Bravo Boss Weighs In on Which Real Housewives Arrests Can Be Forgiven

Sometimes, the life of a Real Housewife can get really tricky.

In the past year alone, The Real Housewives of Potomac star Karen Huger has been released from prison, while costar Dr. Wendy Osefo has been arrested on fraud charges. (She denies the claims.)

The alleged criminal behavior has sparked a conversation on what is forgivable and what isn’t from a network perspective.

“It’s a variety of things, and it’s also about the level of accountability, the level of change that that person is going to make,” Bravo and Peacock Unscripted chairman Frances Berwick said in an interview with Variety published on Wednesday, November 19. “The audience is with Karen, because they’re rooting for her, because they think and believe that this will profoundly change her.”

While attending BravoCon 2025 in Las Vegas on Friday, November 14, Huger, 62, received a standing ovation from fans when she presented the first award at “The Bravos.”

The event marked her return to the spotlight two months after Us Weekly confirmed her release from the Montgomery County Detention Center in Maryland after her 2024 DUI arrest.

“I took the standing ovation as a sign of support for somebody who’s now taken accountability,” Berwick explained. “That’s borne out by what she says to Andy [Cohen]. And then I think that there are things that are less forgivable.”

During BravoCon weekend, the cable network also shared the midseason trailer for season 10 of The Real Housewives of Potomac. In the video clip, Huger sits down with Cohen for her first TV interview after prison.

“It’s time to talk about my addiction,” she says in the clip.

While fans are curious if Huger will be part of season 11 of The Real Housewives of Potomac, Berwick stayed mum.

“I couldn’t tell you, because we haven’t picked that one up,” she said.

In her latest interview, Berwick was also asked about The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah and her legal scandal. (She did not address Osefo’s arrest.)

The Bravo star previously pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She isn’t expected to be released from prison until August 2026.

When asked if Shah’s story is less forgivable, Berwick replied, “For me personally, yeah. But you know, again, I have no idea on the level of accountability. But yes.”

Sometimes, Bravo’s biggest Real Housewives stars step away from the franchise for a variety of reasons.

Noticeably missing from BravoCon 2025 were former Real Housewives of Atlanta stars Kenya Moore and NeNe Leakes. (Although Kim Zolciak-Biermann and Shereé Whitfield have not been part of the show in recent years, they were in attendance.)

According to Berwick, there is a road back to The Real Housewives of Atlanta for Moore, 54.

As for Leakes, 57, and Bravo as a whole, “We’ve had Nene on red carpet shows for E! — we have worked with Nene since then. Yes, she can be on a show again.”

After a weekend of experiencing BravoCon in person, Berwick is proud of the community Bravo has built with fans from across the country. It wouldn’t be possible without the stars who share their lives with the world.

“It makes people happy, and it brings people together,” she said. “It used to be the secret, shared guilty pleasure — and now I think that people are very overt about it: Why would you feel guilty about it? When you look around these halls, there are all these people who are making new friends based on this shared passion.”