In the drama-filled fifth season of Selling Sunset, a ton of new allegations, insinuations and implications were tossed around by the real estate agents at the Oppenheim Group. Emma Hernan had shared that actor Ben Affleck not only matched with her on the Raya dating app at one point, but that he pursued her, too – prompting a response from Affleck himself and a bit of clarification by Hernan of late. Another scandalous storyline saw Hernan accuse Christine Quinn of supposedly bribing one of her clients to switch allegiances. And apparently, Quinn could’ve faced serious “legal issues” for the situation, according to another co-star, if it had gone a bit further.
The client in question was evidently offered $5,000 by Christine Quinn to change their choice of representation from Emma Hernan to herself. When it was eventually brought to the attention of broker Jason Oppenheim and newly appointed VP Mary Fitzgerald, it seemed Quinn was going to get a stern reprimand of some kind at work – but she never showed up for the meeting during the Season 5 finale. There hasn’t been any talk of authorities getting involved since then, either. Yet, Fitzgerald explained to E! News that things would’ve escalated at the time if other factors had been slightly different. She said,
If Emma had had the listing agreement signed already, which she was getting ready to, it would be illegal. So [Christine] would lose her license, she would lose everything. But the listing agreement for this particular property wasn't signed just yet, luckily. Otherwise, she would have legal issues.
During a confessional on Selling Sunset, Christine Quinn had denied the allegations, saying that Emma Hernan was just trying to “stir the pot.” Nonetheless, Mary Fitzgerald added to the outlet that the Oppenheim Group did their due diligence and “backed up the story.” Fitzgerald admonished the reported bribery and hinted that things might not all be well for Quinn’s future standing at the office:
We pride ourselves on our integrity and the way we treat clients and the way we treat each other and we can't have this at our brokerage. It's just it's not okay.
Truthfully, Christine Quinn has been accused of many things by her co-stars throughout the years. Mostly, it’s been over perceived “mean girl” activities and lies spread amongst the group, which has led to fans labeling her as the “villain” of the show and speculating that even her pregnancy last season was fabricated. The reality star maintains, though, that it’s all essentially nonsense, with Netflix and the edit to blame for making out her out to be the bad guy.
As of this writing, it hasn’t been officially confirmed whether Christine Quinn was in fact fired from the L.A. agency for the purported bribe, despite the Selling Sunset finale cliffhanger implying so. However, the 33-year-old is no longer included on the Oppenheim Group’s team page for their website. And her other co-star, Vanessa Villela, recently revealed to Page Six that she didn't show up to film the upcoming reunion special with everyone. So, it seems rather likely that even if she narrowly escaped legal repercussions for her actions, Quinn still faced some at her workplace.
If so, it’s only logical to assume that Christine Quinn will not be on Season 6 of Selling Sunset to wreak havoc. Freshman star Chelsea Lazkani – who has spoken out about wanting to be a "role model" and advocate for more Black women on the show – might need to pick up that mantle, as a result, in the coming days. Stay tuned for the reunion special streaming on May 6, along with any updates to our 2022 Netflix TV schedule!
