Earlier this summer, a video of a brawl between women on VH1’sBasketball Wivesmade its way to social media. For a show built on the foundation of throwing drinks, pulling hair, and trading salacious insults, the fight piqued the interest of fans but wasn’t shocking. When the series premiere titled, “Back in the Building,” aired on October 9, viewers were looking for context for the fight,not the re-introduction of the OG cast with a few fame-seeking newbies added to the mix.Before the second episode aired, original bad girlEvelyn Lozadaand newbieVanessa Riderwere trading scathing insults on Instagram and Twitter to the delight of fans who were feeling less than satisfied with the season premiere.
Storylines in the current 11th season remain flat, despite a combination of old and new faces. The friendships seemed forced. And even the OGs aren’t registering with viewers anymore. More than ever,fans are growing frustrated by lazy producing and having to resort to stalking cast members' social media pages to stay interested, as opposed to weekly viewing on VH1.
Evelyn Lozada and Vanessa Rider’s Beefed on Social Media Before the Season Began Airing
The verbal attack between Vanessa and Evelyn took center stage, eclipsing the brawl that announced the return of the show a few months earlier. While the series slowly introduced the root of the issues with Evelyn and Vanessa and touched on the waning relationship between Evelyn and her formerreality TVfiancéLaVon Lewis, Instagram was spilling daily tea in real time on the drama.
Vanessa’s issues with Evelyn stem from her loyalty to her bestie,Amy Freeman, who was involved with Evelyn’s former fiancé,Carl Crawford.Vanessa labeled Evelyn a “homewrecker” and insisted Amy and Carl were a happy couple before Evelyn slid into the relationship and sankher professional athlete-catchingtalons into Carl. Aside from going back and forth with Vanessa,Evelyn got on her LIVE to regrettably inform her followers that the relationship with Lavon had come to an end.Watching her place strategic Easter eggs in confessionals detailing the breakdown of the romance falls flat after her LIVE confessional on Instagram.
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The infamous brawl that started the social conversation on the return ofBasketball Wiveswas left on the editing floor, butJackie Christieused her press run to address the reason for the fight was the adjustment of controversial newbieBrittany Rennerto the cast. “That brawl was because of Brittany and the newbies coming in entitled. I felt like they needed to humble themselves and kiss the ring,” Jackie explained in a YouTube interview. Brittany’s behavior calmed down through the rest of the season, so much so that Jackie praised her growth and welcomed her to the group.
Jennifer Williams' Instagram Announcement Left ‘Basketball Wives’ Fans Confused
Another storyline introduced via social media is the new May-December romance with original cast member Jennifer’s and her much younger lover,Christian Gold.In August 2023, well after taping had ended on the current season of the show, Jennifer Williams shared a photo of herself with a large pear-shaped diamond ring on her engagement finger. 48-year-old Jennifer captioned the pic, “Future Mrs…” as an announcement of her engagement to the 30-year-old self-proclaimed, 8-figure Wealth Portfolio Manager. When the BBW season opened,Jennifer was hesitantly sharing her relationship with the ladies, but after hearing allegations of Chris’s sketchy past, she threw her defensive walls up and remained coy about much of the courtship.Watching Jennifer remain mum about most of the relationship on Monday nights, while seeing her IG flaunt the engagement in real-time is a bit confusing, but it works to keep fans toggling between Instagram Twitter, and VH1 for the full story with all the necessary context.
Basketball Wivesisn’t the only reality series to be overshadowed by cast social media rants and Twitter beefs.The Real Housewivesfranchise is notorious for the cast trading insults and accusations via social media that don’t necessarily connect with the storyline presented in the season. OWN’sLove & Marriage Huntsvillegot so juicy on social media that producers were forced to address the rumors with a social media special one season that aired right before the new season premiered.The difference between theHousewivesandLAMHwas that even though the social media streets were full of tea, there was still enough substance to make the show relevant.WithBBW,it’s debatable if the social media drama overshadows the hour-long episode on Mondays.
Brittany Renner’s Reputation of Being a Professional Side Chick Should Prove Useful for BBW Ratings
Newbies Brittany,Jac’Eil DuckwortandClayanna Warthencould prove to be the lifeblood the series needs with enough drama for social media and to hold the attention of fans on Monday nights. Although Brittany hasn’t shown much on the show to date, she is notorious for unapologetic outbursts and unhinged behavior.Her narrative of being a proud “side chick” to high-profile men should also provide fodder for upcoming episodes.Brittany’s brand has been solidified as the hot girl who is unapologetic about her sexcapades with influential and affluent men. In a bold move in 2022,Brittany became a spokesperson for a side chick sandwich promoted by the Krystal’s franchise. When asked about her new cast mate, Jennifer went on record saying Brittany wasn’t her cup of tea, but her shade could be attributed to the fact that the younger generations' pursuit of professional athletes looks much different than it did when Jennifer was first enticing her former professional basketball playing ex-husband,Eric Williams. While Jac’Eil and Clayanna are cutting theirBBWteeth this season, their feisty personalities should provide fans with substantial entertainment as their storylines start to develop and mature.
OG members Jackie, Evelyn, and Jennifer would do well to spread some of the tea around between their filmed scenes and what they choose to share on social media. During their Twitter tete-de-tete, Evelyn clapped back at Vanessa for addressing their beef on social media instead of on camera while filming. She claimed during filming she was working and when the cameras were off she was back to her normal life. Unfortunately, Evelyn’s words and actions don’t align as usual. If she opted to ‘keep it cute’ during the off-season instead of engaging in mudslinging with cast mates, the show’s ratings would probably be higher. As it stands, Evelyn and the rest of the cast of BBW seem to be filming their own version of BBW unscripted via social media during the off-season.
