Luann de Lesseps has officially entered the chat.
The Real Housewives of New York City alum chimed in after Dina Manzo’s daughter Lexi Iannou called out Bethenny Frankel for allegedly wearing a gifted pair of shoes from her brand Nou without tagging the company, then linking a similar dupe with an affiliate link instead.
And Luann wasted no time bringing some classic Countess shade to the situation.
Commenting on Lexi’s Instagram post, Luann wrote, “Money can’t buy you class.”
Of course, Bravo fans know that line is not just a comment. It is one of Luann’s most iconic phrases, and given her long, complicated history with Bethenny, the remark felt extra pointed.
Bethenny and Luann spent years together on The Real Housewives of New York City, where their relationship went through many ups and downs. The two had moments of friendship, but also plenty of explosive clashes over loyalty, ego, cabaret, relationships, and how they treated one another on and off camera.
So when Luann jumped into the drama with “Money can’t buy you class,” fans immediately took notice.
The shoe drama began after Lexi claimed Bethenny wore shoes from Nou, a brand Lexi founded, but failed to properly credit the company once fans started asking where the shoes were from.
Lexi called Bethenny out in an Instagram video, saying, “Bethenny Frankel is a weirdo. I sent her a pair of shoes from Nou almost a year ago because I look up to her. [She is a] female entrepreneur [and from the] Bravo universe like me.”
Lexi explained that she was not upset Bethenny did not tag the brand immediately, but said the situation changed once Bethenny’s video started gaining attention.
“OK, that happens, but then she posted a video today that’s going viral and a bunch of people are asking where the shoes are [from]. Instead of linking them, she linked a dupe with an affiliate link,” Lexi said. “I guess she’s got to get that bag in some sort of way? So, she got the shoes for free from a woman founded brand, mine, and then she made money sending her followers somewhere else.”
Lexi added, “So, she got the shoes for free from a woman founded brand, mine, and then she made money sending her followers somewhere else.”
Dina Manzo also defended her daughter on Instagram, calling Bethenny out directly.
“WOW BETHENNY WOW!!” Dina wrote. “So odd of you to post a dupe of your GIFTED shopnou shoes instead of giving a young woman entrepreneur the credit. You wear them often so we know you like them???”
Dina also showed support for Lexi in the comments of her Instagram post, writing, “Proud of you for standing up for yourself and the brand you’ve worked so hard to build ❤️”
Bethenny later responded on TikTok and said her team linked a different shoe because the Nou shoes were sold out.
“The audience gets frustrated when they can’t buy something immediately. Why would I wear and talk about it if they can’t buy it?” Bethenny said.
Bethenny also made it clear that she does not believe gifted product automatically requires a post, tag, or link.
But Luann was not the only person chiming in under Lexi’s post.
A makeup artist named Lauren also commented and shared her alleged experience working with Bethenny.
“I used to do her makeup, all the time. Like in her house multiple times a week. She treated me like “the help”, never addressed me by my name, screamed at me and her 3 assistants. She was a nightmare,” Lauren wrote.
The comments have only added more fuel to the fire as fans continue to debate whether Bethenny was wrong for not crediting Lexi’s brand or whether Lexi should have handled the situation differently from a business perspective.
Either way, Luann’s comment made one thing clear. The Countess saw the drama, and she did not miss the chance to deliver a little classic RHONY shade.
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