Southern Charm, the Charleston-based reality TV show that airs on Bravo, is known for its on-screen fireworks, but this week all the drama has been off camera.
Earlier this week, cast member Kathryn Dennis apologized for sending a Charleston black activist a monkey emoji among a barrage of Instagram direct messages. While the consequences of those actions were still unraveling, a reality TV gossip blog posted an unsubstantiated claim that cast member Cameran Eubanks Wimberly’s husband had been carrying on a two-year affair with a local makeup artist. The blog also claimed Wimberly quit Southern Charm ahead of the seventh season to avoid the situation being exposed on national television.
Both Wimberly and the alleged mistress vehemently denied the accusations in separate social media posts.
“I was going to make a kind statement about why I decided to leave the show…however it has come to my attention that insidious rumors are now spreading and fake articles being written…some of which pertain to my marriage,” Wimberly posted on Instagram. “What upsets me the most is that my husband, who is the most sincere and faithful human I know is being falsely dragged into this. It disgusts me.”
The supposed mistress posted on Instagram that she never even met Wimberly or her husband. Wimberly shared this post on her own Instagram story saying, “It is so sad that this kind, beautiful and innocent girl had to be drug into the mud. I signed up for this by being on TV. She didn’t.”
On Friday, cast member Naomie Olindo posted on her own Instagram story that she and cast mate Chelsea Meissner were also leaving the show. In her post, Olindo blamed Dennis for the rumors about Wimberly’s personal life.
“To all those asking why Cameran, Chelsea and I (and anyone with a life they want to protect), quit the show, it's shit like this,” Olindo wrote. “Shame on you Kathryn Dennis for this and many other things.” She added a monkey emoji at the end of the sentence.
Despite losing three of its most popular cast members and now facing calls for Dennis to be fired, Southern Charm is still planning on returning for a seventh season. The show had been filming around Charleston before the coronavirus halted production.
