'RHONY' Alum Jill Zarin Tells Bethenny Frankel Bravo Never Had Permission to Film Bobby's Funeral and Hoped She Wouldn't Sue Production
Jill Zarin made explosive claims about her former employer Bravo, claiming that production never got permission to film her late husband Bobby's funeral and that the network just counted on her not suing the production company for airing the footage, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Zarin, 59, made the shocking allegations when she reunited with her ex-Real Housewives of New York costar Bethenny Frankel on the latter's Just B podcast, marking the first time the former besties-turned-enemies sat for a one-on-one in over a decade.
The two were thick as thieves, with Frankel even admitting that Zarin got her on the Bravo reality series, but that all changed in 2010 and came to a head years later when Zarin accused the SkinnyGirl founder of bringing cameras to her husband's funeral for "publicity."
The ladies discussed their initial falling out, in which Zarin admitted she felt left out after Frankel hit it big with her cocktail line, pulling in over $100 million.
"The reason I was mad at you … is because I was hurt. And maybe I didn’t express it, I didn’t share it," she revealed. "I was hurt that I was losing you and was being left out of everything."
Zarin and Frankel got to their massive fallout following the drama of Bobby's funeral. The Zarin Fabrics owner died in January 2018 at 71 after a battle with colon cancer.
Frankel was the only housewife who showed up with Bravo cameras to Bobby's service, sparking a later nasty feud with Zarin, who claimed it was all for "publicity." Frankel had always defended her actions, claiming Zarin knew producers and cameras were coming to the event.
Speaking to Zarin, Frankel claimed that Andy Cohen had told her Jill was on board.
"Andy said to me when Bobby was in the hospital he would have loved coverage of this," the reality star-turned-businesswoman recalled. "He then said, 'Jill said you can bring the cameras to the funeral.' That’s what he said to me."
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Zarin immediately debunked Frankel's claim.
"If that was true, would they need a release from me, to get my voice on camera? Do they have one? I will tell you, they do not," she fought back.
Zarin then alleged that producers counted on the fact that she wouldn’t sue the production company. "If I tell you there is no release, you have to know I didn’t know," she reemphasized about allegedly not knowing footage from the funeral would appear on RHONY.
That's when it all clicked for Frankel, who responded, "What you’re saying is that I ambushed a funeral for f------ reality television. That’s disgusting."
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In 2021, Zarin claimed she would never be friends with Frankel again — and later explained it was her actions at the funeral that did it for her.
"She came with cameras [to Bobby’s funeral], which I didn’t know were going to be there, so that changed it for me," she told Page Six last year. “Housewives came without cameras to pay their respects: Dorinda [Medley], Luann [de Lesseps], Ramona [Singer], all came [with] no makeup, no hair, you know, not glammed out.”
RadarOnline.com has reached out to Bravo for comment.
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