Bethenny Frankel Decides to Sell Part of Her Skinnygirl Empire Amid Custody Battle
Bethenny Frankel announced some big changes on the way on The Real Housewives of New York City.
As Bethenny Frankel's custody battle continues this season of The Real Housewives of New York City, everything the Skinnygirl mogul has to juggle has caused her to reevaluate her priorities, especially when it comes to her empire.
After leaving court following one proceeding in her custody battle with ex-husband Jason Hoppy in Wednesday night's episode of RHONY, Bethenny expressed how overwhelmed she was feeling during a phone call with Bernt, the president of BB Endeavors (clip above). "I'm taking on too much, Bernt. We need to let some air out of the tires," Bethenny shared. "I can't breathe."
Bethenny then said that she's been "approached by several people who are interested in buying the Skinnygirl brand. I'm not looking to exit; I'm just looking for ways to take some pressure off."
Later in the episode, Bethenny met with Bernt to move forward with selling part of Skinnygirl. She said she wants to give up 50 percent of her company but still have control the way she does now with creative and still be the face of the company.
"One thing that I've really done in my business is I've made the right moves. As great as that is, you get a little protective," Bethenny said during the episode. "So this would be, we're sitting at the chess board, and I just don't know what pieces to move around, but I am telling you I'm moving pieces around."
Bethenny said that it's been very gratifying to see how many people are interested in buying a part of Skinnygirl. "It feels very nice that people are impressed with the Skinnygirl brand, with what I've built, and I still feel like I'm that young girl struggling to make it work," she shared. "This is more than a decade later, and it's a known brand name. I just have to decide what the dynamic is going to be."
Bethenny said that she "can't live like this anymore," and she hopes to have more time to spend with her daughter, Bryn, who turns 9 later this month, her boyfriend, and to do disaster relief work. "I want my life to be different. I don't want to be rushing out of something to get to something else to get to be with my daughter. I want it to be balanced," she shared. "I have a good relationship going with a good guy, and I want to keep it that way."
Bethenny shared an update on when she thinks her custody battle will be over during her most recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in April, saying that she believes it should be settled "in the near future" and "not so long" from now. Hear more from Bethenny, below.
