantic girl. Correct.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

Yeah, so that's what the streets want to know.

SPEAKER_04 12:50

Yeah, no, no, no. That's a friend. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

That's a friend of Like it was weird. Like, deny it. I saw that and I was like, this is not good. This is not good. Even the Amazon Live thing, I could have, I could have dismissed, but this was kind of this was really bad.

SPEAKER_03 13:10

Also, can the 11% that ship them please stand up? Oh my god, get the fuck out of here. I like said for those please watch Sinners, but the meme from Sinners is the y'all clan meme.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

So then um, there's this podcast that I listen to and follow called Snark Bait Podcast. They share this post that really sets off like an absolute firestorm. It's a DM that they received from a listener. It says, Hi, okay, so disclaimer, I've literally never done this because I never have tea. And I don't know how it works, but I'm a baby snark. That's what their fans are called. Um, and I have to secretly share with my girls. My it's redacted, has a Bravo page and has gotten very friendly with the Summer House cast, Southern Charm cast, and Southern Hospitality. Also with a lot of uh other Bravo pages and media companies. My redacted got a text from redacted who told her that his friend lives across the way from Amanda's apartment, her place without Kyle, and doesn't really watch the show, but that she got a picture of Amanda and West kissing in her apartment. Then it gets back to Sierra somehow, and last night she met up with the girl who has the picture. The girl who has the picture showed it to Sierra, and Sierra confirmed that it is them, and she is very upset about it.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

Like, so it was just like So basically to sum it up, these rumors start March 5th, they die down. The theory is that Sierra is given proof that this hookup actually did happen or is happening, and now there is a feud, and that brings us to the 24th last week. Yeah. Um now Amanda has like again, like not denied the rumor. So basically, someone, it was like a comment, I think, on the Watch What Happens live post where someone said West is a safe boy bestie for Amanda because they never date. He's so much fun, he cares about his friends, and they are mutual friends, or they are they have mutual friends to hang out with all the time. And Amanda apparently commented and said, Thank you. She did. She did. Um again, yeah, I don't know why she can't post that on her feed. Um, it's also which brings us to the fact that like after so the 26th of March, um all of the real all of the the the the included parties, so West, Amanda, and Sierra go silent on social media. They go dark. Which no stories, no posts. And you're saying, like, oh my god, it's only the 31st. Okay, that's a big deal. They are posting non-stop right now because they are promoting Summer House. They have a million promotional deals. Um, so it is extremely unusual. Page six does this huge report that Amanda and Sierra are feuding. Um, basically, for what we uh talked about, Sierra got confirmation. Um, and the I put the internet and Lauren loses their minds. I lost my mind.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

You know, this well, we'll get into all of that. Let's get through the timeline first. Okay, so they all go silent on social media. This only increases the fervor surrounding this.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

Only increase like if you don't give us, if you don't give us food, we're gonna start, we're gonna start scrounging for it.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

It is flying all over the place unconfirmed or confirmed from unknown sources. Confirmed from unknown sources, like everywhere. Now the rumors, it's getting, it is getting so, so, so intense. I have chills right now. Um talking about this. Check in, check in, vibe check. Are you okay? Are you okay? I'm just like, we're living through mystery.

SPEAKER_03 16:53

Then these what I like to call the bread crumbs. The bread crumbs start. Are crumbing. Uh Lindsay posts a selfie with Sierra, and then she posts, which has become like a reaction meme of her looking disgusted.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Um nothing, nothing at no context. For me, that's when it was the moment I knew.

SPEAKER_03 17:15

And then Carl posts his reaction. His reaction looking disgusted. And then KJ does the exact same thing. Um, at one point, someone's like, lol, isn't it so funny how like no one fucking cares about Kyle right now? Did you remember Kyle is Amanda's ex-hus or current ex-bomb? And then Kyle posts a tear emoji with his handwrites.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Replies to it.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

So good. That's so good.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

But I also want to point out, too, that like Carl and KJ are close with Sierra. Yeah. So like that makes a big difference. I mean, Carl is in love with Sierra. Carl's Carl's in love with Sierra, as we all are. KJ and Sierra, we see them, they're like forming, they have a close relationship. And Lindsay and Sierra, they've those girls have come a long way, and it makes my heart so happy. I mean, Mother Hubbard doesn't come to fucking play. No, she doesn't.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

