Lisa Rinna Denies Rumor About ‘RHOBH’ Co-Star Lisa Vanderpump

Lisa Rinna is strongly denying rumors that her The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills co-star Lisa Vanderpump has her role reduced to “friend of housewife for season nine of the show.

According to Us Weekly, Rinna posted a comment on a post about Vanderpump, calling the rumor “bulls—.”

“Theory — [Lisa Vanderpump] didn’t refuse to shoot the promo shot with the other women. What if [Bravo] decided to make her a friend of the [Real Housewives] this season, and that’s why she wasn’t shooting with them?! Neither Bravo nor [Lisa Vanderpump] wanted to reveal this to the other women, so they made it seem like she refused to shoot,” the rumored fan-theory read. “She’s been noticeably absent at group events.”

The theory seems to have possibly been started inadvertently by Rinna, who may have had a past comment about an unidentified cast member taken out of context.

“We’re here shooting, the whole cast is here,” the actress said in an Instagram Live stream in September. “Rumor has it that one of the cast members won’t shoot with us. They won’t do a group shot with us. So we’re sequestered in a room. But somebody’s holding out and won’t come out and shoot with us, can you imagine? Who is that? … They’re going to have to, like, put her, in a computer-like way.”

While Rinna herself has not revealed who she may have been referring to, a source close to the cast told Us Weekly that it was indeed Vanderpump.

“They did a cast shoot for the new promo shots and Lisa wanted to shoot separately and do hair and makeup separately,” the source said, with a second source later noting that it’s not really a dire issue because “changes to the schedule can be made to accommodate any talent.”

Interestingly, several sources told Us Weekly that Vanderpump was not speaking to any of her co-stars except the newly cast Denise Richards.

“She is not talking to any of the cast except for Denise. There have been numerous attempts from the other cast members to reach out to her and they have gone unanswered,” one source said, seeming to allege that Rinna, Teddi Mellencamp, Erika Jayne and Dorit Kemsley caught Vanderpump in some sort of a lie. “The women feel like Lisa doesn’t want to face them and confront the situation. She has kept her distance and now that’s creating more problems with the cast.”

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is to return later this year or in 2019.