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While Pedranti said the two had no "ill intent" and were just "being goofy," she added she "immediately" pulled it down after offending two cast members.
Katie Ginella is speaking out about behavior from her Real Housewives of Orange County castmates that she says crosses a major line.
During a recent appearance on Page Six's Virtual Reali-Tea, the Season 19 newbie didn't hold back as she reacted to a social media clip involving Jennifer Pedranti and returning Housewife Gretchen Rossi, calling the video "very inappropriate" and "hurtful."
"There's a very inappropriate video going around where two girls are pretending to fight, squinting their eyes and making Asian faces to Asian sounds," Ginella said of the since-deleted post, which featured Pedranti and Rossi at a gym pretending to do martial arts moves.
"I'm back on Housewives," Rossi says in the clip, with Pedranti adding, "And we're ready to defend ourselves," before the two begin kicking and punching a boxing bag, in a manner some interpreted as perpetuating Asian stereotypes. The video ends with the pair high-fiving and walking off.
"It's 2025, and I think we should read the room," Ginella told the outlet. "It's very hurtful and very inappropriate."
Per Ginella, the video was removed from social media following backlash. While Rossi hasn't spoken out publicly about the controversy, Pedranti did reply to a fan who asked "Are you going to address the problematic Kung fu video you and Gretchen posted and then deleted?" in the comments of one of her Instagram posts.
"of course!!! It was offensive to two of my cast and possibly others. I was asked to take it down and I did immediately," Pedranti replied. "Never an ill intent at all! Truly we were being goofy and having fun. The second I heard it could come off as offensive it was off my socials."
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Pedranti's fiancé, Ryan Boyajian, also came to her defense in the comments of another post, after one fan wrote: "I was a fan of yours. You and Gretch can kick rocks. So disappointed in you but I know where you stand."
"Elle. I don know if you have a partner but if you do, I'd hope they stand up for you as I do for Jenn. Jenn is the furthest thing from a racist and the accusations alone are truly inexcusable. So yes— I'll always join in and protect my lady from what is truthful versus what is complete BS," Ryan wrote. "Hope that helps you and don't forget — you're complete stranger, you don’t know anything about us other than what you see edited on TV and here you are commenting with fake news on our social media. I would call that very juvenile behavior on your part ✌🏾."
Ginella, who made history this season as RHOC's first Asian-American cast member and first Korean adoptee, went on to say her experience on the show has triggered painful memories from her past.
PageSix: Katie Ginella is calling out co-stars Jennifer Pedranti and Gretchen Rossi for a “hurtful” and racially insensitive video they filmed for social media.
“There’s a very inappropriate video going around where two girls are pretending to fight, squinting their eyes and… pic.twitter.com/fYpxQRWBOm @nosmokenomore
"I feel like throughout the season, it’s brought me back to feeling like how I felt growing up a lot," she explained. "You know, I'm the 'only.' I'm the very first Asian American on Orange County, I'm the very first Korean adoptee. So being singled out from this cast, it's all too familiar. All the feelings."
Despite the incident, Ginella said that both Pedranti and Rossi reached out amid public backlash aimed at Ginella this season to send her "warm regards," which she described as "very odd" given that she says the video was posted right after that.
The drama off-screen comes as tensions boil over onscreen. In the July 27 episode, Ginella found herself in the hot seat after it was revealed she recorded costar Shannon Beador having a "meltdown" during a photoshoot -- and allegedly shared it with Alexis Bellino, Beador's ex's fiancée.
"I gave Katie a gift, giving her advice to get to a different place with the women in this group, and this is what she does to me?" Beador said in a confessional. "It is pure evil betrayal."
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View StoryGinella denied sending the video to anyone, but admitted she and Pedranti had "discussed it" with Bellino. Pedranti, however, wasn't thrilled to be dragged into the drama.
"I don't know why Katie's doing this," she told producers. "It's just not fair, and really, I wish my friend would just start answering for herself."
See the drama unfold on The Real Housewives of Orange County, airing Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
