DJ extraordinaire Maddi Reese has been keeping busy during this season of Southern Hospitality. Balancing her budding music career with her thriving role as VIP Manager at Republic Garden & Lounge hasn’t been easy, but Reese doesn’t seem fazed. With her trusty friend and fellow VIP manager Joe Bradley by her side, Reese has been able to keep up with her co-workers’ drama… and the controversy they’ve been stirring up around her.
One of the most surprising dynamic shifts in the Bravo show’s sophomore outing is the rift between Reese and former bestie Emmy Sharrett. Reese alleges that Sharrett wanted to take over Reese’s role as VIP Manager but kept her ambition a secret. “I had no idea until the trailer dropped that she was coming after my job,” Reese revealed. Reese called Sharrett’s actions “mean girl shit” and was adamant she would have supported Sharrett if she had been open and honest about her aspirations. “I would have worked with her to figure something out,” said Reese. As for Sharrett’s surprise promotion to Assistant General Manager (AGM), Reese holds no ill will. She did note that Sharrett’s new role is a “huge pay cut.” “I just don’t know if she knew what she was getting herself into,” said Reese.
One beef that carried over from Season 1? Reese’s feud with VIP server Bradley Carter. While she still insists that she saw him do something untoward in the back alley of Republic, she is “ready to move on.” “If there’s an explanation for what I saw, I’m so ready to listen. Bradley has just never given me one,” said Reese. Her issues with Carter led to one of this season’s most shocking reveals: Reese was present when her now ex-boyfriend Trevor Stokes confronted Carter’s client, Sammie Esterling, in a phone conversation about her allegation that they made out. Reese later presented the group with the now-infamous recording of that phone conversation that she previously claimed to know nothing about. The recording seemed to exonerate Stokes from cheating allegations. Whew!
When asked why she choose to help orchestrate this lie, Reese was adamant that it was “Trevor’s battle to fight.” “For the past two seasons, I was a voice for Trevor,” said Reese. “I was constantly defending him.” When the phone conversation “closed the chapter” on Stokes’ alleged cheating, Reese knew it wouldn’t be the case for her friend group. What was a girl to do? However, their relationship didn’t last long after the 4th of July party that served as the Season 2 finale. “That party made me realize our relationship brought more stress and drama in my life than good,” admitted Reese.
Reese stopped by the DECIDER offices to talk about that fateful group text, how her relationship with Stokes ended, and what went down at the show’s reunion.
DECIDER: Just like Roxie Hart, I feel your name has been on everyone’s lips this season. Would you consider yourself to be the number one girl in the group?
MADDI REESE: Oh, my goodness, I would not say that [laughs]. I’ve had my difficulties with the group this season, so I feel I’ve stood on my own. I’m on a journey to figure out who has my best interests at heart and who genuinely loves and cares about me. I’m still on that journey, but I have a lot more clarity now.
At times, the group dynamic feels Joe & Maddi vs. everybody else. Why is Joe the ultimate ride or die?
Because we work so closely together. We’re both managers. We’re both very much the face of anything Republic. We’re always there. We’re always bringing people in. We’re going out and networking together. We see eye to eye on a lot of things, and we communicate and work really well together. That’s why I’m the most comfortable with him, and also with Grace [Lilly] and Oisin [O’Neill].
It seemed like Emmy Sharrett was telling everybody but you that she was coming for your job at Republic. Why wasn’t she honest with you about her intentions ?
I don’t think she wanted to deal with me. I think she’d rather talk and plot behind my back and be like, ooh, I got your job. Like, just mean girl shit. Viewers might ask, “why is Maddi being so mean?” It’s because I’ve got to pay my rent. You know what I mean? Like, if I can’t pay my rent, I’ve got to leave Charleston. Of course, I’m going to protect my job at all cost. I also just betrayed by my friend. I had no idea until the trailer dropped that she was coming after my job. Like, no idea. Even after she got the AGM job, I still had no idea. I didn’t know anything until Leva told her, “You’re not getting Maddi’s job. I know that’s what you wanted.” As another manager at Republic, I thought I’d be in the loop about people moving around in the company, you know?
If she had been honest with you about her feelings of wanting to move up, would you have helped her advance?
Totally, totally. I would have said, “When I’m deejaying, like 1,000% cover for me and do my job.” I would have worked with her to figure something out. However, by spinning this whole full time VIP manager narrative, Emmy put my livelihood and career at risk. I’ve invested a lot in Republic. I’ve worked there for almost six years. I’m gonna protect my job at all costs.
D: You handled Emmy’s promotion to AGM much better than Joe Bradley did. Why do you think Joe was so bothered by her success?
