Emily Simpson. Charles Sykes/Bravo
The Real Housewives of Orange County’s Emily Simpson is not impressed with one accusation made against her at the reunion.
“You’re gonna accuse me of living off of my in-law’s money?” Simpson, 48, began during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly while hosting a reunion watch party on Thursday, November 14, supporting The Innocence Center. “[My husband] Shane has wealthy parents. I’ve never made that a secret. We’ve filmed at their home. Everyone has met my in-laws. It’s very clear. But if they funded my lifestyle, why the f— would I be sitting on this couch?”
“I would be living my best life on a yacht somewhere,” she continued. “I have worked the entire time I’ve been married to Shane and Shane has worked the entire time.”
From Simpson’s perspective, it’s “disrespectful” to her in-laws to “accuse them of having children that are losers.”
During part one of the RHOC reunion, which aired on November 7, cast member Jennifer Pedranti questioned Simpson’s lifestyle.
“I’m sorry,” she said before the episode came to an end, “I’ve read that your in-laws fund your whole life.”
Simpson said viewers weren’t able to see her reaction during the reunion because she didn’t hear the comment in real time.
“I never heard her say that,” Simpson shared at her event held at Five Vines Wine Bar in San Juan Capistrano, California. “Tamra [Judge] texted me the day after the reunion aired, and she goes, ‘When did Jenn say that to you? I never heard it.’ I did not respond because I did not hear it. … In what world would I not respond? I mean, I never shut the f— up ever.”
Emily Simpson. Nicole Weingart/Bravo
One day after the episode aired, Simpson quickly responded to the accusations in a social media post. “If my in-laws ‘funded our lifestyle’ I’d be living WAY larger than I am right now,” she wrote via her Instagram Story on November 9. “I’d be on private jets with Heather Dubrow. They do not.”
While Simpson may find herself in some drama thanks to her position as a reality star, she also tries to use her platform for good.
For more than five years, the Bravolebrity has been involved with The Innocence Center, an independent non-profit law firm dedicated to freeing the innocent from prison.
At her RHOC watch party, sponsored by Swirl Boutique and Cefali & Cefali, Simpson helped raise more than $22,000 for a cause that’s very important to her.
“I was an attorney for so long but I never really grasped the idea that people were incarcerated wrongfully because I wasn’t involved with criminal law,” Simpson explained to Us. “When you’re given a platform like we are, I try to use it for good. And of course, I’m not a perfect person. I have isolated moments where maybe I’m not amazing, but I would say in an overall sense, that I do try to use my platform for good and to bring awareness.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs on Bravo Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET. Catch up on old episodes anytime on Peacock.
