Ubah Hassan, Brynn Whitfield Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images; John Lamparski/Getty Images
The Real Housewives of New York City’s Ubah Hassan has a new perspective on her relationship with costar Brynn Whitfield.
“From the start, it felt like Brynn had it out for me,” Ubah, 41, said in a Wednesday, January 29, interview with Glamour. “She’d make little jabs — wrapped in just enough kindness to seem harmless — that would pile on.”
Ubah continued, “It felt like she was determined to create a false narrative about me. Looking back, I see the pattern: She’d push me until I reacted then later come to me in tears, saying how much she loves me, how kind I am, and how much the show needs me.”
Tension between Ubah and Brynn escalated in the season 15 finale during the RHONY cast trip to Puerto Rico. In the episode, Ubah alleged that Brynn slept with someone in order to get cast on the show. In response, Brynn revealed that she had previously been sexually assaulted. While Brynn claimed that Ubah knew about the incident, Ubah alleged that she had no knowledge of the traumatic incident. Brynn later told costar Erin Lichy that she didn’t know if Ubah had “clocked it,” meaning the revelation may not have registered with Ubah at the moment.
In the Wednesday interview, Ubah shared that she has “regret” for suggesting that Bynn “slept with someone to get this job.”
“The context was that it felt like Brynn was pushing all of us to perform, especially me. I said that out of frustration,” Ubah explained. “I told her that I got this job because of who I am — I don’t have to fake storylines or create drama. Brynn didn’t give me this job. She’s not a producer. And even the producers don’t tell me what to do or say.”
She continued, “I regret saying these words. But here’s the thing: I would’ve said them to anyone if they behaved the way she did. It wasn’t because Brynn is a sexual being or that I was trying to hurt her heart. I would’ve said this to any of them if they were pushing me to perform as much as she did. She would accuse us of ‘taking money out of her purse’ because we weren’t meeting her standards, and I got tired of it. It was a heated moment that came after months of pressure to be something I’m not.”
Jocelyn Prescod/Bravo Part one of the Real Housewives of New York City reunion was emotional for Brynn Whitfield and costar Ubah Hassan. During the first half of the two-part season 15 reunion, which aired Tuesday, January 28, Brynn, 39, opened up about why she chose to share her experience as a survivor of sexual assault […]
Brynn has since defended the idea that she told Ubah about her sexual assault. “It’s not right to assume that everyone remembers everything that you say all the time and then hold them accountable for that,” Brynn said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I know for a fact that I said it, but when someone’s screaming into the phone, the other person might not necessarily hear them.”
Brynn called it “shocking” to hear her costars accuse her of lying. “You’re telling me that in the three minutes from when I’m called horrible names [by Ubah] and I’m obviously upset that I somehow devised a plan?” she said. “It’s disgusting that I’m talking about two things that I would hope that no woman or person would have to experience — suicide and sexual assault — and everyone’s like, ‘Brynn, we feel taken advantage of.’ Maybe don’t use those words to describe the situation. I just feel like I wasn’t shown much [respect].”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
