The Real Housewives of Atlanta's Kenya vs Brit, whose side I'm on and why

Before The Real Housewives of Atlanta season 16 started rolling out episodes, there were plenty of rumors swirling about what happened when the new ladies mixed with the show’s vets. In particular, what occurred at the opening of Kenya Moore’s hair salon that allegedly got her phased out of the season. While social media sleuths were able to deduce it had something to do with newcomer Brit Eady, there were only theories about what stunt Kenya may have pulled.

As the new season kicked off, it became clear that Brit wasn’t Kenya’s favorite person. The legendary shader threw subtle jabs at the newbie in their first meeting, which I’d say is par for the course in the Housewives world. Nothing was said (that was shown at least) that warranted Brit to take such grave exception, but she was noticeably upset. Again, because this is the Housewives world, I understand Brit may not be keen to let insults roll off her like water off a duck's back, so she’s held a grudge.

Fast forward to RHOA season 16 episode 4, “The Vault,” which aired on March 30, where fans were given more insight into what escalated the feud between Kenya and Brit to the point of no return.

In the episode, Angela Oakley hosts an event at her space called The Bank. As the ladies show up, Kenya greets Brit with a half-hearted hug, patting her on the back. The civil, but now warm, embrace was insulting to Brit, which she makes note of, albeit in a joking manner.

After the group sits down to eat, Angela decides to start an exercise where everyone writes down questions anonymously for the other ladies, and places them in a box. “Coincidentally,” Brit pulls the question, “Kenya, can you speak to Brit kindly and not with an attitude?” Before Kenya responds, Brit assures her that she didn’t write this question.

Kenya replies, “The answer is yes, I can speak to everyone kindly without an attitude. I think I have.” The answer isn’t satisfying enough for Brit as she counters, “Yeah, but we’re talking about me, sweetheart.” That statement kicked off a back-and-forth between the ladies where they accused one another of wanting to have a moment. Trying to end the discussion, Kenya claims, “Peasants cannot come for a queen.”

Brit becomes incredibly upset and hurls a few profanity-laced insults Kenya’s way. In their confessionals, Porsha, Drew, Angela and Shamea all question why Brit went from zero to 100 so quickly. Kenya walks away to leave, and Brit follows closely behind her, also deciding to exit the event. This is when things take an even more dramatic turn.

As all the ladies gather by the door, Kelli asks Brit, “You want me to call him [Brit's husband] and see if he’s outside?” Brit oddly says within earshot of Kenya, “I mean I still have my pistol so I’m good.”

Once outside in the parking lot, Brit complains to her husband about Kenya. Brit says, “Play that s**t in front of the cameras, don’t play that with me. I don’t play them games. I don’t play them games. I got whips, f**kin pistols, everything.”

Now Brit’s husband admonishes his wife for doing too much, but she accuses Kenya of doing too much and being manipulative. Riding off in Porsha’s car, Kenya accuses Brit of being “a problem” and needing “to go,” citing Brit’s own references to weapons.

With all that being said, even without Kenya’s alleged act of retaliation having aired yet, I find myself squarely in her camp on this one. That’s big news coming from me, as I’ve not usually been a fan of her antics on Bravo. But in a scenario in which Brit escalated her very minor issues with Kenya to the point she’s mentioning weapons, I can’t get behind that. Even if the comments were made in jest, which is likely, the mere language is very off-brand for the Bravo franchise.

Yes, there have been physical altercations on RHOA and throughout the Bravo universe as a whole, but Brit’s words just declass the show in my humble opinion. Furthermore, like many viewers of the series, I’m shocked that the network didn’t have more of a public stance against Brit before getting rid of Kenya because of her response. Take a look at just some of the more tame comments I found on social media about the whole ordeal.

Again, all that Kenya did to retaliate against Brit hasn’t aired. So it’s entirely possible that when the footage hits the airwaves, I’ll change my tune. But as of now, Kenya has found a new supporter (on this issue anyway).

New episodes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta air on Sundays on Bravo. The episodes become available to stream the following day on Peacock.