Bethenny Frankel Talks About Carole Radziwill’s Past With Ghislaine Maxwell

Bethenny Frankel He measured it in his beginning The Real Housewives of New York City bestie-turned-enemies Carole RadziwillAlleged past friendship with a convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

“What I do know is that Carole was friends with a lot of famous women,” Bethenny, 55, told her Instagram followers on Saturday, February 7.

Bethenny’s name-check is late Carolyn Bessette KennedyHollywood boss Brad Gray‘s ex-wife Cassandra Huysentruyt and a CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour like several of Carole’s famous friends. (Carole, 62, was married to a fellow journalist Anthony Radziwiłł her cousin was Carolyn’s husband, John F. Kennedy Jr. Carolyn, her sister Lauren Bessette and John were all killed in a plane crash near Martha’s Vineyard on July 16, 1999 while Anthony died of cancer less than a month later on August 10, 1999.)

“I know that Carole has taken many opportunities to swipe at me, dig me, and talk bad about me in the post-[RHONY] in the world, which means that if the game is played, it’s a good game,” Bethenny emphasized.

I RHONY icon then added cryptically, “None of my business.”

Carole’s connection to Ghislaine, 64, has resurfaced following the Department of Justice’s release of more than 3.5 million documents obtained from a late sex offender. Jeffrey EpsteinLegacy. Jeffrey’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022 after being found guilty of sex trafficking. (Jeffrey died by suicide at the age of 66 in August 2019 following his arrest for sex crimes.)

Among the new documents released by the Justice Department are casual emails allegedly exchanged between Carole and Ghislaine in September 2005. In one message, Ghislaine appeared to describe Carole as “very beautiful, very beautiful, very smart, very good, very bright.”

Carole has talked about her connection with Ghislaine in the past. In September 2025, a fan asked him about X if it was true that Ghislaine was “the photographer for his book” What’s Left: A Memoir of Future, Friendship, and Lovee.

“I knew him socially [and] he had a real camera (it was 2004 and nobody had cameras) anyway I took a good picture but the pictures were bad,” RHONY answered the student. “I asked him if he was going to take a picture and he said sure. Looking back it was weird that he had a camera? I guess but who knew?!”

Another X user asked how no one in Carole’s circle knew about Ghislaine and Jeffrey’s crimes.

Related: Inside the complex history of Andy Cohen and Carole Radziwill

The ups and downs of Andy Cohen and Carole Radziwill’s friendship could be like reality TV. Before becoming one of the faces of Bravo, the host of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen appeared to have a friendly relationship with Radziwill that carried over to her first seasons of The Real Housewives of New. […]

“Surely the rich men, the people who are still annoying… ovs the men who were involved know… I mean the friends of the party especially us girls – we didn’t know. When people do bad*** they hide it well. It’s amazing,” said Carole.

He added, “The rich people I know are kind and decent. But apparently no one knew anything about him other than I think the FBI should release their report. It’s too bad. Too dark, no? Better leave it to the authorities.”

Carole denied knowing Ghislaine’s ex-boyfriend Jeffrey and said she knew nothing about his misconduct.

As for Bethenny and Carole, the two have been friends throughout their years RHONY but their friendship strengthened during season 10. Carole left at the end of the season, and Bethenny followed suit after season 11.

Carole also got into a fight with Bravo’s boss Andy Cohen when he left The Real Housewives of New York Cityalthough he confirmed Us Weekly at Bravocon in October 2025 that they will legally grind beef.

“Andy and I knew each other a long time ago, before Makhosikazi. After we left, there was hostility and not communicating well. It’s a very difficult job,” Carole admitted. “We didn’t talk for a long time, we ate a little in public. I just thought, ‘Why are we doing this in public?’

If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.