Bethenny Frankel fired back after Real Housewives of Latest Jersey alum Dina Manzo and her daughter, Lexi Ioannou, accused her of not crediting their brand for one in every of her recent outfits.
“I don’t often reply to things like this but I believe there’s a business lesson here,” Frankel, 55, insisted via TikTok on Saturday, May 16.
The drama kicked off on Friday when Frankel showcased a strapless, polka dot sundress and received compliments about her black peep-toe pumps. She then pointed her fans to a Bloomingdales pair ($375) “for a similar look.”
Ioannou, 30, later revealed that she’d sent the pumps to Bethenny as a promotion for her own fashion brand, Nou.
“Bethenny Frankel is a weirdo,” Ioannou claimed in an Instagram video on Friday. “I sent her a pair of shoes from Nou almost a 12 months ago because I look as much as her. [She is a] female entrepreneur [and from the] Bravo universe like me.”
Ioannou identified that Frankel never tagged Nou despite wearing the pumps in her social media content.
“OK, that happens, but then she posted a video today that’s going viral and a bunch of individuals are asking where the shoes are [from]. As an alternative of linking them, she linked a dupe with an affiliate link,” Ioannou complained. “I assume she’s got to get that bag in some form of way? So, she got the shoes at no cost from a woman-founded brand, mine, after which she made money sending her followers someplace else.”
Ioannou’s mom, Manzo, quoted one in every of Frankel’s iconic Real Housewives of Latest York City arguments with Ramona Singer while directing followers to purchase “the actual thing” from Nou.
Bethenny Frankel; Dina Manzo Getty Images (2); Mike Coppola/Sports Illustrated Swimsuit; Ilya S. Savenok
“‘Wow Bethenny Wow!!’ So odd of you to post a dupe of your GIFTED @shopnou shoes as an alternative of giving a young woman entrepreneur credit,” Manzo wrote via her Instagram Stories on Friday. “You wear them often so we all know you want them??”
Frankel later released an “Outfit of the Day” video where she did credit Nou. In her TikTok response, Frankel insisted that her decision to link out to a different retailer was standard practice in social media.
“The shoes were sold out so we linked to something similar since the audience gets frustrated when there’s something they’ll’t buy,” Frankel explained. “Why would I wear something and speak about it, in the event that they can’t buy it?”
She went on, “This feminine owner decided to post a scathing video of me. Her body, her selection. I actually have stated multiple times that when you send me something, I actually have no obligation to link, like, use, wear, buy, tag. I can do whatever I need.”
Dolores Catania has thoughts on Bethenny Frankel’s attacks on The Real Housewives of Latest Jersey. “I mean, she’s a broken girl. She’s a really broken person,” Catania, 54, said of Frankel, 54, on the Wednesday, March 26, episode of iHeartRadio’s “Two Ts in a Pod” podcast. “I remember 14 years ago when this whole thing […]
Frankel suggested that she was now reluctant to support Ioannou’s brand after being called out.
“There are a few hundred brands that can watch this video that can message her to inform her how much product I move,” the previous RHONY star predicted. “What number of sprinkle cookies for Melissa Gorga, what number of dresses for Ramy Brook, what number of pairs of jeans for Guess. I move loads of product because I don’t bulls***.”
The fact TV icon argued that Ioannou’s “whining and being a cry baby” was playing the “short game” within the business world.
“It means you’re not an actual business person. You could have so much to learn,” Frankel quipped. “I’d have worn all the shoes in your site and you’d have sold hundreds of pairs and made lots of of hundreds of dollars.”
She added, “My account. My body. My selection. When you send those shoes into my house, my shoes. You’re welcome!”
Us Weekly has reached out to Ioannou’s representative for comment.