During last night’s episode of The Real Housewives of New York, child sexual abuse survivor Bridie Farrell was caught in the middle of a fight between Dorinda Medley, Ramona Singer, and Sonja Morgan.
The intentions were good, as the ladies wanted to throw an event to raise money and spread awareness about child sexual abuse victims. As Ramona herself is a victim of abuse, this was a cause near and dear to her heart.
Earlier in the episode, viewers were introduced to Bridie, pronounced Bride-y, who explained that at the age of 15, she was a nationally ranked speed skater. Then, a new skater came to town and started molesting her. He would eventually admit to the crimes, but the statute of limitations prevented Bridie from getting justice.
According to her website, Bridie grew up in Saratoga Springs, New York and she was on the ice as a speed skater at the age of 5. She even competed in the 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2014 Olympic Trials. Bridie held impressive records, including the 3000m individual, a record holder title she held for 10 years.
When she was 15 years old, she was abused by speed skating teammate, Andy Gabel. Back then, Gabel was 33 and was an Olympic Silver medalist. It wasn’t until 15 years later that she told her story on National Public Radio, but she was unable to get justice.
That’s when she founded NY Loves Kids, a charity that advocates for the Child Victims Act in New York State. The goal is to extend the statute of limitations for sexual abuse survivors.
As for the cringe-worthy fight on The Real Housewives of New York, Ramona kept calling Bridie Birdie and Briddy. In addition, Ramona decided to give a speech at the event, which came right after a big fight where Singer didn’t invite the ladies to a birthday dinner. Again, Bridie had to correct Ramona’s pronunciation of her name repeatedly, and Sonja burst out laughing at her co-star.
“I’m bad with names,” Ramona said, before attempting to address the crowd. “When people are sexually abused as a child, you say is it my fault, did I do something wrong, you’re afraid to come forward.”
Then, Dorinda interrupted the conversation, wanting to clarify something, adding, “It was a friend of the family! You can finish, but I’m adding something, it was a friend of the family!”
“Let’s hear it from the who … horse’s mouth,” Sonja then said, referring to Bridie. “Not the w***e’s mouth. I’m sorry.”
That’s when the ladies started fighting in front of the whole crowd with Bridie caught in the middle. Even Andy Cohen had a hard time watching the scene.
This is actually beyond anything I’ve ever seen. You will watch with one eye open. https://t.co/e2F2O0iyWR
— Andy Cohen (@Andy) May 8, 2019
The ladies have since reflected on this horrible scene, which was meant to bring attention to something that Bridie was passionate about.
The Real Housewives of New York airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.