Stassi Schroeder has apologized for making controversial comments about the #MeToo campaign on her podcast.
“My podcast is an outlet for me to share my unfiltered opinion with my listeners, but on my latest episode, I crossed a line,” she said in a statement she tweeted on Saturday, November 25. “It was irresponsible for me to make generalized statements about a very serious topic, such as sexual harassment, as it is not my place to speak about anyone else’s experiences.”
— Stassi Schroeder (@stassi) November 25, 2017
“I apologize,” she continued. “I will continue to speak my mind on my podcast, but will put more thought behind my dialogue moving forward.”
She also tweeted, “These 24 hours have been sobering: I want to share your stories on my podcast: on either side, being accused of something you didn’t do or being victimized & left helpless. Let’s discuss it all.”
These 24 hours have been sobering: I want to share your stories on my podcast: on either side, being accused of something you didn't do or being victimized & left helpless. Let’s discuss it all. Stassi@juststassi.com
— Stassi Schroeder (@stassi) November 26, 2017
As previously reported, the Vanderpump Rules star, 29, referenced victims of sexual assault on her Straight Up With Stassi podcast in a since-deleted episode called “Are We on a Male Witch Hunt?” Schroeder claimed that many victims were originally “willing” to go to hotel rooms and were only speaking out against sexual harassment now because of the “hashtag me too trend.” She also stated that “no one can make me suck someone’s d–k.”
Many listeners were outraged with what they perceived to be insensitive views and took to Twitter to express their disgust. Advertisers — including Rent The Runway, Simple Contacts and Framebridge — also spoke out against Schroeder’s comments and publicly terminated their business relationships with her.
Some fans were not swayed by the reality star’s mea culpa and accused her of apologizing only for the sake of her business.
One fan wrote, “Thanks for the apology but this should have been your FIRST response instead dismissing everyone and retweeting people who were agreeing with your harmful opinions.”
Another wrote, “you’re only backpeddling now because you’ve lost advertisers for your podcast. Too late for apologies, we truly know how you feel. #Victimblaming or #victimshaming is something u won’t understand because it hasn’t happened to you #MeToo.”
“You say this after tweeting that you only deleted the episode because people ‘weren’t ready’ to hear what you had to say? Too late for this bullshit PR move to save you. The damage is done,” tweeted another.