Luann de Lesseps Defends Wearing 'Blackface' on 'RHONY' After Viewers Slam Her Diana Ross Costume

Toward the end of Wednesday's episode, Luann showed up to Dorinda Medley's Halloween party dressed as Diana Ross, but many viewers thought her getup resembled blackface.

Luann's co-star, Carole Radziwill, even told cameras, "Luann's costume is so disrespectful. I think she's tone deaf when it comes to cultural stereotypes. She's generally tone deaf anyway."

The Countess stopped by "Watch What Happens Live" Wednesday night following the premiere, and Andy Cohen wasted no time in asking about Lu's costume choice.

"I'm horrified!" she said. "I never meant to hurt anybody's feelings. I love Diana Ross, and I respect Diana Ross, you know? It was really kind of a tribute to her. It was Halloween."

When Andy brought up that the "issue" was that Luann colored her skin, she assured him she didn't.

"I had bronzer on that I wear normally, like the rest of my skin," she said. "I'm tan like [I am] right now, so I didn't add anything. I would never, ever dream of doing a blackface, ever. So I'm very sorry to everyone out there if I offended anyone."

Entertainment Tonight reporter Nischelle Turner asked also asked Luann about the costume in a recent interview, saying she was "taken aback" by the choice and that she sensed Lu would receive some backlash following the premiere. And right she was.

"There are people who interpreted that as you in blackface," Turner, a black woman, said to Luann.

"I didn't," Luann replied. "I had makeup on, but not anything that would make me look--"

"It looked a little--" Turner interrupted.

"I had tanning cream on," Luann said. "The tanning cream and the big hairpiece I had, which was amazing -- I was doing my version of Diana Ross."

Turner then asked Luann about Carole calling her "tone deaf," to which Luann replied, "Well, you know, because I didn't agree with it doesn't mean I didn't get it."

"I was being an impersonator for Halloween, but I wasn't trying to be Diana Ross," she explained. "I was just playing and having fun. It was Halloween."

In a final attempt to get Luann to see a perspective different from her own, Turner asked the reality star if she could see how other people might interpret the costume.

"Yeah, sure I can. Sure I can," Luann said. "And of course, I don't mean to offend anyone by being Diana Ross for Halloween. It just didn't even enter my mind. I wasn't at all worried about that, and all of a sudden, it's become a thing -- which, I'm so sorry! So I apologize."

See how the internet reacted to Luann's Diana Ross tribute in the tweets below.