I am a lifelong reality TV watcher. I remember watching Cops with my mom, aunt, and cousins on Fox 5 New York on Saturday nights. (Hey, it was the 1980s and we didn’t have cable.) The Real World was appointment viewing from my preteen years to my early twenties, basically the first season in New York City to the 12th one in Las Vegas. I’ve also tuned in (yeah, I’m showing my age big-time with that phrase) for innumerable reality series or docuseries on OWN, Lifetime, We TV, VH1, Netflix, HBO Max (I’m still pissed Issa Rae’s Suite Life: LA was apparently canceled), and, of course, Bravo. I’ve watched nearly every season of every franchise of The Real Housewives, with the exception of Miami before its comeback on Peacock, and pretty much every other Bravo reality series that highlights a dynamic and dramatic group of women friends…and frenemies. So I think I’m enough of a reality TV expert to say that Kenya Moore’s exit from The Real Housewives of Atlanta shouldn’t have occurred the way it did.

After months of speculation, rumors, and assumptions about what went down between RHOA veteran Kenya and newbie Brit Eady that ultimately led to Kenya’s dismissal during the series’ 16th season, the episodes in question have finally aired. But let’s go through a quick recap: There was tension between Kenya and Brit from day one, with the latter taking offense to Kenya asking whether she was engaged or already married. The friendship that never was went downhill from there and came to a head at a cast dinner when Kenya attempted to pay Brit “dust” rather than grant her “a moment,” and Brit made her own moment by threatening Kenya with “pistols and whips” she either keeps at home or on her person–a detail that is still unclear. (Nope, I don’t want to wonder why Brit, a Black woman, alluded to whipping another Black woman, but I thought it was suspicious too.) In retaliation, Kenya displayed poster-size photos of Brit in a sexually compromised position during the grand opening of the Kenya Moore Hair Spa, allegedly. Viewers didn’t see the photos because they were understandably blurred during the scene, but judging from the cast’s reactions and the gossip when this controversy began, we can assume Brit was performing fellatio in the photos. As a result, Kenya allegedly was fired from The Real Housewives of Atlanta. 

Love her or hate her, Kenya Moore is one of the best and smartest to do reality TV and there’s no argument about that. She’s brought people to laughter, blows, and tears in her 11 seasons on RHOA. Kenya knows how to play the game and not get played herself.

So I was extremely shocked that she took herself out in the manner that she did. Now before you start arguing about Brit threatening to shoot Kenya and Kenya fearing for her life, I’m going to offer up an unpopular opinion: Kenya was not threatened nor afraid of Brit; she was trying to make a puppy heel and the scheme backfired. If someone is scared of an individual, it’s illogical to antagonize said individual with revenge pornography. If someone is scared of an individual, they hire armed security to protect them. If someone is scared of an individual, they rescind an invitation to said individual. Kenya never moved like she was actually fearful of Brit, including when she recounted the pistol threat to Housewife Shamea Morton.

This is a situation in which both people were wrong. Brit has acted weird towards Kenya since their introduction when Kenya kind of awkwardly asked if Brit was married already because she was only wearing her engagement ring, and Brit proudly declared it was her second one, which caused Kenya to have a moment of confusion about whether Brit had been engaged prior or if the ring was an upgrade. It seemed as if Brit came on RHOA with an agenda to take down Kenya because she kept making that seconds-long exchange a point of contention. Was she trying to take out one of the “final bosses,” to use video game jargon, or was she doing the show production’s bidding?

Kenya has long claimed that Housewives production has not protected her when she needed it, and the fact that Brit wasn’t immediately reprimanded for threatening her coworker with “pistols and whips” lends credence to Kenya’s claims. In seasons past, Brit would’ve been made to apologize to Kenya during a sit-down that Kenya would likely bring security to, long before Kenya’s spa opening. Brit also would’ve been told to express her regret in her confessional. Meanwhile, Kenya would be plotting her get-back while alienating Brit from the rest of the women, like a Housewives OG would. 

Instead, Kenya didn’t accurately judge the climate at Bravo, which was already dealing with the so-called “Reality TV Reckoning” and an alleged sexual assault scandal between itself and former Housewives Caroline Manzo and Brandi Glanville, whose season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip might never be released by the network. So, I imagine that the minute network execs received notice of Kenya’s antics, they said get her off the show with little discussion. Understandably, no employer could get away legally with allowing one coworker to share intimate photos of another coworker on a company platform.

You’re probably asking, “What about an employer failing to terminate an employee who alluded to shooting or whipping another employee?” Well, Brit was extremely wrong too! But we’ll never know how Bravo would’ve ultimately addressed her threats, because Kenya took away that option when she retaliated in the manner in which she did. And I have no doubt that if there weren’t any consequences for Brit, then the RHOA audience would’ve brought Bravo and the series’ producers to task.

I just wish Kenya had exhibited a little more patience because I think Brit would’ve been fired instead. I mean, it’s not like Brit makes a good Housewife nor has a compelling storyline in putting her husband before her mother and sisters. Plus, I was enjoying the comedic banter between Kenya and former nemesis and returning Housewife Porsha Williams. I also was looking forward to more moments of Kenya’s vulnerability as she builds her hair care empire. After years, Kenya finally appeared bitter-free, unbothered, and less mean during the early episodes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s sweet 16 season. It’s a damn-shame she let a newbie Housewife’s antics take her to a point of no return.