‘RHOC’s’ Gretchen Rossi Received Death Threats for Her Allegedly “Liking” Homophobic Posts
The social media controversy was mentioned on Season 19 of 'The Real Housewives of Orange County'
Published Oct. 24 2025, 3:52 p.m. ET
Season 19 of The Real Housewives of Orange County proved that you can always come home, though everyone might not be happy to see you. Ahead of RHOC's season premiere, Bravo announced the return of the one and only Gretchen Rossi.
Gretchen was a full-time cast member during seasons 4-8 of the show and had many memorable moments, including her tumultuous relationship with Tamra Judge.
In Season 19, she and Tamra attempted to make amends during the ladies' trip to Amsterdam, but Tamra wasn't convinced that Gretchen had changed.
The episode ended with Gina Kirschenheiter discussing a more serious offense on Gretchen's end. In the episode, Gina referenced her co-star's social media activity, where she allegedly "liked" a homophobic post.
“Once you see stuff like this, you gotta call it out and not ignore it," Gina said while explaining the confrontation.
Here's what to know about Gretchen's controversy.
What post did Gretchen Rossi "like" on Instagram?
Although RHOC didn't discuss the details of the posts Gretchen liked, Gina seemed to be referencing an Instagram post that got her co-star in hot water ahead of Season 19. According to Bravo's Instagram fan account @therealhousematesofnewyork, the Bravolebrity liked several posts from anti-LBGTQ+ accounts speaking out against Gay Pride Month.
"I’d rather have a whole month dedicated to the people that have lost their lives fighting for our freedom instead of having a month of celebrating your preference in the bedroom,” one of the posts read, while the other stated, "When you opened the door to homosexuality, you opened the door to pedophilia. You’ll never win by normalizing perversion!”
The Instagram account also posted screenshots of Gretchen liking the posts. The account then slammed her with former Real Housewives of Potomac star Candiace Dillard-Bassett's iconic "Not today, neck" line and a new nickname for Gretchen.
"Hey MAGA Barbie, you can just go f*ck right off with your blatant homophobia,” the account holder wrote on the post.
"Your soul is about as authentic as the facetune you put over yourself in every picture. GTFO," they added in the caption.
Gretchen Rossi said screenshots of her "liking" homophobic posts are fake.
Amid the controversy over Gretchen's Instagram likes, the situation worsened offline. According to The U.S. Sun, the Bravo star denied liking the homophobic posts and claimed the screenshots were fake.
“It’s my understanding that there is a small group of Housewives fan sites and blogs passing a story around that I allegedly liked highly offensive posts," Gretchen told The U.S. Sun in a statement. "This is false, those are manipulated screenshots meant to cause harm to my reputation and bring attention to themselves. I firmly stand against any form of hatred and bigotry and have always fully supported the LGBTQ+ community."
Gretchen also said that both she and her fiance, Slade Smiley, received death threats due to the screenshots. Several of the Housewives' friends within the LGBTQ+ community vouched for both her and Slade, stating the couple have always been advocates and supporters of LGBTQ+ rights and even vowed not to get married until LGBTQ+ couples were afforded the same rights before gay marriage became legal in the U.S. in 2015.