By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Cynthia Bailey, in retrospect, conceded in a Bravo Q&A that she may have "overreacted" kicking Porsha Williams in the gut on the boat trip on Lake Lanier in August.
We won't see the actual kick until this Sunday's episode, presuming it was caught on camera.
What set an admittedly drunk Bailey off was Porsha saying "whatever bitch" in a way she perceived to be dismissive and disrespectful.
She said she was trying to keep Kenya Moore from booting Shamea Morton. Kenya had taken offense to Shamea's gleeful reference to Moore's previous launch party featuring shampoo bottles with water in them. Kenya felt like Shamea was making fun of her, that as a newbie to the group. she shouldn't insult the new "queen" in town.
The Porsha "whatever bitch" line, to Cynthia, "felt like my friendship with Kenya and my good intentions were being mocked when she called me a bitch in that moment."
She said she and Porsha were having a great time up to that point but they had "a breakdown in communication, which turned into a major misunderstanding."
Cynthia then admitted to having imbibed "several cocktails" and felt Porsha had invaded her personal space.
"I perceived it to be disrespectful, whether that was her actual intent or not. Looking back, I think I may have misjudged Porsha's intentions and overreacted. The only thing that I was focused on was going to speak with Kenya to allow Shamea to remain on the boat," she said.
Cynthia at first walked away to cool down. When Porsha was told to apologize, she went over to Cynthia but wasn't really in a mood to do so because she felt she did nothing wrong. That didn't sit well with Cynthia, who tried to explain why she was offended but instead, "the conversation escalated once again."
She then became "confused" by why Porsha was even there since she didn't appear empathetic to Cynthia's feelings at that moment. She asked Porsha to leave. But instead, "our hands and fingers were all over the place, and the next thing I knew Porsha was straddling over me. As I was lying down looking up at her, I had a flashback of the physical altercation that she had with Kenya at the reunion. I began to feel threatened, and the situation became uncomfortable. I had to figure out how to protect myself, and my personal space."
Thus, she kicked Porsha in what she felt was self defense, in what I think is the first time Cynthia has ever really gotten physical on the show.
Here's the set up to that fateful moment:
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