In what is already one of several such allegations, a friend of apparent suicide victim Russell Armstrong has told the LA Times that the estranged husband of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Taylor Armstrong requested not to be filmed for the final portions of the second season, which is scheduled to debut next month.

In the Wednesday article by Amy Kaufman and Yvonne Villarreal, acquaintance William Ratner claims the deceased 47-year-old was told something not altogether surprising when he expressed his desire to be off-camera:

“He said the producers at Bravo told Russell and Taylor that they picked them as the ‘disaster couple,’ and if they weren’t going to have drama in the second season, they would cut them and replace them with someone else.”

Asked to respond to Ratner’s assertions, a Bravo representative said “Production has assured us that there is no truth to these claims.”

Meanwhile, a number of LA Times readers believe such insinuations are nothing but a smokescreen. Writes for example sopark182 today: “You know, I have spent all morning on Google and I STILL can’t find where Bravo held a gun to this guy’s head and said, “Do the show, or else!” Spare me!”

Previously on FishowllLA:
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Husband Dead of Apparent Suicide

Update – 08/19/11: Bravo exec Frances Berwick tells Variety that Season Two will be re-edited.