Williams spoke about the series and the news of its new iteration while on Carlos King's 'Reality With the King' podcast.
Eboni K. Williams is spilling the tea about The Real Housewives of New York City amid Andy Cohen's announcement that the long-running series is going to be recast, and split into two series -- one with legacy stars, and another to reflect a more diverse NYC. In a new interview with Carlos King on his Stitcher podcast, Reality With the King, Williams revealed the role her former cast members had in the recent RHONY shake-up.
"I feel I was more than willing the whole season and after we aired and after we wrapped and after the decision to not have a reunion, I was always willing to negotiate with my former castmates about what an ensemble future could look like that included all of us, always right up until the very end," Williams explained. "They were unwilling is all I can tell you. They were unwilling to come to the table and meet me even halfway in that negotiation."
"And if you know anything about business, you know anything about the art of the deal, you can't close that way," she continued. "You can't close when parties involved in the negotiation are unwilling to give, even an inch. So, I think that more than anything is actually the reason, Carlos, that we are now getting these two shows."
RHONY ended abruptly last year at the end of season 13, without the usual reunion to close things out. But a new season would be in the works, Williams claims, if her fellow castmates were willing to come to the table and break outside of the "New York world and bubble" she said they live in.
"If those same former castmates of mine had been willing to enter into the negotiation of co-existing and sharing space with myself and additional women outside of their particular New York world and bubble, you would have had a season 14, that was what everybody anticipated, a proper integration of old school, new school," Williams told King.
According to Williams, the only cast member willing to negotiate a future of the long-running series that included her, happened to be RHONY OG Sonja Morgan.
"What I am telling you plainly, only Sonja Morgan was willing to come to the table and negotiate a future that involved me as a part of this ensemble. Period dot. Period dot," she claimed.
Williams is not the only former RHONY cast member who is commenting on the future of the show. Luann de Lesseps is throwing her two cents into the ring as well.
In a recent interview with ET, de Lesseps refuted rumors that she wasn't interested in returning to RHONY.
"It couldn't be further from the truth," she proclaimed. "Listen, I love the OGs. I love the girls. So why wouldn't I want to the show?"
"And that's if they asked me back," she added. "So who knows who they're bringing back, but I definitely would do the show if they asked me back for sure."
Leah McSweeney also shared her thoughts on the show shake-up, telling ET, "I think it's a super cool idea. I love it. I obviously don't know if I'm being asked back. I don't know if I'm going to be on one show or the other. I have no idea and I'm also just cool with it."
"I mean, look, the old crew, do I love fighting with Ramona sometimes? Yeah, but do I also think that I know a lot of bada** chicks in New York that maybe would be on the new one? Yeah," she added. "So, I don't know."
Cohen shared that he was scrapping RHONY and recasting the series during an interview with Variety last month. He also announced a spinoff of sorts, tentatively called RHONY: Throwback, which will include stars from the RHONY universe.
"There are thousands of stories to tell here," Cohen told the outlet. "This is the most multicultural, diverse, and energetic and exciting city in America: We are searching for a multicultural group of friends who really best reflect the most exciting city in the country. We’re looking for a group of women who are real friends, and who are of diverse backgrounds, races and religions."
Adding, "I think it will be the rainbow that is New York City. That’s the goal."
As for the alumni show, it currently has no official title and official casting has not yet begun, but Cohen promised that it's going to be filled with plenty of "fan-favorites."
"Our loyal fans have spoken as to what they want to see and what they don’t want to see — and we’ve taken that all into account," he added. "And this is a series where you’re going to expect to see fan-favorites from the show’s great history."
For now, fans can rewatch past seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City on Peacock.
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