Crystal Kung Minkoff Says Dorit Kemsley “Encourages” Her To Be “More Shady” On ‘RHOBH’: She’s “All About The Shade”

The drama is just starting to heat up on the most recent episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills when the ladies take a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Crystal Kung Minkoff‘s 40th birthday. Ahead of the episode’s premiere on Wednesday night (Nov. 8), Decider caught up with Minkoff to talk all things Season 13, and, more specifically, the Sutton Stracke of it all.

In the episode, Stracke storms out of the Magic Mike performance after Minkoff and Erika Jayne get steamy lap dances from the ab-cladded dancers. While the Southern belle insists she’s offended by the NSFW dance moves, some of her castmates are convinced that she’s just jealous, and not of anyone’s “ugly leather pants” this time, but that she wasn’t chosen to go on stage. According to the level-headed Minkoff, she thinks it was “a little bit of both,” though she “didn’t take” Stracke’s sudden outburst “personally.”

And the Magic Mike show was just the start to this wild Vegas trip!

When it comes to making digs at her castmates, it’s “unlike” Minkoff to do so, as she points out. However, the reality star couldn’t help but poke fun at Dorit Kemsley for playfully questioning her “perfect nipples.” In her confessional, Minkoff claps back by joking that Kemsley hasn’t “seen a real body part in 10 years.” While the Beverly Beach founder probably never expected to be on the receiving end of a diss, Minkoff says her co-star “encourages” her to “be more shady” when it comes to shooting confessionals. And it’s safe to say she understood the assignment!

During our chat with Minkoff, she dished on everything from the highly anticipated dinner party from hell to her squabble with newbie Annemarie Wiley, to the interesting Hollywood memorabilia her husband (and famed Disney director) Rob Minkoff collects in their home. Read on for the full interview.

BravoCon was last weekend in Las Vegas. What was it like going back to the scene of the crime?

I had a great time this year and I had a great time last year, too. But last year, I only got to go for one day because I had my cousin’s wedding, so I left early. But this year, I fully leaned into it. I had so much fun. I got to really spend time with other people on Bravo, which I never really got to do before. So yeah, I actually really had a really fun time. I’m exhausted. But other than that, it’s all good. 

I know Erika said she wanted to “embarrass the shit” out of you and get you to let loose. Did it work? Were you happy she got you out of your comfort zone?

Part one: No, I was not embarrassed at all. In fact, I would go back every weekend if I could. But two: I had a great time and I think she knew I had a great time. I was really appreciative because Erika has always been a champion in that, like, she wants me to have fun and open up and be myself.  I’m from Northridge and, like, from the Valley. She’s always like, “Where’s my Northridge? Where’s Northridge?” I’m like, “I’m here.” And she’s like, “You’re so uptight. Like bring Northridge out.” So I had a really good time at Magic Mike.

Let’s get into the Sutton of it all. Why do you think she has such a hard time dating?

I love Sutton. We’re very, very close now — I think to the shock of many, including myself and our friends. But when I first met Sutton, she was a tough pill to swallow. I mean, she was really difficult. I think I called her weird, manic, and all these things. When you first meet her, she just has sort of an awkward nature about her. If she’s watching, she’s gonna kill me. But she does! I mean, that’s the truth of it. She’s someone that really you need to take time to get to know.

I think maybe on first dates, I’m like, “Just chill. Chill out and take time and slow down and don’t expose yourself too much.” So I think that’s why she has a hard time with second dates. 

Do you think she was upset about the Magic Mike show because it was ruining her brand and she was offended, or because she didn’t get picked?

It was a little bit of both, to be honest. I get it. Starting the show from the beginning, I [was] like, “How are people going to view me?”  I’m pretty conservative and so I understand that. But I think everyone has a different level and if that really offended her, she has a right to feel offended. I just think storming out was not the right way to do it. I certainly didn’t feel offended. I knew what I was getting myself into and I had fun with it.

I also think there was – I mean, you saw the lead-up to it. She was really excited to go up there. She seemed to be prepared in her clothing to go up there. I think, also, she got bummed. I think the plan was that they were going to bring her up. I think that would have been very telling because if she had stayed and they came to get her and she went down, maybe would have been a different tune or maybe she would have said, “I’m out.” But, you know, only she knows. I mean, I’ve definitely asked her many times since and she’s insisted that she was embarrassed. 

It was your birthday. When you see her sort of pouting while you’re having the time of your life, how did that make you feel?

I didn’t take it personally. I just think that she lost her marbles for a [second] but had nothing to do with me. I struggled for a minute. I was like, “Do I go find her? Do I stay?” And Erika was like, “This is your birthday. Stay.” So I stayed as long as I felt good enough to where then I’m like, “I’m gonna go check on my friend.” But it certainly didn’t ruin my night. I stayed as long – I got on stage. I had a great time. I got a bunch of lap dances. And then I was like, “OK. I’ll wrap this up.” So then I left and went to go check on her. So it was fine.

