It’s the end of an era for Selling Sunset fans. Losing a main personality happens with reality TV shows, but Chrishell Stause’s exit doesn’t feel like time simply took its course. It feels like a familiar regression in culture.
Selling Sunset premiered on Netflix in 2019 following Chrishell Stause joining The Oppenheim Group, a real estate brokerage based in Los Angeles. The soap opera actor and spouse of Justin Hartley brought intrigue to the audience. Viewers watched her later get blindsided with a divorce, date Jason Oppenheim, then marry her current partner, G Flip. Chrishell became more outspoken with her fellow realtors throughout the years and adamant about sticking to her boundaries. Capitalism doesn’t reward having boundaries and the Netflix reality show is all about capitalism.
Chrishell Stause Challenged Selling Sunset’s Hetero Status Quo
LA mansions with million-dollar price tags are the background to the drama between the realtors. Who will get the best listing? Who has the most impressive A-list connections? Who can find the most famous and rich husband? Christine Quinn married Christian Richard in a lavish wedding in Season 3. Heather Rae El Moussa married HGTV Flip or Flop star, Tarek El Moussa. An unsaid trend emerged on the show as these women followed their men with their endeavors. Christine left to live her well-to-do life with Christian away from the cameras. Heather left to join Tarek in his franchise.
Chrishell, however, came out as queer and her partner is nonbinary using they/them pronouns, breaking away from the heteronormativity of the series. This exposed another side of politics on and off the Netflix show. “I was hoping the lesbian chick was off in Australia this season and not on our screens,” an Instagram commenter wrote on Nicole Young’s post. “Whatever her name is, I forgot. Nicole you look great!” Nicole thanked the writer under the misgendering and homophobic comment, and Chrishell addressed it at season 7’s reunion. Nicole denied that she’s homophobic and called it “comical.” However, she thinks being accused of homophobia and transphobia is “a very dangerous and reckless thing to call someone.” This isn’t new. Progress and those breaking away from society’s expectations usually are met with this behavior. They’re also told not to make a big deal about bigoted interactions in the workplace. If you do, then you are the problem instead of the offender because of the status quo.
In 2015, all states in America gained the right to same-sex marriage under President Obama. Donald Trump took office after him and the Republican party tried to turn back time. This month the Supreme Court decided not to revisit same-sex marriage, according to USA Today. However, the LGBTQIA community continues to be under attack and the most vulnerable is the trans community, which includes nonbinary people. Nicole wasn’t the only person Chrishell called out for homophobia. Amanza Smith’s stylist, Sammie Moussallem, called her a “fake lesbian,” and he later publicly apologized, according to PEOPLE. He also claimed the situation has affected his business and would like to move on from the situation. Chrishell continues to be good friends with Amanza.
However, Nicole and Chrishell’s confrontations didn’t stop. The breaking point this season was Nicole mentioning Chrishell’s dead parents in retaliation for snarky comments. This was after Nicole got her start on the show by accusing Chrishell of taking credit for her listings. Reunion host Tan France asked Nicole repeatedly if she wanted to apologize, but she kept evading the question.
Nicole’s stubbornness and disrespect of her fellow costar’s dead parents has the energy of this current administration. For example: a widow of a fallen soldier came forward about her time with President Trump, alleging, “He said, 'But you know he must've known what he signed up for,” according to NBC News. The president later denied saying the insensitive comment. Similarly, Nicole went around in circles about her saying “parents,” not “dead parents.” The wasting of time and getting into semantics reminded me of this administration evading questions in court, like Attorney General Pam Bondi. She refused to discuss whether she was in conversations with the White House about deploying troops to American cities, according to PBS. Amanza’s frustration and disbelief of Nicole’s behavior was relatable. It’s all about avoiding accountability — and Nicole wasn’t the only one using this tactic.
Chrishell and Emma Hernan’s Boyfriend Fall Out Is a Regression
Season 9 had some new relationship drama. Emma Hernan reconnected with her ex-boyfriend Blake Davis. She already knew her friends and co-stars, Chelsea Lazkani and Chrishell, weren’t going to be thrilled. Why did she give him another chance? She talked about their ability to laugh together, his desire to have kids, and their their vacations together, saying that Blake is wealthy enough to have a private plane and make the mistake of detours, thus prolonging his travel because he ... doesn’t understand geography.
Their love story probably wouldn’t have caused a fuss in earlier seasons. The focus on wealth and how it can make love spontaneous would’ve been enough escapism for the audience. But under this administration we’re talking about love and relationships differently. Will the man you share a life with defend your rights and those around you? Will his beliefs lead him to treat you as his equal or his unpaid caretaker? Chrishell reflected this concern with her disapproval with Blake.
Chrishell accused Blake of lovebombing Emma. Emma revealed he didn’t want her to work because he wanted her with him more often. We’ve seen single women leave The Oppenheim Group after finding a man without criticism, but now it’s a red flag. Chrishell and Chelsea then revealed Blake’s beliefs didn’t make them feel safe. “Ask her about her MAGA [boyfriend] who told me pronouns are dumb and that he likes to use the N word,” Chrishell replied to a fan. “I just can’t with that. Too old to allow that in. But love her from afar.” Emma downplayed the N word situation on the reunion claiming she remembers the conversation differently. “He never said he was MAGA,” Emma said, and the camera cut to Chelsea looking disgusted. Chrishell also revealed Blake claimed where he’s from they didn’t do pronouns. A nonsensical stance that people who hate trans people love to weaponize.
Emma claimed Blake isn’t MAGA. She also focused on Chrishell publicly sharing Blake’s behavior as a betrayal. Chrishell simply said his behavior was public based on what he shares on social media. The conversation between Chrishell and Emma is almost identical to Nicole’s stance on anyone labeling her behavior as transphobic.
In our political climate, bigoted behavior and beliefs are getting louder after the progress of President Obama. This regression was called a “whitelash” and Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb discussed this on NPR. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Wesley Lowery also wrote the book American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress. Those who want to regress America into a mythical “great again” time don’t want the bigoted labels thrown onto them as they take power. That would cause alarm. And capitalists don’t want to be labeled because it could threaten their business. The true upper class don’t want attention drawn to them from the lower because that might make them want an annoying thing like equality. Chrishell continues to make this transgression by calling out the regressive comments of those around her.
Even Chelsea encouraged Chrishell to apologize for sharing Blake’s offensive interactions on social media. The message is clear that privacy and the protection of this jet-setting man was more important. Now Chrishell is leaving and that doesn’t bode well for the progress made on Selling Sunset. No one else has called out this kind of behavior besides Chelsea, but as the only dark-skinned Black woman on the cast, she also doesn’t have Chrishell's privilege and therefore has to pick her battles carefully. For example, Mary Fitzgerald accused Chelsea of dressing inappropriately in Season 8 because of her skirt, and Chelsea defended herself. When Mary’s home was burglarized and Chelsea sent flowers, Mary told the cast she didn’t believe Chelsea’s gift was genuine and accused her of doing it for the cameras. Mary walked off set and Jason Oppenheim demanded filming stop. Chelsea called him out for demanding the cameras turn off in defense of Mary but not in defense of her.
Could Selling Sunset continue to progress without Chrishell, their outspoken queer protagonist? If we look at our current political climate, then the answer is no. The power structure will regress to the status quo if it’s not pushed for change. But can Selling Sunset truly go back to hiding these situations and focusing on women working until they meet their unsavory millionaire without ruining itself? Our political climate would also answer no, foreshadowing a dark Season 10.
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