Monique Samuels, a star of the reality TV show “The Real Housewives of Potomac,” allegedly punched co-star Candiace Dillard Bassett and pulled her hair during a shoot last month at a Poolesville winery, according to court documents.
Samuels, 36, of Potomac has been charged with second-degree assault and is due in Montgomery County District Court Dec. 23. She has been charged based on a complaint Bassett, who lives in Oxon Hill, filed Nov. 7 in district court.
Samuels could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
According to the complaint, the seven women in the show’s cast were filming a scene at a Rocklands Farm Winery on Montevideo Road in Poolesville on Oct. 16.
As the women were wrapping up a wine tasting, Bassett wrote in her complaint, she and cast member Ashley Darby began discussing a series of “verbal altercations” Bassett and Samuels had in previous seasons of the show. In one previous incident, Bassett wrote, Samuels threatened to beat her up and hit her in the face with a glass bottle. In that case, Bassett wrote, Samuels was restrained by cast member Karen Huger.
Bassett wrote that she told Darby that “it is what it is with Monique,” which then led to a “verbal altercation” with Samuels at the winery.
After several minutes of arguing, Bassett wrote, Samuels reached across the hightop table where they were sitting and flicked Bassett’s hair, grazing her neck with her hand.
Samuels later pulled Bassett by her hair onto the table with one hand and punched her in the back with the other, Bassett wrote. Bassett then poured the glass of wine she was holding onto Samuels to try to get Samuels to stop punching her, Bassett wrote.
Bassett wrote that she was wearing a wig glued to her scalp during the filming.
“I know that if she [Samuels] successfully pulls it off, she will rip my hair out so I begin holding the wig with both hands as the rest of the cast mates as well as several members of production attempt to get Monique off of me,” she wrote.
After a struggle for five minutes, production team members pulled Samuels away from Bassett.
Bassett wrote that she got in a car following the altercation and that Samuels at one point screamed “Where is she? I am going to kill her.”
Bassett wrote that the altercation was filmed and Bravo, which airs the show, has agreed to turn over the footage at the request of prosecutors. At the bottom of the complaint, she lists castmates Gizelle Bryant, Robyn Dixon and Wendy Osefo as witnesses.
Rocklands could not be reached for comment Tuesday because it was closed.
Samuels’ attorney, A. Scott Bolden, wrote in an email to Bethesda Beat Monday that she had not yet been served with the summons, but is aware of it. He wrote that Bassett, who he referred to as “Ms. Dillard,” has given an account that is “completely one sided, inaccurate and unwarranted.”
“Ms. Dillard has a public reputation for aggressive, belligerent and threatening behavior that has played out repeatedly on the Housewives of Potomac for millions of viewers to see for themselves. To be sure, my client did nothing but defend herself in the face of more very aggressive behavior by Ms. Dillard. If this event occurred during taping of the show, I am confident that the video will bear all of this out,” he wrote.
Bolden added that Samuels is considering filing a counter criminal summons.
Bolden added that he hopes Bassett “seeks the help she needs to avoid creating these kinds of unsafe and unfortunate circumstances in and outside of the work place.”
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media