Bethenny Frankel is not holding back when it comes to her hot take on the new Real Housewives of New York City.
The RHONY original shared her candid thoughts on the show’s reboot via TikTok on Saturday, November 16, in a video that has since been deleted (but not before fans recirculated it via X).
Bethenny, 54, chimed in on criticism that the RHONY reboot is “unwatchable,” citing reaction videos shared via TikTok, and said, “Justice for Sonja [Morgan], Dorinda [Medley], Luann [de Lesseps], Ramona [Singer].”
“They were ride or die. That show was on their back and all of a sudden they all got replaced,” Bethenny said, referring to the old cast who were dropped in 2022 after 13 seasons. “They were all sitting on the shelf like Toy Story, hoping someone was gonna come play with them.”
Bethenny claimed that instead “a lot more money was spent on the new cast,” which includes Jenna Lyons, Jessel Taank, Brynn Whitfield, Sai De Silva, Erin Lichy and Ubah Hassan.
“[The original cast] have always been like the stepchildren. They’ve always been discarded. I know the money they’ve gotten paid, I know the demotions, the budgets, the premiere budgets,” Bethenny continued.
The Skinnygirl founder went on, “The new girls, I’m sure they’re lovely. I haven’t seen the show. I am actually sure they are lovely. But these women, as they got older, just got dropped off at the side of the road.”
Bethenny claimed that RHONY’s viewership has declined since the reboot and advised Bravo to rehire some of the old cast.
“You got like 200,000 viewers watching this piece of trash. So, go get the old girls and dust them off and mix them in. Humble pie is coming in hot,” she said.
Luxury Handbag Shopping has reached out to Bravo for comment.
Bethenny was a main cast member on RHONY from seasons 1 through 3 and seasons 7 through 11.
Since exiting the show, the “Just B With Bethenny Frankel” podcast host has been critical of reality television and campaigned for reality stars to be compensated with residuals for their work like actors and writers. She has also claimed that reality television exploits its stars.
In a May interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Housewives producer Andy Cohen responded to Bethenny’s calls for reality stars to unionize for better pay.
“If you look at shows like American Idol, Survivor, The Bachelor or the Below Deck people, 90 percent or more of the reality stars on them are on for one season or less,” Cohen said. “Also, acting is a full-time profession. You don’t go to school to be a reality star. Reality stars typically have other jobs.”
