Catfights are one thing, but fistfights are another. The Sunday, January 8, episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta had both. Everything started smoothly as Kenya Moore and Cynthia Bailey took their dogs to get baths, though neither pooch seemed very excited about it. Kenya updated Cynthia on where things stood with Matt Jordan, and said her dad had been very helpful in that area. “He wants us to take a break,” Kenya explained. “He wants Matt to do some therapy, work on himself, and he wants me to do the same.” She told Cynthia that she and Matt were not currently spending any time together, but would revisit things in the future. “If it can’t be worked out, we’ll go our separate ways.”
Cynthia thought that sounded reasonable, but was perturbed when Kenya revealed that Cynthia’s soon-to-be ex-husband, Peter Thomas, had called her and asked her to host the opening of his new club in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Mainly, Cynthia was just annoyed that Peter hadn’t asked her if it was OK first.) Kenya told Cynthia she should come with her as her guest and Cynthia agreed. Meanwhile, Peter chatted with Kandi Burruss‘ husband, Todd Tucker, and revealed that he had also invited Matt. (Yes, the Matt who had kicked in Kenya’s garage door and who was supposed to be nowhere near her for the time being.) What could go wrong?
Kandi Spars With Johnnie
Kandi had her own drama going on as well. After lamenting to Todd about Sheree Whitfield and Porsha Williams ambushing her at lunch over her relationship with Phaedra Parks, Kandi came across an Instagram post by her former employee Johnnie. He had recently been let go, it turned out, and it seemed he wasn’t happy about it. In the post, he threw shade at Kandi, alleging that she was “fake.”
While he had been let go from his full-time employment with her, he was still working for her on an event basis, however. So when she saw him at their next event, she confronted him about the post. He said he didn’t like the way it was handled when she let him go, and he’d felt she should have sat down with him to discuss it first. He also argued she didn’t pay him enough for what he was contributing. “You can call me a bitch and you can call me an a–hole, but you cannot call me fake!” she shouted before promising this would be the last paycheck she ever gave him.
He then dropped by Phaedra’s law office to discuss filing a lawsuit against Kandi. When Phaedra heard the details of his compensation package (which he claimed was $500 with zero benefits for 80 or more hours a week), she compared his employment to slavery. “They’re not running a factory,” Phaedra opined. “They’re running a plantation.” Fortunately, Phaedra had enough sense to admit employment law was not her area of expertise and told Johnnie she couldn’t take on his case.
Matt Goes Off on Kenya
Once they reached Charlotte, Kenya received a series of texts from Matt and sat down with Cynthia to discuss them. Apparently, after initially telling Peter she thought it was OK for Matt to join them, she’d had a change of heart and asked Peter to cancel Matt’s plane ticket. (In case you forgot, Matt is a lot younger than Kenya and has basically no money.) Peter did, and when Matt found out, he went ballistic.
“I just got done running through the terminal to catch a flight to go to the grand opening of Peter’s club in North Carolina, and guess who canceled my ticket? Kenya Moore,” Matt posted on social media. He then blasted off a round of threatening texts to Kenya.
“I promise that I’m going to make it my business that you never want to talk to me again. Do anything to manipulate any situation from this point on, I promise from every fiber of my being, you’ll regret every move you make,” Kenya read to a mortified Cynthia. “Call the police: I promise you will regret it. Flirt with another guy: You will regret it. Come to me humble and open your arms.” Then she added that it looked like Matt was driving all the way to the event.
Matt Punches Kenya’s Driver in the Face
Cynthia arrived at the event before Kenya to tell Peter (who was both mortified and delighted to see his ex-wife) that Kenya might not make it because of the drama with Matt. Though Peter said Matt wasn’t there, it turned out he was wrong. Surprisingly, at the exact same time Kenya pulled up, Matt appeared. (OK, maybe it wasn’t that surprising.)
Kenya explained to the camera that she had decided that this was a professional obligation and she wasn’t going to let any man keep her from honoring her work commitments. As her SUV arrived, however, Matt raced over to the car demanding to speak to her. When the driver tried raising the window back up, Matt punched him in the face. “He just hit me. He hit me!” the driver shouted as Kenya said Matt was “crazy” and “unstable.” (Um, yeah.) Matt peeled out and sped off after that little explosion.
Peter and Todd called Matt on his cell to talk about what happened and Matt admitted he slapped “that bitch ass in the face.” Peter and Todd then told Matt to just “walk away” from Kenya because obviously this was a terrible match. They then headed inside and told Kenya the same thing. “Something is just not clicking and it’s a shame because he has so much potential,” Kenya said to the camera through tears.
At the end of the night, Peter sort of invited Cynthia back to his place and she sort of said no, commenting that it was “a little awkward.” That pretty much summed up the whole night.
Tell Us: What did you think of Matt’s outburst?
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs on Bravo Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.