When you guys were at dinner, you joked that Dorit hasn’t “seen a real body part in 10 years.” I was wondering if she’s seen the confessional yet and whether you’ve heard from her about it?

It was so unlike me [laughs]. I don’t know. We got the episode yesterday so I’m assuming she’s seen it. I don’t know. But I don’t really care. I think it’s funny. By the way, Dorit is all about the shade – and she encourages me to be more shady. Probably not at her expense. But I mean, she was looking at me funny. The question was the question and I’m like, “Well, if you’re gonna, respond like that. I’m gonna come right back.”

Speaking of Dorit, Garcelle Beauvais has this super vulnerable moment where she says she feels like she can’t trust some of the ladies around her kids. Did you feel like Dorit was making it about her? What were you thinking at that moment?

I totally understand. I have spent many conversations with this group trying to create boundaries. Because I feel like many girls – they struggle with understanding your perspective, understanding your feelings, your vulnerability. So Garcelle creating a boundary for herself – I chimed in. You don’t see it, but I was very much in support of her because I would feel the same exact way if my kids experienced that to a point where I don’t know if I would trust anybody at that point. But I understand. She was creating boundaries for certain people and as she should.

I know we haven’t seen her on the show yet, but I have to ask about that moment in the trailer between you and Annemarie when she says she made you relevant. What can you tell us about that interaction? 

I mean, I don’t really know how that’s possible. So I kind of scoffed at the [comment]. When someone says that and you know it’s not true, or maybe it’s something kind of planned – a line – I just disconnect because I’m only going to engage in an authentic way. 

What’s the state of your friendship now?

We’ll see at the reunion. [I’m]  not sure yet.

There’s also a lot of talk about this dinner party from hell. What can you dish about that?

It wasn’t hell for me, but it was like watching hell ensue. Yeah, it’s pretty bad. It actually gets to a point where I feel like, wow, boundaries were crossed in a way that might not be recoverable – which is sad for me, because that’s not where you want to be in real friendships [or] on a show. It went really far. And I don’t like that.

Don’t think we didn’t spot fan favorite Lucy in Episode 2. How is she handling her RHOBH stardom?

Handling it? She wants to be sitting here! She loves it. It’s so fun. I show her clips and she’s just like, “Oh, I already saw it. My daughter sent it to me.” Lucy’s been with me for nine years so we’ve gone through everything together – including starting the show and her becoming this sort of funny character. But that’s just her. You only see a small glimpse of Lucy but she’s my family and I love her so much. Rob and I love – if we’re gonna have someone live with us and be part of our family, we want them to be as real as possible. She’s just really funny. She makes fun of Rob all day long. She really loves to insult me and I love it. It’s funny. 

During WWHL, fans were shocked to learn you own a Rolls Royce once owned by Lucille Ball. What other item or piece of Hollywood memorabilia do you own that we’d be surprised by?

Well, I don’t own it anymore. That was 15 years ago. We had it for a little bit and it ended up just sitting in the garage. But it was a cool moment. I’m in my library and I have a whole Lucille Ball shelf. I know that’s kind of a weird random thing about me. I think I’ve seen every episode maybe 20 to 25 times. It’s on a loop in my house all the time. 

We have a lot of fun memorabilia. Rob likes call himself a collector. I think he’s a hoarder. He buys as many original pieces of art. So Rob directed Stuart Little, and [the original book] was written by E.B. White. So any original drawings, he buys at auctions. I’m, like, surrounded by everything Lion King. We actually have the original Stuart Little airplane. It was a big yellow airplane and it’s in our theater and it’s very, very cool. So we have a lot of cool little things.

At BravoCon, Kyle Richards had this really emotional moment during the RHOBH panel when she started crying about her separation from Mauricio Umansky. What did it feel like to be sharing the stage with her at that moment?

It’s so easy to be a viewer and a spectator of the show and of us as people. Sometimes, I fall into that, because I wasn’t privy to much of the conversation that she had on camera with her family because I wasn’t there. It’s easy for me to judge on the outside and speculate and all these things and then suddenly that moment for me was like, “Okay, wow. She’s not just here for peoples’ chatter and fodder. This is her real life.” 

I’ve always been very respectful of that and, in fact, she texted me this morning [with] very kind words. It’s tough. I’m one of the only married people on the show with young children. And there’s no way that anyone on the show wouldn’t say that I’m very respectful of peoples’ families. So that broke my heart for her because she’s clearly going through a lot and she’s trying to navigate what people want from her. It must be a lot. I could not go through that, I don’t think, in a public forum. 

What can you tease about the rest of the season?

Well, I think Vegas might be our last fun moment. I actually had a lot of fun this season. It was still a little crazy this year. There’s a lot of drama. A lot. And relationships change to a point where I never thought they would. Not necessarily for me, but for other people. It’s hard to watch that.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.