Why Ramona Singer Was Fired From RHONY

Ramona Singer was a beloved but controversial star of The Real Housewives of New York until she was fired. The socialite and businesswoman rose to fame in 2008 when she joined the first season of RHONY. She appeared in all 13 seasons before the franchise was rebooted with a brand new cast.

In November 2021, Variety first reported that Ramona Singer had been investigated for making racist remarks during the filming of Season 13 of The Real Housewives of New York.

Ramona's behavior didn't just lead to her being fired from the Bravo franchise, it led to the whole show being rebooted with a new and less controversial cast.

The Alleged Comment That Led To Ramona Singer Being Fired From RHONY

Ramona Singer allegedly used a racist slur when talking to a Black crew member on set of Season 13 of RHONY, according to an investigative report published in Vanity Fair in October 2023. Ramona denied using the slur at the time, and the results from the internal investigation were deemed “inconclusive.”

This led to Ramona Singer's removal from November 2023's BravoCon after the article was published. She was set to appear on a panel about her season of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy, in which she stars. Andy Cohen has always stuck by this decision and felt it was the right thing to do, considering her alleged comments.

According to Page Six, former Housewife Eboni K. Williams claimed in the exposé that Ramona attended a diversity training session with two racial justice representatives and claimed that Ramona said “most” Black people do not have present fathers. Ramona defended her statements because “the training included ‘open dialogue.'"

The RHONY OG star claimed she was just asking “a question about a statistic” that she read about “single-parent households, where children with single-parent households were statistically less likely to succeed than two-parent households.”

In an interview with The Daily Mail, Ramona said she was happy to start a new chapter after being let go from the show, as her experience as a Housewife was "very stressful."

I can control my own narrative and, you know, I'm happier now and actually I'm calmer.

The mother of one continued, "I don't miss it at all. It was a great experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's time for me just to enjoy myself. And doing the show is not easy. I mean, people think it's easy. Very stressful, very stressful."

It wasn't just RHONY who fired Ramona Singer. After the Vanity Fair piece was published, Entertainment Tonight reported that she lost her real estate agent job at Douglas Elliman. The prominent real estate agency parted ways with Ramona in November 2023, two years after she joined.

The lengthy Vanity Fair feature about the reality TV franchise claimed Ramona's alleged use of the racial slur resulted in a complaint filed with the show's production and parent companies Shed Media, Warner Bros. Discovery, Bravo, and NBCUniversal.

Why Ramona Singer Caused The Real Housewives Of New York To Be Rebooted

Season 13 of The Real Housewives of New York was marked with controversy and was criticized for being toxic. Due to COVID restrictions in New York during filming in 2020 and 2021, the season featured a smaller-than-usual cast of five women traveling to empty restaurants and homes.

• The season suffered from low ratings and controversy over the tone-deaf conversations about race and politics, and the reunion was ultimately canceled.

Ramona was reported to have told her co-star Eboni K. Williams — after she became upset at being called "angry" — that she was the reason “why we didn’t need Black people on the show …This is gonna ruin our show." This encouraged the first black RHONY Housewife to quit the show.

In another incident that was not aired on the show, Ramona asked Eboni about her partner's ethnicity, which she did not feel comfortable speaking about. According to Rolling Stone, Ramona allegedly told Darian Edmondson, a Black producer, that the interaction reminded her of when her Jewish colleagues called her a “Catholic slur,” which was “shiksa,” a Yiddish term for a non-Jewish woman. When the producer admitted he had never heard of this term, Ramona allegedly said. “Oh, it’s literally like somebody calling you a n****.”

Ramona said this incident was misinterpreted. “I did describe an incident where I was called a shiksa while working in college,” she told Vanity Fair, “but I did not compare the two experiences.”

After that lackluster and controversial season, Andy Cohen admitted to Variety that the franchise was at a "crossroads" and that the show needed more diversity.

This is the most multicultural, diverse, and energetic and exciting city in America: We are searching for a multicultural group of friends who really best reflect the most exciting city in the country.

The Executive Producer continued, "We’re looking for a group of women who are real friends, and who are of diverse backgrounds, races and religions.”

Ramona Singer's Controversial Past On The Real Housewives Of New York

ScreenRant reported that Ramona Singer has always been a controversial Housewife, both on and off-screen.

During the Season 9 RHONY cast trip, Ramona treated the staff terribly, snapping her fingers at them and forgetting their names. Former cast member Bethenny Frankel called her out for treating people "below" her with disdain. Ramona blamed her abusive upbringing for treating low-income workers poorly.

In Season 6, Ramona's feud with Kristen Taekman got physical during a trip organized by Heather Thomson to the Berkshires. Kristen and Heather were swimming in the lake when they heard Ramona bad-mouthing them. Instead of apologizing when called out by Kristen, she threw a wine glass at her co-star, scratching the model.

In another incident on a trip outside the city, Ramona damaged a room at Dorinda Medley's Berkshire property. She drunkenly removed the room's temporary light fixtures from the wall and caused extensive damage. RHONY star Dorinda told TooFab that she was "horrified with her ripping out the alarm and ripping off the paint, but it was more like what are you doing? This is my home."

Off-screen, Ramona was sued in 2018 by a company that provided her with an assistant. According to Reality Tea, Lisa Taubes agreed to work 20 hours per week for $4,000 per month but found herself working longer hours for free and being on call 24/7. When the assistant quit and refused to sign an NDA, Ramona allegedly grabbed her purse and threw out the contents.

Today, Ramona is living a quieter life in New York, tending to her only daughter Avery Singer.

Stream all seasons of The Real Housewives of New York today on Peacock.