Lizzy Savetsky, who was set to star in the “Real Housewives of New York City” reboot, is breaking her silence on her mysterious exit in light of Brynn Whitfield’s shocking behavior on the Season 15 finale.
The activist, 39, confirms for the first time ever in an exclusive interview with Page Six that she left the Bravo show because of an explosive fight she had with “a cast member,” referring to Whitfield.
“You can only hide who you are for so long,” Savetsky tells us of her former co-star.
Two years after Savetsky’s exit, Whitfield is feuding with yet another co-star: Ubah Hassan.
In the finale, Whitfield claimed to her other cast members that Hassan was aware she had been “raped and [was] still dealing with” the trauma but used it against her by saying she slept with men to get ahead.
However, just hours later, the reality star backtracked her stance and claimed that, while she told Hassan her secret, the model perhaps had not “clocked it” during the emotionally charged chat.
Savetsky says in response to what occurred between Whitfield and Hassan, “I was not at all surprised to hear about it,” adding that she and the model have bonded over their shared experiences.
“I stand behind Ubah and I’m so glad that her life wasn’t ruined over this,” Savetsky tells us.
“Ubah is Muslim and I’m Jewish and we had nothing but an incredibly loving conversation. She’s such a special person and to see something like this happen to her really breaks my heart.”
The social media influencer adds that Hassan was “very emotional” when speaking to her, with the model admitting she “wanted to reach out but didn’t want to reopen old wounds.”
“She said to me ‘Lizzy, you’ve been vindicated’ and I wasn’t looking for it but it’s interesting to hear that,” Savetsky says.
In 2022, Savetsky was a few weeks into filming her first season of “Housewives” when she got into an on-camera spat with Whitfield, 39, over her decision to be a matchmaker solely for Jewish people.
“I like to set up Jews with other Jews because I have a lot of anxiety about the continuity of my people,” Savetsky explains.
“According to Orthodox Judaism, Judaism goes by the mother. If you’re not [a Jewish woman], your kids won’t be Jewish.”
She claims Whitfield, who is half-black and half-white, got upset over this explanation and made a racist comparison between Savetsky and the oppressors of Jewish people: Nazis. However, she admits that her former co-star never actually uttered the term.
“She said I sounded like those people who did those horrible things to my people,” Savetsky claims.
“I felt extremely upset by the fact that production just kept rolling when that happened because they all knew about the antisemitism that I had been experiencing. I was so concerned that this scene was going to create more antisemitism.”
Reps for Whitfield and Bravo declined Page Six’s request for comment.
However, a source familiar with the situation tells us that what set Whitfield off was that Savetsky allegedly said she was setting up those with a “pure” bloodline, which the biracial reality star took as a jab.
The insider was not able to recall the exact words that the Jewish activist allegedly used and was not able to provide corroboration for that claim.
Savetsky says in response, “This is a despicable accusation. I explained [that] the rules according to Orthodox Judaism are that Judaism is inherited from the mother.
“The Jewish men I was setting up at the time wanted to be set up with Jewish women, not with women who are shopping for a Jewish husband,” she continues.
“I told her she was free to date whoever she wants but my hobby of matchmaking was directly tied to my anxiety about the continuity of the Jewish people. I actually explained on camera that we currently have less Jews in the world than we did before the Holocaust.”
A second source, with whom Lizzy discussed this matter at the time but was not present for the actual altercation, reasserts the influencer’s version of the events, alleging to Page Six that Whitfield “invented a new narrative to justify” her alleged implication of the word Nazi.
Following the fight, it was suggested that the two women settle their differences on an off-camera call.
Savetsky claims that it was during this phone conversation that Whitfield allegedly told her, “The next time you say something unkind about a black person, I’m going to say you called them the N-word’” but “said the full word.”
Upon overhearing this alleged threat, as the phone was on speaker, Savetsky says her husband, Dr. Ira Savetsky, took over and shouted, “You come into our f–king house. You weaponize our religion against us. I can’t believe this.”
Lizzy says an executive producer on the line tried to defuse the situation by claiming that Whitfield was “making an analogy.” A second source alleges to Page Six that Whitfield “never threatened” Lizzy.
However, Lizzy believes, “I was not protected [by Bravo]. As angry as I was with this cast member, I was much angrier with production. It wasn’t a secret that I was getting all this antisemitic hate, so to hear this cast member do this to me and not do anything about it, it was awful.”
During the heated call, Lizzy says Whitfield began bawling and “went into victim mode.”
“She’s the one who compared me to a Nazi, introduced the actual N-word [into the conversation] and then started crying,” she says.
After the call, Lizzy and her husband were set to film a scene in their house but told the on-set producer that they needed to reschedule to take time to cool down.
When recounting to that producer what happened on the call, however, Ira repeated the actual N-word.
“It’s a mistake that he completely owns up to and it’s the only time I’ve ever heard him say it,” Lizzy says.
“He only said it in quoting her and knows that it was wrong. It was just the heat of the moment, trying to process what just happened.”
A source tells us that Ira’s reiteration of the word left several producers feeling “uncomfortable,” adding, “He should not be using the N-word freely like that especially when there are people of color [on set].”
Lizzy claims she was “essentially fired” for this incident — even though the network did not use that verbiage because she was technically under contract — and has not received “one cent” from Bravo.
She also claims she was asked to make a statement saying she decided to leave — which she did.
“I will not be continuing on the Real Housewives of NYC,” Lizzy wrote via Instagram on Nov. 16, 2022.
“As a proud orthodox Jewish woman, I thought participating in this series would be a great chance to represent people like me and share my experience.”
She continued, “Unfortunately, from the time of my announcement in the cast, I was on the receiving end of a torrent of antisemitic attacks. As this continued, I realized that this path was no longer right for me and my family.”
A source familiar with the situation tells Page Six that Lizzy pinning her exit on anything other than her previous public statement is “doing exactly what she’s accusing Brynn of doing” by “twisting the truth.”
Lizzy concludes, “At the end of the day, I hold production accountable more than anyone. I’ve moved on. I would never do this show.”
The activist — who works with multiple antisemitism organizations, received an award from Mayor Eric Adams and was honored by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, with “The Voice of Iron” award for her work defending Israel online — says in hindsight she is “so happy” that the spat with Whitfield happened.
“I don’t know if I would have had the strength to walk away on my own and I’m living my life’s purpose right now,” she says. “When I see all this, I’m just incredibly grateful that I’m no longer a part of this show.”