Luann de Lesseps is finding the humor in her recent Hamptons reunion with longtime frenemy Bethenny Frankel — even if it was merely a stunt orchestrated by the latter for social media engagement.
“The big bad Bethenny! I gotta tell you, I mean, she is funny as hell,” the “Chic C’est La Vie” singer tells Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast, noting that she was amused by Frankel’s social media recap of their surprise meetup.
However, it was in her fellow “Real Housewives of New York City” alum’s assessment that she realized she may have been used for “likes.”
“When I watched her TikTok — she made a whole TikTok about the situation the next day — that’s where I picked it up and went, ‘Uh, now, you used your daughter to bridge the gap between us, right?” de Lesseps says, referencing a sweet moment she shared with Frankel’s 14-year-old daughter Bryn.
“You blocked me on social media,” the “Class with the Countess” author adds, “and you took all the pictures and didn’t share them with me because you had to post first.”
For this reason, de Lesseps says the reunion didn’t feel “authentic” to her.
“Oh, I got her phone number,” she says of Frankel before adding that she has “no bone to pick” with the businesswoman.
Throughout their tenure on “RHONY,” the ladies fought over everything from cabaret and etiquette to haircuts and de Lesseps’ ex-husband Tom D’Agostino’s alleged cheating.
“We’re good,” de Lesseps asserts of their current dynamic, “but I had to give her a clap-back.”
“I guess life is actually a cabaret,” Frankel exclaimed off-camera, referencing her iconic face-off with de Lesseps from “RHONY” Season 11.
In a subsequent TikTok video, Frankel shared more insight into the matter.
“I see Luann [at the event], and Bryn gets all devious. My friend Mark is like, ‘Just say something.’ Why not, right? And it is also a good example for Bryn. We have to be good examples,” she explained Sunday.
Frankel did admit, however, that she recreated de Lesseps and Bryn’s hug for online purposes.
“Luann hugged Bryn. We had to do it on social media because if it didn’t happen there, then it didn’t happen anywhere,” she shared. “That was nice and clean. She texted me and [wrote], ‘We are like some discombobulated family.’”
