Bethenny Frankel Strikes Back After Jason Hoppy Makes Drug Use Claims After Dennis Shields’ Death!
Bethenny Frankel’s ex, Jason Hoppy, took the Real Housewives of New York star to task during a custody hearing on Thursday — questioning her “parental judgement,” after the suspected overdose death of the reality star’s on-off boyfriend, Dennis Shields.
Hoppy’s rep also suggested that Bethenny might have her own substance abuse issues. A separate report claimed that Hoppy was twisting the knife, because Bethenny was scoring a courtroom win.
“It was reported that he died of an Oxycodone overdose. Our concern is while his death is very sad this raises serious concerns about Ms. Frankel’s parental judgment,” said Hoppy’s attorney, Robert Wallack.
Shields, 51, died last week of a suspected opioid overdose in his Trump Tower apartment.
Bethenny recently requested full custody of the ex-couple’s daughter, Bryn, 8, after Hoppy was charged with stalking the Skinnygirl mogul. Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy divorced in 2016, and share parenting duties.
“Dennis Shields spent a great deal of time with Bryn and even cared for Bryn at times when Ms. Frankel wasn’t around,” Wallack told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Katz.
“Considering Mr. Shields’ addiction what does that say about Ms. Frankel’s parenting that she would allow this person to care for her daughter? This doesn’t just constitute a lapse in judgment this was just downright dangerous parenting,” Wallack added.
Bethenny was reportedly teary during the hearing, and seated just a few feet from Hoppy.
Wallack then referenced the May 30th airing of RHONY — an episode titled “Holidazed and Confused.”
“She was running around without clothes on and then she passed out and it was said she passed out from mixing Ambien with alcohol. Our concerns are whether Ms. Frankel may have some type of substance abuse problems so we would ask the court to order drug testing of Ms. Frankel to find out whether that’s an issue,” Wallack said.
Inside Bethenny Frankel’s Rocky Relationship with Deceased Ex Dennis Shields!
Reportedly that Hoppy lashed out, after the judge agreed to a later custody hearing.
“She filed back in December to ask for a trial to gain primary custody, as well as full decision making for Bryn. Jason went to court today totally fine with how the custody agreement already stood,” the source tells Radar Online. “He walked in there like ‘Bethenny is a great mom, everything is fine, there is no problem, let’s just leave the agreement as it is.’”
The insider revealed that a “forensic custody expert” was called in after Bethenny filed the December request, and after her appeal was granted, Hoppy “started to go off.”
“They felt that there was enough information that warranted her to be able to get a trial to have a case for custody. It was a win for her in that she got what she asked for today. So, do you think a judge, if he had any thoughts that maybe she wasn’t a fit mom, he was going to give her a trial?” reported the insider.
Judge Katz was reportedly unimpressed with the claims, and confirmed that Hoppy had been content to continue the shared custody arrangement.
“Now you’re throwing grenades across the table,” Judge Katz said.
Bethenny was dressed in black, and interestingly, was rocking a large diamond ring on her right hand. The sparkler fueled rumors that Shields had proposed to Bethenny in recent weeks — the supposed hush-hush offer a hot social media topic. Shields was separated but still married to his wife, Jill Shields, at the time of his death.
The source disputed Jason Hoppy’s position, and implied that Bethenny was well aware of the issues surrounding the relationship.
“There’s a reason Bethenny didn’t accept his proposal right away, she knew. She’s not a drug addict nor is she an unfit mother.”
“Think about the engagement story that Dennis proposed to her and that there were things or hurdles to overcome before she would agree to marry him.”
“She’s smart, she’s not stupid. She knows what the environment was or the issues going on, that she knew it wasn’t the right time to take that next step and take that relationship to the next level.”
The judge set a hearing to determine custody for mid-March.
The Real Housewives of New York airs Wednesday nights, on Bravo.
“Like” us on Facebook “Follow” us on Twitter and on Instagram
Becca is a Senior Editor for All About The Tea. She’s a coastal girl who loves the outdoors, and writing about the sneaky and silly side of reality TV. Her bio is short, but her snark is endless. She loves writing for the sharpest posters in the world.