Despite being fired in 2020, it seems fans of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills aren't too far away from some more Teddi Mellencamp drama. The saga of the dog named Lucy Lucy Apple Juice dominated Season 9 of the Bravo show seems to still be ongoing, despite taking place years ago.
Dorit Kemsley and her husband, PK, adopted a dog from Lisa Vanderpump’s rescue organization, Vanderpump Dogs. Fashion designer Dorit claimed that Lucy nipped PK and their children, so she “rehomed” the rescue dog. The whole season was centered around the feud between Dorit, Lisa Vanderpump and Teddi Mellencamp, all about the little rescue dog. Of course, all the other housewives became involved and took sides in the arguement.
But now Page Six is reporting that Mellencamp and Vanderpump have settled the matter, years after it happened. So what really happened and why has it taken so long to resolve?
15 Who Was Involved In Real Housewives' PuppyGate?
Like any good Real Housewives feud, everyone seemed to get involved. It started between Lisa Vanderpump and Dorit Kemsley. But soon Teddi Mellencamp got involved, and then Kyle Richards followed by two of Vanderpump’s employees at Vanderpump Dogs: executive director John Sessa and event manager John Blizzard.
14 What Happened With Lucy Lucy Apple Juice?
In the RHOBH‘s season 9 premiere, the audience learned that before the cameras started rolling, Dorit Kemsley adopted Lucy from Lisa Vanderpump’s dog rescue foundation.
Though Dorit called Lucy “a beautiful, adorable puppy,” Lucy “was not the right fit” for her family after she bit her husband PK and their two kids — son Jagger, and daughter Phoenix, “a few times.” So, Kemsley explained that she found a “beautiful home” for Lucy and gave the dog away.
13 Where Did RHOBH's Lucy Lucy Apple Juice Really End Up?
The problem is, Lucy’s new owner also didn’t want the dog and gave Lucy to a shelter. That shelter then scanned Lucy’s microchip, which tracked it back to Vanderpump Dogs.
This is where all the problems started, something Dorit Kemsley claims is totally unintentional.
"It’s not good for us for a shelter to be calling us saying, ‘We’ve got a Vanderpump dog down here, ” Lisa Vanderpump said on the show, adding that the pet adoption contract Kemsley signed carries fines for situations like this. “We make very, very stringent rules and regulations so that that mistake can’t be made. That’s why we put in the $1,000 penalty so that it can’t be made.”
12 Another Dog Also Attacked Dorit Kemsley's Children
Dorit Kemsley did own another dog before Lucy named Maddie. The dog was also rescued from Vanderpump Dogs, where she was also returned. This pet also bit Kemsley’s daughter Phoenix “on the face.” Lucy was adopted after Maddie was returned.
11 Lisa Vanderpump Was Disappointment With Dorit Kemsley
Lisa Vanderpump discussed her disappointment at the situation with Dorit Kemsley, saying that she wished she would have given the dog back to Vanderpump Dogs instead of to another family. “I know that you had no bad intention,” Vanderpump told Kemsley in the opening episode.
“Maybe in [Dorit’s] mind, she believed it was going to a good home,” Vanderpump says on camera. “There is no way she would have given the dog away to be dropped off at a shelter. I stand by that.”
In fact, Vanderpump was so sure that Kemsley was innocent that she did her best to shut down any conversations about PuppyGate. At no point was she angry, she was more disappointed that Lucy wasn't returned to her shelter.
10 Teddi Mellencamp Rehashes PuppyGate Drama
When all things seem to resolve themselves, Teddi Mellencamp decided to bring things up again. After a visit to Vanderpump Dogs, employee John Sessa brought Lucy out. “You don’t recognize her?” he asked Denise Richards. “It’s Dorit’s dog. She’s with us again.”
“I 1,000 percent don’t want to talk about this. It’s handled. … It’s not her fault,” Vanderpump said, trying to shut it down.
“It was not handled properly,” Sessa said. “I’m p*ss*d and everyone here’s pissed. And I’ve been dealing with this now for a week.”
It turns out Teddi is good friends with John Blizzard, the Vanderpump Dogs Events Coordinator, and had heard about what had happened before. “They told me because they’re really upset about it,” Mellencamp told Richards during her trip to Vanderpump Dogs. “But they were like, ‘Don’t say anything’ and I was like, ‘I won’t.’ And I keep my word.”
9 Dorit Kemsley Knew Teddi Mellencamp Was Aware Of The Dog Situation
Dorit Kemsley didn’t know about Denise Richards, but she was definitely aware that Teddi Mellencamp already knew about all the puppy drama.
While at dinner together in episode 1, Lisa Vanderpump told Dorit, “John Blizzard spoke to Teddi.” Vanderpump also admitted in episode 3 that she had texted Kemsley, “Teddi knows,” in an effort to “clear this up and get in front of it.”
“Of course I told Dorit because Teddi and Dorit’s history has been a little tenuous,” Vanderpump revealed. “If I hadn’t told Dorit and Teddi brought it up, then I probably would have been to blame for that as well.” Kemsley never discussed it with Mellencamp until episode 3, when she brought it up at dinner and exposed the fact that Denise Richards knew it, too.
8 How Lisa Rinna Got Involved With PuppyGate
Of course, Lisa Rinna got involved too.
In episode 3, Lisa Rinna walked in on a conversation between Lisa Vanderpump and Denise Richards in which Richards joked about Kemsley being “allergic” to dogs. She was hinting about what had gone on with Lucy, but Vanderpump didn’t want to discuss it at all and immediately went quiet— something that made Rinna suspicious.
“I refuse to talk about it now,” Vanderpump said. “I don’t want to talk about this. There are no winners. If anybody’s going to bring it up, it’s just because they’re going to stir up sh*t.”
Rinna had already been criticized by Vanderpump in previous seasons for not being involved in the group, but this drama interested her. The next day Rinna asked Richards and Mellencamp about what was going on. She was told by the pair about how Vanderpump’s employees brought Kemsley’s dog around while the cameras were up. Rinna believed Lisa was setting Dorit up.
“All Lisa Vanderpump wants to do is punish Dorit about the dog,” Rinna said. “She can’t do it, so she had those boys do it. She doesn’t want to get her hands dirty.”
7 Was Lisa Vanderpump Guilty?
The other housewives united against Lisa Vanderpump, who has maintained her innocence throughout — reiterating multiple times that she tried to shut down the conversation. Dorit and Denise chose to side with Teddi over Lisa, which cause a season look argument.
“I tried to protect Dorit. If Dorit had just handled it properly, there wouldn’t be this scenario,” Vanderpump said in episode 3. “I’m not a liar. These women questioning my integrity? I don’t appreciate it at all. They don’t even know what the f— they are talking about.” Vandercamp ultimately took no responsibility for the issue and instead blamed Teddi for gossiping.
6 Teddi Mellencamp Feels Set Up In PuppyGate
Teddi Mellencamp believes she was set up on the show by Lisa Vanderpump. In fact, Mellencamp went even further by claiming that Vanderpump told Sessa and Blizzard to bring up PuppyGate on camera that day at Vanderpump Dogs. “The staff at Vanderpump Dogs told me damaging information about Dorit, yet I did not tell anyone,” Mellencamp said in the fourth episode. “I know 100 percent they were told to tell me [by] Lisa.”
Vandercamp of course denied these allegations. “Why would I tell [Sessa] to say it? … I wanted to shut it down, and I absolutely stand by that.”
She explained, “I couldn’t say possibly to Dorit that Teddi instigated the conversation when John brought the dog out because we were all there, and we saw that Teddi didn’t instigate the situation. That was John [Sessa] and John was out of order.”
