Sonja Morgan Talks New Business Venture & Wishes She Had More Support From Fellow Castmates

Sonja Morgan asks, “ What’s a Party Without a Little Drama?” This season, I think she has it backwards. Bravo’s “Real Housewives of New York” should be asking, “What’s Drama Without a Little Party?” They appear to find time to party between knockdown drag down fights. Even when you think the friendships are solid and truces are lasting, there is always an undercurrent. Sonja is a little unhappy with Bethenny:

“I have mixed feelings about that Il Mulino lunch I had with Bethenny. On the one hand, I’m really grateful to have a girlfriend who is open minded and really wants to support me. But, at the same time, I don’t feel like Bethenny is really able to understand my businesses and my situation enough to ask some of the driving questions at this point.  Especially after the briefing she got from the other girls who pretend I haven’t been working my tail off and don’t know how to run a business. They ask questions to be judgmental and feign concern! Dorinda and Ramona are right–they are picking on me and being mean. They shouldn’t ask about my business if they don’t really care.”

To be fair, it’s not just that the other women have said that she’s not working, none of us have seen her working on a fashion line in the past. I’m glad the line is coming to fruition, if only to shut Heather, Carole, and Kristen up. Even still, Sonja has to accept the reason why the skepticism exists.

Sonja continues to moderately knock Bethenny by adding:

“I didn’t mean to come off as ungrateful to the process of reorganization when I said that there would be fumes left if I sold the house. I was just caught off guard, because Bethenny has a habit of cutting people off and throwing her generalized opinions so freely. I definitely have been blessed to have the opportunity to sell off assets to pay the judgment. Very! It’s enabled me to keep my house, my asset, and stability for my young daughter. Sorry, Bethenny, selling real estate and scaling down is not good business. Only sell to go bigger, leverage, and take tax advantages. That is if you can. I have owned my real estate for 18 years; it would be a shame to take a hit with that kind of appreciation.”

Sonja added,

“I know my brand because my brand is ME. When I went down to see Josh last season, I explained to him that I had been very discretionary and concerned about sequencing. I was already that far down the road after years of building my collection from scratch. When Josh told me I needed to spend $30,000 to get branding advice, I was far from that. Done that! Did that with an expert from my alma mater The Fashion Institute of Technology and a slew of other experts. After Heather helped me with the toaster oven shoot to make a box, I got a lot of information from the luxury department store executives that told me I needed guidance from a real branding expert.” 

BAM! So passive aggressive. So awesome.

“They were impressed I didn’t come in empty handed (I designed and built a fabulous toaster oven), but they pointed out that I was a fashion brand at heart and center. It’s an international brand in image. Starting with toasters was not a good idea. Down the road. Not first. So I took the advice and started my jewelry, fashion, and perfume ventures based on a solid business plan. It takes years to build a fashion collection. I have been involved and hands on every step of the way from design to marketing. My investors are the distribution experts. They have done it for decades.”

“But we were able to have fun once we both became more relaxed and gave up the idea that all of the complexities of my business deals and finances could not be adequately explained over an hour of wine and delicious food. I do love though that we ended up at Il Mulino downtown because I know and adore the owners, and I frequent their restaurant uptown. You should try it. Plus it was great to see Bethenny one on one after such a long time. Going downtown isn’t something I do often, but it’s good to mix it up a little and take a staycation every now and again!”

Luckily, Sonja remembers that there are other housewives in need of a lashing,

“I’m loving this new girl Dorinda more and more! While she’s talking to Luann she can be hilarious and boisterous one minute and then so open and vulnerable the next minute. Like when she said that line about when a vagina is involved there can be slip-ups and she doesn’t like slip-ups! Who comes up with that?! She is fun and doesn’t take herself too seriously and has a good outlook on the difficulties in life. I was surprised when she said that a divorce is a choice. When you get a divorced, you lose your husband, you lose your best friend (and sometimes a parenting partner), and that feels like a death in some cases, depending on the circumstances leading up to divorce. But then Dorinda had me laughing again shortly thereafter by saying that she just kept drinking when Heather and Bethenny got in that fight last episode. With these women, sometimes all you can do is order another martini and move on!”

I agree with her that Dorinda is a breath of fresh air. She’s a nice contrast to Carole, about whom, Sonja adds:

“Keeping secrets from friends is never good, and those things always end up coming out anyway. Look what happened to Lu and I last year when she hid the fact she and Jacques were having trouble. I didn’t realize she was sensitive and going through the trauma of separation. I felt terrible about being left out but even more terrible for Lu. I knew that day was coming and warned her, but it doesn’t take away the pain. I’m looking forward to the next best guy for Luann. I’m sure he isn’t far from now.”

Sonja chimes in about her sometimes BFF Ramona Singer:

“I wish that Ramona had not made that hello such a big deal! I would never mean to snub Ramona. I just honestly did not see her. But I know that she’s going through an emotional time, so I’ll give her a pass. She sees me coming off of my speed bump and may feel I will leave her. Never!”

Adding,

“If nothing else good came of that night, at least Ramona and Kristen were around wine glasses and none were thrown! That’s progress with those two. Luann, I’m as surprised as you that Dominik was around for so long. He came and stayed! He really is very nice, elegant, well mannered, and supportive, and knows my daughter is everything to me. He is also verrrry charming and attentive.”

 

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