In the wake of the death of his mother, Bethany Frankel is taking a step back from his podcast.
In an Instagram Story posted on Tuesday night, the former Real Housewives of New York star, 53, shared with her millions of followers that after careful consideration, she is pausing the Just B divorced series and removal of episodes.
“I have decided to temporarily remove my divorce podcast as a result of an overwhelming response and an influx of messages that converged with the most significant loss of my life,” she wrote on her Instagram Story.
The reference to the “overwhelming response” appears to stem from the headlines of a recent episode of the audio series, in which she said she was “relieved” when she miscarried a pregnancy with ex-husband Jason Hoppy and that she would “force” herself to have sex with Hoppy, 53, before their relationship ended in 2012.
“In a constructive way, I said, ‘I’m kind of relieved… because I don’t think this is a healthy or positive relationship,’” Frankel recalled telling Hoppy at the time, during the now-deleted episode. “It was like the first step to saying something.”
In her statement on Tuesday, the Skinnygirl Cocktails creator responded to the backlash over her comments, saying it was due to the way her comments were received during a time of mourning that she would be temporarily shutting down the podcast.
“The unforeseen circumstances and reaction to this triggering topic confirmed the importance of this conversation,” Frankel wrote. “In the coming weeks we will continue this dialogue to help you navigate your challenging divorce journey.”
In conclusion, the RHONY alum told her fans she is “grateful” for their support and love as she overcomes the traumatic loss of her mother and comes to terms with social media retreat.
Over the weekend, Frankel shared with her fans that her mother, Bernadette Birk — with whom she had a contentious and complicated relationship — died at age 73. years.
In the post, she described her mother as a woman of beauty and intellect who also had her own demons, including alcoholism, an eating disorder and self-destructive tendencies.
“Even though I wasn’t ready to be a mother, she loved me and I have beautiful memories of her,” Frankel said.
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