While Brandi Glanville spent Mother’s Day with her two sons, LeAnn Rimes enjoyed dinner with their father: her husband and Glanville’s ex, Eddie Cibrian. “He tries to make the day special for me,” Rimes, 34, told Refinery29 in May, adding that she celebrates Stepmother’s Day the following Sunday with Mason, 14, and Jake, 10. “We go to dinner and do the whole thing.”
According to the Real Housewives alum, it’s no coincidence that those festivities took place in the same restaurant where she and new boyfriend, Donald “DJ” Friese, were eating that night, at the same time. (Though Cibrian tweeted screenshots June 9 showing that he and Rimes made reservations at Nobu earlier in the week.)
“They sat across the room from us just to hurt and torment me by using my own children as pawns,” Glanville tells Us in a statement.
One year earlier, it seemed tensions between Glanville and Rimes had eased for the first time since Cibrian left the reality star for the country singer in 2009. “Something happened to one of our children that made us realize we had to focus on them and get over our bulls—t,” Glanville, 44, told Us in April 2016. “It changed overnight when we realized we were being assholes.”
As for why the rivalry reignited, the Drinking and Dating author cites her romance with Friese, her first serious relationship since Cibrian cheated on her with Rimes. “Since I met him, it’s been amplified to the utmost,” she told Us on June 8, five months after the couple made their red carpet debut. Once the clashing affected Glanville’s ability to coparent with her former husband of nine years, “I realized it’s time to speak up and say, ‘You don’t get to triangulate my children.’”
Social media has only worsened the situation. “LeAnn follows DJ on Snapchat and shows up where we’re at,” Glanville claims. “She’s checking social media all day long. It’s ridiculous.”
Friese, with whom Glanville matched on Tinder, helps her manage the stress. “Now that I have a partner, I can handle it, but it’s not fair to him,” the California native explains. “I’m like, ‘You’ve been in [your] relationship for nine years, leave me alone.’”
Glanville believes her vendetta against Rimes — who was wed to actor Dean Sheremet when she first got involved with Cibrian — has affected the other men in her life, too. “They love her and they love me,” Glanville says of her sons. “But being in a restaurant when Eddie and LeAnn come in, the kids are uncomfortable running back and forth between tables.”
Cibrian, 43, writes off the allegations as “made-up drama,” adding in a statement to Us on June 10, “We should have one priority, making sure two incredible kids are loved and remain happy and healthy.”
Glanville believes the Sunset Beach alum’s priorities are actually his finances. “He’s a kept man,” she claims to Us. “He’s worked on a show for the past few seasons, but over the eight years, he hasn’t made much. He was refusing to pay me child support.”
But it’s not just about the money. “I want Eddie to be responsible for our boys,” she adds. “I’m very happy right now and only ask for he and LeAnn to let me live my life.”
The feud heated up last week when Cibrian chalked up the Stepmother’s Day incident at Nobu to the one-time Bravo star being “very dunk” during dinner. “Her boyfriend ‘ran interference’ and came to ask if she could take photos with the kids,” he claimed to Us in an exclusive statement on Tuesday, June 13. “After witnessing Brandi’s behavior at the restaurant I was concerned about what pictures Brandi might post. We looked at their socials after we got home to make sure there was nothing of concern.”
Glanville refuted his story. “[That] does not explain why Leann and her assistant were both viewing my boyfriend’s Snapchats prior to our arrival at the restaurant,” she told Us on Tuesday, reinforcing her point. “To justify your wife’s stalking of my boyfriend’s social media as you were ‘concerned’ as to what we might post seems a bit far fetched. I am not interested in this back and forth game. I am asking for them to leave us alone and not monitor our lives through social media and other methods.”
