Bethenny Frankel is never afraid to mention it all.
The “Real Housewives of New York City” alum, 51, posted a rare positive review of one of Kim Kardashian’s products on TikTok last week — but over the weekend, she took the post down after realizing Kanye West owns a stake in the company.
In a new video explaining the decision, Frankel called the anti-Semitic comments made by Kardashian’s ex-husband “dangerous and diabolical” and refused to speak his name.
“It’s come to my attention that a certain individual who I will not discuss — because I decided I am cleansing them from any conversation that I have anywhere — that individual owns 5% of Skims,” she started the TikTok post.
Adding that she’d posted a positive review of Skims socks and “thought they were lovely, a good product,” the “Just B” podcast host discussed her concerns about West’s partial ownership of the brand.
“This is a multibillion-dollar company, so if someone owns 5 percent of it, it’s actually very significant,” she said. “That’s a significant amount to own of a multibillion-dollar company.”
Because of West’s involvement, Frankel said, she was “going to be deleting that video because it’s part of a conversation about, um, who brands align with.”
Continuing that “brands are often scared about who they’re going to associate with,” she said, “I would say it’s nothing personal. It’s entirely personal.”
“I have definitely made mistakes in inadvertently promoting — just by talking about — the wrong people,” she added. “If I don’t want that message in my life, in society, for my child, then I shouldn’t discuss it negatively or positively.”
“I just didn’t connect that a 5% owner of that business has created an anti-Semitic, dangerous, diabolical and destructive pattern throughout this country,” she ended the video.
While the “Donda” rapper’s stake in Skims is certainly significant, a source told Forbes that he has not been involved creatively in the brand since its 2019 launch. However, he isn’t the only investor in the company. West posted a rant earlier this month about Josh Kushner’s firm, Thrive Capital, which also holds a percentage of the company.
“WHAT IF I HAD 10% OF KARLIE KLOSS UNDERWEAR LINE WITHOUT YOU KNOWING AND YOU ONLY HAD 5%,” West complained on Instagram, referring to Kushner’s supermodel wife.
While it doesn’t appear that Kim is going to cut business ties with her ex-husband, his place in the fashion industry is certainly in a free fall. Adidas, Gap, Balenciaga, Vogue and more all cut ties with West due to his “White Lives Matter” T-shirts and subsequent controversial comments.
