After making a dramatic mess on their Season 9 debut, Biniyam’s sisters and Ariela are a hot topic among 90 Day Fiance fans.
The cast watches these episodes when they come out, just like the rest of us, and are sometimes surprised by what they see.
Every now and then, a castmember will lash out, claiming to have received a “bad edit.”
Biniyam’s sister is doing that now — accusing 90 Day Fiance of being “fake” and TLC of being “racist.” Is it the truth, or … sour grapes?
When viewers caught up with Biniyam Shibre and Ariela Weinberg on Season 9, Episode 3 of 90 Day Fiance, they had good news.
Finally, after a lot of waiting and paperwork, Bini had his K-1 visa and his passport and was all ready to move to the United States with his family.
The bad news was that Biniyam hadn’t told his friends or his family about this yet — because he knew that they’d be upset.
Biniyam told his buddies just three days before moving — and had not yet told his sisters.
He told sisters Mimi and Wish the night before, after they showed up for what they thought was just a celebration.
(Maybe they suspected more due to the cameras … or maybe they just believed that Bini and Ari were filming another The Other Way season)
Biniyam dropped the bombshell on them both, sharing that not only was he moving, but that it would be the next day.
His sisters didn’t need to speak to show him how unhappy they were with him.
They made that clear, immediately, with their faces. They were displeased.
What’s interesting is that they weren’t just unhappy with Bini.
Obviously, he had just delayed telling them because he didn’t want to deal with their reactions.
Understandable … but not ideal behavior that you want to see from a father of two, you know?
But Mimi and Wish also scolded Ariela for not telling them, even though they are Biniyam’s sisters.
According to them, Ari should have given them a heads up, too, even over Bini’s objections.
They reasoned that because they had (in their minds) treated her like a sister, she should repay the favor.
When exactly did they treat her like a sister? We’ve all seen the same seasons of The Other Way, right?
We don’t doubt that they made a genuine effort on some level, but the two showed a lot of hostility towards Ari, at times seeming determined to drive her away.
Ariela told them that they didn’t feel like loving sisters … which is when they struck back.
A furious Wish turned Ariela Weinberg into Ariela Wineberg (sorry!), dashing her face with a lot of red wine.
While a stunned Ari reacted to the stinging and the shock of it all, the two stormed away furiously.
What makes this scene so good for reality TV, in particular, is that viewers are divided — some are Team Ari, some are Team Wish, some blame Bini … that’s ideal for TV ratings.
After the episode ended with that dramatic moment, however, Mimi objected.
“TLC is the most fake and racist TV show I ever [saw],” she announced.
“This most fake and racist show in the name of reality,” Mimi added in another post.
“When they kiki with u just to go and edit the narrative,” Mimi wrote alongside a look at her posing with an apparent producer.
“When they begged to give u a platform to reveal some insane ass secrets,” she added.
Mimi lamented: “#anythingforviews I guess.”
There is absolutely a racism problem with the show and some of the fans to whom it caters — and a racism problem and in particular a misogyny problem.
Any or all of these could be directed at Mimi (and her sister, Wish), though it is unclear what exactly Mimi is saying is either fake or racist.
We have to assume that she’s talking about the obvious scene, but without clarification (which could mean violating her NDA, if she hasn’t already), it’s hard to say for sure.
Perhaps she is saying that the wine-slinging was suggested by production. Sometimes, producers do meddle.
She could also be claiming that important context was edited out. That is a huge part of reality TV, and this franchise has done so before.
Either or both could easily be true — but we just don’t know. It’s hard to take Mimi at her word when we don’t know what exactly she is saying.