So it's like she has a, I would say, business relationship with all of the girls, but if there's nonsense to be had, she's cracking the whip.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Yep, she is. Um, and then Austin from Southern Charm, which Emily wrote, Sir, please leave. You are not on the guest list. Austin is so messy. He's such a little like drama monger. So like I do also broke Sierra's heart. I know he did, but he's close with Lindsay. So he posts um a picture. He's like out to eat, it's a picture of pasta. It says, Pasta and fuck F your friends' exes are apparently so back. Kyle posted a picture of him and Sierra, it's a selfie, um, to his grid from their recent party. Um, the caption is Instagram versus reality. The location is the psych ward. And the song is all that really matters by Teddy Swims, and the lyrics are important. Find something you can hold on to, find someone who will be there for you because that's all that really matters in the end. So that is where we sit at 11:37 a.m. This is going to drop most likely um Wednesday or Thursday. So, like, there might be more to come. We have received no real confirmations. So that's where we are right now, folks.

SPEAKER_03 19:33

So there are theories that are happening. I think it happens a lot because, as we said, it's March 31st. So, what is tomorrow? Tomorrow is April Fools. Yeah. This is a theory that I like. I like any theory that makes this not be fucking true.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

I just don't think this is an April Fool's joke. This would be such a bad April Fool's joke.

SPEAKER_03 19:56

So uh shout out Emily, other Emily, sister Emily. Um she posted that, you know, the theory, someone did a really great theory on TikTok and the breakdown of it. Um, and I'm like, that would be so it would suck for them. Almost like a three-way call prank, where it's like you ask someone what they really feel about someone. Because basically, what Wes and Amanda have found out is that everyone fucking hates them because the way it's like the way the theme of this has been, I actually never liked Amanda. Like, I don't feel that way.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Like Do you? Okay, so here's what I will say. And I said this in the TikTok, but it is worth, I think it is worth repeating. Is it when my initial thought was like, Amanda would never do this. This is so dumb. Dumois, go fuck yourself. Dumois, I'm so sorry, girl. I'm so sorry. Um, and I was just like, she wouldn't do this. This is crazy. And then I was like, as this is like becoming more of a thing, obviously, and I'm like wrapping my brain around it, and I'm like, you know what? We have never known Amanda as a single person. We have known Amanda through Kyle as in a girl in a relationship. Always. She has never been single. We do not know how she would operate as a single person.

SPEAKER_03 21:19

And I've just never seen her be a good friend. Like I've never seen her be a great friend. Have you ever seen her be a great friend? You've seen her receive great friendship, and you've seen her be near great friendship, but have you seen her be an active participant?

SPEAKER_01 21:36

I feel like with her and Paige.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

But no. I mean, yeah. I don't remember like every time Paige was struggling, I remember Amanda being there. It was Sierra reaching out and hugging.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

So basically, Amanda just has like proximity to power. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

Like it is true. It's like, no, you kind of

SPEAKER_01 22:00

It's true.

SPEAKER_03 22:01

You cannot believe it's true.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

It's true. I know Emily's still, I'm holding space for her holding out hope, but like you guys between you and me.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

She said, I'm holding space for you holding space. It's holding space inception.

SPEAKER_03 22:20

That's what this is doing to us. Tearing us apart. And you ask, okay, why is this a big deal? Why do you care? Because for one thing, so Lauren posted, it's like, because it will ruin the tour. It will ruin the world tour. The world tour. And by the world tour, I mean this season. This season. I like told Lauren, I was like, between this and and again, I have not I have I have watched more Bravo because of this podcast than I have in my entire life. And I've really enjoyed it. Yeah. Um and but if this I know drops the way it is, I know. And the boring ass Beverly Hill season is like, I need a break. I need a Bravo break. BB, baby. I know.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

I know. And I just want to say too, like the magic, the secret sauce of Summerhouse, like why we keep going back, is like that those friendships are real. Like they're like off-screen, off-camera friendships. Like there is long histories. And like we love to see a show where the women don't let the guys like run them. And they're like, fuck you, you're all like dumb. We're not gonna let a man destroy our friendships. We're not gonna let a man get in between us. And seeing women like truly support each other and be there for each other. Yeah. And if this is true, then like all of that goes out the window.

SPEAKER_03 23:40

They're all so what are the theories? The theory, let's start with they're in love. Like they have it, they're they're they're in love.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

Amanda's not even fully divorced yet.

