Dodd made the exchange public in a post blasting her former co-star as a "horrible person," "terrible mother" and "f------ nut job classic narcissist."
Braunwyn Windham-Burke appeared to be extending an olive branch of solidarity and sympathy after both she and Kelly Dodd were let go from "The Real Housewives of Orange County," but Kelly clearly didn't take it that way ... at all.
Kelly shared the private text exchange publicly in a brutally scathing Instagram post where she laid into her former co-star, calling her a "horrible person," "terrible mother" and "f------ nut job classic narcissist" -- and that was just in her caption.
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View StoryShe also shared what she actually wrote back to Braunwyn offering an ear of friendship by blaming her for their ouster from the reality show.
"We’d still be on the show if you didn’t make things so dark and ugly and brought all that political 'woke' BS. Your lies about me, calling me a racist and a homophobe were horribly destructive and your phony storylines didn’t help either."
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Again, Braunwyn kept her cool in this private exchange, commenting, "I'm still sober and still gay," before again offering an olive branch even after all that vitriol.
Then, Kelly really piled on with that aforementioned Instagram post and its scathing caption, which was published just hours before ET sat down with Braunwyn to chat, per the outlet.
Interestingly, Braunwyn revealed that Kelly actually cut off part of their text exchange, which included kinder words from Kelly, herself. "She cut off the part where I said, ‘I hope you have a beautiful life,’ and then she actually wrote back something pretty sweet too, like, ‘Yeah, you too,'" she said. "She didn't post that part."
And so Braunwyn said she left the conversation thinking the two were in a pretty good place, all things considered. "Whoops," she conceded after finding out about Kelly's post. But still, she stands by her olive branches.
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View Story"I meant it," she said. "I give people second chances, 10th chances, 12th. That's who I am. I don't like to hold on to anger and hate. I'm not that person."
She went on to emphasize that making amends, moving on and letting go are huge parts of her program, likely referring to common processes as part of Alcoholics Anonymous and similar addiction programs.
While Kelly and the other cast-members kept calling Braunwyn out as inauthentic on the show, claiming she made things up for the show, Braunwyn insists that her becoming sober and coming out as gay were both very real and very huge moments for her that just happened to play out while the cameras were rolling.
After hearing Kelly's caption for the first time during the interview, Braunwyn denied ever saying she was fired for being gay. "But I have learned during the season, she takes a lot of things I haven't said and makes it into things I have," she said. "So, I'm not surprised. I'm used to it."
As for the rest, Braunwyn said it's all familiar territory. "They've called me a narcissist, they've said I'm a bad [mom]," she said. "Those are easy digs."
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View StoryShe then turned it around, saying that she doesn't like people who use a "clinical diagnosis" as an insult -- "If you don't like me, then come up with another word. Don't weaponize mental health, please" -- and defended her parenting by saying she has great kids and that's proof enough.
Ultimately, she believes Kelly is lashing out in anger, rather than taking any accountability for what she might have done that led to her being cut from the show.
"When you're angry, it's easier to blame someone else than to take accountability," she said. "I think people do that in a lot of things in their lives. It's easier to be angry than sad. And so I'm not going to take that personally."
Braunwyn then weighed in on those ladies who did survive the cast purging, including Shannon Beador, Gina Kirschenheiter, Emily Simpson and the returning Heather Dubrow, calling the decisions "weird." She also said she knows the new faces that will be joining, though she stayed as mum as Bravo.
"Gina, I get. Gina was very, like, whatever," she said. "Emily, I think Tamra Judge said it best, it's like watching paint dry. I agree. I know her in real life and I'm like, you were Eeyore. And then Shannon, I think Shannon's good, because you get the older, long-term viewers, that's good for bringing them back."
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View StoryShe actually did have praise for the decision to bring Heather back, saying she looks forward to the dynamic between Heather and Gina. As for the brand-new faces, Braunwyn says the new show is going to "have young, hot, rich, beautiful, cool, liberal [women]. And then conservative Trump supporters. It's going to be an interesting dynamic."
Interestingly, while Braunwyn's time on "RHOC" is over, she says one of her "very close" friends will be among those new faces joining the franchise, describing her as "a beautiful soul." Media speculation is that it is actually her best friend, Noella Berenger, which means Braunwyn could somehow still be in the conversation at the least.
She's also open to returning, even as a guest. In fact, she said she'd really love to bring a date to any appearance she might make. "I would love to normalize seeing two women together in a conservative town," she said. "I mean, I think representation matters, and I absolutely would do that in a heartbeat."
"if I could be there as an out, gay woman, which I never got to film as, that would be beautiful."