Bethenny Frankel took the stand in her custody battle with ex-husband Jason Hoppy on Wednesday, March 6, and detailed their fractured relationship as coparents of their daughter, Bryn.
“We started to see a parent coordinator, and the intensity of the conflict became greater,” the Real Housewives of New York City star, 48, said in a Manhattan courtroom, as first reported by Radar Online. “The conflict was day in and day out torture. Emotional, mental, phone, FaceTime, being followed, being harassed, being verbally attacked and all-out assault in every possible way — on my character, on my mental state, on my family, on my parenting, on my career, on my life.”
A visibly emotional Frankel explained that she had previously agreed to share joint legal custody of Bryn, 8, with the businessman, 48, “because we had been in war and I wanted to stop the bleeding.”
“I had an apartment that I had shared with Jason. I had a padlock on my door to protect myself,” she said. “I pleaded and begged and emailed and said by phone and FaceTime to please stop harassing me and abusing me. And [he] didn’t — it got worse.”
The Bravo personality claimed that Hoppy called her “ugly and old and … irrelevant” at one point while taunting her. She then recalled the moments leading up to his January 2017 arrest, which came after he showed up to Bryn’s school and allegedly threatened Frankel, who was later granted a restraining order.
“I went to the police because I was afraid for my safety,” she said in court. “We were at a schoolyard, my daughter was there, he couldn’t control his anger.”
The former couple called it quits in December 2012 after two years of marriage. They finalized their divorce in July 2016.
Frankel alleged during Wednesday’s testimony that Hoppy threatened to “destroy” her and “ruin” her life after their separation, even after she told him that she “wanted to have an amicable divorce.” When asked by her attorney to describe her living situation with the executive before he moved out of her apartment, the Skinnygirl founder responded, “A torture chamber. It was outright mayhem.”
“He would be dressing Bryn and say, ‘I don’t know, you don’t want to go with Mommy. I don’t want to go with Mommy,’” the reality star continued as she broke down in tears. “He would read witch stories and say, ‘Mommy would be great at being a witch.’”
Later on, Frankel detailed some of the “abusive” emails she allegedly received from Hoppy and played recordings of his phone calls with Bryn. His attorney argued that the calls should not be played in court because his client was unaware that he was being recorded, but the judge denied the request.
The exes have been embroiled in a court battle since the author requested full custody of Bryn in March. Hoppy previously denied Frankel’s harassment claims, with his attorney telling Us in 2017 that his “only concern is his daughter.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Hoppy’s attorney for comment.
