After Ariela took a glass of wine to the face on 90 Day Fiance Season 9, the fan outcry was immediate.
But one of Biniyam’s sisters hit back, claiming that the show was being “fake” and even “racist,” blaming producers and editors.
Mimi did not explain her accusations.
Wish, however, the one who dashed Ari’s face with red wine, is offering an explanation that she says justifies everything.
For the briefest of refreshers, Episode 3 ended with Wish dashing red wine in Ariela’s face and storming off.
While many viewers still dislike Ariela (some fairly, others unfairly) and Biniyam was called out for not saying anything, a lot of anger was directed at Wish.
Wish — and, to a lesser extent, Mimi — had often shown hostility towards Ari, but the wine incident was an escalation. But was it real?
“TLC is the most fake and racist TV show I ever [saw],” Mimi declared on Instagram after the moment aired.
“This most fake and racist show in the name of reality,” she continued in another post.
She event went on to call out one producer in particular.
“When they kiki with u just to go and edit the narrative,” Mimi quipped, apparently posing with a member of the production team.
“When they begged to give u a platform to reveal some insane ass secrets,” she went on.
Mimi then wrote with an air of resignation: “#anythingforviews I guess.”
While misogyny is certainly a larger problem with 90 Day Fiance specifically (the show and the fans), racism and xenophobia are still big issues.
In the case of Mimi and Wish, all three can apply to them.
But it was unclear what Mimi was accusing producers and editors of doing, exactly, because she didn’t specify.
Wish later chimed in, sharing Mimi’s post with a comment: “Me think the editor is from the KKK.”
Super harsh, likely hyperbolic.
We must of course remember that the horrors committed by white nationalist groups are a bit more abstract in Black-majority countries.
Wish took to YouTube to give an interview with Kiki and Kibbitz, offering an explanation for the fight and the social media callout.
“They usually editing so much, but last night they edited so — like, it was crazy, you know?” Wish said.
She continued: “They edited too much, and they just push the angry Black woman narrative while they protecting her, and that’s why we was mad.”
According to Wish, producers deliberately edited out the real cause of the fight, making it look like just part of a simple argument.
Allegedly, Ari was encouraging Wish to move to America, suggesting that she sell her eggs to Ari’s nanny, and recommended that she do OnlyFans.
“This woman she asked me to do OnlyFans and also selling my, like, my eggs for her years older nanny,” Wish claimed.
“That’s how actually low she think I am, you know? So that was really make me upset,” Wish explained.
It appears that there may be some cultural differences at play, things that Ari may not have picked up on even with all of her time in Ethiopia.
And frankly, even in the United States, selling one’s eggs or doing sex work (like on OnlyFans) are personal decisions — anyone might bristle at the suggestion.
“[Ariela] was coming up told me like she cared for me and she wanted me to learn nursing and give me job in America,” Wish recapped.
“But in real life what she do is, like, she told me sell my eggs for her nanny,” she said. “She loves her nanny, actually.”
Wish accused: “She love her nanny more than her husband, that’s the fact…we always confused and she always involved them on their relationship.”
“To be honest, we was really happy that Biniyam has a visa because he have to see his first son,” Wish announced.
She added: “That’s very important for him.”
Honestly, most people probably expected a claim that the drink-throw had been planned, but nope — just stripped of context.
Something that Wish noted, that the show had presented her as an “angry Black woman” stereotype, does sound like racism.
That said … if she’s not denying throwing the drink itself, it feels like this is a nuanced situation … but still, not an honest depiction of what transpired.
Our biggest question is why the show would edit out potentially inflammatory context like Ari’s “suggestions” to Wish? If anything, that would add to the story, right?