MR: At the end of the day, I think everyone in the business was bothered. It was such a weird jump for someone who had no real experience with VIP managing to move right up to AGM, which is such a huge responsibility. It’s also a huge pay cut. I don’t know if she knew what she was getting herself into. She might have bitten off more than she could chew. I also thought her long-term goal was to be a trophy wife. Maybe I was wrong, but I didn’t seen hospitality becoming her full-time pursuit.
One of the most heartbreaking scenes of this season involved you and Emmy on the boat in Miami. There was clearly a lot of love there once. Is that what made her sharing your private conversation about your health with the group cut so deep?
They were like: “We’re so concerned about you. You’re obviously in a toxic relationship.” I couldn’t believe Emmy shared her concerns about me with other people who really don’t know me that well. I think that if Emmy was so worried, she should have been talking to me, not other people.
That’s probably why Joe Bradley showed you the group text. He was being a good friend.
They were so quick to say, “Joe Bradley was talking shit, too.” I just said, “okay, I’ll talk about him another day. Right now, we’re talking about y’all.” To be honest, Joe is my ride or die. If anything, I’m cooler with him talking shit about me because there has to be a reason or an explanation. We’ll squash it and move on. It’s like, I can talk shit about my family, but if you talk shit about my family, then that’s a problem.
Speaking of problems, your friend Mikel Simmons says you and Bradley Carter will never be on the same page again. Is he correct?
Yeah. For me, I’d rather just move on. We did our tit for tat thing and now, it’s done. I didn’t like that he dated my roommate, and I didn’t like how he treated her. That’s what turned me off about him. At this point, it’s been years. I’m ready to move on. I had a great time with him at BravoCon this past year. We’ve been cordial.
Both Mikel and Grace were unable to back your claims that Bradley was getting a back-alley blow job at Republic that fateful night, which Bradley takes as total vindication. But why isn’t it?
It was such a chaotic day. Mikel and Grace were drinking. So was Trevor, who was also there. What I saw is what I saw. I don’t know. If there’s an explanation for what I saw, I’m so ready to listen. Bradley has just never given me one. He was in the back alley with someone that wasn’t his girlfriend. I never told his girlfriend this. All I said was “protect your heart.”
It must be tough sometimes to be the only sober person among a group that parties as hard as the crew of Republic.
MR: Yes [laughs]. I mean, I can be dramatic and crazy. Though, I am very clear headed, and I feel like that’s constantly questioned which makes me question myself. When I’m watching the show back, I see that I’m not fucking crazy. I feel pretty validated in saying what the things I did and in acting the way I did.
I do think that I could have done things differently this season. I wish I had been more open to resolution rather than pushing everyone away, which I did all season. I wasn’t willing to be confrontational and face our issues head on.
I know the reunion’s already been filmed. Were you more open to listening to others there and speaking your truth?
I was ready for a fresh start and to move on with the group. I’m single now. I feel like my friends are more open to working out our problems now that I’m out of my relationship. It’s so weird and unfair. They’re like “oh, you’re done with your relationship. We can all be best friends again!” That’s wild to me. Everyone was super friendly afterwards. We’re ready to turn the page.
Let’s get into the season finale. Why were you not honest with the group about being on the phone listening to Trevor and Sammie’s conversation?
Because it was not my rumor. I always felt like it was Trevor’s battle. For the past two seasons, I was a voice for Trevor. I was constantly defending him. I felt like it was Trevor’s job to confront the group. I was done defending him at that point.
Bradley Carter says in the episode that you concocted the recording story to make him look bad. Is that true?
I could give a shit. I just wanted to know if I could trust my partner or not. Look at my actions. I obviously didn’t trust my partner. I was basically a detective [laughs]. To be honest, even now that I’m out of my relationship, I don’t think Trevor kissed that girl. Even though we’ve been broken up and time has gone by… I still don’t think that he kissed her.
You and Trevor broke up 3 weeks after the July 4th party. Did the events of that night contribute to the breakup?
Totally. After the 4th of July party, I realized how much stress and anxiety our relationship was causing me. It was not serving me in the best way. It wasn’t healthy. Getting to that realization was hard. Obviously, Trevor and I had been dating for years on and off. It was a really tough thing to go through. He was like my biggest love, so it was difficult to move on. That 4th of July party made me realize that our relationship brought more stress and drama in my life than good.
Before I left you go, I do want to ask you about your DJ career. Can you give us an update?
Oh, it’s going great. I’ve been in school learning how to produce music so I can level up. The next step in my career is putting out my own music. I have so much stuff I’m working on. I’m so excited. I’ve been traveling. I’m going to Chicago next weekend to DJ, Miami the next. It’s been really exciting. I just need to balance my DJ schedule with working in nightlife, but I can do it.
