Bethenny Frankel has weighed in on her former Real Housewives of New York City bestie-turned-nemesis Carole Radziwill’s alleged past friendship with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
“What I do know is that Carole has been friendly with many notable women,” Bethenny, 55, told her Instagram followers on Saturday, February 7.
Bethenny name-checked the late Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Hollywood manager Brad Grey’s ex-wife Cassandra Huysentruyt and CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour as a few of Carole’s famous friends. (Carole, 62, was married to fellow journalist Anthony Radziwiłł whose cousin was Carolyn’s husband, John F. Kennedy Jr. Carolyn, her sister Lauren Bessette and John were all killed in a plane crash near Martha’s Vineyard on July 16, 1999 while Anthony died from cancer less than a month later on August 10, 1999.)
“I do know that Carole has taken many opportunities to swipe at me, dig at me, speak negatively about me in a post-[RHONY] world, meaning when the show is going, it’s fair game,” Bethenny insisted. “But, in a post-show world, she has certainly gone for it and I’m not going to do the same.”
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The RHONY icon then cryptically added, “It’s not my business.”
Carole’s past connections to Ghislaine, 64, resurfaced following the Justice Department’s release of more than 3.5 million documents obtained from late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s estate. Jeffrey’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022 after being convicted of sex trafficking-related charges. (Jeffrey died by suicide at age 66 in August 2019 following his arrest on federal sex crimes charges.)
Among the new documents released by the Justice Department are casual emails purportedly exchanged by Carole and Ghislaine in September 2005. In another message, Ghislaine appeared to describe Carole as “the most wonderful, the most beautiful, the smartest, the best, the brightest.”
Carole has addressed her connections to Ghislaine in the past. In September 2025, a fan asked her via X if it was true that Ghislaine was “the photographer for her book” What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love.
“I knew her socially [and] she had a real camera (it was 2004 no one carried cameras) anyway I’d had a pro photo shoot but the pics were bad,” the RHONY alum replied. “I asked her if she’d take the picture & she said sure. In hindsight was it odd she had a camera? I guess but who knew?!”
Another X user asked how nobody in Carole’s social circle could have known about Ghislaine and Jeffrey’s crimes.
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“Sure rich men, creepy people… obvs the men who were involved knew…I’m saying the social party friends especially us girls — we didn’t know. When people are doing bad s*** they hide it well. It’s f***ing creepy,” Carole countered.
She added, “The rich people I know are kind and decent. But apparently no one knew anything about her except I guess for the FBI. They should release their report. It’s awful. It’s so dark, no? Better left to authorities.”
Carole has denied knowing Ghislaine’s ex-boyfriend Jeffrey and said she had no knowledge of any misconduct.
As for Bethenny and Carole, the pair were once besties during their years on RHONY but their friendship imploded during season 10. Carole left at the end of the season, with Bethenny following suit after season 11.
Carole also fell out with Bravo boss Andy Cohen when she left The Real Housewives of New York City, though she confirmed to Us Weekly at Bravocon in October 2025 that they’d officially squashed the beef.
“Andy and I’ve known each other a very long time, way before the Housewives. After I left, there was some animosity and some miscommunication. It’s a high stress job,” Carole admitted. “We did not speak for a long time. Publicly, we were sparring a little. I just thought, ‘Why are we doing this publicly?’”
If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
