‘Tis the season … for confronting frenemies, that is. As the Wednesday, May 25, episode of The Real Housewives of New York City aired, Memorial Day was just around the corner in the real world, but the holiday season was just getting started on the show. It seemed that each lady celebrated in her own special way. Bethenny Frankel hosted a Secret Santa soiree, Sonja Morgan and Luann de Lesseps hit the bars, and Dorinda Medley threw a dinner party-slash-sleepover at her Berkshires abode.
While everyone seemed determined to have a good time, tensions were brewing between many of the women. Bethenny was still bent out of shape over Sonja’s Tipsy Girl prosecco, which Bethenny thought sounded too close to her own Skinnygirl label. Dorinda and Ramona were both still licking their battle wounds after Dorinda’s boyfriend, John Mahdessian, threw Ramona out of a party a few nights before, and Carole Radziwill was still angry at Luann for some of the things she’d said about Carole’s relationship with her much younger boyfriend Adam, way back when that relationship was new … and that was just the beginning of the lists of grievances.
Dorinda Breaks Down (Again) at Bethenny’s Secret Santa
Carole, Ramona, Dorinda, Jules Wainstein and Bethenny all gathered for Bethenny’s gift-exchange party. Immediately, Ramona began recounting her version of the story of John throwing her out of his event, though she left out some key details (like the fact that she was defending a man who was so drunk and creepy that Luann actually left to avoid him). Jules was just about to interject with some of the missing pieces of information when Dorinda showed up.
Seeing how stricken Dorinda looked from the moment she arrived, Bethenny pulled her off to the side to have a heart-to-heart. Naturally, Dorinda immediately started crying about how she is worried about her daughter transitioning (i.e., growing up) and worried about entering the next phase of her life. “I think you need to spend some time quiet and alone,” Bethenny suggested. “You need to calm it down and actually love yourself.” Dorinda nodded, but it was unclear if what Bethenny was actually saying (i.e., that Dorinda should drop John) was getting through. “Don’t accept anything less than you deserve,” Bethenny added.
To the cameras, Bethenny said she didn’t want Dorinda to continue to be “tortured,” and compared her to a “fragile bird.” When Dorinda finally made it to the main party, Ramona tried to make peace by offering her a plate of caviar. Dorinda wasn’t interested.
Sonja and Luann Are on the Prowl, Except Luann Already Has a New Man
Meanwhile, Sonja and Luann — neither of whom made it to Bethenny’s bash — continued their favorite activity of going barhopping and looking for men. When the topic of Ramona being thrown out of John’s party came up, Sonja chimed in: “I didn’t know [the drunk guy] was your lover!” Luann insisted the drunk guy was not, in fact, her lover, though after a bit more questioning by Sonja, Luann admitted she did have a one-night stand with him when he took her to Ibiza — and that she saw him again in the city after they got back. “That’s a multiple-night stand,” Sonja clarified. Well, you can’t argue with her there.
Soon, however, Luann revealed that the drunk guy was a hot mess (which anyone could have seen from his five seconds on the show last week), but that she was now dating a new guy who she really liked. To the cameras, Luann revealed that her new beau was named Tom, and she was introduced to him by Dorinda. “I’m keeping it under wraps because I don’t know where it’s going,” she explained.
That didn’t last long, however, as Luann decided to throw a dinner to introduce Tom to a few of her friends. She only invited the ones she thought would be “supportive” of her budding romance, and the only two that fell into that category were Dorinda (who introduced them) and Jules (who Luann barely knew at all). The dinner went fine, save one tasteless and not-funny joke by John about something being “moist,” except that it came out that Luann knew Tom had gone out with Ramona, too. The Countess insisted Tom only liked Ramona “as a friend” and left it at that, but it was unclear whether Ramona would see it that way.
Bomb in the Berkshires
In an effort to avoid any huge conflicts, Dorinda had not invited Sonja to her birthday/holiday sleepover. Instead, Dorinda offered to hang out with the Tipsy Girl founder one-on-one after the other ladies had gone. While Sonja took the news in stride when Dorinda told her, it soon became clear that Sonja was actually pretty sore about the situation and felt that Dorinda was effectively taking sides in her battle with Bethenny.
To the camera, Sonja pointed out that it had been Ramona who had been most recently kicked out of one of Dorinda’s events, but she was still invited. In a separate camera interview, Dorinda reasoned that even though she and Ramona had had another spat, they also had a “long history,” and Ramona had to be treated “with respect” as a result. Shortly after Ramona arrived at Dorinda’s house, Ramona’s dog Coco pooped on the floor, which seemed slightly symbolic. Just sayin’.
Shortly thereafter, Luann and Jules arrived, and everyone began discussing Sonja’s absence. Ramona suggested that Sonja needed to “take care of herself, stop with the silly businesses and get her head on straight,” while Luann thought Sonja’s problem was that she surrounded herself “with really untrustworthy people.” On an unrelated note, Ramona also revealed that she considered Tom to be one of her exes and was none too pleased that Luann had started seeing him. Ramona didn’t have time to confront Luann, however, because Bethenny showed up.
Luann explained that she was going to mentor Sonja, prompting the Skinnygirl founder to erupt in peals of laughter. “It’s like the blind leading the deaf,” Bethenny said to Lu, who wasn’t the least bit amused. Bethenny then insisted that she was not suing Sonja, despite reports to the contrary, and said she would have more respect for her fellow Housewife if she had called her brand “Drunk Girl” or “Stupid Girl.” Luann told Bethenny not to be mean, prompting Bethenny to declare, “Everybody copied me. I was the first person besides Diddy to do this — aside from the fact that it was your idea.” Luann shrugged nonchalantly, and Bethenny clarified, “No, it wasn’t your idea.” Bethenny got increasingly irritated as she added, “It was my idea that I told you about, and then you told everybody else that you thought of!”
Tell Us: Do you think Bethenny has a right to be mad at Sonja and Luann?
The Real Housewives of New York City airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
