Lisa Vanderpump Tries to Shed Some Light on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Dog Drama

The Bravo reality star maintains her innocence in "Puppy Gate"

By Chris Harnick Mar 07, 2019 2:50 PMTags
Lisa Vanderpump, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Season 9Tommy Garcia/Bravo

Lisa Vanderpump has spoken. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star took to her Bravo blog for the first time in season nine to address the very public and ongoing drama related to Dorit Kemsley adopting a dog named Lucy Lucy Apple Juice.

In the most recent episode, Teddi Mellencamp, who also blogged about the drama, produced text messages from a man named John Blizzard that she said showed LVP had a hand in setting up all the drama by having the rehomed dog out for Teddi to react to on camera. Lisa denied this, and husband Ken Todd got texts from John Blizzard that showed Teddi willingly going along with the plans.

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The backstory: Lucy was the second dog Dorit adopted from Vanderpump Dog. She said she rehomed the dog after it bit her kids and husband, but the new home surrendered the dog to a shelter before she made her way back to Vanderpump Dogs.

"Lucy was not a traumatized rescue dog who had a history of biting and was unsuitable for children as often stated. She started her life in a loving environment provided by our foundation," LVP wrote. "We are cognizant of the situation that a dog would be placed in. Young children can terrorize a dog; they have to be taught to be tactile, gentle and patient as the puppy becomes more secure in its new surroundings."

In her blog, LVP said she had spoken to Dorit about the dog going to a new home.

"I said that it was impossible for us to ever give them another dog, to which she agreed. I wasn't angry with her, but I couldn't understand why she didn't return Lucy. I knew at some point a home check was necessary and a transfer of ownership would need to happen. But with Dorit being a close friend, she reassured me that the puppy was going to an excellent home so I didn't feel it was a matter of urgency. There was no mention of biting," LVP said.

But then the center was alerted the dog was in a kill shelter. "The notification came through by email on police headed note paper. All of the employees were aghast at how this had transpired. The note was stating that a reality star didn't want the dog anymore," Lisa said.

LVP said she and Ken Todd tried to quiet the Puppy Gate drama as best she could, but others in the center were angry at Dorit and the situation.

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"The center was heaving with opinions and Puppy Gate was a water cooler situation. John Blizzard has since expressed deep regret that he has perpetuated and engaged in salacious gossip which ignited a maelstrom of negativity. He is twenty-three years old, though. Hopefully one lives and learns," Lisa wrote. "I sent Dorit a text urging her to get in front this issue. I would have thought that would have included Dorit going down to the center and calming an already emotional young staff, reassuring them that her intentions, albeit careless, had no malintent."

She maintains she did not encourage the gossip and drama about Lucy, but rather tried to quell it. "I rarely comment on the endless nastiness and accusations from castmates; however, anybody who lies and asserts that I was responsible for the filming schedule at Vanderpump Dogs needs to retract that," she said.

"It's ironic that the same person who is rushing to Dorit's side, telling her not to cry and that she was her friend, was also accusing me of protecting her at the center. It's laughable, really. This whole matter ought to have been put to bed after the lunch between Dorit and PK and me and Ken, but everybody incessantly feels the need to harp on it. By their own admission, they realized their culpability and that should've been it," Lisa wrote. "What is so ridiculous is the fact that I never had any contact with anybody but John Sessa regarding that day at the center. So, why on earth would anybody would conjure up a scenario on the strength of what my employee, a twenty-three-year-old, said? It's beyond ridiculous. Call me, talk to me."

Lisa said she has not seen any of the season nine episodes and will not be watching because she has "decided not to revisit a painful time in my life."  

"The [Bahamas] trip that was supposed to be a brief respite, was instead an emotional nightmare that pulled me even deeper," she said.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays, 9 p.m. on Bravo.

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)