Vanderpump Villa’s Marciano Brunette said Lisa Vanderpump is supporting him amid accusations he sexually assaulted Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Demi Engemann.
Vanderpump Villa viewers watched Engemann and Brunette get to know each other on a crossover episode where some of the women from Secret Lives of Mormon Wives traveled to the villa. Engemann alleged that Brunette grabbed her butt against her consent in what she described as sexual assault.
Brunette denied there was any misconduct between the two, saying there’s no doubt in his mind that everything that happened was consensual.
Speaking to Newsweek in his first interview since the accusations came to light, Brunette said he’s spoken with Vanderpump about the situation. Although he didn’t want to speak for Vanderpump, he said she is backing him.
“I have her full support,” Brunette said. “I have her support. I know that for a fact.”
Brunette said he thinks Vanderpump will come out with a statement, but that he couldn’t guarantee that she’d speak publicly about it.
“By definition, sexual assault is any nonconsensual sexual act or contact. As a woman, it distresses me that what happened to Demi is being minimized. You cannot believe the lies from a known liar,” Eda Kalkay, Engemann’s rep, told Newsweek.
Newsweek has reached out to Vanderpump via email for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Engemann returned to filming about halfway through season three to tell her side of the story. She had multiple conversations with the women about what happened with Brunette, telling them that there was a consensual kiss on the cheek during truth and dare, but that the two did not make out, as Brunette alleged, and he grabbed her butt twice without her consent.
Several of the women cast doubt on Engemann labeling herself a victim because she previously told them she wasn’t and continued to talk to Brunette after the alleged incident. Hannah Fouch also asked Engemann at a Hulu event to retract the “sexual predator” label.
“[Fouch] saw how it was in the villa. She also had conversations with myself and Demi and she knew that there’s no way,” Brunette said. “She knew that that wasn’t true. But I appreciate her for doing that.”
Engemann told Fouch she would not take it back, maintaining that she was assaulted. She told several of the women in MomTok that while it may seem odd she kept talking to him, you can’t judge how someone responds to sexual assault.
“There were multiple things where, looking back, I was like, why am I still talking to this guy,” Engemann said on the show. “There’s no right way to handle those situations. In my mind it was a case of keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer.”
After a sit down with Engemann, Jessi Draper acknowledged that there was no correct way to respond to being sexually assaulted. But, she still doubted Engemann’s narrative. Taylor Frankie Paul also said she was in doubt because it was contrary to what she previously told the group.
Brunette told Newsweek he thinks Engemann made the accusation because she was afraid of what would be shown on Vanderpump Villa and wanted to protect her marriage.
“There are cameras everywhere in this place. I wasn’t gonna risk or even try doing something that I thought was inappropriate, whatsoever,” Brunette said. “I would not be able to get away with something like that.”
While some of the women cast doubt on Engemann’s accusation, Whitney Leavitt, who’s become close with Engemann, said it’s not up to the rest of the women to decide if Engemann was assaulted or not.
Read the full article here
