Michael Darby, known for his time on Bravo’s popular reality series The Real Housewives of Potomac as the now-estranged husband of main star Ashley Darby, is suing fellow castmember and housewife Candiace Dillard Bassett for defamation after she claimed he offered cash to have sex with another man.
The initial suit, reported byTMZ, cited court documents using comments Dillard Bassett made in November 2022 during the latest season of the reality series as the reason behind the case.
For those not up to date, Dillard Bassett’s husband, Chris, was a main focus this past season due to multiple claims of women “feeling uncomfortable” from alleged advances and comments he made. Among those women was Ashley Darby, who confronted Dillard Bassett about claims made by her “Sesame Street” friend saying that Chris sent her inappropriate messages.
During the argument, Dilliard Bassett says, “Your husband likes to leave you and go to a man named [censored]’s house and sick his d***.”
She further went on to say that she “was not supposed to talk about this person, but he says Michael Darby is a client of his. That’s what you’re asking, cuz I was holding on to that.” This is the second time Michael’s sexuality has been a focus after previous allegations of him sexually assaulting a male cameraman were cleared.
Michael himself never made an appearance on the latest season due to his ongoing divorce from Ashley, but that didn’t stop him from hitting back on Dilliard Bassett’s claims and suing her for defamation. According to the court documents, further detailed by People, he’s seeking $2 million in damages to make things right.
The documents say that Dilliard Bassett “demonstrated knowledge that her statements were salacious, imprudent, and/or would be harmful to Mr. Darby’s reputation.” They also allege that he tried to contact her on January 17 to request she “cease and desist from publishing or making any further defamatory statements regarding Mr. Darby.”
Dilliard Bassett has yet to acknowledge the lawsuit or retract her claims.