Newbie Annemarie Wiley has had a tough rookie season on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. First, she got in trouble for offering her unwanted and unsolicited medical opinion about Sutton Stracke’s “narrow esophagus.” As a nurse anesthetist, Annemarie “knows her anatomy,” and she questioned Sutton’s diagnosis. She even went so far as to imply that Sutton might have an eating disorder.
Crystal Kung Minkoff, who has battled an actual eating disorder, took immediate offense to that implication. She also swears that the first time she met the new cast member, Annemarie introduced herself as an Anesthesiologist (a doctor), not a nurse anesthetist.
Annemarie has faced controversy almost from the moment she joined the show. But now she’s facing her most disgusting attack of all, as she was depicted in an alleged, now-deleted racist post. The drawing, she believes, depicted her as an animal rather than the human being she is.
Annemarie Wiley responds to “racist” drawing: “Cyber bullying”
Annemarie is a “former collegiate athlete.” She is proud to be “a role model for girls and women that don’t fit the ‘model mold.'” She willingly shares that she is 5’9″, weighs 150 pounds, and is a size 6. She wakes up at 4:30 every morning (yikes!) to work out. The mom of three is “strong, athletic, and proud” of herself. But she doesn’t deserve the hateful attack aimed at her on social media.
“Drawing a black woman as a gorilla is disgusting and completely unacceptable!” she responded on Instagram. “Black women are strong and beautiful. Yet we are villainized as combative, aggressive, angry, dangerous, and ‘animalistic’ at every opportunity!”
“This is nothing compared to microaggressions and name-calling,” she continued. “This is an entirely different level of RACISM and HATRED!”
“I should have known better”
After receiving a flood of negative responses, the original poster @DrunkDrawn removed the drawing from his Instagram. He replaced it with a lengthy mea culpa.
“I made a mistake,” he wrote. “I want to acknowledge the recent post I made of Annemarie Wiley. I’ve seen both Annemarie’s response and several followers mention the racism this triggers, and I should have known better … That was not my intention.”
“Please forgive me,” he added. “Know that I will carry this lesson with me and do better going forward.”
Whether or not the artist intended to be racist, only they will know. But what we must acknowledge here is the hurt this caused to a Black woman. Too often are they targeted simply because of the color of their skin. It must stop.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
