TORONTO — Bell Media is pulling Jessica Mulroney’s reality series “I Do, Redo” off the air after the celebrity stylist was accused by Sasha Exeter of threatening the lifestyle influencer’s career.
The media company has issued a statement saying it has removed Mulroney’s show from all of its platforms.
Exeter says in an Instagram video that the dispute started when she put out a call on social media for her peers to use their voices to support the anti-Black racism movement.
Exeter says Mulroney, who had not been speaking up about the movement on social media at that time, mistook her call to action for a personal attack and threatened her in writing last week.
Exeter accused Mulroney of lashing out at her several times since then, including a claim that she was speaking with companies about Exeter’s behaviour.
The TV host apologized on Instagram for what she called a “disagreement” that “got out of hand” hours after Exeter said that Mulroney had threatened her with a lawsuit.
Exeter, who used to be an acquaintance of Mulroney’s, said in a post that for Mulroney to threaten her “as a single Black mom, during a racial pandemic, blows my mind.”
The former elite athlete, who now works as a global brand marketer and entrepreneur in Toronto, writes about fitness, lifestyle and parenting on her website So Sasha.
“Listen, I am by no means calling Jess a racist but what I will say is this: She is very well aware of her wealth, her perceived power and privilege because of the colour of her skin,” Exeter said in her Instagram post Wednesday.
“And that, my friends, gave her the momentary confidence to come for my livelihood in writing. Textbook white privilege, really, in my personal opinion.”
Mulroney, who is known for being friends with Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, said she was wrong to take Exeter’s initial call-out personally and she “did not intend in any way to jeopardize her livelihood.”
Mulroadded that she plans to step “back from social media in the coming days” to reflect and give her “microphone to Black voices” by having them take over her account.
Mulroney, who is married to TV personality and former prime minister’s son Ben Mulroney, catapulted to global fame last year when she was among the guests at Prince Harry and Meghan’s lavish nuptials.
A descendant of shoe magnate Morton Brownstein of the Browns Shoes empire, she has been a marketing consultant for the Toronto outpost of Kleinfeld Bridal and appeared regularly on City TV’s “Cityline.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2020.
By Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press
