Stassi Schroeder is returning to the Vanderpump Rules franchise, four years after she was fired for racist comments toward co-star Faith Stowers.
Schroeder, 36, has been cast in the second season of Vanderpump Villa, alongside her former Sur boss Lisa Vanderpump.
Lisa, 63, made the shocking announcement in an Instagram video on Friday, holding up a glass of champagne and saying: “Well hello there, I want to welcome you all to Vanderpump Villa season 2. Now I’m sitting here and I’m like, “What should I put on the menu?” Any ideas?
The camera then showed Stassi sitting at the table and responding, “Lisa, these are clearly ‘goat cheese balls’ – referring to Sur’s popular dish.
Vanderpump responded, “Great idea, cheers! Welcome back, honey!”
Stassi Schroeder is returning to the Vanderpump Rules franchise – four years after she was fired for racist comments toward co-star Faith Stowers
In June 2020, Schroeder and Kristen Doute were fired from the show for racially profiling co-star Stowers (pictured)
The video was captioned, “Vanderpump Villa returns for season 2… with a new addition! #WelcomeBackDarling #VanderpumpVilla.”
Stassi has also inked a deal with Hulu to develop a half-hour comedy docuseries called Stassi Says — per Variety.
In June 2020, Schroeder and Kristen Doute were fired from the show for racially profiling a co-star.
The two women were fired from Bravo on June 9, a week after Stowers revealed the pair had racially profiled her. In 2018, she called police to report that Faith was a suspected criminal.
Steve Honig, the couple’s crisis PR manager, told DailyMail.com at the time: “Stassi and Kristen have acknowledged what they did was wrong, have apologized and have been disciplined.”
He continued: “Without ignoring their actions or their impact, they want to move forward as part of the solution, in ways that are productive, meaningful and genuine.”
The statement continued: “Both realize that actions speak louder than words and that this is the guiding principle that will guide them as they move forward.”
Stassi herself spoke about the incident during a 2018 interview for a podcast called “B***h Bible,” in which she confirmed that she and Kristen had contacted authorities after seeing a resemblance between Faith and a suspected criminal in a news report.
Lisa, 63, made the shocking announcement in an Instagram video on Friday, holding up a glass of champagne and saying, “Well hello there, I want to welcome you back to Vanderpump Villa season 2. Now I’m sitting here and I’m like, ‘What should I put on the menu?’ Any ideas?”
The camera then showed Stassi sitting at the table and replying, “Lisa, obviously goat cheese balls” – referring to Sur’s popular dish
“We just solved a goddamn crime,” Stassi said in the episode, which has since been deleted but was reported by People magazine. “We start calling the cops. The cops don’t give a damn,” she added in the interview.
That same year, Kristen took it one step further by posting a comparison photo on social media and tweeting, “Hey Twitterers, does this former #pumpruledief look familiar?”
The pair, who posted messages in support of Black Lives Matter, both apologized. Stassi said, “I didn’t realize at the time the serious consequences my actions could have had.”
However, Kristen caused further outrage when she apologized to Faith, but claimed her actions were “not racially motivated.”
She said: ‘I am now fully aware of how my position of privilege has blinded me to the reality of how law enforcement treats the black community, and how dangerous my actions could have been to it.’
In April 2024, it was announced that Stowers was suing Bravo for “racism, sexual harassment and physical assault.”
According to court documents, the 35-year-old reality star accuses the network of discrimination, retaliation and creating an unsafe work environment on set.
Schroeder and Doute called police in 2018 because they believed Faith was a suspected criminal (2016 photo)
In her application, obtained by PEOPLEFaith also named three of her former castmates — Lala Kent, 33, Schroeder and Doute, 41 — for harassment.
In one instance, she alleged that Kent held a knife to her neck and threatened to cut her “ab***h” while they were filming together at Lisa Vanderpump’s SUR restaurant in a previously unaired scene from season four – when she had just joined the cast.
Stowers’ lawsuit also names Vanderpump, who alleges that a former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills actress threatened to fire her from her eponymous show if she refused to film with her alleged attacker.
Stowers also named the executive producer, claiming they stopped her from reporting the hostile encounter with Kent to police.
DailyMail.com reached out to representatives for Bravo and Kent, Schroeder and Doute at the time for comment.
In her lawsuit, her former castmate alleged that Schroeder and Doute accused her of deserting the U.S. military without permission and that she was a “serial criminal” who drugged and robbed men in Los Angeles.
She alleged that Schroeder and Doute also filed a “false” police report in 2018, naming Stowers as the attacker, when “the only similarities between Stowers and the attacker were their gender and skin color.”
Stassi appeared on the show from 2013-2020 – she can be seen in 2019 with Rachell Leviss, James Kennedy and Scheana Shay
Stowers claimed she was regularly harassed with racist comments and mocked for having “frizzy” hair.
She said her fellow actors’ behavior was a “blatant and defamatory campaign” of “racial intimidation” designed to “damage” her and her credibility, and that when she spoke out, she was “warned” to “shut up and behave nicely.”
Following the scandal and the subsequent firing of her former co-stars, she was reportedly demoted to an unpaid “volunteer” for the show’s fifth season.
Stassi has bounced back from the controversy with the release of her second New York Times bestseller Next Level Basic and a successful podcast, Stassi.
In her second book she said, ‘I now realized completely and utterly how wrong I was.
“I couldn’t even believe I had questioned Black Lives Matter. Realizing I was one of those damn Karens who says, ‘What if all lives matter?’ was a bitter pill to swallow.”