The Real Housewives of New York alum Bethenny Frankel denies claims that she helped arrange a photo of Tom D'Agostino cheating. Luann De Lesseps, Bethenny's former costar in New York, was married to Tom for less than a year before their divorce. Bethenny's reaction to the allegation follows the recent release of a tell-all book about The Real Housewives franchise which has received mixed reviews from members of the Bravo franchise.
Bethenny and Luann first appeared on The Real Housewives of New York season 1. The two have had their ups and downs over the years, and Luann revealed that she was actually relieved to hear that Bethenny would be leaving the show to focus on her Skinny Girl business in 2019. Recently, Bethenny has been in hot water for making transphobic comments on her podcast. Following the release of Dave Quinn's tell-all Real Housewives book Not All Diamonds and Rose, Bethenny took to social media to slam the book for its alleged inaccuracies. The book alleges that Bethenny staged a photo of Tom cheating on Luann before informing her about the infidelity on the show.
Bethenny addressed the allegations on her podcast Just B with Bethenny Frankel, for which she is frequently known for addressing controversial topics. She claims she had nothing to do with the photo, and argues that she had no ability to do something of that nature saying, "How could I set up a photo? Am I in a movie I’m casting? Like, ‘Hey Tom D’Agostino, I’d like to cast you in the role as cheater at the Regency Hotel’?" Bethenny also argued that she doesn't travel to the part of town in which the photo was taken, and therefore it would have been impossible for her to have been involved other than simply being sent the photo and telling Luann about it.
While Bethenny is accused of having known the woman with whom Tom was having an affair and asking her to text her when she next met with Tom in order to get the photo of the two kissing, she continued to deny the claim. Bethenny states that she didn't know Tom. She seems to find the allegation to be ridiculous and pointed out that it would have been an odd and somewhat awkward situation if she had done such a thing, saying "So in this case, I’m a casting director that called Tom D’Agostino — who I don’t f–king know — to say, ‘Listen, I know it sounds weird, I just want you to be in a bar and make out with somebody, because I have a photographer who’s going to be standing by to take a picture. " Bethenny maintains that a friend, staying at the same hotel as Tom, happened to send her the photo the night of the incident and she simply relayed the information when she arrived in Florida for the cast trip to Miami that season. "That’s what really happened in the land of non lala psycho delusional PCP acid trip delusions," says Bethenny.
While it is certainly not impossible that the famous scene on The Real Housewives of New York in which Bethenny discovered Tom's cheating was staged, Bethenny does make a good case as to why she was not the person responsible. It is unclear what she would have to gain from the situation, though it is also not entirely out of the realm of possibilities that she was involved, as Bethenny is well versed in the nature of reality tv drama and seems to be more capable than she leads on in that regard. Regardless of whether or not Bethenny staged the photo, it seems odd that Tom would not be at the forefront of his own cheating scandal.
Source: Bethenny Frankel/Just B with Bethenny Frankel