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Jessel Taank Calls Erin Lichy "the Queen of Assumptions" After Heated Argument
The comment was the latest in a series of tiffs between the Housewives on RHONY Season 14.
The sizzling weather wasn't the only thing heating up as the cast of The Real Housewives of New York City sunned themselves on a trip to Anguilla. After weeks of tension, anger finally boiled over between Erin Lichy and Jessel Taank as the two got into an explosive argument while on board a boat in Episode 10.
“You know what your new name should be? It should be Queen of Assumption,” Jessel fired off at Erin. “Because you just assume sh-t about everyone. 'Brynn was lying.' It’s like, what the heck is wrong with you?”
Jessel was referring to a comment Erin made earlier in the trip about Brynn Whitfield freezing her eggs. Erin called Brynn’s telling of her experience “a weird lie,” causing Brynn to skip out on a dinner with the others.
The other ‘Wives called out Erin before the season began airing for causing the most drama, with Sai de Silva telling The Daily Dish at the Season 14 premiere party, “[Erin’s] a sh-t starter.”
But how did Erin and Jessel get to this point?
Erin and Jessel's history on Season 14 of RHONY
Jessel and Erin got off on the wrong foot early in the season when Jessel was visiting Erin’s Sag Harbor home and complained about being cold.
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“If I’d known I was going to be going to a cryogenic chamber, I would have brought my NASA spacesuit,” Jessel told producers about the temperature.
Jenna Lyons also told Erin that Jessel once referred to her as a “cackling hag.”
“She just said, ‘I got carried away and I though the cackling hags were ganging up on me,’” Jenna said to Erin.
When Jessel was on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, however, she said she had no regrets about complaining about the heat and WiFi at Erin’s house, or about calling her a “cackling hag.”
The two also had an awkward coffee date this season, where their conversation sparked a number of issues between them. They met at the restaurant Greca in Tribeca, Erin’s neighborhood, and Jessel remarked the area had “potential” and is “really up and coming,” which rubbed Erin the wrong way, as she remarked, “It’s already there.”
At the same coffee date, Jessel also felt insulted by Erin.
“She said, ‘I think you like being catered to,’ and I was like, ‘So you’re calling me a princess?’” Jessel said to Sai during a fashion party at Jessel’s home. “So, I took offense to that because I’m like you, like I came here with no money. I work my ass off. Maybe I give off a certain vibe?”
Why were Erin and Jessel arguing in Anguilla?
The “princess” conversation sparked a lot of talk among the ladies of Jessel’s backstory and her family history, with some of the other ‘Wives accusing Jessel of not sharing enough and instead talking about her famous photographer uncles, with whom she lived with to get her start in New York City.
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The night before the boat argument, Erin asked Jessel at dinner if she’d had any help from her parents and got a mixed answer.
“My parents did not help me,” Jessel said at dinner. “Why would I lie about that? They didn’t give me one single dime. I will get my dad on FaceTime right now so you can ask him. Yes, he paid for my college, and all that stuff.”
Jessel continued to insist she didn’t come from a wealthy family.
“I don’t know what they want to hear from me,” she told. “I’m a super rich Indian princess, and I have a f-cking elephant? There’s no reason for me to be ashamed at coming from wealth. If I was wealthy, I’d be like yeah, I’m effing rich.”
But Erin pressed the issue on the boat, saying to Jessel, “Your life was not that hard…you had a perfectly fine life.”
That prompted Jessel to retort, “How do you know that? Did you live my life, Erin?”
Erin responded, “Your life was so incredibly hard when you lived with your rich uncle?
” Finally, Jessel said back, “I said I lived with my uncle — did I say he was incredibly rich? You know what your new nickname should be? The Queen of Assumption.”
Ubah Hassan defended Jessel sharing about her uncles and agreed with Jessel’s thought that “my family is my story.”
“Any generation, people share stories of their family,” Ubah said. “You are who you came from. And it’s so shocking that these intelligent women, they don’t see that. It’s annoying and actually quite embarrassing."
Despite the heated argument on the boat, Jessel told The Daily Dish in July that things between her and Erin are “great” these days.
“I think that, you know, obviously when you’re filming, there’s heightened emotions and it’s very intense,” Jessel said. “But, I think as a group, we’re all really great.”
Watch all-new episodes of The Real Housewives of New York City Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo and the next day on Peacock.
