Reality Show Racist? Socialite Says She’s Unfairly Portrayed on High Society
- Mar 12, 2010 01:08 PM ET
- by
Tim Molloy
High Society, Jules Kirby
One of the stars of CW’s new reality series High Society says she’s been unfairly edited to look like the villain, but Jules Kirby’s statements on the show don’t exactly help her case.
The socialite was quoted on Wednesday’s debut episode as saying her “friends do tend not to be homosexuals, fat or Jewish people” and that “I use the N word sometimes… and I really think it should be okay to say.”
She’s also caught saying, one night at a club, “That black girl has got to get away.”
Check out photos from High Society
Seconds later, the show’s editors wittily insert another, apparently sincere comment from Kirby: “My dream is to work for the United Nations.”
Viewers next see her berate an employee at the hotel where she’s living.
The New York Post’s Page Six notes that Kirby took to Facebook Thursday to complain about her edit. “I am sorry if you were offended,” she said. “The show is scripted, and we are given lines and characters. My grandmother is married to a Jew … Everything was cut and pasted to make it look like I was a stupid b—h, and I regret that they do not do a better job of saying it is a docu-soap, not a reality show.”
Kirby’s pique with the show play nicely into its narrative: She plays villain to our apparent protagonist, newly single socialite Tinlsey Mortimer, as she moves from the Upper East Side to (gasp) Midtown. Kirby lives with Mortimer’s sister, Dabney Mercer, and feuds with the rehabbed-but-still drinking Paul Johnson-Calderon, a hard-spending trust-funder best known for wearing bow ties (who has also been accused of stealing a purse).
Watch clips from High Society
The Kirby presented on the show is far different from the public personae she tries to present. In a recent interview she touted her outdoorsy hobbies and “environmentally friendly as it can get” boutique. And she may not have to worry about too many people seeing her portrayal: The show had just 1.4 million viewers and lost in its timeslot Wednesday.
A CW rep did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
High Society airs Wednesdays at 9:30/8:30c.