SPEAKER_03 23:52

So she's had she's so she's given a lot of interviews because again, she is on this meteoric Ariana Madden post, like divorce. So, like uh uh no one has it better than a bravo, freshly divorced woman. And she was writing that really fucking well. She was raking in money.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

We have been waiting for the end of this relationship for a long time since they got married, if we're being so for real, and so like just seeing and seeing how far she has come too, and like how cool she is, and how like she slowly carved out an identity for herself.

SPEAKER_03 24:28

We were so excited to see her come into her own because we've seen her struggle, we have seen her really depressed because Kyle fucking sucks. Yeah, um, and it was just fun to see someone, a woman in her 30s, living her best fucking life in New York City, and again, carving out a life that she's never really been allowed to have.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Yep. She torpedoed the show.

SPEAKER_03 24:51

She went from the Arianomatics of the story to the Raquel of this. 100% so fast. And if we're talking about Scandable, by the way. Tell me about this Buffalo Wild Wing print. Did you know? Did you see the did you know? Okay. So every time that they were supposed to be together, someone, someone did some digging. Again, the the the investigation.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

I know.

SPEAKER_03 25:16

If we could only put this kind of manpower into like removing plastics from the ocean.

SPEAKER_01 25:21

Or like finding Nancy Guthrie.

SPEAKER_03 25:25

God bless her. So uh every time they were supposedly like together, a promo for Buffalo full Buffalo Wild Wings, starring that person, has was like there. So like, oh, Wes was supposed to be at Amanda's house, and like that was a day that Wes posted a promo for Buffalo Wild Wings. Um, Sierra is a brand ambassador for Buffalo Wild Wings.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

I love Buffalo Wild Wings. Little known fact.

SPEAKER_03 25:48

I didn't realize the chokehold they had on the Summer House cast.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Oh my god, Matt and I like we used to hit up bonus Thursdays so hard. Oh.

SPEAKER_03 25:59

Wasn't it like you were like having like a long day and you were like, I'm just ordering Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner?

SPEAKER_01 26:04

No, it was Wing Stop, which I equally love. Okay. But I love Buffalo Wild Wings. A little Asian zing, a little Caribbean jerk. Oh yeah, big fan, big fan.

SPEAKER_03 26:14

Um, so it's all again a very sophisticated promotion for Buffalo Wild Wings.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

I just I don't know. I don't listen. This is when I want to employ the theory of Occam's razor. Yep. That the thing that is like the simplest explanation is most often the one, the true one. And in this instance, the simplest explanation is that Amanda and West are together, they're hooking up in some did are in some capacity, Sierra knows, and she's very upset about it.

SPEAKER_03 26:46

All right. We've been talking about this for a long time. Um, so we're gonna leave it there. There's definitely gonna be more to come.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

We had to, we had to jump back on. We were done. The file was exported, my bag was packed, I was ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 27:03

She literally grabbed my arm.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

I got a text. I got a text from my Bravo Bestie Kelly shout out. Confirmed. Joint statement, puke. I just took wet West off the hate list. Shame on me. And then I literally couldn't even speak. I grabbed Emily and showed her, and then we pulled up Instagram, so I'm gonna read the joint statement. Okay. This was posted, Amanda posted this to her story, and Wes posted this to his story, same exact statement. We've seen the growing online speculation. So while this is still very new, we wanted to provide some clarity. It was never our intention to purposely hide anything given the complicated relationship dynamics involved and the scrutiny that comes with being on a reality show. We needed a little space to process things privately before speaking on it.

SPEAKER_03 27:47

I'm like shaking.

SPEAKER_01 27:48

We've shown up for each other as friends over the years, through all the highs and lows, and what's developed recently was the last thing either of us expected. Bluh. Our connection grew out of a genuine, long-standing friendship, which made it especially important for us to approach this with care. As our feelings evolved, we wanted to take time to understand exactly what we were feeling. We also recognize that this has had an impact beyond just us and never wanted our actions to cause any hurt or be perceived as careless. We truly appreciate the understanding and respect as we navigate this.

SPEAKER_03 28:18

Ain't nobody understanding or respecting, girl. What are you doing? I guess I was to the 11%.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

This eleven percent stand up.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

11% stand up.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

This is so crazy. First of all, what do we think about this statement? I mean, they didn't really like it was word salad to me. 100%. We wanted to navigate this with care. We weren't sure. Like, we're figuring it out, but like it's enough to blow up everything. So what do we think is gonna happen? This is not gonna go the distance.

SPEAKER_03 28:56

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

I know, you guys, this is really raw. We have not had any time to process. We like screamed and threw our headphones back on.

