Andy Cohen has blasted former Real Housewives Of New York City star Bethenny Frankel for her ‘reality reckoning’ after years of friendship and working together.
The 56-year-old Bravo boss was featured in a piece from Vulture is titled ‘The Last Inappropriate Man on Television How Andy Cohen survived the Reality Reckoning (at least for now).’
It chronicles how the Real Housewives executive producer has navigated through what he described as ‘sustained attack’ in the form of reality TV unionization efforts Frankel led, nasty allegations and a series of lawsuits from former Real Housewives cast members.
It is claimed in the article that 56-year-old Cohen had been especially close with the 53-year-old Skinnygirl CEO as they talked all the time and both lived in New York in addition to having homes near each other in The Hamptons.
Cohen pulled no punches when it came down to Frankel’s attempts to unionize reality stars as he branded the effort a ‘sustained attack’ to Vulture.
Andy Cohen has blasted former Real Housewives Of New York City star Bethenny Frankel for her ‘reality reckoning’ after years of friendship and working together
In an instance last month in which Cohen took part in a Q&A at the New York City venue 92nd Street Y, a Bravo fan stood up and announced, ‘F*** Bethenny Frankel!’ to ‘uproarious applause’
A number of sources in the story also indicated that Frankel never seemed to be too far removed from issues Cohen was dealing with amid the potential career crisis.
‘Her fingerprints are on everything!’ Ronnie Karam of the Bravo-geared Watch What Crappens podcast told the outlet. ‘Once you see it, you can’t stop seeing it.’
In an instance last month in which Cohen took part in a Q&A at the New York City venue 92nd Street Y, a Bravo fan stood up and announced, ‘F*** Bethenny Frankel!’ to ‘uproarious applause,’ according to Vulture.
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Another podcasting personality ‘who asked not to be named because she is afraid of Frankel’ told Vulture that they were not surprised to see Frankel – a centerpiece of Real Housewives success stories with her lucrative Skinnygirl brand – in the wings amid multiple attacks against Cohen.
‘This is a woman who we have never, in 14 years, seen her maintain a friendship with anyone,’ the podcast host said. ‘She cannot be close to anyone.’
The podcast personality credited Frankel for having ‘done incredible work with charity,’ but said the socialite hasn’t been as generous in her dealings with people.
‘When it comes to interpersonal relationships, we have not seen her hold one friend,’ the source said. ‘This is the next turn of the screw for her. She’s turning on the person who has championed her. Who loved her.’
The podcast personality said that an ‘insulted’ Frankel ‘is creating this role for herself as a vigilante’ in issues involving Bravo and Cohen.
A contentious edition of Watch What Happens Live that aired in December of 2022 was cited as a factor in the series of events surrounding Cohen in the year-and-a-half since
At that time, Cohen looked to ‘hash out’ a disagreement he had with Frankel over a Real Housewives-themed podcast she had started called ReWives
Frankel didn’t back down in defending herself, telling Cohen that she was irritated he’d said the sentiments ‘publicly’ as opposed to ‘privately’ reaching out to her, and that she found aspects of the Real Housewives shows to be toxic and boring
The outlet cited a number of sources who cited an on-air argument between Frankel and Cohen on Watch What Happens Live in December of 2022 as a factor in the series of events surrounding Cohen in the year-and-a-half since.
At that time, Cohen looked to ‘hash out’ a disagreement he had with Frankel over a Real Housewives-themed podcast she had started called ReWives.
Cohen told Frankel he felt launching the podcast was ‘kind of hypocritical’ after she had ‘been trashing the Housewives publicly for the last three years.’
Frankel didn’t back down in defending herself, telling Cohen that she was irritated he’d said the sentiments ‘publicly’ as opposed to ‘privately’ reaching out to her.
‘What I said to you privately was, “Wow, I’m glad to see you are embracing the housewives,”‘ Cohen told Frankel, who replied, ‘Which is not the same thing you said publicly.’
Frankel added, ‘I actually haven’t been trashing the show – I said it wasn’t for me because I do think it was toxic and I’m entitled to not want to be there but still want to talk about it … how could I be on for more than a decade and not have reflections to share? I’m not trashing people on the show.’
The two went back and forth, with Cohen pointing out to Frankel that she had called the spinoff RHONY Legacy boring on her TikTok page.
Cohen ‘had been especially close with Frankel’ out of ‘all of the Housewives’ in the Bravo universe, according to the Vulture story, as ‘they talked all the time’ and ‘met up occasionally’ near their homes in New York City and the Hamptons.
The article pointed to multiple incidents in which Frankel was a degree removed from issues Cohen or Bravo were contending with
Cohen and Frankel posed for a photo in 2019 when she appeared on Watch What Happens Live
Frankel and Cohen’s most recent text message exchange centered on ‘taking a beach walk together,’ according to Vulture.
The article pointed to multiple incidents in which Frankel was a degree removed from issues Cohen or Bravo were contending with.
Karam noted how Frankel made the ‘suspiciously self-serving decision’ last November to hire on her podcast network Rachel Leviss, the one-time Vanderpump Rules personality who is at the center of litigation over events depicted on the Bravo series involving Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix.
Leviss is represented by Los Angeles-based entertainment lawyers Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos, who Frankel worked with as she headed up efforts to unionize reality stars amid last year’s entertainment industry strikes.
Amid her efforts, Frankel specifically called out Bravo for ‘grotesque and depraved mistreatment’ of their on-air personalities.
In another notable exchange on her Just B podcast last September, Frankel welcomed on as a guest former Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes, who had been involved in litigation against Cohen, Bravo and NBCU amid allegations of racism and discrimination.
‘I thought we had a good relationship … I don’t think he ever liked me,’ Leakes said of Cohen on the podcast, while Frankel slammed Cohen for asking ‘problematic’ questions on Watch What Happens Live that make his guests feel as if they’re being ‘f**king skinned alive.’
The article noted that Frankel did not reply to a comment request they left via her rep, who said, ‘This story is so old lol.’
Casey Wilson, a podcaster on the Bitch Sesh, told Vulture it was evident what had been occurring.
‘We all know what happened here,’ Wilson said. ‘We know these women. They are our friends. They are our insane aunts. We have watched them for hundreds of hours on TV and on social media. In this world, everyone is who they are, all the time.’