Bethenny Frankel, reality TV-star and Skinnygirl mogul, lived out her relationship to Jason Hoppy in the public eye. Now, she continues to be public about the severing of her relationship with Hoppy by publicly discussing her divorce in California.
Frankel appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she talked about the challenges she faced. She apologized to her fans stating that she wanted a fairytale romance. She said that when the fairytale was not possible, she felt like a disappointment to all of the people who had cheered her and Hoppy on over the years.
The emotion Frankel demonstrated by talking about the “excruciating” pain she was feeling touched the hearts of many women who have been through their own divorces in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and across California.
The couple filed for divorce in January 2012. Since then, Frankel has said that she wants to “rip the band aid off” so that she can begin to heal. Still, she is aware of the struggles that they face as they work toward an amicable dissolution of their marriage.
One of the biggest challenges will be to decide who gets custody of their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Bryn. Another major challenge will be determining spousal support and child support payments. Frankel has made an empire for herself with her four times New York Times best-selling books, daytime talk show, and her Skinnygirl brand that continues to dominate in the marketplace. According to Forbes, Frankel netted approximately $55 million from 2010 to 2011. While the couple has a pre-nuptial agreement in place, dividing up the assets fairly between her soon-to-be-ex-spouse—who was a pharmaceutical representative—will prove difficult.