It’s one Real Housewives of New York star against another. Despite all the good that Bethenny Frankel is attempting to create in the reality TV world, sometimes, she just can’t admit when she’s taken an L. On the most recent episode of Watch What Happens Live, Bethenny got called out, much to her chagrin.
Jessel Taank and Kate Chastain were playing truth or drink when they were asked “Who is the most overrated Housewife of all time.” Jessel responded, “I think Bethenny Frankel is going off the rails.” After some applause, Kate simply agreed and the two clinked their glasses.
Jessel left the reason for her claim unsaid, but audiences drew their conclusions. For one thing, there was Bethenny’s makeup giveaway fiasco at TJ Maxx. Then she received a lot of backlash for her interview with Rachel Leviss. But despite all the valid criticism against her, Bethenny can’t help but die on her hills. So, she wasn’t happy about the criticism.
Bethenny claps back at Jessel on Twitter
Bethenny tried to claim that Jessel only named her in a bid for relevancy. She took to her podcast, ReWives, to say “If you have someone who’s on the New York ‘Housewives’ now in a post-successful era, they’re gonna wanna squeeze that sponge for any amount of liquid they can squeeze it for.”
However, Bethenny’s not truly blaming Jessel. She went on to say, “And you can never blame them. You cannot blame the talent because they need the relevance, the fame — it’s why they went on the show.” Kind of mean to suggest she’s reaching for relevancy without actually blaming her. Bethenny further suggested that the whole incident was “planted and produced.”
She explained, “The way it works on ‘Watch What Happens Live’ is in the dressing room, Andy [Cohen] comes in and talks about what he wants to talk about.” Many people already suspected the whole thing had been a setup since Bethenny and Andy aren’t in good graces right now.
Was Jessel’s comment a setup?
A source close to WWHL, however, has vehemently denied the rumors that the jab at Bethenny was staged. “This is absolutely false,” the insider told Page Six. “‘WWHL’ does not conduct pre-interviews.”
The spokesperson went on, “Naturally, Andy stops by the green rooms to greet his guests before the show, but he does not discuss specific questions or topics in advance, unless the guest initiates a topic that is personally sensitive to them. And certainly, Andy nor any ‘WWHL’ producer is feeding answers to questions.”
Bethenny continued slamming the show on her podcast. She asserted that the new RHONY needed the press since it only pulls a “couple hundred thousand” viewers each episode, a provably false claim. She went on, “A woman on that show who’s not relevant … who’s new, so by definition you’re not that relevant, and you’re on a show that has arced and is on the back end.”
Another source told Page Six that Jessel was more relevant than ever, citing multiple interviews and her picture on the cover of Vogue India. Bethenny again claimed she wasn’t blaming “the person sitting in the chair,” calling WWHL a “clickbait environment.” This will almost certainly backfire on Bethenny. She came after the wrong Housewife.
Real Housewives of New York continues Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BETHENNY’S CLAPBACK? DO ANY OF HER STATEMENTS FEEL DISINGENUOUS?
