Caroline Manzo sues Bravo network for ignoring 'sexual assault' by Brandi Glanville

BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY: Caroline Manzo, a former star of 'Real Housewives of New Jersey,' filed a lawsuit against Bravo and its affiliates on Friday, accusing them of enabling and ignoring a sexual assault by Brandi Glanville.

Caroline Manzo claims Glanville groped and kissed her without consent

According to the court documents, Manzo alleged that Glanville “forcibly fondled Manzo’s v****s and b*****s” and “pushed her face into Manzo’s neck in order to kiss her” while they were filming 'The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip' in Morocco.

Manzo said that the incident happened when Glanville followed her into the bathroom and “pinned Manzo’s body against the door” as she tried to escape.

Manzo said she screamed for “help,” but no one came to her rescue, Fox News noted from the court documents. 

The lawsuit stated that the producers of the show were listening to the interaction on audio and even sent one of them to the bathroom door, but he did not intervene or stop the sexual assault.

Caroline Manzo says she was traumatized by the sexual assault

Manzo said that the sexual assault triggered her childhood trauma, as she was sexually abused when she was 7 years old.

According to the court documents, Glanville’s attack made her “relive her previous sexual assaults in the context of this sexual assault” and that she was “in a state of shock.”

Manzo also claimed that Bravo and its affiliated companies – Forest Productions, Warner Bros. Entertainment, NBCUniversal Media, Shed Media and Peacock TV – were responsible for creating a toxic environment.

The cast members were “regularly ply[ed] with alcohol, cause[d] them to become severely intoxicated, and then direct[ed], encourage[d] and/or allow[ed] them to sexually harass other cast members because that is good for ratings," it stated.

The lawsuit also stated that the defendants even encouraged Glanville to "get drunk on the set so that she would be more likely to commit outrageous and harassing acts” without regard for the rights and safety of those around her.

Manzo in the court documents that were filed but not accepted yet stated that she was a “victim of those harmful actions.”

She sought to hold the defendants accountable for their “unlawful conduct” and to discourage them from “continuing to sacrifice their cast members’ safety for their own ratings and profits.”

Glanville who is not named in the lawsuit has pinned the blame on producers

Glanville, who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, as per Variety denied earlier allegations and blamed the show producers for the incident and the alcohol consumption.

She posted a series of messages on X, formerly known as Twitter, to defend herself.

"These producers need to be held accountable,” she wrote. “Producers may not shove the alcohol down our throats, but they sure do encourage it even in Morocco during the day where it’s illegal to drink!”

The People first broke the news in January 2020 that Glanville and Manzo had been sent home early because Glanville had kissed Manzo “multiple times throughout the evening without her consent."