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The Real Housewives of Potomac (RHOP) Season 7 aired a dramatic episode on Sunday, October 23, 2022, at 8 pm ET on Bravo. The episode featured some major drama involving the cast members as they navigated personal relationships and friendships, while also raising some alarming concerns. Viewers witnessed Candiace defending her husband, while calling out Michael Darby.
In the previous two episodes, RHOP cast members, including Ashley Darby, Gizelle Bryant and Mia Thornton, accused Candiace's husband Chris Bassett of making them "feel uncomfortable."
However, Candiance didn't believe the allegations, and instead asked the producers not to malign her husband's name when Darby was "available" for it. She seemingly hinting at the latter being accused of allegedly "gr*ping a producer" in 2018.
Fans sided with the RHOP star and blamed the women for giving her husband a storyline similar to what happened with Michael. One tweeted:
A look at Michael Darby's accusations on RHOP
Episode 12 of RHOP Season 4 ended with airing previous footage of Michael Darby's interaction with the show's cameraman, which the latter allegedly claimed was s*xual assault.
The footage saw Michael greeting the cameraman and after a brief exchange, the cameraman stated, "Please don't do that."
A report by PEOPLE had obtained court documents that had statements from a cameraman named Orville Palmer. On September 4, 2018, Orville claimed that RHOP star Ashley Darby's then-husband had "grabbed and groped" his bu** three days earlier. The cameraman claimed that this happened during cast member Monique Samuels' rainbow baby shower.
Michael was charged with felony assault as well as misdemeanor improper sexual contact. However, a Montgomery County court dismissed the charges the following month due to insufficient evidence.
In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, Michael responded to the events that transpired in the episode and said:
"This was a serious situation where an employee of the production company tried to take advantage of my wife and I by making up a story to try to profit from it...The fact that the production company appears to endorse his actions by splicing together disconnected and unrelated events in order to also profit is really scary for people in my position."
However, a representative from RHOP's production company responded to Michael's claims to the publication and said:
"Pertaining to Michael Darby's scenes in last night's Real Housewives of Potomac, there was no manipulation of audio or video; the footage that aired in last night's episode depicted events exactly as they occurred."
RHOP star Candiace calls out Michael Darby in Season 7 Episode 3
Previously, both Gizelle and Ashley had brought forth Chris' alleged behavior to Candiace. Ashley spoke about how Chris had sent a private message on her Instagram in the middle of the night and made her feel uncomfortable. Candiace, however, assured that he didn't mean it with any form of ill intention.
Later on in RHOP Episode 2, Gizelle also confronted Candiance with a similar accusation. The former stated that Chris had a private conversation with her at the Season 6 reunion in her room, making her feel uncomfortable. She said:
"To be honest with you Candiace...it was a long day..I don't remember like exactly what he said but I can tell you, I don't ever want to be in a bedroom with a married man."
Gizelle, however, maintained that Chris had not touched her or said anything inappropriate. Candiace was furious at the baseless allegations, and spoke to one of the producers and said:
"If it's going to be about maligning my f***ing husband, you don't want me here. I will not have it. It's bulls***t. If you want that, Michael Darby is available for that...The a** grabbing mother*****r that acutally likes to make people feel uncomfortable, he's available for that. Not my husband."
On tonight's episode of RHOP, Mia also accused Chris of the same. She explained that at the spring party, Chris was staring at her and that she kept catching it. The star felt that maybe "there was some truth" to the accusations leveled by fellow castmates.
Fans took to social media to slam the production and the women for accusing Chris and giving him the Michael Darby storyline. They also sided with Candiance for defending her husband and calling out Michael.
Season 7 of RHOP is getting interesting and dramatic with each passing episode. There is only more to come as cast members get embroiled in more conflicts and arguments as the season progresses.
Tune in to a brand-new episode this Sunday, October 30, 2022, at 8 pm ET on Bravo.
