Roxanne 
Gia Giudice is weighing in on Bethenny Frankel’s drama with Dina Manzo’s daughter, Lexi Ioannou, and she is making it very clear whose side she is on.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey daughter spoke about the situation on her Casual Chaos podcast, where she defended Lexi after Bethenny was called out for wearing shoes from Lexi’s brand, Nou, without properly crediting the company.
Gia, whose mom Teresa Giudice was once close with Dina Manzo, explained that she still has a relationship with Lexi and was not happy with how Bethenny handled the situation.
“I do have a relationship with her. I am so proud of her. I have the new shoes. And I did see all the backlash about what Bethenny Frankel was doing, and I did not appreciate it. Just say where your shoes are from.”
The drama started when Lexi called Bethenny out on Instagram after the former Real Housewives of New York City star posted content wearing a pair of shoes from Nou. According to Lexi, she had sent Bethenny the shoes almost a year earlier because she looked up to her as a female entrepreneur and fellow Bravo universe figure.
However, when fans started asking where the shoes were from, Lexi claimed Bethenny linked a similar pair from another brand with an affiliate link instead of giving Nou credit.
Lexi addressed the situation in an Instagram video last month.
“Bethenny Frankel is a weirdo,” Lexi said at the time. “I sent her a pair of shoes, from Nou, almost a year ago because I look up to her. Female entrepreneur, Bravo universe like me, and she’s been on Shark Tank.”
Lexi said she understood that Bethenny may not have tagged the shoes when she first received them, but felt differently once the post started getting 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 previously 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.”
Dina Manzo also defended her daughter, calling out Bethenny on Instagram and later telling Lexi she was proud of her for standing up for herself and the brand she worked hard to build.
Bethenny eventually responded on TikTok, explaining that her team linked a different shoe because the Nou shoes were sold out and her audience gets frustrated when they cannot immediately buy something she posts.
“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 she owes any brand promotion just because they send her free products.
She said she has no “obligation” to “link, like, use, wear, buy, tag,” any brand that sends her gifted items.
Bethenny then turned the situation into a business lesson, saying, “The business lesson is: there are other lovely things on this person’s site and there are about a hundred brands that will watch this video and will message her to tell her how much product I move — how many Sprinkle cookies for Melissa Gorga, how many dresses for Amy Brooke, how many pairs of jeans for Guess — I move a lot of product because I don’t bulls–t.”
She continued, “So, playing the short game and whining and being a crybaby about something that didn’t go your way in business means you’re not a real business person.”
Bethenny added, “You have a lot to learn because I would have worn all the shoes on your site and you would have sold thousands of pairs and made hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Now, Gia is making it clear that she did not appreciate Bethenny’s response.
Gia said Lexi’s reaction reminded her of Dina, adding, “Lexi is so Dina-coded. And she is obviously my aunt Dina’s daughter. And it is just so funny the way that she responded back and was like, ‘Excuse me, now I don’t like you. I used to look up to you, but now I don’t like you.’”
Gia said it was “weird” that Bethenny did not simply give Lexi credit for the shoes.
“Lexi is a young entrepreneur. I mean, God bless her. They’re becoming wildly successful, and the brand is evolving, but just give her the credit,” Gia continued. “Just give the girl some credit, help her grow her business.”
Gia then called Bethenny’s behavior “crazy” and defended the quality of Lexi’s shoes.
“It’s crazy behavior,” Gia said. “And then to insult the shoes. Come on. Lexi puts in the work. They’re handmade from Portugal.”
