Bethenny Frankel On Blast for Promoting Designer Dupe

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Over the weekend, shoe designer Alexia Ioannou took to Instagram to call out Bethenny Frankel for some sus online behavior. According to Ioannou, she sent Frankel a pair of mules from her new line Nou almost a year ago, hoping Frankel might wear them and promote them on her social channels. She even checked with Frankel before sending them.

Nou Black Satin Mules

Ioannou’s mother, Dina Cantin, is connected to Frankel through their mutual association with the Real Housewives franchise. Frankel was, of course, an original cast member on The Real Housewives of New York, while Cantin was in the original cast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

“She didn’t tag us after wearing the shoes multiple times online, which, okay, that happens,” says Ioannou in a video she posted about the incident on Instagram. “But then, today she posted a video that’s going viral and a bunch of people are asking where the shoes are [from]. And instead of linking them, she linked a dupe and with an affiliate link.

“I guess she’s gotta 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. Anyway, Bethany, you’re a weirdo. And for all the people asking, her shoes are Nou.”

Frankel did call out the brand by name in the TikTok OOTD video she posted later that day but by then the damage had already been done.

The next day, as comments about the situation began flooding Frankel’s feed, she took to TikTok to address the situation directly, saying that her team was simply doing their best trying to provide her followers with a shoppable option in a timely fashion, not knowing who made Frankel’s original shoes.

@bethennyfrankelYou’re welcome♬ original sound – Bethenny Frankel

She then offered Ioannou a lesson in business:

“The business lesson is that there are about 100 lovely things on this person’s site and there are other brands that will watch this video and message her to tell her how much product I move… I move a lot of product, so playing the short game and whining and being a cry baby about something that didn’t go your way in business means you’re not a real business person and you have a lot to learn because I would have worn all the shoes on your site and you would have sold thousands of pairs and made hundreds of thousands of dollars. SO my account, my body, my choice, once you send those shoes to my house, my shoes. You’re welcome!”

You can view the original article HERE.