Jill Zarin, the former Real Housewives of New York City star who was slated to appear in a new spin-off series on E!, has been axed due to her controversial comments about Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Zarin, 62, ignited backlash after posting a since-deleted rant in which she decried the Puerto Rican rapper’s show and claimed “there were literally no white people in the entire thing.”
Her comments came just days after E! had announced a new series, The Golden Life, starring Zarin and her former Real Housewives castmates Kelly Bensimon, Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer and Sonja Morgan. Producer blink49studios then released a statement saying the show would move forward without Zarin “in light of recent public comments.”
Now, Zarin has claimed in a statement to InTouch that the producers “didn’t even give me a chance.”
“I took it down right away. People make mistakes. I’m human,” she told the publication.
The Independent has reached out to a representative for Zarin for comment.
Hours after Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance — in which he made history as the first artist to perform a halftime show entirely in Spanish, and also became the first Latin solo act to take on one of the world’s most coveted gigs — Zarin posted a video to Instagram deeming it “the worst halftime show ever.”
“I just don’t think it was appropriate to have it in Spanish,” Zarin said while noting that the U.S. is celebrating its 250th anniversary. She also thought the dancing was “inappropriate,” claiming that the “insecure” rapper was “grabbing himself every five seconds.”
“I don’t speak Spanish. I would’ve liked to have known the words he was saying,” she continued before claiming, “To me it looked like a political statement because there were literally no white people in the entire thing.”
Zarin’s claim was inaccurate, as Lady Gaga took the stage to deliver a salsa-influenced rendition of her hit song, “Die With a Smile.” The former reality TV star then said she needed to use Google to identify the singer, claiming Gaga was unrecognizable.
“That was kinda fun in the middle of halftime, at least it gave me something to do ’cause it was so hard to watch,” Zarin said of Gaga’s performance.
Despite deleting the video soon after it was posted, Zarin’s comments made the rounds on social media, sparking intense backlash. Fans and fellow housewives, including Tamra Judge and Margaret Josephs, were quick to denounce Zarin’s comments. The producers behind The Golden Life wasted no time taking action, announcing Zarin’s firing Tuesday.
