After Mia Thornton accused Gizelle Bryant of only posting a "highlight reel" of her family on social media, Gizelle was quick to clap back on RHOP.
Parents are known for painting their children in the best light and The Real Housewives of Potomac’s Gizelle Bryant is making no apologies for doing just that.
Gizelle clapped back at fellow Housewife Mia Thornton on the first night of the group trip to Panama on RHOP after Mia questioned whether Gizelle was only sharing a “highlight reel” of her daughters’ best moments on social media, rather than a complete look at the single mom’s life with daughters Grace, Angel, and Adore.
Gizelle Bryant Defends Her Daughters
Mia first made the comments weeks earlier after Gizelle questioned her own social media activity. Mia happily posted images of her with boyfriend Inc and estranged husband Gordon Thornton hanging out together with her children, despite having just tearfully complained to the group that the two men weren’t getting along.
At the time, Mia contended it was only natural to put your best foot forward on social media and accused Gizelle of doing that exact same thing with her daughters.
That’s when she let it slip that during the last cast trip to the Dominican Republic, Gizele learned that “her girls were sneaking boys in the back of the house” while she was away, yet that was obviously something that never made its way to her social media account.
Gizelle admitted that she “caught a boy on the Ring cam” and left it at that, but Gizelle was still fuming that Mia brought her daughters up in the first place.
She bided her time to address the issue until the whole group was sitting down for a beachside dinner at The Buenaventura Golf & Beach Resort during their first night of the trip.
“So Mia, it seems like you’re kind of lashing out a bit,” Gizelle began. “We don’t bring up children. We don’t talk about each other’s children and you brought up mine.”
Gizelle went on to make it clear that she’d continue to post about her daughters on social media as she saw fit.
“I have three girls that are teenagers, if they sneak in a boy in the house, mmm, that’s par for the course. That’s what happens with teenagers. I don’t know whether you know that or not. I snuck boys in. I don’t give a damn. Do I put my daughters on social media as I want? Yes. If they’re presented as perfect, they are,” she said before adding, “F--king perfect.”
Mia attempted to defend her actions, explaining that she was simply pointing out that “what we put on social media is what we choose to put on social media.”
“You decide to just do a highlight reel and pretend to be perfect Betty and your kids are perfect, when they actually sneaking boys in the back alleyway,” she continued.
“OK, so that’s not true,” Gizelle shot back.
Mia’s response caught Ashley Darby by surprise.
“The fact that Mia even wants to double down on her comment instead of saying, ‘Oh, I spoke out of anger,’ or ‘Oh, I misspoke.’ I’m sorry, this is a time to at least say something remorseful. Have some contrition,” Ashley told producers.
At the dinner table, Ashley pointed out that Mia was “doing a highlight reel too” on her own social media.
“Yeah, for sure,” Mia agreed. “But I’m also not questioning you guys and your social media and what you’re putting on there or not.”
Karen Huger stepped in to strengthen Gizelle’s point, adding, “What if one of us, Mia, says something about your child?”
However, Mia was quick to point out that Karen and Gizelle had done just that months earlier at Karen’s hat-themed birthday party, when Gizelle insisted Mia “didn’t protect your kids at all cost” because she overlapped her relationships with Gordon and Inc.
The conversation shifted from there to Mia’s recent struggles juggling her new relationship, a divorce, and Gordon’s bipolar disorder diagnosis.
“I’m doing the best that I know how, guys,” she said through tears.
While the conversation never turned back to Gizelle, the mom of three agreed at the end of the night that “some progress” had been made.
Who Are Gizelle Bryant’s Children?
The trip comes just as Gizelle is entering a new phase of life as an empty-nester. Her older daughter, Grace, and twins, Angel and Adore, all headed to different colleges earlier this year.
While Grace is a sophomore at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida, Adore began her freshman year at Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia and Angel headed to Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Gizelle, who shares all three children with her ex-husband Jamal Harrison Bryant, recently opened up on RHOP about feeling emotional as her daughters start out on their own paths.
“My dad passed away, and now these girls are leaving me,” she said in her confessional. “If I could just go back and put these girls back in a bassinet right now, I would, so that it wouldn’t be back-to-back, just everyone leaving my life at one time.”
