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Credit: Casey Durkin/Bravo
Katie Ginella is speaking out against Jennifer Pedranti and Gretchen Rossi after her Real Housewives of Orange County castmates created a clip of themselves seemingly mocking Asians.
After Jennifer, 48, posted the short video on her Instagram page, sparking outrage from social media users across several platforms, who labeled her and Gretchen, 46, “disrespectful” and “problematic,” Katie, 41, admitted the since-deleted clip was highly “inappropriate” as she experienced feelings of being “singled out” due to her heritage.
“There’s a very inappropriate video going around where two girls are pretending to fight, squinting their eyes and making Asian faces to Asian sounds. And it’s very hurtful and inappropriate. It’s 2025, and I think we should read the room,” Katie said on Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea, via Bye Wig Hello Drama on Instagram.
According to Katie, the video was “quickly taken down” after being accessible for “a few hours.”
Confirming she did not reach out to the ladies, despite receiving a couple of text messages, Katie said their behavior “brought [her] back to feeling like [she] felt growing up.”
“I’m the only. Right? I’m the very first Asian American on [RHOC]. I’m the very first Korean adoptee. So, being singled out from this cast, it’s all too familiar — all the feelings,” she explained.
While the clip was removed from Jennifer’s page, Emily Rose Schaefer on TikTok reshared it on her account as she labeled the video as “very disrespectful” and “very distasteful.”
“I’m back on housewives,” Gretchen begins as Asian music plays in the background.
“And we’re ready to defend ourselves,” Jennifer replies.
The ladies then begin to karate chop a punching bag as Gretchen seemingly mocks Katie’s heritage even further by imitating Asians.
@emilyroseschaefer Mamma Mia here we go again…and not in the fun way 😩🙄 There have been at least 6 shows on Bravo this year where the person of color has been painted as the antagonist or the villain by their casts, production, or the network: #RHOBH (Garcelle), #SummerHouse (Imrul), #RHOA (how Kenya being threatened was handled), #nextgen (Riley), #RHOM (Guerdy), and #RHOC (Katie). I’ve gotten comments of this happening on #SouthernCharm and #belowdeck too. This video is very disrespectful to the Asian woman on the cast who is ALREADY this season’s target. Putting what Katie has done this season aside, this isn’t acceptable. There’s no punchline or humor in it. It’s wildly ignorant for two women approaching 50 to film let alone post. PERIOD DONE. I know a lot of us watch these shows as a form of escapism…but whether you want to acknowledge this to yourself or not, politics and social issues touch everything. NOT having to address any of it is a privilege in itself. This shouldn’t go unaddressed; all of the people of color that are part of the Bravo/NBC “family”, whether they are cast, employees, or part of the audience, deserve SIGNIFICANTLY better than this. Let me know what you’re thinking and feeling y’all! I know talking about this stuff doesn’t always seem like enough, but the louder we get the harder it is to ignore! #realitytv #bravotv#bravotvainmentnews #fyp #celebritynews ♬ original sound – Emily Rose
Following the sharing of the clip, Instagram‘s Jenny Blaze labeled the antics as “problematic” and “racially charged behavior.”
When Page Six reached out to Jennifer and Gretchen, Jennifer had no comment, but Gretchen offered a statement.
“The video we made was not directed at Katie and was not meant to be hateful,” she insisted. “Once it was addressed to us that it could be taken offensively, we took it down immediately.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 19 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
