After last night’s Real Housewives of New York, perhaps we all need a moment to reflect on the relationships between Sonja Morgan and…everybody else. Including an invisible castmate named “Earth.” In Bethenny Frankel’s Bravo blog this week, she claims that Sonja’s fabulously out-of-orbit self is just fine the way she is and – even if her businesses are more “in her head” than “in a store” – well, that’s apparently A-okay too! She begins with, “Aaaah Sonja. The truth is I love her. There are times during this season that that will be difficult to believe, but I simply do. Some people are cunning and have a malicious or shifty or disingenuous side. Sonja has none of that. She is a good person. She is just often misguided and misdirected.” She adds, “Sonja allows herself to be messy; that is to be respected in its own way.” Agreed! (Well, to a point.)
Of her meeting with Sonja and her “team” of international temp agency props at Sonja’s “fashion presentation” Bethenny admits that the whole thing reeked of shifty and suspect behavior: “I think she front-loaded that staff for effect. I will bet everything…that not one of those people is on salary. I happen to have an international brand and barely have that many people with those fancy titles, so there is definitely smoke and mirrors there.” But Bethenny claims she doesn’t want to “give unsolicited advice” this season, so she walks “a slippery slope.” She says, “I’m damned if I do anything in the way of business advice. Whether it’s positive or negative advice, it will appear that I’m better than and an expert, and that’s simply not how I view myself.” Hmmm, not an expert she says? In the next breath, non-expert Bethenny adds, “I have a lot of experience: I’m in the trenches, and I keep learning and making mistakes every day. Sonja doesn’t have that experience, and, for her to succeed, she needs to get focused and start absorbing more information (that’s how I learned– mouth shut and ears open). Business is hard, and she needs to learn what it really takes to focus on one thing and see it to the finish line. ‘Accessible luxury’ is a start. And–no–she doesn’t owe me a car.” #holla!
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Liking what she saw on Sonja’s sketchboards, Bethenny does say,”She has great taste, I loved what I saw, and I am genuinely here to support her. All she needs to do is focus, focus, focus.” Well, that’s a tall order for Lady Morgan of the Toaster Oven That Doesn’t Toast/Over-the-Hill Ladies Lifestyle Brand/Menopausal Burlesque Sideshow. Bethenny reveals that Sonja’s investors actually have more to worry about than Sonja, though, as she isn’t actually funding any of this mess herself!! “If she isn’t putting up her own money, which she isn’t, then no harm, no foul (time and reputation aside),” Bethenny comments. She adds that “The timeline worried me. This meeting was in November–launch would be now (like six months away), and it made me nervous knowing they could not yet disclose retailers. Fashion is its own beast. I do have a Skinnygirl Shapewear and lounge wear line, yet I deferred to Heather [Thomson] as more of an expert in this area. Heather has way more fashion experience. I’m not sure why she decided to fire a random shot at me for going to the meeting. Maybe it was payback for my nap last week during our dinner conversation. In any case, it doesn’t matter whether you’re selling toothpaste or tractors, business is business, and business I know and understand. Sonja was smart to ask for my advice. There will be more to come on this.”
DORINDA MEDLEY NOT INSULTED BY BETHENNY!
After a shout-out to Kristen Taekman for her fashion blog <side eye> and a bit of complaining about the retro-grumbling over the pettiness of “Who Said Hello First” at Dorinda Medley’s World Bar party between Ramona Singer and Sonja, Bethenny finally comments on the (nearly literal) elephant in the room: Dorinda’s boyfriend, John. Saying she sees no harm/no foul in John’s handsy behavior with the ladies, Bethenny claims, “As far as John goes, walk away. Big deal–he is touchy feely. If he were 6′ 2″ and chiseled, no one would care. It really isn’t that big of a deal. There are a lot of guys who have a cocktail and don’t understand personal space. There are women in our group who have this issue, too. His girlfriend was two feet away.” Ready to take Table Nap #2 over the whole John fiasco, Bethenny ends by admitting, “While I wouldn’t want my boyfriend behaving like that, and while he may not be ultimately right for Dorinda, she knows who he is, and I don’t think it is a massive big deal. A little icky? Yes. World Bar World War 3? No.”
TELL US: DO YOU THINK BETHENNY’S ASSESSMENT OF SONJA AND JOHN IS ON TARGET THIS WEEK?
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