SPEAKER_03 29:05

For me, a lot of it now depends on Sierra.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:09

Um if see if let's say there's this world that Sierra is okay with it. I guess I don't care.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

She's not okay with it.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Um I don't know how they are going to weather this. Like, I don't know how there was this TikTok because for me, I just like didn't believe it. I just didn't. I was like definitely like Buffalo Wildings. Like uh Amanda is not strong enough to weather this kind of hate. No at all. No, I'm genuinely worried about her financially. They haven't filmed the revealing yet. No, they're not filming it for another like two weeks. Oh my god, it's gonna be a bloodbath. I just don't know. Like we we've never even seen Amanda in this confrontation.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

Like she's always had Kyle. Yes, she has always been one half of a whole, like no matter what, she's always had somebody who, by the way, was like who this show was centered on, like started from and centered around so many times, like has been her partner. Like he has been her mouthpiece. And West is not good at conversation.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

He just like sat there and was sweated through his suit. Do you think like they just thought no one would care?

SPEAKER_01 30:31

No, there's no way they could have. I thought that they thought they could control the narrative a little bit more and that maybe it wouldn't get out the way it has, which is so crazy.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

But it just seemed like they weren't hiding, they were going out of their way. Like, don't if you don't fucking be canoodling at restaurants.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

What do you mean like her wiping his mouth? I'm just like I'm legitimately grossed out. I can't believe, like, what are you gonna be Facebook official? Like, for what? You have blown up your career for one thing. You've blown up this show, your friendships for what? For a like a relationship that is not gonna last. She is not even divorced yet.

SPEAKER_03 31:13

I just think about like this is a rebound. West like has a podcast with like one of his friends from from high school.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Yeah, she plays on Indiana Fever. Oh, she d and it's like I would be pissed if I were her.

SPEAKER_03 31:23

Yeah. This is just so much like I just wanted to fuck my I just wanted to fuck the guy that my friend's in love with.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

The first guy that gave me positive attention, I was like became obsessed with.

SPEAKER_03 31:32

Also happens to be someone who has um done horrible emotional damage to a person who has publicly supported me through a divorce. In my It's just so bad.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

So bad. They have just like really just like blown everything up. And I because I don't want to watch this play out. I'm not interested. I think it is so embarrassing. Like, I don't want to watch them on my screen be together. That's like so gross. Like, I'm not rooting for this. No. Oh my god, poor Sierra. She has Lindsay, she has Carl, she has KJ, she has Kyle, like they all have each other. Like it's clear. Like, who do they have? Who do West and Amanda have? Darcy Solomon.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

If Summerhouse is going to continue, because there has been a rumor that like Bravo people are literally not taking, like, just lighting the whole fucking franchise on fire at this point. Like they haven't, they like they haven't ruled that out.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

There's a rumor it's like paused right now and they're gonna maybe be done after a season. Yeah. I mean, they start filming, they will start filming the 4th of July. So like they have time to figure out if they're even gonna film this season.

SPEAKER_03 32:37

A Kyle should thank his lucky stars. Oh my god. The way he is this narrative is being written in the way that I had a genuine worry for Amanda because it's like even though Kyle was a monster, like he protected her in this world. 100%. Like in this in this fame world.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

He did.

SPEAKER_03 33:00

Um, and I worried because I said I'm like, she's no page.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Like she's more of a wallflower.

SPEAKER_03 33:07

And yeah, it I'm just nervous for her. And like now, people could be like, oh, Kyle is now this like scorned man. Let's go watch him DJ. Okay, should we leave it there? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

Right. Well, we should talk about the love story.

SPEAKER_03 33:23

The season finale wrapped up, and you know, we obviously know how it all ended.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

I told Emily, I was like, I don't want to watch it because I know how this ends.

SPEAKER_03 33:33

I cried so hard. I didn't cry at all. I was like, okay, you did you need it? Did you ever watch Girls Five Eva? A little bit. Okay, so do you remember the song for the girl from uh um well I'm gonna look it up? Nay Ellis Goldsbury um in Girls Five Eva. There is this song from season two called Thinking About Myself, and it's like just basically about this idea that when you cry at movies or TV shows, you're really just crying and thinking about yourself. Uh but it was a great outlet to do so. Yes. Like I was like folding laundry while I was watching it, and my husband came up because his office is downstairs, and he came up and he was like, Are you okay?

