Another Day, Another 'Real Housewives' DUI

By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | March 21, 2024 |

By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | March 21, 2024 |

On Tuesday night, Real Housewives of Potomac star Karen Huger, aka “The Grand Dame”, was involved in a car crash. Montgomery County Police tell TMZ that 60-year-old Karen was driving her 2017 Maserati in “an aggressive manner” when she struck a median and crosswalk sign at an intersection. She proceeded to collide with a parking side off the roadway. The airbag deployed, and Karen did not suffer any serious injuries. But her car had to be towed, and she received “multiple citations” from police.

The next day, Karen issued a statement to TMZ and blamed the accident on her “emotional state”:

“With the passing of my Beloved Mother, Grief comes and goes in waves, and with Mothers Day approaching it has felt more like a tsunami.”

Karen explains she was on her way home from dinner with a girlfriend, where they talked about “some very emotionally sensitive topics.” She says she was crying while driving, when she saw a car “heading right for me.” Karen claims she swerved to avoid a collision, hit a divider, then a tree:

“I’m hurt, bruised up a bit, but so grateful I am alive! I did receive citations, one of which was unrelated to the incident, which is understandable, but what was most surprising is that the car that almost hit me just drove away.”

Karen goes on to stress how “important” it is to understand one’s emotional state when driving. Wellll, turns out, the Grand Dame wasn’t telling us the whole story. A couple hours after that statement, TMZ reported that, actually, Karen had been charged with a DUI. So maybe the lesson isn’t about crying and driving, it’s about drinking and driving?

The Marylander was also charged with driving while impaired by alcohol, negligent and reckless driving, speeding, driving with a suspended registration, and failure to notify the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration of her change of address. She will be required to appear in court.

Initially, TMZ reported Karen was not arrested. But Radar claims she was arrested at the scene after refusing to take a breathalyzer test. Um, that is not a good sign. She was taken into custody and cited for the DUI before her release.

Karen is one of many Real Housewives to get a DUI. Other offenders include Sonja Morgan, Gina Kirschenheiter, Marysol Patton, and Brandi Glanville. LuAnn DeLesseps and Kim Richards have also been arrested while drunk.

Last September, Real Housewives of Orange County star Shannon Beador was arrested for a DUI and hit-and-run after drunkenly driving her car into the side of somebody’s house. Shannon drove away, parked her car in the middle of the street, and then got out and pretended she was out walking her dog when the cops showed up.

A week after the arrest, Rolling Stone published an article titled, Real Housewives’ Has a Drinking Problem. Are We to Blame? Writer Louis Staples asked readers if Shannon’s DUI was “really so shocking?” It isn’t. In addition to all the other Housewives arrests, much of Bravo’s on-camera drama is fuelled by booze. Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s really, really dark.

Vanity Fair published an attempt at a Bravo takedown back in October. Former Real Housewives of New York star Leah McSweeney had been sober for ten years but relapsed shortly before getting cast on the show. During a trip to the Hamptons, Leah alleged a producer told her, “This shit is boring as hell, you better turn it up.” So she did. Leah got loaded, naked, and threw lit tiki torches across Ramona Singer’s lawn. The next season, she was off booze again. She claims producers told her that her sobriety was part of the reason the audience turned on her.

The Vanity Fair piece didn’t make a huge splash (at least with loyal Real Housewives fans), but then, a few weeks ago, Leah sued Bravo and Andy Cohen. She alleged they “intentionally preyed on her alcohol problem in a cynical attempt to turn her suffering into record ratings.” Leah also accused Andy of partying and sharing cocaine with his favorite Housewives. The following week, Andy denied the allegations through his lawyer and demanded a retraction about the cocaine claims.

Unlike Shannon Beador, fan-favorite Karen Huger has never really been accused of having a drinking problem. Yes, there have been times when she gets absolutely blotto and talks nonsense about her vagina. And sure, there are those rumors she drunkenly cheats on her husband with randos. But, when it comes to Real Housewives lushes, I wouldn’t even rank her in the top 25.

But maybe I should have. Cuz, it turns out, this isn’t even Karen’s first DUI. In the mid-2000s, she was arrested for driving under the influence, charged with driving while impaired by alcohol, and received probation. Sigh. Call an Uber, ladies.