Tamra Judge shared via her podcast and social media platforms that she’s recently believed to be “on the spectrum.”
On October 15, Tamra revealed on her podcast she cohosts with Teddi Mellencamp that after going to her first therapy session, she received an autism diagnosis.
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The RHOC star goes on to say she has had an issue with empathy, which could only mean one thing — autism.
Tamra’s revelation was of course met with a barrage of online backlash.
However, that did not stop the Vena CBD owner from issuing a second statement.
Tamra’s Second Statement
Tammy Sue posted the same statement across her social media platforms.
In it, she states she’s been struggling for the past 15 years, and this is not a storyline or contrived for the TV. It’s her reality.
You can read the full statement above, but here’s a few call outs:
“I don’t really understand it fully, and my therapist told me more evaluation was needed. But when I sat down at the mic to record my podcast 15 minutes later and my head was spinning from what she had said. I had no time to process things, or even talk to my family — I was just back at work. And I was so emotional, I just blurted it out.”
“Afterwards, my instinct was to have it removed. But I’m used to being so open with everything in my life, I thought against it. Now, I wish I had. I just want to take people through the journey with me as I’ve always done, but I realize now I spoke too soon publicly, and that processing this with such an onslaught of negative comments has been horrible.”
Tamra concludes her statement with sharing she will continue processing her diagnosis and learning more offline.
My thoughts
Because I have empathy, I do feel for Tamra on a human level re: the hate she’s getting today. She clearly was ill advised to share her “diagnosis” with social media.
She claims that she finished therapy and immediately had to start recording the podcast. It was top of mind so she regurgitated her therapy session.
From a PR perspective, the likelier story is she was advised to share in the hopes it would soften her public perception.
For Tamra to have a Bravo podcast, and be in the same orbit as Bravo bloggers, it’s remarkable she didn’t take note of Jax Taylor’s reception. The Bravo community didn’t rush to give him a shoulder to cry on when he announced his mental health diagnosis.
When categorically unfavorable people try to course correct, it almost never lands. All Tamra really had to do was apologize for her treatment toward Shannon Beador. Even if she feels in her heart of hearts she’s on the right side of history on this. Pull a Ramona Singer and be “the apologizer.” Instead of attempting to justify poor behavior with an autism diagnosis.
While it’s true that autism is a spectrum, almost all of the autistic people I know, to include my two younger siblings, are empathetic and kind. They tend to be in tune with the emotions of others.
