RHOBH’s Bozoma Saint John admits hiring Black female friends after job candidates weren’t diverse enough

Bozoma Saint John, the newest Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, is dividing opinion after revealing the lengths she went to to increase diversity in the workplace during her corporate career.

The 47-year-old businesswoman previously held high-level positions at companies such as Uber, Netflix, PepsiCo and Apple Music before venturing into reality TV.

Discussing her hiring practices at the 2019 Women in the World Summit, the former Netflix CMO said she intentionally sought out other women of color for positions — even if they hadn’t applied for the position she was recruiting for.

“I walk into the room and very rarely does it look like someone who reflects my community, my friends or my circle,” she told the crowd.

“I decided, hell, focus group of one, team of one, I’m just going to hire myself. Again and again and again and again and again.

“If I want to increase diversity, especially Black women in tech, I’m going to do it myself,” she continued.

“So when I looked at the resumes that were NOT diverse candidates, I just started drawing from my friend group,” she laughed.

“I started pitching them. Like, “Girl, what are you doing today? Do you like your job? You don’t like your job, come on!”

While discussing her hiring practices, the former Netflix CMO said she intentionally sought out other women of color for roles — even if they hadn’t applied for the position she was interviewing for.

“The first black woman I hired said, ‘Okay, great. Fantastic. We didn’t even know she existed.’ I thought, “I know, I have her.” And the second one, it was like everyone took a break.”

Bozoma said she then received a call from the HR department after hiring her fourth consecutive woman of color.

She was asked if there was “something wrong” with the candidates HR sent her because it seemed like she was “hiring a certain type of person.”

‘And I thought, “Yes, you’re right.” And then they said, “Is there any way we can help make sure that we’re looking at a broad range of candidates so that you have a broader pool of people to hire.”

“And I was like, ‘Did you tell the houseboy down the hall? Did you tell him he can’t hire white men anymore? Because I don’t think so!'” she finished.

Bozoma’s comments that resurfaced subsequently divided opinion Everything about the tea reposted the clip to their Instagram account, but most people seemed to support the star.

‘This! It’s okay if they do it, but it’s a problem if we do it!’ a fan bellowed.

“She is BRILLIANT,” wrote another. “Rather than huffing and puffing and reacting to emotions, she was strategic, professional and INTENTIONAL in the way she made that change.”

The 47-year-old joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills this year

The fourteenth season of the popular reality series recently premiered

A third added: ‘Makes me like her even more. She can do no wrong.”

However, not everyone was a fan of Bozoma’s tactics, commenting, “DEI is never the right way to hire someone. It doesn’t matter what race you are. The most qualified candidate should get the job.”

Another wrote: “So she actively discriminates against qualified people to artificially increase the number of black employees. That’s pure racism. Scandalous and against the law!’

Bozoma is one of the most successful women in the field of marketing.

Her work has previously been recognized by Forbes, Billboard, Fortune and Ad Week, and in 2022 she was inducted into the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Hall of Fame.

This year, she joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, along with actress Jennifer Tilly.

She was introduced as a friend of Sutton Stracke in the series, but has since formed a close bond with Dorit Kemsley.