When Did the Real Housewives Fandom Become so Toxic?

The Real Housewives fanbase is often wistful for a time when the shows were healthier and lighter—a time that never existed.

The franchise’s early seasons featured Taylor Armstrong suffering from domestic abuse as her castmates accused her of dishonesty, Teresa Giudice’s family falling apart while she and her husband were investigated by the federal government, and Lynne Curtin’s daughters receiving their family’s eviction notice on camera.

Darkness is embedded in the franchise. If anything, the shows now are glossier than they ever were before. But now that social media has inundated every corner of the reality franchise, there’s a 24/7 news-cycle full of vitriol and pile-ons. With unlimited access to the Housewives has come a parasocial attachment permanently changing the franchise—and the way people view it.

Read more at The Daily Beast.