SPEAKER_02 34:12

Like, who died? And I'm like, JFK Jr.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

1999 No, I did not cry, but it was really sad, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 34:25

I I really was interested because obviously this could have they could have done this so many different ways, and it was very safe. It was a very safe way to depict the days leading up and the crash itself to the point where it was like so whitewashed it was like I couldn't even grasp onto anything.

SPEAKER_01 34:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:48

Um, that part I didn't really cry at. What I cried at was, and maybe they were doing this on purpose because the powerhouse performances of the woman, uh, her name's Constance Zimmer, who was playing Carolyn's mom, Ann Freeman, and Meryl Streep Jr., Grace Gummer. She was so good. Grace Gummer nailed the whole series.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

She did so, she was amazing.

SPEAKER_03 35:11

Like the way that she carried like an unlikable character with layers was really well done. And it really kind of came to the forefront. So obviously, like this was her episode. Half of the episode, I would say, is is them like getting on the plane, and then you don't see the crash at all.

SPEAKER_01 35:27

I wish I did not like them even showing them in the plane.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

Really?

SPEAKER_01 35:32

I didn't like that. I really just thought that they would show them like taking off or something, or or even him like clearing for takeoff, and that was it. Like, I didn't love that at all.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

Yeah, it really wasn't needed, it wasn't necessary.

SPEAKER_01 35:45

It was just like, oh, this is too that was like a little bit too much for me.

SPEAKER_03 35:49

I liked it only in the way that like if you were to ask like boomers about that plane crash, it would be like, well, she was uh doing lines of coke and distracted him. Um, and like for me, it was good to see that this is without a doubt his fault.

SPEAKER_01 36:07

They did very clearly show because like you know this because you looked at the light pattern, and like I know exactly what happened, like when he banked right, when he left the coastlines and he like he was leaving so that he could take that shorter route to Martha's vineyard instead of taking like the one route that took 10 minutes longer, but he would be able to fly by sight. Yeah, and he was an instrument trained, and like I you understand now how what happened could have happened because it's basically like your equilibrium is thrown off, and your senses like you don't know up from down or left from right because everything melds into one. The sky is pitch black, the ocean is pitch black, so like you feel you're just in a black hole. It is terrifying.

SPEAKER_03 36:48

And I appreciated like kind of the visual that went with that, and I think again, like again, this is all of it is gross. All of it is gross.

SPEAKER_01 36:55

All of it is gross.

SPEAKER_03 36:55

Us watching it is gross. But if you're gonna do it, I felt like it was very done with very like as least. At least they didn't show it. It was like Mayday, Mayday, and then like screaming and like terrorized.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

Yeah, yeah. How much of a choice was it to spread their ashes at sea? Yeah. That was weird. That was weird, right? I I mean that was weird. Like where they crashed.

SPEAKER_03 37:20

He like would he have made that decision if he had known he was going to be like his like actual grave?

SPEAKER_01 37:27

I I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03 37:29

Not me.

SPEAKER_01 37:30

Not me either.

SPEAKER_03 37:31

No, weird. No. I liked how it was done where they like made it a plot point where it was like a way for them to all be equal, but it like really didn't that didn't land.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

And it was also like the military did the burial, the first ever for a private citizen. They weren't gonna do that for Carolyn. No, they did it for him. Yes, like, come on, be so for real.

SPEAKER_03 37:54

It was uh And poor Lauren.

SPEAKER_01 37:57

She was just a footnote.

SPEAKER_03 37:58

You know what I really would have loved if I could have done it over again, a Lauren Bottle episode. That would be so great. She deserves it, and I completely agree. Like the way they could have maybe like because they like dabbled in like you keep saying, like at one point, like they were when they were talking to um Anne, again, Carolyn's mom, like they were talking about Carolyn, and she's like, you keep saying Carolyn and I lost two daughters.

SPEAKER_05 38:22

I know.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

And I think which was great, and I that's what maybe got me the idea. It's like where it's like, I wish they would have pushed that further more.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

Yeah. Because she was so she is so like lost in the history of all. And she was like, it sounded like she was fucking cool and smart and successful. Yes, I totally agree. So sad.

SPEAKER_03 38:39

And I and that was I felt like the the second half of this show really wasn't as strong as the first half.

SPEAKER_01 38:46

I totally agree.

SPEAKER_03 38:47

It was about like Calvin Klein and style in the 90s, and then it just only became about their relationship in really like abstract, dramatized term like terms. Yeah, and like there was a lot of shit going down before like up until the day they died that they could have been focusing on. That they just like dropped, like George Failing and like an Anthony Radley.

