The Shady Side Of Lisa Rinna

The following article includes descriptions of eating disorders.

In the world of Housewives, Lisa Rinna understood the assignment. For years, the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star spilled the tea straight from her perfectly plumped lips. As far as reality stars go, she was television gold. From her bitter feuds to smashing wine glasses, Rinna was dubbed the villain of the Bravo franchise — and who doesn't love a good villain? The former Soap star had a reputation for stirring the pot throughout her time on the show, usually starting petty fights but never finishing them. 

After eight seasons of shade-throwing, Rinna took her final Bravo bow in January 2023. After years of being a staple on the show, the Rinna Beauty founder announced her departure from reality television. The news came after a rocky final season for the star, characterized by an epic blowout fight between her and Kathy Hilton that drove a wedge between her and the rest of her castmates. After being booed at BravoCon in 2022, viewers had predicted it might be time for Rinna to throw in the towel for her Housewife career. But while her Bravo contract may have expired, Rinna's shade lives on in the Bravo universe.

There's no debating that she is the queen of her "Own It!" catchphrase, but many fans wonder if the "Days of Our Lives" star should take her own advice. Grab a glass of Rinna Wines because we're breaking down the shady side of Lisa Rinna.

Making a house a home may mean getting over some serious skeletons in the closet. At least that's what it meant for Lisa Rinna, who moved in with her husband, Harry Hamlin, even knowing he built the property with his ex-wife, Laura Johnson, in the '80s. Johnson and the "Clash of the Titans" star married in 1985, but the two divorced five years later, and their breakup was anything but amicable. "When people are dealing for the first time with that kind of emotional collapse, their dark side can come out," Hamlin previously told the Chicago Tribune.

Despite Hamlin's messy split, Rinna had no problem moving into their humble abode. During an episode of "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," the "Days of Our Lives" star admitted she has no regrets about moving into the French-inspired home over three decades ago. "He built it with his first wife," she explained. "Then they got divorced, and then his second wife would not live in this house. She refused to live in this house. So he moved out and lived with her and then when they broke up, he moved back in and I was like, 'F*** it. I don't care. I'll live in your house!'"

Rinna told LA Home that the house is filled with antique furnishings inspired by the French countryside. She and Hamlin even said "I Do" on the property, saying their vows in their picturesque garden that overlooks the mountainside.

There are few moments on the Housewives franchise as infamous as Lisa Rinna smashing a wine glass. Teresa Giudice's table flipping may take the cake, but Rinna's Amsterdam antics will forever be remembered in reality television history. The drama ignited at a sit-down dinner during the cast's trip to Amsterdam when the table topic turned to alcoholism and drug addiction. Rinna broke down in tears, admitting she lost her sister at a young age due to a drug overdose. She then turned to Kim Richards and added, "I'm sorry if I've ever gotten into any of your business, I never meant to," to which Richards cut her off by saying, "Well, you have."

It was a sensitive subject for Richards, who brought up her journey with sobriety. The conversation escalated when she told Rinna, "I'm concerned about you, and your situation at home. You wanna bring out my stuff, let's talk about your home life." She proceeded to drag Rinna, adding, "Let's talk about the husband. Let's not talk about what you don't want out," alluding to potential infidelity in her co-star's marriage.

"Let me tell you something — don't touch my husband, ever," Rinna responded. When Richards continued poking, the former "Soap Talk" host threw her wine glass at her in retaliation and smashed the glass. "You never go near my husband! Don't you f***ing understand that? You never go after my f***ing husband!" Rinna screamed during the fight. While the two later made up, the feud goes down in history as one of Rinna's most controversial Housewives moments.

Lisa Rinna had countless feuds with her "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" co-stars, but her beef with Yolanda Hadid almost had her quitting reality television for good. The beef started during Season 6 when newcomer Lisa Rinna questioned whether Hadid really had Lyme disease. Hadid had first opened up about her diagnosis years earlier in 2012, tweeting that she was starting treatment for Neuroborreliosis (Lyme disease).

Rinna was less than convinced, however, and brought up the possibility of Hadid having Munchausen's syndrome to castmates Lisa Vanderpump and Kyle Richards. She proceeded to read the definition of the condition off her phone, citing (per Bravo), "those affected feign disease, illness, or psychological trauma to draw attention, sympathy, or reassurance to themselves."

The former model didn't respond well to Rinna's comments, as could be expected when one is accused of faking an illness for an ulterior motive, thus sparking Munchausen's gate. Hadid confronted Rinna during a barbecue alongside her castmates, telling her (per TheThrowbackQueen), "You put it out in the universe, and that sucks."

