Are Lisa & Stassi Actually Friends?

I can't help but love Vanderpump Rules. If you watch the show, you know that Lisa Vanderpump is the boss and Stassi Schroeder just thinks she's the boss. That seemed to be OK for the first two seasons, but now I'm not so sure. As a fan, I have a lot of questions: Are Stassi Schroeder and Lisa Vanderpump actually friends? (I mean as much as a 26-year-old blogger and a millionaire restauranteur can be friends.) Or did they just share all those pinot grigio breaks for the camera? Does Stassi not need to rely on Lisa's sage mentorship anymore? Does she really think she is too good for Lisa and the Bravo show that brought her into the spotlight? Naturally, I had to find out.

First a little recap: Stassi quit working at Lisa's restaurant and the place the entire show revolves around, SUR, and moved from Los Angeles to New York City. Then she "coincidentally" moved back in time to shoot the third season without even working at the restaurant. Instead of sneaking drinks at SUR, Vanderpump Rules has Stassi show up at SUR and PUMP regularly to talk business (er, Scheana drama) with Lisa, but it was not that long ago that it seemed Stassi was not willing to bow down to her former employer and confidante.

Come on, do these women really pal around and like each other or are they doing this all for the cameras? This is what I have pieced together so far:

So, Stassi Complained About Lisa?

Stassi clearly has no issue biting the hand that feeds her. (Get it? Because we all know how often Stassi swiped food and drinks at SUR?) In a December 2014 interview with Sirius XM, Schroeder really laid into Vanderpump by saying,

I still love SUR. I love going into SUR. I still have so many friends there that just aren't on the show. I grew up there a little bit. [Lisa], like, doesn't like me. I don't understand what her problem is. [She's] like an old woman, why does [she] care what I'm doing?

Wow, she's really going to hate on Lisa Vanderpump? Working for her as a waitress is the reason Stassi is on this show in the first place, and spoiler: Lisa is a Vanderpump executive producer. Stassi, who's going to read your fashion blog if you're no longer on the show? Maybe you should you know, not, slam your boss in an interview.

Is Lisa Really Angry About It?

There's always the possibility that Stassi is just trying to get a little nasty for some publicity, right? Well, it seems that there may actually some reciprocal animosity between the two of them. In December 2014 Vanderpump said in an interview:

I think Stassi’s attitude is slightly ridiculous. I mean she comes in here now like Grace Kelly. Just a year ago, these were her best friends. She was the leader of this pack and suddenly not one of them is good enough for her?

I honestly have to agree. Stassi doesn't even have a storyline of her own this season aside from hating on her former pals.

Stassi's "Attitude" Might Be The Norm

Lisa calling out Stassi's "attitude" is probably the first time that Stassi has had an opponent who was willing to stand up to her. In fact, people seem to avoid her instead: A source told Perez Hilton about friction between Stassi and her former coworkers; apparently, the cast "dreads" filming with Stassi and some have even "refused to film with her." Yikes.

In all honesty, it seems like Stassi has let her 15 minutes of fame go to her head, so no, Lisa and Stassi do not appear to be real friends. I mean, what kind of friends publicly insult each other in interviews? I'm sure that if Lisa decides to cut ties with Stassi (or even have her kicked off the show), Stassi will have regrets about the things she's said. I know I would.

Image: Tommy Garcia, Evans Vestal Ward/Bravo; Giphy