Not everyone in the Bravo universe is piling on Amanda Batula. “Real Housewives of New Jersey” alum Margaret Josephs went to bat for the “Summer House” star this week on the “Yacht Mess With Daisy & Marc” podcast, questioning whether losing brand partnerships is a proportionate consequence for a personal relationship.
“Ciara and West weren’t like this madly in love couple,” Margaret said. “She did have a lot of feelings, but West played her. I just don’t want to vilify Amanda the way everybody is, because the way they’re coming at her, this isn’t good.”
“This girl’s life should not be ruined over this,” Margaret continued. “She is losing basically her career. What is it that she did that brands can’t align with her?”
“Below Deck” star Daisy Kelliher, co-hosting the podcast, agreed the backlash had gone too far, but drew a firm line when her co-host Marc compared the situation to Jen Shah losing her deals after going to prison for fraud.
“She broke the law!” Daisy shot back. “Amanda f—ed her best friend’s situationship! That is not the same as scamming old people!” Margaret agreed “What West did was unethical. There’s a difference.”
What Amanda Actually Lost
The brand deal conversation is not hypothetical. Flower by Edie Parker dropped Amanda within hours of the March 31 statement confirming her relationship with West. The campaign, which was a 4/20 partnership called “Boobs on Drugs” supporting cannabis criminal justice reform organization Last Prisoner Project, had gone live that same morning.
Edie Parker deleted all images of Amanda from their Instagram and replaced her with a new, unidentified model wearing the same shirt. Their caption: “A lot can change in a day. Same shirt. Same great charity. New model.”
The timing was particularly pointed, given that Amanda’s cannabis use was a source of documented friction in her marriage to Kyle Cooke. The Edie Parker campaign had positioned itself as Amanda reclaiming that narrative. A bold fashion moment that would have been one of the stronger post-split statements a Bravolebrity has made in recent memory. It lasted one morning.
Fans flooded Edie Parker’s comments overwhelmingly in support of the swap, with many calling for the brand to replace Amanda with Ciara Miller specifically.
The Larger Question
Margaret’s argument is one that a vocal minority of fans has also been making: Amanda and West are two consenting single adults. No one cheated. No laws were broken. The friendship betrayal is real, and the hurt Ciara has expressed is real. But whether that translates to a professional consequence is a separate question.
One commenter in Edie Parker’s mentions put it plainly: “Removing someone’s work opportunity for something they did in their personal life as two consenting adults is wild.”
On the other side of that argument is Daisy Kelliher’s position, and frankly, most of the internet’s: a brand’s decision about who represents them is entirely their call, and aligning with someone in the middle of a public friendship betrayal carries reputational risk regardless of the legal status of what happened.
Margaret is not wrong that the punishment may exceed the crime. She is also defending someone who told a camera crew that West was not right for Ciara while reportedly being involved with him. Both things can be true.
The “Summer House” Season 10 reunion films later this month. Amanda has confirmed she will attend.
“Summer House” Season 10 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo and streams on Peacock.
Image credit: Margaret Joseph/Instagram
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