Bethenny Frankel is getting slammed by a small business owner… again!
Amanda Rojas, a jewelry designer behind the brand The Candy Lace, took to social media on Wednesday to call out The Real Housewives of New York City alum. Why? According to the businesswoman, Bethenny failed to properly credit her company while wearing her necklaces not once, but multiple times since May. Amanda wrote alongside a clip of the reality star on June 29:
“I’m having a really hard time with my work being misacredited and omitted from sourced brands after initially offering to help and having me send this product. 3x feels intentional and I’m super disappointed.”
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Bethenny claimed the necklace had been from BaubleBar in the clip. However, Amanda says that is not true. It is actually from her brand. To note, the television personality clarified in the caption that the “necklace is handmade by The Candy Lace,” and she “added my own charm.” Take a look (below):
It is unclear if Bethenny corrected the mistake before or after getting called out. Regardless, Amanda claimed she has continued to not shout out her business. Alongside other videos of Bethenny allegedly wearing her jewelry and not giving her credit, she wrote:
“I don’t feel like I’m owed anything — but she offered to help and now it feels like she is very deliberately not saying where these pieces are from. I’ve spent the last 3 months not publicly saying this and trying to make the best out of it all by reposting images etc.”
And she has tried! Take a look (below):
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Amanda went on to say Bethenny has “never publicly said that I made any of these” when she did, adding:
“And my heart is broken that it feels so intentional to not credit The Candy Lace. Again, I did not send these things randomly on a wish and prayers. We had a conversation after my piece was misrepresented by another brand. I really wanted to believe the best in all parties and to be patient. I understand that everyone has their own life going on. This feels pointed, though. And it’s really crushing me.”
What’s mainly upsetting Amanda is the fact that Bethenny credits every other brand in her outfit videos except hers, despite offering to help her out before:
“Just to clarify — I shared 3 recent examples last night. She’s worn my pieces nearly 30x since May. She called it Gold Haus because that fine jeweler represented my handmade work as their own to her. I reached out to clarify. She then offered to help and said she wanted to feature my woman owned business across her channels and asked if I wanted to send her any more pieces to layer. Since then, she’s called it Bauble Bar and used phrases to omit the necklace credit in outfit videos citing every other brand worn.”
And Amanda pulled out receipts to back her claims! In an email from Bethenny’s team on May 11, they wrote:
“Thanks so much for your note. We’d love to feature your Etsy shop on our socials! Are there other pieces that you’d like Bethenny to wear? She loves your pieces and we love to support women owned business whenever we can :)”
But when the “help offered never materialized,” she took matters into her own hands (see above). Fast forward to this week, and she received another email from Bethenny’s team demanding that she “remove all promotional content featuring Bethenny, along with references to her in your bio or other marketing materials.” They continued:
“If you’re interested in discussing a formal paid partnership with licensed content usage, we would be happy to connect you with our partnerships team. Bethenny’s standard licensing rate is $30,000 per piece of content for 30 days of usage. Unless and until a written agreement is in place, however, her content and likeness may not be used to market or sell The Candy Lace products. We appreciate the work that goes into building a small, women-owned business and want to handle this respectfully. At the same time, we have to be consistent in protecting Bethenny’s content and likeness across all brands.”
Naturally, Amanda is now very upset. She claimed she only sent new pieces to Bethenny because she offered to help and post about it, but “never did.” See all the posts from Amanda (below):
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Look, it’s not exactly clear if Bethenny had a contractual obligation to mention The Candy Lace just because she wore it. But if not, it’s up to her if she wants to say the brand or not in her own content. Is it the right thing to do? Sure! If she is going to mention every other brand in her OOTD videos, why not also help out and mention the small business? But without signing on the dotted lines, she’s unfortunately not obligated. Still, this is not a good look for Bethenny! Especially since this comes three months after she had an issue with another small business!
Fans may recall that Bethenny got called out by Alexia “Lexi” Ioannou, the daughter of Real Housewives of New Jersey alum Dina Cantin, formerly Manzo, after she sent her a free pair of shoes from her brand Nou. Bethenny wore the shoes in a video. But rather than crediting her company, she posted a similar-style shoe from a different brand with an affiliate link. Ick. Lexi said at the time:
“Bethenny Frankel is a weirdo. I sent her a pair of shoes from Nou almost a year ago because I look up to her. [She is a] female entrepreneur, [from the] Bravo universe like me. I guess she’s got to get that bag in some sort of way? So, she got the shoes for free from a woman-founded brand, mine, and then she made money sending her followers somewhere else.”
This sparked a back-and-forth feud between the two women. However, Bethenny later tagged Nou in a follow-up video — before insisting she can do whatever she wants if she gets sent something as a gift:
“I have stated multiple times, you send me something I have no obligation to link, like, use, wear, buy, tag. I can do whatever I want. Playing the short game and whining and being a crybaby about something that didn’t go your way in business means you’re not a real business person and you have a lot to learn. I would’ve worn all of the shoes on your site and you would’ve sold thousands of pairs and made hundreds of thousands of dollars. My account, my body, my choice. Once you send those shoes into my house, my shoes. You’re welcome.”
Hmm…
What are YOUR thoughts, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments (below)!
[Image via The Candy Lace Jewelry/Instagram, Bethenny Frankel/TikTok]
