Stassi Schroeder: Sorry! I Didn’t Realize I Was Racist!

Back in June, Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute were fired from Vanderpump Rules amid allegations of racism.

Faith Stowers, a former cast member on the show, claimed that she was singled out for harassment by her two senior co-stars simply because she was black. 

The story goes that Schroeder and Doute called the police on Stowers and falsely alleged that she was responsible for several robberies throughout the West Hollywood area.

These days, Schroeder is pregnant with her first child, and looking to rehabilitate her battered reputation.

Her apology tour began today with an appearance on The Tamron Hall, and many felt the disgraced former reality star got off to a shaky start.

“I needed time to process my feelings. I needed time to process what happened. I feel like one of the most frustrating parts when this all went down was that people expected me to just understand immediately, and things like that take time,” she began as an explanation for why she waited so long to address the situation.

“I felt like it would be better for me to get a greater understanding of everything and the issue before I opened my mouth again.”

Some felt that Stassi kicked things off by playing the victim, but her later comments were widely praised, as she accepted responsibility for her actions and vowed to change her ways.

“I’m someone who messed up quite a few times. I am the reason why I am in this situation. I think a lot of people wanted me to focus on cancel culture and whether I was a victim or not, and that’s just not how I feel at all,” Schroeder said.

“I’ve never felt like I was racist, I don’t have hate in my heart. But I’ve recognized that I wasn’t anti-racist. I wasn’t. That’s something that I’ve been learning throughout all of this,” she continued.

As for why she felt the need to call the police on her co-star, Stassi says her actions were not consciously motivated by race.

“I legitimately thought we were solving crime. I was completely wrong,” she said.

Asked about the push to fire Jax Taylor, who also accused Stowers of committing crimes.

“I don’t want to see any of my friends fired, honestly. I don’t want to speak to that.”

Stassi went on to say that she’s been working with a diversity coach in hopes of becoming a more understanding person.

“I’ve spent the last three months working with a teacher and learning so much that I didn’t know. I didn’t understand that just because something wasn’t about race for me, doesn’t mean it’s not about race for the other person,” she said.

“I’m bringing my experience as a white privileged woman to this situation, and she’s bringing her experience as a black woman into this situation,” Schroeder continued.

“Because it’s about race for her, it is about race. That’s something that I’ve realized.”

In conclusion, Stassi acknowledged that it was her privilege that landed her in this situation:

“I have spent my life as a privileged person. It is my fault, I have to say this, that I had not educated myself before. It’s my fault that I didn’t know better.”

Speaking to People magazine after her appearance, Stassi went into specifics about how she plans to do better going forward:

“I think the best thing I can do for my child is make sure people from different cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds are part of her life,” she told the magazine.

“I realize this doesn’t just happen; I will need to be proactive about putting her in environments and situations where she will get to embrace differences, whether it is at school, in playgroups or other activities,” Schroeder added.

“Even when we’re doing things like reading books together, I think there will be ways to teach her about inclusion and have conversations about being part of a diverse world.”

Asked about her future career plans, Stassi that she would like resume her podcast, but this time around, she would take a very different approach:

“My podcast was and is so important to me and I think that it would be a good way for me to continue doing what I like, while also making some sort of a difference,” she said.

“I think this time around I would maybe focus a little more on asking questions and listening while still voicing my opinions.”

She’s certainly saying all the right things, but will Stassi be able to put her ideas into and behave in a conscientious fashion?

Only time will tell.