“As a Black woman in The South, you kind of already know that you will be the last resort for a lot of people,” Venita Aspen says on a 2020 episode of Words With Witte. “You won’t be the first person they call and that’s just the sad reality.”
When Aspen entered Bravo’s Southern Charm, the Charleston, South Carolina native was thrust into a predominantly white cast with little to no backup. Although Leva Bonaparte joined the series in season seven making her the first cast member of color, Aspen’s introduction as a “friend of” in the same season aligned with the world-wide protests regarding the murder of George Floyd.
In Charleston, actions took place to remove the statue of John C. Calhoun statue, the seventh Vice President of the United States who fiercely defended the rights of white Southerners. He also owned enslaved Africans. It would be coincidence that Kathryn Dennis, a descendant of Calhoun and one of the original cast members of Southern Charm, sent a monkey emoji to Mika Gadsen, a Black woman radio host in the same year.
This is the moment where Aspen made her reality tv debut.
Unlike her counterparts on The Real Housewives of Atlanta and The Real Housewives of Potomac, where the predominantly Black female casts represent an idealized version of The New South, Aspen was burdened with the responsibility of joining a reality television show that glorifies and pays homage to The Old South.
Since her debut, Aspen has experienced racially charged comments on social media from the series’ fans, accusations about her having a crush on Chleb Ravenell, (Ravenell was the series’ second Black cast member. He joined season eight. At the time of filming, he was romantically involved with Dennis) and harsh treatment from her white counterparts.
A through line among the commentary online was that Aspen was a diversity hire. Although she has made appearances in the show’s background since season two, her presence was viewed by some as a counter to Dennis’ anti-Black comments. However that could not have been farther than from the truth.
“Bravo noticed and recognized that she was essential. She’s been around for so many years as a friend of these folks. That this person needs to be a main cast member” says Thomas Kelly, Executive Producer and Showrunner of Southern Charm. Kelly has also worked on The Real Housewives of Dallas, The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives of Potomac and Selling Tampa.
After the filming of season eight, where Aspen was left in tears after a falling out with her childhood friend and fellow cast member Naomie Olindo and tense reunion with close friend and cast member Madison LeCroy, she retreated to New York City where she spent five months in a dark and depressed apartment, while her friends blocked and deleted comments from fans.
Before Aspen began filming for season nine, Kelly and the show’s executive producer met with Aspen at Island Provisions, a nearby coffee shop in her neighborhood. As the new showrunner, it was Kelly’s intention to create an environment where she was able to feel comfortable. “I wanted her to be in a safe space where she could tell her story and open up more because Venita is a star,” says Kelly. “Having her feel like a respected, admired, and valued cast member this season helped give her more confidence and comfort in the show.”
When asked about her decision to come back for season nine on the “Bravo! We’re Black” podcast, Aspen said “Something I take a lot of pride in is that the majority of the opportunities that have been given to me I am the door holder, right? So, I have to be the one that takes it all in and do all the hard stuff first, so when the next person comes through like they don’t have to deal with half of what I had to deal with because I worked it out, so they don’t have too.”
It would be remiss not to acknowledge Aspen’s comments in light of Bethenny Frankel’s “Reality Reckoning” against the network. The former Real Housewives of New York cast
member has called for greater protections for cast members on the network and across reality television. Yet her critiques fall flat, when it comes to the treatment of Black women. NeNe Leakes, original member of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and Eboni Williams, the first Black cast member on The Real Housewives of New York, have publicly disclosed their experiences as Black women on Bravo.
However Southern Charm, one of the network’s younger shows, which include Vanderpump Rules, Summer House, Winter House, and Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard, the all Black Summer House spin off which follows a group of young Black professionals as they vacation in the historic Massachusetts beach town that aired last year; the sisterhood that exists among the Housewives is non-existent in Bravo’s younger shows. With the exception of Martha’s Vineyard, Black cast members, specifically Black women, are placed into predominantly white casts.
Ciara Miller joined Summer House on season five making her the first Black cast member. The next season, Mya Allen joined, making her the second, since then, the series has continued to add more people of color to the Hamptons, NY based series. Jason Cameron, a Black man, was a main cast member on seasons one and two of Winter House. While Vanderpump Rules has yet to cast a Black cast member.
Despite the abundance of Black talent on the network, Aspen is still the subject of relentless attacks online. When Aaron Marcellus, co-host of Bravo! We’re Black, a podcast he hosts with Kaya Wilson, that gives a Black perspective on Bravo was asked about this, he mentioned the racial demographics of the cast. As one of the least diverse shows on Bravo, the majority white cast puts Aspen at a disadvantage.
“It has a bunch of racist undertones because we’re focusing on these white people and then you have this Black woman who is a power player,” says Marcellus. “She has so much going on for herself but we’re so limited to what we see when it comes to Venita.”
On the latest season, Aspen’s storyline centered around being a sounding board for Olivia Flowers, who was in the process of healing from the sudden passing of her late brother Conner Flowers and grappling with the revelation that her former best friend and fellow cast member Taylor Ann Green was intimately involved with her ex and fellow cast member Austen Kroll.
Fans received little information about Aspen’s trip to New York Fashion Week, her relationship with boyfriend Manny Houston, or any behind the scenes footage about her collection with Dillard’s, that launched Spring 2023. For fans of Aspen, the consensus was her being regulated to the role of the Black sidekick.
According to Kelly, that preconception is false. Because of the show’s editing process, which tends to be very high paced and rigid to move storyline along, Aspen and several other cast members filmed scenes that did not make it on-air. Despite this, Kelly witnessed Aspen’s growth this season. “She’s arrived. She spoke up against Shep. She was there for Olivia. She spoke up against Taylor,” says Kelly. “She’s not as involved as one might think, but when she gets involved, her voice is heard. It’s clear. She has a very strong perspective, and it’s needed. She’s really found her footing in this group.”
In the universe of NeNe Leakes and Karen Huger, Venita’s approach to reality tv is more subdued, but just as poignant. “She’s not going to be silent. She’s not scared to stand up for what is right, but she does not fall into the sassy Black woman stereotype” says Wilson, co-host of Bravo! We’re Black.
Kelly, who worked on The Real Housewives of Potomac for two seasons, also sees Aspen as a new type of reality star. “I love that she’s showing that Black women come in all shapes and sizes, energy levels, different approaches and styles. That’s why we need more representation to show how layered and nuanced people can be and having her in this specific forum is so important.”
And people are starting to take notice. Glamour published a piece on her natural hair journey. She has secured partnerships with Astral Tequila, Clif Bar, Dashing Diva, DSW, J.McLaughlin, Old Navy, Skinceuticals, and more notable brands. Aspen is positioning herself as someone to watch in the network’s roster of burgeoning talent.
The good ole days of Southern Charm being a boys club are over. Aspen and the other female cast members are no longer secondary players on an ensemble cast that largely favored the white male majority. Now the power resides in cast members like Aspen who are not only representing a cultural shift on the network, but in the South and in the nation overall.
Aspen’s life as a Black woman in The South is not a deterrent to Southern Charm, but an asset, and it’s time for the network to treat her as such.