His new show hasn’t even aired yet and Jeff Lewis is already causing controversy.
Yesterday at BravoCon, the former Flipping Out star joined Bravo boss Andy Cohen to announce that he will be returning to the network in a new show with the working title Still Flipping Out.
“Jeff Lewis is going to be back on Bravo everybody,” Andy told the convention crowd.
According to an announcement released by the network yesterday, “In his new Bravo series, Jeff Lewis is as outspoken as ever, but this time the mic is always on. Lewis navigates the hilariously unpredictable nature of his professional and personal lives as his trademark spontaneity collides with the people who work with him, for him and still somehow survive him.
“Jeff Lewis can still flip out when he wants to, and he calls that personal growth.”
Those qualities were on full display at the panel when, according to Us Weekly, Jeff asked Andy why producers of the Real Housewives franchise have decided to “diverge from bringing in affluent women” in casting and called out one former Salt Lake City star in particular, saying, “Didn’t Monica Garcia’s food benefits just get frozen?”
Per Us Weekly, Andy was quick to defend the cast and producers, saying that Salt Lake City wouldn’t had such a “great season without” Monica. Andy also shared that there has “always been a span of wealth” on the Housewives series.
After the panel, Monica took to Instagram to respond to Jeff’s comments.
“Let me be so clear, I have so much said about me that I let slide and don’t care to acknowledge, but considering what so many families, single moms, elderly, and Americans have been and are dealing with in relation to this situation, this is HORRIBLE,” she posted to her Stories.
“F**K You @jljefflewis. You are F**KING TRASH for this! Elitist, entitled, privileged pr**k.”
The former Housewife shared some of the responses she’s gotten from followers to her post and Jeff’s comments, including one from a SNAP beneficiary that reads, “As a mother currently dealing with losing these benefits I am devastated by this. I watch Bravo and have supported these people for years and this is what they do? Smdh it’s making fun of me and people like me who support THEM. I feel sick.”
Bravo bloggers and content creators have also shared their disgust with Jeff’s comments. The account @worm_with_a_mustache posted a screengrab of The Valley stars Jasmine Goode and Zack Wickham with stunned faces at the show’s reunion with the caption, “Hey siri define tone deaf.”
The account creator, Cat, also added the comment, “No I won’t be watching the ‘Flipping Out’ reboot.”
A follower replied, “The way he just killed that reboot,” to which Cat responded, “100”.
Jeff has since responded to the controversy he created by apologizing to Andy both in an Instagram post, writing, “I’m sorry you didn’t like our panel @bravoandy” and via text, as he explained to Us Weekly.
“I have apologized. Look, I know this guy. We’ve known each other for 18 years. He vents and, look, I sincerely did apologize,” Jeff said. “Now I gotta give him time to cool off. My experience with him, he’ll get back to me in one to three weeks.”
Content creator @thebravobabe responded to Jeff’s Instagram post with, “How about ‘I’m sorry Monica’?”
Instead of reaching out to Monica, Jeff’s representatives told The Daily Mail, “Jeff is happy to hear that the government shutdown is over and that everyone will be receiving their full benefits soon.”
Due to the federal government shutdown, this month 42 million low-income Americans, including 16 million children, lost access to benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to ABC News. With a temporary funding bill now signed, payments have started going out to program beneficiaries, ABC News reported Friday.
Bravo has yet to announce when ‘Still Flipping Out’ will premiere.
(Photos: Bravo; Instagram)
7 Responses
I love Jeff Lewis. He has a caustic sense of humor but a good heart. He isn’t trying to hurt anyone for real. Real Housewives love drama and I am sure Monica will ride this all the way to the bank for as long as she can. She can miss me with the outrage on behalf of others – I don’t believe a bit of it. I miss Jeff and am glad he’s coming back to Bravo. If you aren’t a fan then don’t watch. Not every show is for everyone.
I think he took this one way way way too far. It’s a reality for many many people as pointed out. He is an elitist …he is privileged and he’s completely tone deaf.
Never watched him, never will.
Did they really have someone on RHOSL that was on food stamps? I don’t watch the show but that sounds interesting. I wonder how the other women treated her?
The way I read it was that she was not on food stamps. She was mad because millions are and they lost their benefits and she felt like Jeff was out of line being his usual sarcastic self and he was. Monica gets $7000 per month in child support alone so she definitely wouldn’t qualify for food stamps. She posted things from her followers of single mothers who lost their benefits. I think that may be the confusion.
Jeff Lewis is a dick. He always has been. He puts people down and it makes some people laugh so they continue to make excuses for him. I don’t find him funny. He is highly offensive and downright nasty.
110% complete ass. I do listen bc it’s funny. I do think his co hosts are good people. What makes him funny is he’s so entitled and truly believes what he says. Great entertainment.