Britani Bateman was under hot water after being accused of secretly recording her castmates while the group was on a trip to Puerto Vallarta. The accusations have been met with strong reactions from her Real Housewives of Salt Lake City co-stars, some of whom believe she was filming with ill intentions, despite Britani Bateman’s defense that it was all unintentional.
In a tense conversation during the RHOSLC After Show, Whitney Rose revealed, “I know she was filming us, because I caught her filming earlier. She was filming us walk through the airport and she sent it off to a group of friends.” Whitney’s claim set the stage for what would become a heated discussion about privacy, consent, and whether Britani had ulterior motives.
Bronwyn Newport, adding to the conversation, was equally certain. “I mean, Britani could tell me ’til the day she dies that she wasn’t recording us, [but] she was recording us. And she had been before that.” This sentiment was echoed by Heather Gay, who remarked, “Britani, love you, [but] she was fully recording. And she was doing it in a morally superior way, going ‘Look at these crazy bitches.’ … None of her excuses were landing.”
While the cast members are filmed regularly as part of the show, they argue that the situation is different when it comes to private, unapproved footage. Bronwyn sharply pointed out, “It’s about consent for me. I let Bravo into my home, and I take that very seriously. I consented to that. I did not consent to Britani Bateman having a recording of Lisa [Barlow] and I fighting over whether or not she believes my husband had an emotional affair and that I shared it with you guys.” She continued, “That’s completely f—-d up, that she would be in possession of that material. And she does not understand that.”
Despite the mounting accusations, Britani maintains that her actions were innocent. She defended herself saying, “I mean, if anyone had any proof that I had done anything to hurt anyone on purpose, that would be one thing. But no one did. Everyone was making the worst assumptions about me.” According to Britani, she was simply texting her daughter, Olivia, and wanted to share some videos from the trip.
However, most of her co-stars were quick to dismiss this explanation. As Bronwyn pointed out, “It was not to send to her daughter a congratulatory note. It was not to remember this beautiful time in Puerto Vallarta together. It was to have something on all of us.” The implication was clear: Britani had been gathering footage for personal reasons, which the cast found troubling.
Amidst the backlash, Lisa Barlow was one of the few cast members who came to Britani’s defense. During the After Show, Lisa recalled a moment when the group had access to Britani’s phone. “You let us look through your phone, there was nothing on there, so we looked at text messages with you and Jared [Osmond], we looked at messages with you and your kids, and like, nobody could delete [anything] that fast,” Lisa said. “For me, I was like, ‘I’m resolved.’”
