Bethenny Frankel fired back after Real Housewives of New Jersey alum Dina Manzo and her daughter, Lexi Ioannou, accused her of not crediting their brand for one of her recent outfits.
“I don’t usually respond to things like this but I think 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 the same 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 year ago because I look up to her. [She is a] female entrepreneur [and from the] Bravo universe like me.”
Ioannou pointed out 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 people are asking where the shoes are [from]. Instead of linking them, she linked a dupe with an affiliate link,” Ioannou complained. “I guess she’s got to get that bag in some sort of way? So, she got the shoes for free from a woman-founded brand, mine, and then she made money sending her followers somewhere else.”
Ioannou’s mom, Manzo, quoted one of Frankel’s iconic Real Housewives of New York City arguments with Ramona Singer while directing followers to buy “the real thing” from Nou.
“‘Wow Bethenny Wow!!’ So odd of you to post a dupe of your GIFTED @shopnou shoes instead of giving a young woman entrepreneur credit,” Manzo wrote via her Instagram Stories on Friday. “You wear them often so we know you like 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 another retailer was standard practice in social media.
“The shoes were sold out so we linked to something similar because the audience gets frustrated when there’s something they can’t buy,” Frankel explained. “Why would I wear something and talk about it, if they can’t buy it?”
She went on, “This female owner decided to post a scathing video of me. Her body, her choice. I have stated multiple times that if you send me something, I have no obligation to link, like, use, wear, buy, tag. I can do whatever I want.”
Frankel suggested that she was now reluctant to support Ioannou’s brand after being called out.
“There are about a hundred brands that will watch this video that will message her to tell her how much product I move,” the former RHONY star predicted. “How many sprinkle cookies for Melissa Gorga, how many dresses for Ramy Brook, how many pairs of jeans for Guess. I move a lot of product because I don’t bulls***.”
The reality TV icon argued that Ioannou’s “whining and being a cry baby” was playing the “short game” in the business world.
“It means you’re not a real business person. You have a lot to learn,” Frankel quipped. “I would have worn all of the shoes on your site and you would have sold thousands of pairs and made hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
She added, “My account. My body. My choice. Once you send those shoes into my house, my shoes. You’re welcome!”
Us Weekly has reached out to Ioannou’s representative for comment.
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