SPEAKER_01 39:11

They really, really did. I mean, they touched a little bit on Anthony Radziwell, they a little bit about George. Obviously, George was in it, but like not really how it was like the magazine was literally failing it. Like he was having to do like cash cash infusions from his own to keep it afloat.

SPEAKER_03 39:26

Like, literally had to have a meeting with his staff members being like, You're not gonna lose your jobs, like 24 hours before he got on that plane. Yeah. None of that was talked about.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

No, but the name of the show is Love Story.

SPEAKER_03 39:37

Yeah, but but they didn't do any of that shit in the beginning of the series.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

Yeah, but they were building up to their love story. Like they weren't together right at the beginning. It was like showing it. I I I'm just devil's advocating you. No, you're so right. But no, I mean, I am glad it was eight episodes. Definitely. I think that was the right choice. Yes. Constant Simmer, give her the yummy. Oh my god. Amazing, amazing portrayal. This was her episode. Her and Grace Gummer, for sure. 100%. This was their episode.

SPEAKER_03 40:10

I do think some of their lines were like pretty cheesy, just like in the way that she infused them with so much like realism and grease. Oh my god. It was, I think if it was any other actress or a lot of other actresses, they would be delivering those lines and it would be like Yeah. And she just, it was so powerful. I will say, if you are interested in um love story and continuing on um exploiting them. My knowledge of the days leading up to the crash um are literally all pinned on this one article that I read years ago called Secrets and Lies from Vanity Fair.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

I'm gonna read it. I don't know if I've read it.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

There's no paywall because it's literally like 20 years older.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

Um, and it's interesting. So I highly recommend it. Okay, I'm totally going to because you know I've been getting back into like media, like reading physical media. Uh-huh. Physical media.

SPEAKER_03 41:07

Magazine articles.

SPEAKER_01 41:08

Uh-huh. Which leads us to our next topic, which is the things that we're reading right now, which we talked about readingslash listening. Um, I started listening to hold on, let me look up um Strangers, a memoir of a marriage by Belle Burden. And it is so captivating. I'm listening to it, and I I'm almost done with it. And I started it like two days ago.

SPEAKER_03 41:33

I'm so excited. It was so funny because it like came up on my Spotify two days ago. And I was like, oh man, this looks so good. And then you had texted me, and you're like, I'm reading this book. It's bananas, you have to start reading it.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

Absolutely bananas. The only thing I can compare it to is did you ever read the memoir or listen to the memoir by um Stephanie Madoff? No, but you have told me so much about it after I have read it. It okay, I'm so game. You should listen to that. Oh my god, and I can't remember the name of that. Let me look it up real quick. Called The End of Normal by Stephanie Madoff Mac. She changed her last name to Mac um in the wake of the scandal, and that was absolutely fucking crazy. That was Bernie Madoff's daughter-in-law. Yes. Okay. Yes. Um, and then so this one, it's just like really all about this divorce and what led up to it. How this, like, and I'm not like giving anything away, like he literally just like it's the early, early, early days of COVID, and he just like she finds out he had an affair. He's like, I'm so sorry, it meant nothing, I love you. And then like 12 hours later, he was like, No, I'm unhappy, I want a divorce, and walked out the door. He didn't want custody. He and they had this like big prenup. So it's like really because she really had more to loose in the beginning of the marriage, in terms of like she had trusts and like financial assets, and he did not, but then she's a stay-at-home mom. So it's like also it's you know, they have three children.

SPEAKER_03 42:58

How old is she?

SPEAKER_01 42:59

50. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 43:01

This is gonna be so good.

SPEAKER_01 43:03

So good. Every single woman should listen to it.

SPEAKER_03 43:08

Oh my god, I can't wait.

SPEAKER_01 43:09

Yeah, like I truly like it is I love it.

SPEAKER_03 43:11

I'm out of Spotify hours. Spotify, I'm creating content for you. So can you please just give me a top off for free? Please. April 1st is tomorrow. I know I can't wait. I know. Um, okay, so I am currently reading Adult Braces by Lindy West.

SPEAKER_01 43:25

Which just came out, right?

SPEAKER_03 43:27

Yes. If you are again, if you have brain rot, if you are on our side of the internet, are are you aware of some of the drama that is taking place?

SPEAKER_01 43:34

I've seen people talking about it, but not like tell me.

