Brace yourselves, because it’s gonna be a bumpy ride! As the Wednesday, June 8, episode of the Real Housewives of New York City began, Bethenny Frankel was still as angry as ever with LuAnn de Lesseps. “You’re not honest about how you live your life!” Bethenny screamed at LuAnn, who stared back in shock. “You criticize people for doing what you do on the regular.” The countess then asked, “Who do I criticize?” which probably wasn’t the most strategic move, since Carole Radziwill was sitting within earshot.
“You criticize me for dating someone younger, and you routinely date younger guys!” she chimed in. LuAnn basically rolled her eyes and complained that Carole needed to drop it, though that wasn’t all that effective.
“Women feel about you that you are the woman that they wouldn’t want to have their man around,” Bethenny said before noting that Sonja Morgan claimed that Lu had slept with half of the men she had been dating too. “Really? You’re going to believe Sonja?” LuAnn asked with a raised brow. (It’s worth noting that LuAnn had just claimed to be “mentoring” Sonja … some mentor.) This devolved into more arguing about whether LuAnn had known that Ramona Singer had dated Tom.
That’s when Bethenny went for the jugular.
Bethenny Calls LuAnn ‘Demented’
“The problem with you is that women don’t trust you, and they think you have sex with married men, and you cheat and you f–k younger guys and criticize other people about the same thing that you do, and you act like you’re holier than thou, and you wrote a book about etiquette, and it’s the most comical thing,” Bethenny screamed. “You can’t pretend you’re mentoring Sonja. That’s demented!”
At this point, LuAnn’s eyes welled with tears, and she said that she was genuinely worried that if they excluded Sonja that something “bad” would happen to her. This softened Bethenny up a bit, for a bit, and she apologized for screaming.
Not Even Santa Can Save This Party
Desperate to salvage what was left of her holiday party, Dorinda Medley persuaded everyone to sit down and enjoy dinner. A woman dressed as Santa — which all of the ladies found very progressive — even dropped by with gifts. For about two minutes, there was peace. Then Bethenny resumed her attack on LuAnn.
“You are cunning and crafty,” she said. “You move in on the guy!” Ramona added, clearly delighted to have the chance to drag Lu over the coals for dating a man who Ramona considered to be her ex. Bethenny then compared LuAnn to a variety of things ranging from a barracuda to a Venus flytrap, and Lu continued to insist she had never stolen a man from anyone. It seemed the only person having any fun was Jules Wainstein, who clearly appreciated the break from her mommy duties, even if it meant hanging out with a bunch of angry women.
Meanwhile, back in the city, Sonja hung out with her army of “interns.” She spent most of the time whining about how her friends had left her by her lonesome, but she did mention that she was also going to stop drinking. We’ll have to see how long that sticks.
The Morning After
The morning after their blowout fight, Bethenny and LuAnn each tried to recover. Bethenny’s strategy was to bolt (with Carole in tow) from Dorinda’s Berkshires house as early as possible, while LuAnn’s plan included a sunrise walk and cooking bacon for everyone. Neither woman seemed very happy, and Dorinda took note. “It doesn’t send the message to me that they were appreciative,” she commented after Bethenny and Carole made their escape — we mean, exit — once they said the world’s quickest goodbye.
Can’t We All Just Get Along?
Short answer: no. Back in the city, Ramona threw some type of holiday party, which she had hoped would give all of the various women who were fighting a chance to make up. Specifically, she was optimistic that Bethenny would find it in her heart to make amends with LuAnn and Sonja.
LuAnn tried to extend an olive branch to both Bethenny and Carole. After asking Bethenny how her ride back to the city went — and being greeted with an icy stare — LuAnn moved on to Carole: “I want you to know that I’m really sorry. I went too far. I should have came to you sooner, and I’m sorry and I miss you as a friend.” Carole thought this apology seemed “more sincere” than Lu’s last one, but that wasn’t saying much.
Bethenny ultimately listened to LuAnn but forced her to say, out loud, that she had nothing to do with the creation of Skinnygirl. LuAnn looked like she wanted to vomit, but it seemed like she was willing to do anything at this point to end the war and obliged. Fortunately for Lu, however, Sonja arrived moments later — and when Sonja arrived, Bethenny left (but not before telling Ramona that LuAnn had called Tom her boyfriend, just to stir the pot).
Sonja Freaks Out — Again
In an effort to “mentor” Sonja, LuAnn advised her to “drop the whole Tipsy Girl thing” completely, prompting the aspiring prosecco purveyor to completely melt down. Still sore that she hadn’t been invited to the Berkshires, Sonja started explaining that her many (many) texts to Bethenny were about their relationship and how she felt sad and had never wanted to steal from her. “It would have been better if you had never texted anyone,” Lu explained, while Dorinda reiterated that her decision not to include Sonja had come “from a place of love.”
Sonja responded by declaring that the party sucked and running into a stairwell. LuAnn chased her down, however, and tried to reason with her, acknowledging that this may not have been the right place to try to make things right with Bethenny.
“Yeah, the right place was Dorinda’s!” Sonja shrieked. “If she doesn’t want to see me, she’s going to leave! She left! I didn’t even get to say hi. She left!” Carole admitted to the camera that she thought Sonja simply “saw an opportunity to make a little money and honestly didn’t think too much about Bethenny.” Sonja probably won’t make that mistake again.
Tell Us: Do you think Bethenny overreacted with Sonja and LuAnn?
The Real Housewives of New York City airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
