Roxanne 
Andy Cohen is defending Carole Radziwill’s return to The Real Housewives of New York City after fans questioned Bravo’s decision to bring her back amid renewed attention on her past connection to Ghislaine Maxwell and the Epstein files.
Andy took to Threads for an impromptu Q&A while traveling, writing, “On a plane and up for Q/A to kill some time if you wanna post some Q’s below ….”
One fan directly asked why Bravo brought Carole back despite the controversy surrounding her name appearing in documents connected to Jeffrey Epstein.
“Why on Earth did you bring back Carole with her known ties to the Epstein files,” the fan asked. “Many will be boycotting New York because of this.”
Andy responded by telling fans that Carole addresses the topic on the upcoming season.
“Then they’re missing out,” Andy wrote. “And she answers everything you’d want to know about it on the show.”
The backlash against Carole did not come out of nowhere.
Earlier this year, Carole’s name resurfaced after publicly available Epstein-related files included past communications involving Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell, a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted in 2021 of helping facilitate Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Entertainment Weekly reported that emails between Carole and Maxwell were featured in the document release, while Carole later addressed her past friendship with Maxwell and denied knowing Epstein.
Carole previously told The New York Times that she “never knew” Epstein, while acknowledging that she had been friends with Maxwell years ago. The Times also reported that Carole’s name appeared in a small number of the millions of publicly available Epstein files.
That is why some viewers are uncomfortable with Bravo bringing Carole back into the RHONY universe.
For many fans, anything connected to Epstein or Maxwell is not just regular Housewives drama. It involves real victims, serious crimes and a much darker subject than the typical Bravo feud. So even if Carole has denied knowing Epstein and has not been accused of wrongdoing, viewers still want clear answers about her connection to Maxwell and why her name appeared in the files.
The controversy is also expected to be part of RHONY Season 16. The season trailer shows Carole being confronted over the Epstein files, including Sai De Silva asking whether Carole ever went to Epstein’s private island. Carole answers “No” in the clip and pushes back against the implication.