SPEAKER_03 43:39

So I'm gonna give you a brief um, I'm just gonna tell you what the drama is, and then I'm gonna finish the book, and then I'm going to give you my opinions. I have so many opinions, and I think I can say across the board what this book is doing is giving people, giving women a lot of opinions. Um, Lindy West is an incredible. incredibly important person to me personally and my like identity as a feminist, as my identity as a plus size person, as my identity as someone in their 30s. Her books I cannot stress enough how her books changed my life, lifted me up while having to be a woman in her 20s and 30s in the Trump era. She's fabulous. She's also an incredibly, incredibly flawed individual. And I think a lot of her flaws are coming out more in this book than they have previously. Gotcha. Um I saw her in like 2017 like speak. It was her after her book The Witches Are Coming, which is a great book of essays that came out around the time that Trump became president the first time. And I was kind of blown away by this person who I mean was so quick witted and sharp and angry and strong. Her who she is in real life is a very self-conscious person. Very self-deprecating a ri reminds me a lot of myself. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:03

Um which I just wasn't expecting by someone who writes so strong. Yeah I kind of had that moment with her years ago where it's like oh she wasn't kind of the person I I thought I thought. Not in a bad way. It's okay. You can be really confident in like standing up for women's rights and also like want boys to like you because you're insecure. You know what I mean? Like I don't think you have to choose that. Anyway Adult Braces is about her struggles in her marriage. She is now in a poly relationship and people have a lot of very strong opinions about it.

SPEAKER_01 45:36

That's because New York Times had a big like Lindy West didn't think she could be poly until she did.

SPEAKER_03 45:43

And I listened to because I always do like the listening which I pay for New York Times I should just like read it but I always just like listen to the the the corresponding um like audio okay but sometimes you get a better like that Jennifer Lawrence like it was better to listen to it than to read it. Rough it was so rough to listen to it I it's uncomfortable like she's uncomfortable talking about the subject matter like it I just there's so much to discuss and I'm going to leave it at that because I'm going to read the book before I give you my full opinion I just wanted to talk about I wanted to preface this by how important Lindy West is to me. Yeah. And she's important to a lot of people but I mean there are think pieces coming up the wazoo about this so it's not like more content is needed but I'm going to give it to you honey.

SPEAKER_01 46:28

That's what we're doing here baby we got two microphones. That's what we're doing but she's currently being crucified like that's the the vibes that I'm getting is that it's not good.

SPEAKER_03 46:40

No.

SPEAKER_01 46:40

Okay. Okay well I'm very excited to hear your thoughts as the person I trust the most in this microphone.

SPEAKER_03 46:48

And I hopefully we'll be done with that book and be in this on the stranger. You will wait strangers strangers.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

Strangers yeah you will like I love this I like it so much I want to buy the like a hard copy to display in my home perfect like I'm going to put it yeah it's a big deal for me because I'm like not a clutter person.

SPEAKER_03 47:06

No and like I am yeah yep we're in this era two halves of a coin baby we're in this era I feel like I've always kind of been a physical media person and like you're like slowly coming I'm coming I used to be and then I got a Kindle paper white no it's like I'm back baby.

SPEAKER_01 47:24

I mean I still have like fucking and I need to get rid of it but I still have uh John Molini's ex-wife book on my shelf I need to get rid of it it's so beautiful though that's the problem no I don't want anyone to know I bought that book I don't know it was a different time I um yes like I on the topic of this like I talked about this last week how I was like in a reading slump and it was like really impacting my identity yeah my like how I see myself in the world. And I finished my first book and I've started my second plus I'm like flying through audiobooks so I'm feeling really good. But it is like there is something to be said for having just like a book in your hands which is there was this really long but excellent read um on New York magazine called um could the girls of Camp Mystic have been saved. I don't know if you remember this happened last summer on the 4th of July where 27 girls there was this like historic flash flood um at in Texas um on this that killed 27 campers at this um sleepaway camp in Texas near the Guadalupe River.

SPEAKER_03 48:32

And it is obviously a really hard read yeah um but the author does an insane job so good um of painting a picture of what this camp means to people to give some insight as to why people are still going to send their kids because the camp like the the whole gist of the article and I really liked it because it was very like victims focused and it was focused on the families and that's where the story was centered.

SPEAKER_01 48:58

From the parents' from the parent the victim's parents point of view. Yes which is like what it should have been yes because the whole gist of the story is that like there was negligence on the part of the people who run the camp and the people who run the camp are like very well to do in like Dallas society. They are like seen as like gods amongst these campers and there's like this history where it's like my daughters my sisters went to Camp Mystic so like my daughters are going to go to Camp Mystic grew up going there.

