#30in30: Rant: Reality TV Just Got Real

I could have titled this post "When Keep It Real Goes Wrong." It would be totally appropriate. Over the weekend, Chad Ochocinco Johnson was arrested for domestic violence against his wife of 39 days Evelyn Johnson. As a result, Chad was cut from the Miami Dolphins and VH1 has dropped their new reality show. I am not here to write about what did or did not happen between the two. My biggest issue is the way VH1 has responded to the news. A channel that promotes any and all violence on all of their reality shows. What made this particular incident so bad that they had to pull a show? I wonder who made the call. Reality tv has become a huge business. It's come a long way since the first season of MTV's "The Real World." And, sadly, most of the changes in reality tv hasn't been too good.

Granted, I totally get the seriousness of the Evelyn and Chad drama. But, VH1 is the same company that allows "Basketball Wives" to air? Evelyn is the same woman we've seen season after season promote violence on this show. Just last season, she threw 2 wine bottles at her co-star. Also, we saw her run across a table to attempt to attack someone. The woman is a hot head with a violent temper. But, VH1 and Viacom felt no need to pull this show. They promoted it. Praised it to a fault. This company stood idly behind Evelyn and her violent acts for ratings. Why is this violence ok? I do not know what happened between the Johnsons. What I do know is what VH1 has shown us. I stopped watching BBW a while back because the drama wasn't entertaining anymore. It stopped being entertaining when I realized that these were grown women acting like immature school girls on my tv. 

I cannot be ok with VH1 standing behind Evelyn when she was violent for ratings but dropping her show now. Why wasn't she dismissed from BBW? It was all good and fun when she was attacking other women. We've watched her go from throwing drinks in another woman's face (which by the way, I've never seen this happen in real life) to throwing bottles at another woman. Evelyn is more bark than bite. A woman with a big mouth and propensity to throw everything but hands. I blame VH1, Viacom, Shaunie O'Neal and even myself to a extent. I watched this trashy reality tv show before. I helped with ratings. I did that. But, when you know better, you should do better. I tuned out. While I am glad that there seems to finally be consequences for her actions, I am disappointed that it took something this severe for people to see. VH1 should be ashamed of themselves. They have promoted violence on all of their reality shows. It's glorified all in the commercials because that's what pulls people in. I would hope that this makes VH1 take a deeper look at their shows. Changes need to be made. The people on reality tv shows need to be held accountable for their actions. That is the reality I am talking about.