The Real Housewives of the Potomac star Gizelle Bryant is opening up about Karen Huger’s DUI conviction and the possibility she could serve jail time.
“It’s sad. It really is sad,” Bryant, 54, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, January 29. “I mean, do I want to see her go to jail? Absolutely not. But do I want to see her take accountability? For sure. So, I don’t know. I mean, Karen going to jail, that would break my heart. So we’ll see.”
In December 2024, Huger, 61, was found guilty of driving under the influence after she was involved in a March car crash in Maryland. Additionally, she was found guilty of failure to control speed to avoid a collision, negligent driving and failure to notify authorities of an address change. She was acquitted of reckless driving.
Huger’s sentencing hearing was initially scheduled for January 29, but has since been postponed. She is now scheduled to receive her sentencing on Wednesday, February 26. She could face up to two years in prison.
In early January, on the day the RHOP cast filmed their reunion, Huger announced via her rep that she had entered rehab.
“Karen made the important decision to enter a private recovery program, so was unable to attend the reunion taping today,” Ryan Tresdale, Karen’s manager, said in a statement. “We stand behind Karen as she embarks on this meaningful journey.”
Bryant told Us that she applauds Huger’s decision to get help, but only wishes that she would have entered rehab sooner.
“I think she should have done it — gone to rehab — right after the accident,” she said. “I think it actually would have helped her with her case.”
Bryant hasn’t spoken to Huger “since before we filmed the reunion” and “before she went to rehab,” she says, so she doesn’t know what her cast member’s mindset is as she prepares for sentencing.
“I think she realizes that she’s appreciative of the support, but as it relates to really understanding what she did and how that could have ended in such a more horrible way, I think she’s now starting to realize that,” she added.
When asked if perhaps it would have been in Huger’s best entrance to take this season of RHOP off, Bryant was adamant about her contribution to the reality show.
“No. No. Okay. We need Karen,” she said. “Yeah. Oh, no. We always need Karen. We do need Karen. Karen is too much fun.”
If her fellow castmate does end up incarcerated for two years, however, Bryant believes the series will find a way to carry on without her.
“I mean, she wasn’t at our reunion and we were fine,” she said.
