Nicole Young’s ‘Below the Belt’ Comment About Chrishell Stause Led to Selling Sunset Dismissal

Now we know exactly what led to that production decision.

The new season of the Netflix series dropped Wednesday, October 29, with tensions between Young, Chrishell Stause and Emma Hernan at an all time high.

The drama between Young and Stause began when Nicole accused Chrishell of taking credit for one of her past listings; Young later suggested Stause was favored in the office because of Jason Oppenheim’s romantic interest in her, before Stause accused Young of being on drugs.

Young and Hernan, meanwhile, have major beef after Nicole accused Emma of having an affair with a married man, discussing the rumors with several castmates … without giving Emma the chance to respond at all last season, which also didn’t have a reunion.

Hernan first addressed the gossip at the top of the new season, calling it “untrue” and saying, “When I first heard the rumor, I was appalled. When your name is tied to something like that, it’s extremely damaging. It was so devastating for me, for my family, for everyone to see what I had to go through based on this lie.”

The claims led to tensions between Young and other costars, too, including Amanza Smith and Mary Bonnett, the latter of whom also took a bit of a break from her friendship with Nicole for spreading the rumors.

The first episode saw Emma and Nicole also sit down together and attempt to squash things between them. It didn’t go well, however, after Nicole almost immediately tried to push the blame on someone else. She said she heard the affair rumors from a woman named Jennifer, who is Jason and Brett Oppenheim’s cousin and claimed to have confronted Emma about her “involvement with a friend’s husband.”

“She said, when she revealed his name to you, you turned white as a ghost, looked like you were gonna cry, and ran away. She’s telling me how upset her friend is, how it affected her family,” said Nicole, as Emma explained her side of the situation.

“This guy reached out to me to look at properties and invest in my company. I said, no I don’t want the investment and I said I would help him find properties, and that’s it,” she insisted. “When I saw he wanted more than that, I made my boundaries very clear. You took it and played it like, Emma’s been dating a married man, like I was having a full blown affair. You knew what you were doing, you were trying to hurt me.”

While Nicole said she was only “repeating something form a credible source,” Emma accused her of weaponizing the drama when she could have just “kept your mouth shut.”

“I am truly deeply sorry for any and all the repercussions …. but this is what you are refusing to acknowledge, I didn’t make up this information,” Young continued, as Emma called her an “awful person” and, in a confessional, a “nasty evil woman.” The lunch meetup ended there, with the two at an impasse.

In the second episode, Amanza hosted a Thanksgiving — or “Girlsgiving” — dinner for all the women in the office, hoping they could set aside their differences “for an hour, at least.” Spoiler alert: They couldn’t.

As everyone went around the table saying that they’re thankful for, Chrishell began to eye-roll at everything Nicole said, including being thankful for her eyesight after she allegedly went blind for 24 hours. As a costar called out the “tension” in the room, Nicole wondered why Chrishell was even involved in the drama with Emma.

“What Nicole did to me was the worst thing that you can do to another woman,” exclaimed Emma at the dinner table, saying that she still thinks Nicole is “evil,” despite their one-on-one conversation.

As Nicole and Chrishell kept going at it, Amanza told Nicole to stop talking, telling Young that she did something “f–ked up.” Amanza also called out Emma and Chrishell for accusing Nicole of being on drugs, also calling that a “f–ked up” accusation.

“You’re confusing me with your parents!” Nicole then shouted, referring to Stause’s parents, who Chrishell said her in book struggled with addiction and mental health issues before their deaths in 2019 and 2020 from lung cancer. Everyone’s jaws at the table dropped after that comment, with Emma calling Nicole a “sick person” and Chrishell accusing Nicole of having “ODed on cocaine.”

Amanza called the comment “below the belt,” especially since Chrishell’s parents are dead, though Nicole defended herself by saying Chrishell has been open about “her parents being drug addicts.”

“That’s crossing the f–king line,” Mary told her, as Nicole refused to leave, despite everyone screaming at her to do just that. Amanza was then pretty adamant Nicole did “used to do drugs,” even saying straight into camera, “She used to do blow … I’ve done it with her … we were young and we did it!”

“It’s LA, everyone’s done cocaine. You don’t bring up someone’s dead parents, period. You should be ashamed of yourself,” Amanza then added, before Nicole finally walked out.

In the next episode, the third of the season, Chrishell said she refused to speak with Nicole “ever again,” before Mary was seen having a sit-down with Young about her behavior. Sitting Nicole down, she said parents, kids and family are all off limits — especially parents who “just passed away.”

“When I heard her say [the drug use claims], it made me think she’s just been projecting some deep-rooted issues with her parents and drug addiction on me,” Nicole responded, trying to justify her comment. “I understand pointing out something like that was savage … but it’s also like, enough. With her, I’m done apologizing. It has nothing to do with them being alive or having passed.”

Mary told her she looked “dumb and petty” by “digging your heels in,” telling her it wasn’t a healthy place to be. She added that Nicole’s biggest obstacle was herself, saying, “You just gotta get out of your own way.”

After Chrishell told Jason Oppenheim she’ll never have anything to do with Nicole again, refusing to even be in work situations with her, she told him, “It’s either her or me.” Shortly after, Jason and Brett both sat Nicole down and basically sent her packing.

“The reason we asked you in early, there’s obviously been an escalation of issues … when it started, we felt like we could fix it … but it feels more and more like we’re jamming a square peg into a round hole, it’s not working,” said Jason.

Nicole said the fight had nothing to do with work or the Oppenheim Group, saying again that she knew the comment was “savage,” but she was just snapping back. She also defended herself by saying she at least didn’t call Chrishell any names.

“You should have just called her names, that would have been better,” Jason shot back. “I honestly could not believe the comment you made about Chrishell’s parents. I was viscerally disheartened and offended. Any reference to someone’s dead parents is categorically off limits. Especially if it’s disparaging.”

“Neither Brett nor I are happy about having to do this, but you’re gonna have to leave this office. I think that’s the only solution right now, is leave the office,” he then told her, as she called the situation “unfair” and accused them of “caving to Chrishell’s desires.”

“This conversation is making it quite clear how much devotion Jason still has towards Chrishell,” she added in a confessional. “Jason is one of the last people I thought I would get this reaction from.”

As she called the situation “so f–ked up,” she asked if they were prepared to lose business by cutting her, before she walked out.

In Episode 4, Jason told the other employees they asked Nicole “to leave the brokerage,” saying it was “simply the only option to solve the negativity.” He added she won’t be back “for the foreseeable future,” with everyone pretty much in agreement that was the best decision.

Nicole wouldn’t show up again until the ninth episode of the season, with Mary stopping by her home to check in on her.

“It’s been good. Sometimes things are just needed and I think because my brain space is not being pulled in other directions, I’m more present with my clients. It’s good in every sense,” insisted Nicole, before telling Mary she hadn’t spoken with anyone at the office other than Jason since her exit.

She also said she was very likely moving to Nashville, saying the drama wasn’t the only reason for the change of scenery, but one of them.

“It definitely solidifies it is the right decision,” she explained. “Things evolve with time and that’s what happens. It’s gonna be a lot of change but I’m ready for it.”

The season ended with a sneak peek at the show’s reunion special, which will drop November 5 and include a bit of a face-off between Nicole and her costars. See what Young told us about why she thinks the show won’t be back for a 10th season — and what her future with it could be if it does return — here.

Selling Sunset is streaming now on Netflix.