Though the two were eventually able to move past the incident, it left a major scar. Rinna told the Los Angeles Times that it even made her reconsider renewing her Bravo contract at the time. Instead, it became a teachable moment for the star. "I never regret anything," she admitted on an episode of "Watch What Happens Live," adding, "I learn from things that I do always."

Lisa Rinna's final season on the "RHOBH" was marked by her infamous blowout with Kathy Hilton. The beef went down in Season 12 when tensions started brewing during a cast trip to Aspen — over tequila, of all things. When Rinna was spotted asking for a shot of Kendall Jenner's 818 tequila instead of Eva Longoria's Casa Del Sol tequila, the same one that Hilton is an investor for, the "Paris in Love" star called her co-star "f***ing disgusting." 

When the cast went clubbing later in the night sans cameras, Rinna alleged that Hilton had a complete meltdown after a DJ refused to play her song request. "Where it started was in the Sprinter van," Rinna admitted during the Season 12 reunion (via TheThrowbackQueen), "Kathy screaming and yelling and venting and saying things I have never heard in my life." The Rinna Wines founder claimed Hilton threatened to take down Bravo and insulted her cast-mates and sister Kyle Richards.

Hilton denied the claims, admitting to Rinna that, "I recall venting, thinking that we've known each other a long time, this is not being filmed, and I felt like I could trust you," adding that Rinna told her: "You're preaching to the choir." The two found common ground over a year later, with Hilton admitting on "Watch What Happens Live" that her former frenemy extended an olive branch. "I received the most beautiful giant flower bouquet and a beautiful card," she admitted, "and I called her to thank her and we talked for about 20 minutes."

The Housewives franchise has a way of bringing people together ... and later tearing them apart. No one knows it better than Lisa Rinna and Denise Richards, whose 20-year-friendship came to a bitter end during Season 10 of the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." The two co-stars first crossed paths while working as actors and went on to strike up a close bond that viewers thought would continue when Richards joined her friend as a Housewife. 

The opposite became true, however, when a rumor about Richard's allegedly sleeping with former cast member Brandi Glanville threw a wrench in their friendship. After Glanville claimed to have had an affair with the "Wild Things" star after sharing a hotel room together, Rinna didn't exactly have her former friend's back. Richards denied the claims, but text messages allegedly sent between Glanville and Richards had Rinna questioning her friend. 

When Richards skipped out on Dorit Kemsley's housewarming party over the rumors, Rinna later confronted her friend's excuse. "You said family emergency. You lied, that's a lie," Rinna quipped (per Reality TV Fan). Richards sent cease and desist letters to Bravo over the alleged affair, decided not to renew her contract, and her long-standing friendship with Rinna bit the dust. 

The Rinna Beauty founder has regrets over her behavior, however, and she admitted on "Watch What Happens Live" that she acted poorly. "I don't like my behavior and how I treated her, I was mean and I was cruel ... and I would like to atone for that," she revealed.

Lisa Rinna came in guns blazing during Season 7 of the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," when she made some shocking accusations about drugs to her castmate Dorit Kemsley. At a sit-down dinner with her co-stars, Rinna abruptly changed the subject when she asked (per Bravo): "What I want to know is when I was at your dinner, you all got up and left ... I was there sitting by myself." The "Days of Our Lives" star went on to question why an entire group of people abruptly left the table together alongside Kemsley. "Were people doing coke in your bathroom?" she added. 

Kemsley didn't take the claims lightly, and she quipped back, "Are you suggesting that I got up from the dinner table and went to do drugs?" She denied ever doing drugs, sparking a heated debate at the table. "That is a horrible accusation," Kyle Richards chimed in. Rinna later apologized, asserting that she was only trying to be honest. But Kemsley wasn't having it. "My house is a coke den?" she responded (per People). "I've got two little babies, but they live in a coke den? Are you f***ing kidding me girl? Really?"

Rinna's castmates didn't take her accusations lightly, harping on her weaponizing behavior. "Rinna gets so upset that you just don't know what she's going to pull out of that bag of hers," Richards admitted. "But it is going to be one sharp dagger." Ouch.

True Housewives fans know that when it comes to feuds, the battle of the Lisas will forever be remembered as one of the most explosive fights in franchise history. Out of all the things that could tear the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" stars apart, it was a puppy that caused the beef. It all started in Season 9 of the show, when Dorit Kemsley adopted a puppy, adorably named Lucy Lucy Apple Juice, from Vanderpump's rescue dog center. However, things got hairy when the dog ended up allegedly biting a family member, causing Kemsley to give it away to a friend, who in turn dropped it off at a shelter. The dog's microchip ultimately alerted Vanderpump of the dog being in a shelter, and all hell broke loose.

