Bethenny Frankel is a Godsend to reality TV fans as, like it or not, she always gets people talking when she starts to stir her cauldron of drama. The Real Housewives of New York star was once a beloved fixture of the Bravosphere who could do no wrong in viewers’ eyes. Bethenny brought the drama on cast trips and dinner parties as she never had a problem calling out Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer, or Sonja Morgan for trying to steal her drink name.
Bethenny was a weird mix of brash New Yorker, extremely blunt, and loveable. Even though she often came across with a tough exterior, Bethenny just wanted to make everything better for those around her. However, these past few months have not cast her in the best light, thanks to her reality reckoning, and it has caused some fans to go back and look closely at her most problematic moments.
Bethenny’s Questionable Tweets
For a period between 2009-2016, it has been alleged by some followers on Twitter that the JustB founder made some unsavory posts. One read, “Wow, Kmart has 2 registers open w 5 other employees standing around & 2 speak no English whatsoever. Shoes are sapatos [sic] right?” Another damning tweet read, “All of a sudden, I’m getting a lot of Asian tweets. Did twitter just become popular there?”
Yikes. Context or no context, these comments do not land well, and just FYI, it’s zapatos.
Bethenny Gives Unsolicited Advice
During a women’s entrepreneurial summit in 2016, a Huffington Post writer was silenced when she tried sticking up for women and women of color. The writer noted in her column, “I was offended when she expressed some kind of kinship with black women because she’s ‘loud.’ And I was taken aback when she advised those of us in the room to get business advice to hire a white man as the face of our companies.”
During the conference, Bethenny also went on to suggest women offer men sexual favors in exchange for capital. What the hell kind of business is Bethenny trying to run? Because THAT is a whole different ballpark.
Bethenny Made Transphobic Comments
In 2021, Bethenny came under fire for talking negatively about gender and pronouns. During her podcast, JustB, Bethenny opened up by talking about her daughter’s school, saying, “We have to go into the fact that I did a Zoom for my daughter’s school and had the pronouns conversation with each teacher, each parent, each child. And my daughter says in school, too, that everybody has to say their pronouns. And my daughter didn’t even know what hers were.”
Bethenny then swerved to a story that took place at her daughter’s summer camp sharing she was informed about a “person with a penis, who identifies as being a girl” sharing a cabin with the other girls. The Naturally Thin author then went on to say, “So the other girls saw a penis. They’re 9, 10 years old, so the parents obviously weren’t that happy…A penis often goes into a vagina often so they might not want that visual so soon.”
Bethenny continued her rant, much to listeners’ dismay, saying, “What happens if a child isn’t ready to make a decision? Don’t a lot of girls in college have a lesbian phase, and then they realize that they’re not? Maybe they’re going through something, maybe they want attention, maybe they’re going through a bad breakup. What is the age that someone’s absolutely positive who they are? There’s got to be gray area…I’ve heard of situations when people unmake that decision. Maybe a mother isn’t ready for her child to see a penis in a bunk and understand that child identifies as a girl.”
Bethenny Questions the COVID-19 Vaccine
In 2022, Bethenny took to good old Instagram to share her views about the life-saving COVID-19 vaccine. The former Bravo star shared an update on her ongoing autoimmune issues, angrily blasting fans, “Everybody’s an expert on everything. Like, ‘Don’t you talk about the vaccine when you’re talking about what’s gone on with your health. I can’t say the V-word, Like, what the f*ck? Jesus, I’ll talk about whatever I want. I’m going through a medical journey and sharing and collecting data, and we’re allowed to have conversations. It’s like politics now.”
Bethenny went on to compare the vaccine to birth control or the morning-after pill, doubling down as she yelled, “F*ck you. Whoever has a problem with me sharing and talking and learning and expressing, I’m not spreading any kind of propaganda, and we’re not f*cking babies. We understand what a vaccine is.”
There is no denying that Bethenny is one smart cookie, but sometimes she says some really dumb sh*t that feels like it is just for attention.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK WERE BETHENNY FRANKEL’S MOST PROBLEMATIC MOMENTS? IS HER BAD BEHAVIOR EXCUSABLE?
