Leah McSweeney filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC against Bravo after filming “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” earlier this year.
The reality star and her lawyers’ March 10 filing cited an alleged violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to Vanity Fair.
In a wide-ranging investigative piece on the franchise, published Monday, McSweeney described her tumultuous time on the show, from relapsing on Season 12 of “Real Housewives of New York City” to missing her grandmother’s death during a Hamptons trip the following year.
While a production source told the outlet that McSweeney was offered help at the time for “whatever day or time [she] need[ed] to be with [her] grandmother,” the 41-year-old felt that the opposite was meant by the supportive statement.
“It hurt so bad that I was not able to grieve,” she noted. “That I had people not showing me any kind of compassion or humanity regarding it.”
The tragic loss led to a major depressive episode, with McSweeney going on to spend eight days at a psychiatric hospital.
As the show aired, McSweeney was allegedly told by Shed’s senior vice president of programming and development, Lisa Shannon, that the audience “kind of didn’t like” her because “there was such a stark difference between [her] when [she was] drinking versus this season.”
After quitting the series over the phone, the “Married to the Mob” alum subsequently agreed to do a week of “RHUGT” filming for $250,000, during which many of her fellow cast members encouraged her to drink.
“I wish you were still drinking. That’s all,” Marysol Patton admitted to texting her co-star before the Thailand trip.
Heather Gay shared her desire to “get Leah drunk” at the time, while Gizelle Bryant asked, “Like, if you drank this week, would that be a big deal?”
In more unaired footage, McSweeney expressed feeling as if she had been unable to leave the Hamptons while previously filming “RHONY” — with Gay noting in a confessional that she understood the cautious mindset.
“They wouldn’t even have to say a word,” the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star, 49, explained. “I would be afraid to leave and go to my grandmother’s funeral. I would not do it.”
An attorney for Bravo, Shed Media and its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, denied McSweeney’s claims of discrimination in May.
“Production spent endless amounts of time accommodating her,” Christie Del Rey-Cone told the outlet of McSweeney’s “alleged disabilities,” referencing her drug and alcohol addiction struggles.
The attorney went on to write that the Bravolebrity “spent much of ‘RHONY’ Season 12 discussing (and sometimes even mocking) the alleged disablities that are now the subject of” her complaint.
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Rey-Cone also claimed that McSweeney was offered several instances of support — which the fashion designer believes were “reneged on” or not “offered in good faith.”
Bravo’s parent company, NBCUniversal, has since adopted a new alcohol policy that requires production partners to “deliver an expanded alcohol-related training to the cast, crew and production team,” in addition to “enhanced mental health support” and HR representatives on set. It’s unclear what led the company to adopt the new policy.
Bethenny Frankel, Jill Zarin and more Housewives also spoke to Vanity Fair for the piece, which comes on the heels of Frankel kicking off her “reality reckoning” in August.
NBCUniversal and Bravo were accused of subjecting their stars to “grotesque and depraved mistreatment” that same month in a strongly worded letter.
While the letter cited “deliberate attempts” by the network to “manufacture mental instability” as well as “distribution of revenge porn,” it neglected to name specific Housewives involved.
A rep for Bravo did not immediately return our request for comment.
