Bobby Berk of ‘Queer Eye’ Says an Unnamed ‘RHONY’ Star Stole From His Store
You might think that having a celebrity patronize your business would be a good thing. But according to Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk, that’s not always the case. The interior designer was a guest on The Jenny McCarthy Show on June 18, and he shared a story about a bad experience with a cast member on the Real Housewives of New York.
Bobby Berk says celebrities can be a ‘pain in the a**’
Years before he joined the cast of Queer Eye, Berk had a thriving business in New York City. He launched his online store, Bobby Berk Home, in 2006, and opened a brick-and-mortar location soon after, according to a report in Money.
The store was a success, and the stars came calling. But sometimes, those high-profile clients were more trouble than there were worth.
“Celebrities can be a pain in the a** sometimes,” Berk said, as reported by Us Weekly. “A lot of times there can be some that expect everything for free.”
Bobby Berk had drama with an ‘RHONY’ star
One RHONY cast member was particularly difficult, Berk recounted. The Netflix star didn’t name names, but he said this woman ended up causing a lot of drama.
“I had a New York housewife come into my store years ago in New York, and [she] was like, ‘Oh, I’m buying this new place.’ Turns out, of course, she wasn’t buying it. She didn’t even own the last one she had on the show that she said she owned,” Berk said.
He said the housewife told him that she wanted him to “come in and design it all.” She also promised to get Berk on the Bravo show. But he was skeptical. He told her he wasn’t sure if RHONY was the kind of exposure he wanted, but he’d do the work at cost.
Bobby Berk says the mystery housewife ‘literally stole’ from him
Berk thought he and the woman had reached an agreement, but then he heard from her husband, who tried to bully the designer into working for free. Fed up, Berk said he’d no longer work with the couple.
But unbeknownst to him, the Bravo star showed up at his store one day when he wasn’t there. She told his staff that Berk had told her could take whatever items she wanted for a shoot. If she didn’t bring something back, she told them to charge her credit card.
“They gave her whatever she wanted. She cleaned the store out,” Berk said. He didn’t realize what had happened until some time later, when he discovered items were missing from the store’s inventory. The staff fessed up, telling him the missing goods were at the RHONY star’s house.
“You could tell by the way they paused that they knew they had f*cked up,” Berk said. “They knew they had been scammed. Because apparently, months went by and they called and they called and they called, and when they could not get any response, they tried to charge the card, and of course, it was declined.”
Berk said he confronted the woman, telling her, “you literally stole from my store.” She threatened to sue him, telling him it would make “good TV.”
Berk says he learned a valuable lesson
Berk says he learned a valuable lesson from the unpleasant situation. He now doesn’t trust someone just because they’re a celebrity.
“If you’re somebody in this industry, I need to really know you because when I first met this person, I was like, ‘Oh, she’s great.’ But I didn’t really know her,” he said. “I’m very picky about the type of clients that we work with now — especially in Hollywood.”
