Yahoo Finance ‘Real Housewives of Dallas’ Star Tiffany Moon Says Westcotts’ Attacks ‘Will Not Be Tolerated’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Dr. Tiffany Moon, a new addition to Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Dallas” in its recently completed fifth season, had to deal with a lot of difficult things on camera, especially as a working doctor during the COVID-19 pandemic and as an Asian American woman during this year of hate crimes and violence toward the AAPI community.
But this week, Moon faced something unprecedented: She was subjected to racist bullying online by the family of one of her fellow cast members, Kameron Westcott. In tweets, Kameron Westcott’s husband, Court, and her brother-in-law, Chart, attacked Moon on Twitter. Court Westcott, who has since deactivated his Twitter account, decried the concept of “anti-racism,” called it racism, and compared the philosophy to World War II Germany. “I don’t understand how many of your patients would be comfortable with you treating them with your open vile racism,” he wrote in a since deleted tweet.
More from Variety
Kim Zolciak-Biermann's 'Don't Be Tardy' Canceled by Bravo After Eight Seasons
'Vanderpump Rules' Season 9 Starting Production Soon (EXCLUSIVE)
And Chart Westcott, whose tweet is still up, posted a screenshot showing that Moon had blocked him on Twitter, and wrote: “I’ve spoken to her twice, once when she was blackout drunk at my house but needed to get home for early work. Wonder if she had a hangover while working on her patients?”
Moon is now fighting back against the Westcott family. In a statement obtained exclusively by Variety, her lawyer, Andrew Brettler of Lavely and Singer, says: “The insinuations the Westcotts made in those tweets are reckless, defamatory and appalling. Dr. Moon is a professional in every sense of the word and is deserving of the excellent reputation that she’s earned as a physician and as a hard working mother. These attacks on her character will not be tolerated. The Westcotts would be well advised to keep mentions of Dr. Moon out of their social media feeds.”
A spokesperson for Kameron Westcott did not respond to Variety’s request for comment. Nor did Chart or Court Westcott answer requests for comment made through their professional websites and from a call for Court to Westcott LLC / Commodore Partners.
Bravo did not respond to a request for comment, but two hours after this story was published, the company posted a statement to their social media channels.
— Bravo (@BravoTV) May 14, 2021
The statement seemed to be met with immediate criticism for its lack of specifics.
Bravo, especially in the past 18 months, has been working to integrate the casts of its all-white and predominantly white shows. An unintended — though perhaps predictable — consequence of those attempts has been exposing the cast members of color to racism, even outside of what they’d experience in their everyday lives.
But the Westcotts specifically targeting Moon is extreme. Much has been made on show of the Westcott family’s wealth and Kameron’s position in Dallas society. Indeed, family patriarch Carl H. Westcott appears to be a major donor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center where there are several chairs named after him — which is also the hospital where Moon works as an anesthesiologist. Court Westcott tagged the hospital in his since-deleted tweet.
A first-generation Chinese woman, and the second woman of color to be in “The Real Housewives of Dallas” cast, Moon’s husband, two daughters and mother were also featured on the show. She strived to ingratiate herself to the women — but it didn’t always work. In one instance, she hosted a traditional Chinese brunch where chicken feet were among the dishes — Kameron Westcott threw the food on the floor. In a failed attempt at humor, Moon also secretly put crickets as an ingredient during a pizza party she hosted at her house, and when she later told the women about it, cast member Brandi Redmond threw up. Both incidents were brought up repeatedly during the season, and Westcott later went on Andy Cohen’s Bravo talk show “Watch What Happens Live.” There, she called Moon bossy and compared her to a Thai sex worker. (Westcott has denied that was her intention as recently as this week but video of the interview appears to prove otherwise.)
Moon, simply because she’s Chinese American, also served as an unwilling avatar for Redmond. Last year, a 2017 video from Redmond’s Instagram Story, in which she talked in a mocking Asian accent, went viral. In the aftermath of that, Redmond spoke on the show about being suicidal because she felt so bad. Yet Redmond told a baffled Moon that she was uncomfortable around her because she was afraid she couldn’t be herself around Moon. (Redmond later apologized.)
During the show’s reunion episodes, the conclusion of which aired on Tuesday, all of these things were discussed once more. Moon said she doesn’t think Redmond is racist, but, no, Redmond had not been welcoming to her. Through tears (and an ill-timed bloody nose), Moon also apologized to Westcott for pushing the chicken feet on her, Westcott apologized to Moon for offending her and for not asking Moon “more questions.” Moon was again put in the position where she was an instrument of learning, rather than a person. The episode ended with Cohen asking Moon to say “cheers” in Chinese as they performed a toast. After the episode aired, the two women began to go back and forth on Twitter, with the other Westcotts inserting themselves along the way.
Early on Friday, Moon’s Instagram bio read “previous cast member of #RHOD,” prompting reports she has quit the show. As of this writing, Moon has changed the bio to “Season 5 cast member of #RHOD.”
Moon was not available to be interviewed, but a source close to her says she has not quit “The Real Housewives of Dallas.”
(Disclosure: On Wednesday, I got into an argument with Chart Westcott on Twitter. You can read our brief spat here, here, here, and here. And this story has been updated with Bravo’s tweet in support of Moon and the AAPI community.)
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.