Bethenny Frankel Fires Back at Critics Calling Her out for Transphobic Comments: ‘Nominate Me for Cancelation’
Bethenny Frankel has never been afraid of a little controversy and fans of The Real Housewives of New York City know it. The former Bravo star always voiced her opinion no matter how unpopular it was and has gotten a little messy recently. Frankel hosts a podcast and in a recent episode made some comments that some have deemed transphobic. Now the reality TV star is firing back at critics and challenging them to cancel her.
What were the comments Bethenny Frankel made?
Frankel is the host of her own podcast called Just B where she rambles about topical issues. In the episode that was posted on September 23, the former RHONY star talked about a transgender child that went to an all-girls summer camp. Although her 11-year-old daughter didn’t go to the camp, Frankel was included in an e-mail chain where she learned about the matter.
“It’s an all-girls camp and a person with a penis, who identifies as being a girl, went to the camp and was in the bunk with the girls,” Frankel is heard recounting the story. “The other girls saw her, because it’s her. It’s male anatomy, but identifying as a woman. So, the other girls saw a penis. They’re like 9, 10 years old… So, the parents obviously weren’t that happy.”
Frankel also learned that the girl she was talking about “was making out with a lot of the different girls at the camp.” The Skinnygirl founder said that her daughter understands the subject of gender identity but is not convinced she would let her bunk with a transgender child.
“She also hasn’t seen a penis. So, in a camp, she’d see girl parts so I think these conversations are also fluid,” she explained. “It’s an interesting conversation about a girl, female anatomy being in a male anatomy bunk or vice versa.”
Former ‘RHONY’ star doesn’t back down
The conversation that Frankel had on her podcast stemmed from a meeting she had with her daughter’s school about pronouns. After Page Six published a story about her controversial comments, more backlash ensued for the former The Big Shot reality competition show host. Instead of backing up from what she had said without first-hand knowledge, she doubled down and challenged people to cancel her.
“I didn’t do one thing wrong. Conversations are healthy. Try it. Doubling down. I’m not a celeb who panics in fear of cancelation [because] I didn’t say something precisely how you needed to hear it,” she tweeted at a fan. “I don’t have a transphobic bone on my body so take it elsewhere.”
With no apologies given for her words, Frankel added, “Listen to the podcast. Then comment. I was absolutely not wrong. And I’m going to discuss this again this week. Thankfully I have a platform to clarify what the media loves to distort. ps. I’m not afraid of cancelation so not afraid of charged discussions.”
In another tweet she said, “Nominate me for cancelation…there are like five others before you so take a number.”
Frankel hinted that she would talk more about the subject in a future podcast episode. Some people in the comments questioned if she created this controversy to drive listeners to her digital show.
