Larsa Pippen‘s appearance at Bethenny Frankel‘s star-studded dinner wasn’t part of any reality show reckoning.
During a conversation on the “Gabbing with Gib” podcast, which was released on Friday, October 27, Pippen, 49, clarified why she attended.
“I was invited by my iHeart person, so I went because I have a podcast with iHeart. [There were] a lot of people with iHeart podcasts, that’s why I went,” the Real Housewives of Miami star, who shares a podcast with boyfriend Marcus Jordan, explained. “I had a great time, it was super fun.”
Pippen was in attendance alongside former Bravo stars NeNe Leakes and Raquel Leviss as well as actresses and personalities Jennie Garth, Tiffani Thessien, Melissa Rivers, Elisa Donovan, Tanya Rad and Cheryl Burke.
“A dinner JUSTBcuz,” Frankel captioned the Instagram photo. “Thanks for a beautiful night ladies … I’m still cleaning up all the spilled tea.”
As social media users questioned why the random group of stars were dining together, Pippen made it clear that she wasn’t even familiar with Frankel when she accepted the invitation.
“I had never really met Bethenny in person, so that was my first time meeting with her,” she continued. “I know she’s got issues with Bravo. I don’t personally have any issues with Bravo. We didn’t have one conversation like that.”
Pippen claimed the group didn’t even talk about reality TV, adding, “The conversations I had were with people who have podcasts. [There were] upbeat and optimistic conversations about our podcasts.”
Later in the episode, Pippen continued to praise Bravo.
“For me, I’ve had a great experience with Bravo. I’ve had a great experience with my production company. If I wasn’t happy, I wouldn’t come back,” she concluded. “And if I’d had issues, you know how my personality is, I would address them. I’m not someone who shies away from my feelings.”
Pippen was an original Miami Housewife when the series premiered in 2011. She returned for the Peacock revival in 2021 — and season 6, which debuts on Wednesday, November 1, is moving from the streaming service to Bravo.
Frankel, for her part, appeared on eight seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City. After the WGA and SAG-AFTRA went on strike earlier this summer, Frankel used the opportunity to speak out about her own issues with the industry.
“We’ve always been the losers. During the last writers strike, we were providing all the entertainment and that’s really when the gold rush of reality TV started,” Frankel said in a July Instagram video. “I have never made a single residual. So either I’m missing something or we’re getting screwed too.”
Frankel continued to demand change with ideas such as unionizing reality TV — even if they aren’t well received.
“I can tell you with great certainty that everyone at Bravo likely despises me, including Andy Cohen, because it’s very personal and because they have to protect the realm,” Frankel shared on an August episode of Rob Lowe’s “Literally!” podcast. “It’s a very complicated thing I walked myself into whilst also burning bridges and seeming like I’m biting the hand that fed me, but I fed myself. There are a lot of people who didn’t get fed.”
Bravo has not publicly addressed Frankel’s comments about her time at the network. Frankel also noted that she has not heard from Cohen, 55, since her initial strike comments.
“Some people say to me, ‘Oh, wow, is Andy mad you’re doing this? Have you spoken to him?’ And I say, I have not, but I’m sure he is,” she said during an August episode of her “Just B” podcast. “And this is not a target on Andy. This is not a target on Bravo. This is about a systemic issue in the entertainment industry.”