SPEAKER_03 49:27

There's a very strong like summer camp culture in Texas.

SPEAKER_01 49:31

It's like sorority vibes.

SPEAKER_03 49:32

Yes yeah a hundred percent yeah and um in traditional media I would say like it was getting because I saw several stories about it. For one thing like Jenna Bush Hager like went to one of these camps. Of course she did like that totally Laura Bush literally was a drama teacher at Candy Stick. Um to give you an idea of like what kind of people go to these very well to do very powerful people.

SPEAKER_01 49:56

One of the parents when the girls went missing called Ted Cruz like personally yeah so like that's what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_03 50:04

And a lot of the story has been focusing on the point of view of the camp. So one of the uh owners died and it was very much through the point of view of like this camp is gonna survive and come together.

SPEAKER_01 50:17

And they suffered too uh he died because of his own negligence. It's negligence. It was absolute gross negligence. The fact that they have been given a license to operate is absolutely insane.

SPEAKER_03 50:29

Also I just think like through this story like I will never look at like it quit like people who read the story like the story could save like someone's life. A hundred percent because it really gave you no one in because I looked up this story I was I was invested in this story when it broke. Yes um and I never got a good idea of like what the fuck happened.

SPEAKER_01 50:50

I know it was very confusing.

SPEAKER_03 50:52

And and I should know I like grew up by a river but like the the idea of like it doesn't matter how deep the water is it is the current um it is literally the the power of this water could literally bend a car around a tree.

SPEAKER_01 51:05

It was insane it uprooted trees.

SPEAKER_03 51:08

Even if your the water is at your toes you get the fuck out.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

Yep you go to higher ground no matter what they had hours to evacuate those girls and they told them to shelter in place. They were on the banks of this river and it's also important to note that this river was at the convergence of it's a river and a creek. So it was like especially situated and like positioned for flash flooding to like just immediately take them out. I mean FEMA tried to make it a flood so it was a floodway in this the um Eastlands that's who run the camp they appealed to FEMA three different times over the course of 10 years to get it reclassified until finally FEMA granted its appeal like there is negligence at all levels at every single level. And these people are millionaires they are multi-millionaires this is a family run enterprise but do not get it twisted like this is they make millions and millions of dollars on this camp. These people are rich. Yeah and 27 girls died at their hands one of which her body has never been recovered so one of them the campers was found 30 miles away that's how strong this was I think we just need to think about like did they do this on purpose?

SPEAKER_03 52:17

No. Are they like cold blooded first degree murderers? No but I teach my child that even when you make a mistake that hurts someone you have to say you're sorry and there have to be consequences.

SPEAKER_01 52:31

There is liability there is liability when you are running a camp and you are being entrusted with children's lives like there is liability there. Just like when I'm driving a car if I hit a biker there's liability there.

SPEAKER_03 52:44

Like even if you've driven a car for years and you've always driven a car at night and you've never hit a biker before that doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 52:51

It doesn't matter yeah so it is you can hear we're so passionate about this but like I sent it to Emily I think it was like 1030 at night and I was like oh my God you have to read this I was 1030 at night for Lauren is like 11 a.m for a normal person she's like oh my God are you okay because then I texted her at like 1205 the next night and with like I know you're asleep but oh my god we have to talk about this article. It's so good. It's so well written it is just like I feel like it's so important and I just like yes I'm getting I'm back in my like media era.

SPEAKER_03 53:26

We're like we're bringing back magazines okay catalogs.

SPEAKER_01 53:29

I want to sit I want to flip through a catalog I want to be smoking a cig. I'm gonna have some hot rollers in my hair diet coke on ice oh my god the dream we didn't know how good we had it uh so you know what subscribe to a magazine today subscribe to New York magazine subscribe to a magazine please please if you take anything else from this episode besides West and Amanda are fucking trash and subscribe to a magazine.

SPEAKER_03 53:57

Imagine that we might have a parasocial problem for Bravo celebrities.

SPEAKER_01 54:00

It's also that we love magazine that's the title of this episode we have a parasocial problem. Well they made it that way on that note anything else we need to cover? No I think that's it. Uh so stay tuned please go follow us on TikTok because we are going to be posting there in the days to come. I'm sure we're gonna be getting more about all of this and we will see where it all lands. Can't wait to talk about it next week.

SPEAKER_03 54:30

All right have a great week everyone bye bye