Bethenny Frankel Attends Event Amid Dennis Shields Controversy
April 6 2019, Updated 10:08 p.m. ET
Bethenny Frankel brushed off controversy and showed off her Skinnygirl legs in a white mini dress at the annual Variety's Power of Women luncheon in Los Angeles on April 4, 2019.
The Real Housewives of New York star popped up at the Hollywood event amid the scandal around her late ex-boyfriend Dennis Shields' funeral.
As RadarOnline.com has exclusively reported, Shields' close friends were outraged about the businessman's death being used as a storyline on a recent episode of RHONY.
On the episode, which aired on April 3, Frankel, 48, spoke about the sudden death of Shields, who died on August 10, 2018 of a suspected overdose.
She admitted not having an "identity" during the funeral service.
A longtime Shields' friend told RadarOnline.com Frankel's' behavior on the show "made me want to throw up."
The insider felt the Skinnygirl mogul's coverage of the funeral was distasteful.
As RadarOnline.com readers know, the Shields' friends were not only upset about Frankel's funeral talk, but also the decision to document her entire grieving process on TV.
"Will Bethenny stop at anything just to be a little bit more famous?" the insider wondered to RadarOnline.com.
"A man is dead, and his wife and children are still mourning the death of a husband and a father. Yet Bethenny has decided she will reopen wounds by using his death to make TV," continued the source. "She should be ashamed of herself."
On a March 20 episode, she told friend Dorinda Medley that the diamond ring she was wearing was actually an engagement ring that Shields gave her months before he passed away.
"I kept it to myself because I didn't want another circus of my life, so I didn't want to start telling people, but we had our own private engagement," she admitted.
Frankel has since moved on and is now dating Boston-based businessman Paul Bernon.
Check out RadarOnline.com's gallery for more on her appearance at the Variety luncheon.
Celebrating Women
Bethenny Frankel made an appearance at the annual Variety's Women in Power event on April 4, 2019.
Smiling Through The Pain
The RHONY star was all smiles despite the drama surrounding her documentation of the funeral and her process of grieving the death of her late ex Dennis Shields.
Unhappy Friends
RadarOnline.com readers know that the late businessman's friends thought Frankel's decision to use Shields' death as a plot point was "pretty disgusting."
TV Is Not For Everyone
"Just because she wants every second of her dysfunction live on camera, it doesn't mean everyone does. This is just wrong," a source revealed to RadarOnline.com.
Concerns For Family
Sources have said, however, that Shields was "super easy going" and probably wouldn't have cared. They were worried that the coverage would bother his ex-wife Jill and their four children. This week, Bethenny, who has donated her time and money to causes like the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Children's Health Fund and the Wish Upon A Hero Foundation, looked stunning in a white mini dress.
Private Engagement
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As RadarOnline.com reported, Frankel revealed to Dorinda Medley that she and Shields were actually engaged. He proposed to her on April 25, 2018.
Sharing Grief
Frankel appeared to be really emotional when speaking of her dead ex-beau Shields. "I don't want to say that it was even close to a perfect relationship,"she said on TV. "Part of me died inside. It was really bad. But I couldn't get out, though, either. I loved him so much and we were family and my daughter was so close to him and I knew him for so many years." But life goes on and Frankel was thrilled rub shoulders with other famous philanthropic women at the function.
