Leva Bonaparte Breaks Down Southern Hospitality Episode: Feuds, Drama

Leva Bonaparte is a total boss at Republic Garden & Lounge — but she’s not always on board with how the staff and stars of Southern Hospitality act.

Leva, 45, sat down with Us Weekly and broke down the biggest moments from the Thursday, February 6, episode of the Bravo series and the most intense story lines this season. She teased how “hard” it’s been to watch Emmy Sharrett and Will Kulp face a second cheating scandal in two seasons.

“They’re kind of like these, not my kids, but I care about them,” Leva exclusively told Us, confessing, “I hate seeing Emmy so stressed out. I hate Will feeling so alienated and struggling and kind of running away from the camera because he is not knowing how to deal with it.”

Leva was referring to Emmy and Will clamming up whenever their castmates voice concerns over their relationship. That was evident during Thursday’s episode when Will arrived late in Las Vegas and pretended that he and Emmy were totally fine — when the rest of the cast just learned from Austin Stephan that Will allegedly had sex with a woman while in law school.

Leva also dished to Us about why she’s not surprised that Grace Lilley slept through her soundcheck and why she’s invested in Maddi Reese’s DJ career.

Scroll down to see Leva — and Maddi’s — insight after this week’s episode:

The Austin of It All

During the January 30 episode of Southern Hospitality, Austin told the majority of the Republic staff that he recently heard that Will was unfaithful during a law school party. On Thursday’s episode, more footage of the group conversation was released.

“She said that he f—ed her in a bathroom,” Austin told his coworkers, claiming that the woman Will allegedly cheated with told his friends this story.

“I don’t believe the whole thing with Austin,” Bradley Carter told pal TJ Dinch after they arrived in Las Vegas as a team.

TJ, meanwhile, said, “I think that Austin heard these things from his ex-girlfriend.” He alleged that Austin won’t tell them more because “he’s afraid it will sabotage their newfound relationship.”

Maddi exclusively told Us on Thursday that while Will hasn’t done himself “any favors” this season with these rumors, she was more “shocked that Austin brought this to the table.”

“He was kind of just our quiet coworker. That’s what was most shocking. I think that if TJ said something like that, ‘Oh, I was out this weekend,’ I would probably take it as a grain of salt,” she explained. “Or if maybe Brad did or Joe [Bradley] said that. But the fact that Austin did, our quiet coworker that doesn’t know much about the group yet, that, if anything, was the most shocking part about it all for us.”

Leva, meanwhile, exclusively told Us that she thinks the group wants Will and Emmy to “succeed.”

“They wanted to hear from Emmy, ‘Yes, I did know. I did know everything that was said, and I am OK with it,’” she explained. “And Emmy has to be OK with people judging her for being OK with it.”

Emmy and Will Struggle to Navigate Their Romance

“You always have so much empathy, but also because I’ve done reality, I also am, like, ‘Lean into owning things. Just go ahead,’” Leva told Us of her reaction to Will and Emmy’s drama this season. “Avoiding in reality TV just makes it come back up.”

During Thursday’s episode, Will missed his flight from Charleston to Vegas, which caused more friction within the group. Many of their friends wondered whether Will was late on purpose since the cast has been wary of his actions amid all the cheating rumors.

Leva explained that until she sees a “receipt” proving he cheated, she wouldn’t think he was unfaithful. She revealed that if Emmy and Will were honest about their long-distance issues with the group, “everyone would’ve backed off.” Because they said, “We’re better than ever,” it raised more questions.

Maddi agreed, telling Us that if the couple took “accountability” and said, “Hey, our relationship is not perfect all the time and things have happened” but they were sticking together, the group would’ve moved on.

“I think Will has a lot to answer for. And I think that Emmy has so much invested in the relationship that it’s hard to leave,” Maddi added.

Emmy’s Overreactions

During Thursday’s episode, Emmy started to panic when Will called and told her he missed his flight. She began to spiral in the car over the thought of being in Vegas without Will to protect her from scrutiny.

“I was even looking at Emmy like, ‘Are you OK?’” Leva told Us after seeing Emmy go from zero to 100 all season. “[She’s had] very, very big reactions. Don’t get me wrong, she’s kind of a dramatic girl and a little bit of an OCD, anxious girl, but it was on a whole other level.”

Leva also revealed that she doesn’t know why Emmy would be so stressed because she’s “not working that many shifts” at Republic. “You’re in Aspen and then you’re working two shifts. You’re cold plunging every day. You’re [at the] sauna, you’re having steak. I feel like you should be in the best mental space,” Leva said.

Maddi noted that Emmy going into panic mode when Will left her alone with the group again — he eventually showed up — seems to be a running theme with them.

“I think she’s also looking for Will to be there to speak on her behalf or to give everyone answers, and he’s kind of not,” Maddi confessed. “That was really hard on her having to kind of defend Will when he is not there. But to be honest, I feel like it shouldn’t be that hard either to have the answers instead of the reactions.”

Grace and Maddi Get Heated

At the end of Thursday’s episode, Maddi gets frustrated that Grace isn’t by her side as she prepares to take the stage to DJ in Las Vegas. Grace missed soundcheck that afternoon, which already made Maddi uneasy. With five minutes until her set, Grace is still nowhere to be found, which seemingly adds to friction between the longtime friends.

“Grace is living on Planet Grace,” Leva told Us after watching the stressful scene. She added that Grace’s inability to arrive on time is “one of the reasons” she no longer works at Republic.

Leva explained, “She really marches by the beat of her own drum,” noting that she “felt for Maddi” who offered Grace the opportunity to perform their song in front of a massive crowd.

Leva also revealed that she manages Maddi’s career alongside her husband, Lamar Bonaparte, so it was frustrating to see her lack of respect for the gig.

“It was like ‘Show up. She stuck her neck out for you. You didn’t get this gig. She did,’” Leva said, teasing that Maddi and Grace’s season 3 feud is “a lot deeper” than being late to her DJ event.

Maddi, for her part, told Us that she kind of expected Grace to be late because of her “past,” but it didn’t make her any less stressed.

“I just feel for Grace [but moving forward] it’s more so ultimately do I trust her to be that type of reliable friend,” she teased. “Ultimately it’s hard for me to get super mad at her just because that’s just who she is and I love her for who she is, but ultimately you’re going to run out of options. You can only help someone so much before they kind of self-destruct.”

Southern Hospitality airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi