Netflix’s The Residence found a way to recreate The Real Housewives of D.C. alum Michaele Salahi and then-husband Tareq Salahi allegedly crashing a White House State Dinner.
The murder mystery series, which premiered on Thursday, March 20, revolves around a fictional murder scandal involving the staff of the White House. After the Chief Usher is found dead during a state dinner, renowned detective Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba) is tasked with finding out who is responsible while all the guests are still at the White House.
In the fifth episode, Cordelia briefly got a new lead when she was reminded of two people (played by Alexandra Siegel and Ryan Farrell) who snuck into the party without an invitation.
“Valentina and Lorenzo Motto were two Washington socialites who arrived at the east entrance a little after 6:15. They mingled with the other guests in the reception area and then met the president in the receiving line,” recalled a fictional Washington Post reporter at a hearing about the incident. “And then they tried to leave the party early because they weren’t actually invited to the State Dinner.”
She continued: “These were not people the Morgans [the First Family] would usually socialize with. It turns out that they had snuck into the White House.”
Valentina Motto spoke with Cordelia, which is when some Bravo fans noticed she was wearing a red gown to the event. In case other reality fans need a refresher, Michaele, 59, opted for a red ensemble when she attended President Barack Obama’s first State Dinner in 2009. The reality star made headlines when she was accused of breaching security to attend the White House event with Tareq, 57.
Michaele and Tareq claimed they were welcome to attend the dinner and “did not party crash the White House,” but the incident caused a Secret Service criminal investigation, congressional hearings and an Obama administration internal review. Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs also stated that the Salahis were not on an invitation list of guests.
The drama ultimately affected The Real Housewives of D.C., which aired one season before Bravo pulled the plug. “Frankly, I really wanted to bring D.C. back for season 2,” Bravo executive producer Andy Cohen said on a 2018 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “When the FBI is asking for raw tapes of your show, [a] good thing to maybe not move forward?”
While NBC later made The Real Housewives of D.C. available to stream on Peacock, Cohen, 56, has maintained that there was no way to return to the franchise, sharing on his SiriusXM radio show Andy Cohen Live, “When the FBI subpoenas your raw tapes, there ain’t no way. This was such a big internal [scandal] at NBCUniversal that there was no way this show was coming back.”
Luckily, The Residence referenced the scandal with a fictional story line. Inspired by The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower, the eight-part series kept Us guessing as Cordelia attempted to solve the case while crossing paths with some familiar faces such as Kylie Minogue and an actor playing Hugh Jackman from behind.
The Residence also stars Giancarlo Esposito, Susan Kelechi Watson, Jason Lee, Ken Marino, Edwina Findley, Randall Park and Molly Griggs. Al Mitchell, Dan Perrault, Spencer Garrett, Bronson Pinchot, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Mary Wiseman are just some of the other stars in a show riddled with new characters.
The Residence is currently streaming on Netflix.