It later came out that Vanderpump and her employees were behind outing the scandal to the press, which Rinna had predicted all along. "All Lisa Vanderpump wants to do is punish Dorit about the dog. She can't do it so she had those boys do it. She doesn't want to get her hands dirty," Rinna told the cameras (per People). The Rinna Wines founder later tweeted a quote (per Page Six) from show producer Chris Cullen in which he outed Vanderpump for leaking the rumor. Rinna then added a photo of her flipping off the camera, writing, "Finally caught red-handed took 12 years but who's counting," adding, "Liar, liar, pants on fire."

It's no secret that Lisa Rinna is like a dog to a bone when it comes to social media spats. The "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star can't help herself when it comes to throwing shade online, whether it's fighting with co-stars or the Housewives fanbase. Rinna brought race into the picture in 2022 when she called out fans for calling her racist for fighting with the then-only Black "RHOBH" cast member Garcelle Beauvais. 

After Diana Jenkins received flack for commenting on an Instagram post: "It must be fun being a Black content creator," about a photo making fun of her, Rinna decided to join in on the drama. "We fight on our show," Rinna explained on her Instagram Story (per The Daily Beast). "If we fight with Garcelle, we are, all of a sudden, called a racist. That's bulls***. I will not accept that. I will express myself when and how I want, and I'm not afraid of any of you h**s." She went on to drag the "Real Housewives of Dubai" cast, writing: "If you are just so triggered by our show — and a lot of you p***ies are — go watch Dubai."

Rinna regretted her social media rants not long after, however, blaming her anger on her grieving for her mother's death months earlier. "... I think you've seen how hard this has hit me," Rinna wrote on Instagram (per Us Weekly), adding, "I'm sorry if I've raged on you, about you — it really has nothing to do with any of you."

Lisa Rinna has no shame in her game. From putting her castmates and fans on blast to even throwing shade at Bravo producers, there's no limit to how far she may go to make her point. Rinna threw some serious shade at the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" production team in 2021 after a Season 11 episode showed Erika Girardi visibly upset after a conversation was brought up on-camera about her and her estranged husband Tom's relationship. 

"It was a private conversation that was picked up by production on the mics and then Garcelle, who was not present for the conversation, proceeded to ask Erika about it," an insider told People. "So of course Erika was upset. The editing was unfair and inaccurate."

Rinna stood up for her friend and co-star, writing on her Instagram Story (via People) at the time: "Dang it ... I wish they had shown the screaming fight between the producer and Erika last night on the show in La Quinta. Now that would have been epic TV. Too bad," she said, adding the famous line that is supposed to signal to producers to cut certain footage. "Bravo, Bravo, f***ing Bravo," she said alongside laughing face emojis. She acknowledged her testy behavior, concluding her rant with: "I'll get in trouble for this in ... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Erika remained silent about the incident but reposted Rinna's Story. They say, "don't bite the hand that feeds you," but Rinna's shade knows no bounds.

Lisa Rinna's family life, alongside her husband Harry Hamlin and their two daughters Amelia and Delilah, were often a focal point throughout her eight seasons on the "RHOBH." But her close relationship with her kids has often come under attack by fans who claim she's sending the wrong message to her children. 

One fan alleged that Rinna was to blame for her daughter Amelia's previous struggles with anorexia, a past topic on the show. "This makes me wonder if this is how her daughter started her eating disorder with seeing mom this weight and thinking this is normal?" one fan wrote on an Instagram post of Rinna dancing in a leotard (via People). "You are body shaming me. You are the problem," Rinna wrote back.

Fans even went so far as to allege that Amelia used her body disorder to get more camera time. The model posted a screenshot of a fan's comment to her Instagram Story (via People), writing, "I seriously can't believe I'm being accusing [sic] of lying about anorexia to get more 'air time' sorry but I'm forced to be on the housewives by my mom," she explained. "Ask anyone it's the last thing I want to do. I couldn't care less about air time. So f*** you."

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

Andy Cohen is considered the boss of the dozens of Housewives across the franchise, and one could say it's not exactly wise to tick off the big man upstairs. When it comes to Lisa Rinna though, all bets are off. The Housewives ringmaster had a few choice words about the star in his book "The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up." 

In the memoir, Cohen wrote that Rinna had sent a late-night text announcing she would quit the show after filming the Season 12 reunion but later had a change of heart. Cohen admitted (via E! News) that he thought she "should go on pause but absolutely come back," adding that it "Feels like she has a toxic relationship with the show at this point, and taking a breath away could do everyone good." Rinna ultimately decided not to return, however, making the 12th installment of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" her final season. 

But Rinna's team noted that there was never any "pause" in effect between Bravo and Rinna. "There was never any discussion with anyone about that concept," a representative for Rinna said. "Her contract ended, and the parties mutually agreed not to engage on a new one. She felt her time on the show had run its course and she was more than happy to move on. And she still does not regret it."