‘Vanderpump Rules’ EP Alex Baskin Denies Cast Claims of Interference, Addresses Future of the Show
variety.comKate Aurthur administrator “I think that was a pretty dramatic, heightened account of what happened.” That’s something that Alex Baskin — the boss of Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” — said at Variety’s TV FYC Fest, during a panel called “Reality Producers Tell All.” He was refuting recent claims made by “Vanderpump Rules” cast member Scheana Shay, who has said of late that during production on the show’s 11th season last summer, Baskin made a veiled threat to the cast about canceling the show if it didn’t improve. “I know Alex Baskin has said that midseason, the show was not in a good place,” Shay said on her “Scheananigans” podcast. “It was, you know, ‘X, Y and Z needs to happen.
Or we’re going to have a short season, and the show’s going to be canceled and that’s it. Go live your lives.’” In saying that, Shay was trying to offer an explanation for why she and Lala Kent seemed to turn on their friend Ariana Madix — instead, favoring Madix’s ex-partner Tom Sandoval — as the season went on.
These developments culminated in the show’s May 7 finale, when Madix walked out of the season-ending party rather than be subjected to a tearful (without actual tears!) Sandoval performance of an apology.
Afterward, Kent blew up after Madix’s departure, and broke the fourth wall on camera, saying “for Ariana to walk out this way is just such a slap in the face,” before accusing Madix of thinking she’s both God and Beyoncé.
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