Reality star Mia Thornton got emotional recalling when she was sexually assaulted on Sunday night’s episode of “The Real Housewives of Potomac.”
During her co-star Karen Huger’s luncheon for Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment (PAVE), an organization which empowers rape victims, Thornton, 39, went to the bathroom in tears because the event was “triggering” to her.
“It’s my coping mechanism to get the f–k out when s–t’s uncomfortable and, unfortunately, that day, I couldn’t get out,” she told her co-star Ashley Darby, who rushed to the restroom to console her.
“It’s just, like, ‘Why didn’t you just leave? Why did you put yourself in that situation?'”
Thornton then admitted that she displaces her anger on her pal Jacqueline Blake, who has also appeared on “RHOP,” because she partially blames her for the incident since she “left her” with her assaulter.
“I know I’m a f–ked up friend to her because of it, and it’s not fair to her,” the Bravo star added amid tears. “She didn’t know that was going to happen to me. She trusted her boyfriend.”
Thornton then recalled that when Blake returned to check on her the day after the assault occurred, she was “so scared” and told her, “Mia, what happened to you?”
“Because Jacqueline did leave me that night and because of the sequence of events that happened once she left, I think over the years I’ve wanted to forgive her … when I look back, I probably have always been a little meaner to her because of it,” the “RHOP” star, who recently split from her estranged husband Gordon Thornton, said in a confessional interview.
“That doesn’t make it right. It’s just an emotional thing that I think a lot of people do. We don’t even realize it until we look back and see it.”
Darby, 35, was then seen embracing Mia, who told her friend in response, “We’re going to be OK.”
Earlier in the emotional episode, Darby shared that she, too, has had her own experiences with sexual assault with hers being “at the hands of a family member,” adding in a confessional interview, “The saddest thing is to know that it’s happening now. It’s so prevalent. It is heartbreaking.”
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“RHOP” star Robyn Dixon also shared that she had an “experience” when she was a teen, saying she was “unable to give consent” and “didn’t really realize” at the time the “severity” of what happened.
Huger, who hosted the powerful fundraiser, was one of the first women on her cast to speak openly about these issues.
In 2017, she told Page Six exclusively she was raped at age 19 after a date “went totally off the rails.”
The La Dame fragrance owner, 60, said at the time, “The fact that I survived is part of my reality and I’m hoping that message resonates with the viewers.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
