Yahoo Finance Kathy Hilton Mistook Lizzo For The Fictional Character ‘Precious’
Lizzo (left) and Kathy Hilton. (Photo: Debra L Rothenberg via Getty Images/Bravo via Getty Images)
Truth hurts, but it seems Kathy Hilton can’t tell the difference between two Black women. Or reality from fiction.
The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star, and mother of Paris and Nicky, was playing a game during an episode of “Watch What Happens Live” Wednesday night when she made a cringe-worthy gaffe.
The game — called “Will Kathy Know Them?” — consisted of photos of celebrities appearing on the screen and Hilton having to guess who they were.
When a photo of Lizzo popped up on the screen, and host Andy Cohen asked if Hilton knew “this lady,” Hilton responded with:
“I feel like I do … Precious?”
OH MY GOD. pic.twitter.com/Gw9eQILsOl
— denver sean. (@dnvrsn) August 11, 2022
In response, Cohen and everyone on set began awkwardly laughing.
Hilton’s “RHOBH” costar and fellow guest Crystal Kung presumably tried to help Hilton out by jokingly saying, “Lizzo’s precious though. Lizzo’s precious.”
Hilton, noticing that she made a mistake but presumably not knowing why it was such a big deal, then tried to save face by saying:
“That’s what I call her,” Her nickname’s Precious to me.”
Aside from the fact that Lizzo and “Precious” have completely different faces — what makes Hilton’s comment even more eyebrow-raising is that she referred to Lizzo, an actual person, to a fictional character played by Gabourey Sidibe in the 2009 movie “Precious.”
Gabourey Sidibe in 2019. (Photo: Dia Dipasupil via Getty Images)
The full clip of the game, which included Hilton’s blunder, was not uploaded on to the YouTube account for “Watch What Happens Live,” but Hilton’s mixup did make its way onto Twitter — and people were upset.
When Precious came out, a lot of people used the character’s name as a derogatory label to fuel their fatphobia and to bully. So no, I don’t think that it’s funny that Lizzo, home minding her own business, had to watch herself be called Precious in front of millions on live tv.
— Kalen Allen (@TheKalenAllen) August 11, 2022
It’s the fatphobia and racism for me. Because she and Gabby look NOTHING alike, but also to call her Precious, like that’s a real person and not a character. Lizzo need to cuss all these mf out. https://t.co/HrxmDBQqzJ
— Uncle Johnny Handmade Dress (@afrovocative) August 11, 2022
She does mistake people a lot, but saying Precious is something very insidious. It’s not just linking Lizzo to a fat black person solely on her weight, but erasing Gabourey’s identity. It’s very weird. Kathy is really insufferable and says a lot of off white people stuff. https://t.co/Vu8iW3fK7v
— 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐲𝐚𝐰 (@justxhenry) August 11, 2022
Gabourey is beautiful. Lizzo is beautiful. But to think every and any big black woman is a struggling character in a MOVIE is beyond insulting
— Anderson Paak's Grammy Wig 👩🏾 (@Munya959) August 11, 2022
We don’t need to defend white women. I promise. Kathy was wrong. Period.
Whether it was Precious Lee or “Precious,” the fictitious character, guess what? Neither are Lizzo and and “I don’t know” would have sufficed. Black people get confused often.
And yes, it’s often racist.— Preston Mitchum, he/him (@PrestonMitchum) August 11, 2022
No. It’s offensive to Gabourey Sidibe too actually. Precious is a character, not the actor’s name PLUS Gabourey looks nothing like Lizzo so an old white women thinking all big black girls look the same is offensive to everyone involved. https://t.co/28KrCxFYym
— stressica (@_JESSrelax) August 11, 2022
Why you ain’t check that lady for calling Lizzo “Precious,” Andrew? https://t.co/eEvBLPgTHY
— Freddie, Local Victim & Villain at the same time (@BeBraesFull) August 11, 2022
None of the parties involved have commented publicly about this mess. But Lizzo did post a few sexy photosof herself enjoying the beach Thursday with the caption, “Meanwhile…”
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
