Lisa Vanderpump Reflects on the "Huge Responsibility" of Celebrating Gay Pride in Wake of the Orlando Shootings

There's no question that the Vanderpump Rules SURvers were devastated by the shooting at Pulse nightclub back in June. The tight-knit circle of friends quickly banded together to show their support to the victims of the attack on a gay nightclub. And that was certainly evident when their fearless leader, Lisa Vanderpump, made it a point to keep her word and appear in the Gay Pride Parade in West Hollywood just hours after the incident. But, she now admits, she had to really weigh out her concerns about everyone's safety.

“I felt a huge responsibility," she told Variety. "Being there not only with a production crew. But also with my staff. As a boss, you don’t know if you’re making the right decision.”

In addition to the SURvers playing a vital role in the event, Lisa was also expected to appear — on top of a bus going down Santa Monica Boulevard. She would be right in the spotlight the same day a man was arrested in Santa Monica following threats he made about possibly attacking the event. “Everyone was very, very nervous,” she said. “I was getting texts from my son that said, ‘Mother you’re on a red bus in a red dress with a red hat. You’re a target. Get off that bus.’ And I’m like, 'No. We’re going ahead.'”

She continued, “I knew if I left the cameras would follow me. It wasn’t about the show at this point, it was about the incredible force of support — people saying, ‘We’re not going away.’ I think it was a busier Gay Pride than it ever had been because I think people came out saying, ‘This will not beat us.'”

Her husband, Ken Todd, calls her actions that day "brazen, unbelievable," as she reflected on the episode as "extraordinary." (It aired six months after the incident took place.)

“Many times you talk about in reality television about what’s happened in the past, but to actually be there and to capture all those emotions — you see Sandoval crying — that’s one of the extraordinary things about the show," she said.

Check out more from the episode, below.

Katie, Stassi and the Toms Try to Process the Orlando Shooting