Bravo Takes Heat for State Dinner Flap
The hot water created by allegations that a Washington power couple crashed President Obama's first state dinner is now starting to burn a television network that is considering putting the couple on a reality show.
Speculation is simmering over whether last week's state dinner crash by Tareq and Michaele Salahi was supposed to be in the finale for the upcoming cable television show "The Real Housewives of D.C," reports CBS News correspondent Bianca Solorzano.
Bravo says Michaele hasn't been officially cast on the show and that there is still several months of filming before a final decision is made.
But yesterday, the Salahis were seen in Georgetown attending a photo shoot with other cast members.
Also yesterday, copies of e-mails between the Salahis and a Pentagon official undermine the couple's claims that they were invited to the state dinner.
Read the e-mails between the Salahis and the Pentagon
Just hours before the e-mails were released, the Salahis told NBC's "Today" show that they would be exonerated.
Details of the State Dinner
Salahis' Polo Charity under Scrutiny
Crashers: We Didn't Get Confirmed Invite
Party Crashers Spur White House Security Change
White House Crashers Break Silence
Camera crews for the latest "Housewives" series have been seen around the D.C. area since September. One photo shows Michaele with other cast members at the couple's oasis winery in Virginia.
Just how much did Bravo and the show's production company know about the Salahi's invitation to the White House state dinner?
Bravo had filmed the couple around town as they got ready for the event. It even asked its sister network, NBC, for access of the tape of the Salahis arriving at the dinner.
Bravo maintains that it believed the Salahis were on the guest list.
The cable network also said "the Salahis informed the production company that they were invited guests. Producers had no reason to believe otherwise."
"If, as Bravo says, they were simply filming the Salahis and believed in good faith that they had an invitation to the White House, then no, they're not going to have any criminal responsibility," CBS News legal analyst Lisa Bloom said.
LuAnn de Lesseps also known as the countess on "The Real Housewives of New York City," says the show isn't a "reality show" but a docu-drama.
"It's the reality of our lives and everything that goes on while we're at an event is the reality. But it is a produced, edited television show and it's a docu-drama," she said.
In the meantime, the Salahis and the head of the Secret Service have been asked to appear Thursday before the House Homeland Security Committee to explain the incident.