Bethenny Frankel slammed Bravo as “disgusting” for allegedly not getting Jill Zarin’s permission to film at her late husband’s funeral.
Zarin claimed on Frankel’s “ReWives” podcast that she had no idea their now-famous reconciliation outside of Bobby Zarin’s 2018 memorial was being filmed for “Real Housewives of New York City.”
“That’s literally the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard,” Frankel told Zarin on Monday’s episode.
“That’s just disgusting,” Frankel continued. “It’s embarrassing … it’s really disgusting, it’s absolutely disgusting, that’s disgusting, and I apologize, because it was a spectacle and a circus and yes the lines are blurred.”
During the highly anticipated podcast reunion, Zarin, 59, vehemently denied signing a release for Bravo to film any part of Bobby’s funeral. She also allegedly did not know that Frankel, 52, would be in attendance after a years-long feud between the former friends.
“You were there, and I was so happy, then I come downstairs and … someone says to me, ‘Bethenny wants to talk to you before she leaves,'” she said of how the filmed interaction began.
Zarin admitted that she did see cameras capturing the interaction, but she thought they were paparazzi and also “wasn’t on a mic,” though Frankel was.
“So what you’re saying is, I f–king ambushed a funeral for reality television?” Frankel summed up.
Frankel appeared stunned by the revelation, though Zarin has publicly stated previously she didn’t know about the filming.
The Skinnygirl CEO claimed “RHONY” executive producer Andy Cohen told her that Zarin approved cameras at the funeral.
Zarin repeatedly emphasized that while she had gotten in contact with Bravo about covering some aspect of Bobby’s death, she had “no idea” Bravo cameras were capturing the moment until she saw it in commercials promoting the season in January 2019.
“I saw myself and you on every single f–king commercial, and the entire season was me and you making up,” Zarin claimed.
Zarin added that she “might have been OK” with the situation had she been told cameras were filming, but she felt “definitely taken advantage of” by not being informed ahead of time.
Both Zarin and Frankel added that while it ended up being a “beautiful moment,” it had the potential to turn into a “disaster,” since Zarin was seeing her former best friend for the first time in years after an intense falling out.
Despite the intimate encounter, the whole situation ultimately led their friendship to fracturing even more as Zarin was convinced that Frankel “used” her by being the only “RHONY” star to have cameras film their interaction.
“I did want the funeral covered, but not without me knowing about it,” Zarin emphasized.
Zarin explained she proposed to Bravo that some of the “RHONY” cast could attend a Shiva Call – a Jewish tradition of people paying their respects to the family of the deceased – after the funeral.
“I wanted his passing to be recognized on the show even though I was off the show and coming to pay their respects at a Shiva Call was the way to do it,” Zarin recalled, adding that they never filmed that scene.
The former pals reunited on the podcast for the first time “alone” since 2010 when their years-long feud ended their friendship.
During Season 3 of the hit Bravo show, Frankel accused Zarin of being jealous of her Skinnygirl empire success. The two initially attempted to reconcile towards the end of the season, but they were never able to work through their differences.
It’s unclear where the two stand after their podcast episode, but Frankel teased that she’d like to find a way to “resume a relationship” with Zarin.
Bravo did not immediately return Pvnew’s request for comment.
