Real Housewife of New Jersey Caroline Manzo says she was sexually assaulted by castmate Brandi Glanville while filming in Morocco last year, and accuses network bosses of encouraging further attacks “in the hopes of gathering more ‘drama.’”
In a bombshell lawsuit obtained by The Daily Beast, Manzo says production staff “regularly ply the Real Housewives cast with alcohol, cause them to become severely intoxicated, and then direct, encourage and/or allow them to sexually harass other cast members because that is good for ratings.”
“We are outraged by Bravo, Peacock and NBC’s conduct and look forward to having the issues decided by a jury,” Manzo’s attorney Derek Smith told The Daily Beast. “Sexual harassment should never be entertainment.”
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The case “is about the networks selfishly sacrificing the wellbeing of their talent for ratings and profit,” Smith said. “Brandi Glanville stated she was simply doing what the producers told her to do. Reality TV is leading to severe emotional and physical harm of its talent. This must stop.”
Bravo, Peacock, and NBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Glanville, who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, did not respond to a text sent to her personal cell phone. A message to her publicist went unanswered. She has denied past allegations of sexual assault, posting on social media that she was “completely innocent” of any wrongdoing, and dubbing any such claims “character assassination.”
Manzo, known especially for her confrontational altercations with Teresa Guidice in earlier seasons of Jersey, is also famous for her one-liners: she famously once stated that her family is “as thick as thieves, and [they] protect each other.”
Glanville, for her part, is even more controversial; her alleged lesbian affair with fellow Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Denise Richards tore the 10th season of the show apart.
The 57-page suit, which was filed Friday in New York State Supreme Court, lays out a blow-by-blow account of what Manzo describes as a nightmarish trip to Morocco in January 2023, where the cast of RHONJ shot a special called “Ultimate Girls Trip.” The problems began on the third day of the five-day jaunt, according to Manzo’s suit.
On the evening of Jan. 24, Manzo and the other housewives were at a bar, watching a snake handler perform, the suit states.
“Clearly intoxicated, Glanville walked over to Manzo, spread Manzo’s legs and leaned into Manzo,” it goes on. “... Glanville proceeded to kiss Manzo with a closed mouth. Glanville then kissed Manzo again. Manzo was very uncomfortable. Glanville then proceeded to mount Manzo on the couch holding Manzo down with her body, forcibly squeezed Manzo’s cheeks together and thrust her tongue in Manzo’s mouth, while humping her.”
Manzo was “distraught, scared, and confused,” and went to the bathroom to compose herself, the lawsuit states, noting that she is a survivor of childhood sexual assault.
“As Manzo stood at the sink washing her hands, Glanville entered the bathroom and came behind Manzo, forced her vagina against Manzo’s buttocks, breasts against Manzo’s back, wrapped her long arms around Manzo forcibly restraining her and began washing her hands with Manzo’s hands entwined,” the suit continues. “Immediately, Manzo tried to exit the bathroom. The bathroom door was locked. Glanville pinned Manzo’s body against the door. Glanville pressed her breasts and vagina against Manzo…. Glanville then reached around Manzo’s body and then groped, grabbed, and forcibly fondled Manzo’s vagina and breasts. At the same time, Glanville pushed her face into Manzo’s neck in order to kiss her. From inside the bathroom, Manzo cried, ‘HELP, HELP, HELP, HELP,’ but no one ever came.”
Manzo finally got away, but rather than assisting her in any way, the production crew “continued filming [her] throughout even though she was in distress from the sexual assaults,” according to the lawsuit. Two staffers told Manzo that Glanville’s behavior was “just her way of showing love,” it says.
Manzo was so disturbed, she didn’t want to continue participating in the production, the suit claims. She skipped a spa day with the others, and had trouble concentrating on the meal she was supposed to prepare that evening, according to the suit.
“Manzo felt overwhelmed and wanted to address the situation regarding Glanville so they could all move forward,” the suit states. “Housewives of Atlanta, Phaedra Parks, and Eva Marcille began interrogating Manzo which made Manzo feel very uncomfortable. Manzo was unable to cook due to her emotional distress which was compounded by Phaedra and Eva’s hostility.”
As the alleged assaults became part of the storyline, the suit says Manzo was “disgusted at how [her] sexual assault… and its aftermath was being used for entertainment purposes.”
“Defendants continued to film Manzo and video record her experiences in order to profit from the ‘entertainment’ of Manzo’s sexual assault experience,” according to the suit.
Five days after arriving in Morocco, Manzo “could not bear the torture” anymore, the lawsuit states. Yet, “even all the way to the airport, to the very last opportunity, [production staff] filmed Manzo in the hopes of gathering more ‘drama’ to increase their ratings.”
The episode was shelved following allegations by Manzo that Glanville had sexually assaulted her while abroad. Details were scant before Manzo’s lawsuit was filed.
Manzo, the suit argues, “has a right to feel safe at work,” and the networks showed a “willful and wanton indifference” to that right. Last year, Marco Vega, a butler who appeared on the second season of the hit franchise, filed a lawsuit accusing Glanville and Parks of sexual assault.
Manzo is asking for damages in an amount to be determined in court, for, among other things, anxiety, worry, embarrassment, humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional distress.
With reporting by Helen Holmes.
