Frankel framed this as a straightforward business lesson — she wore the shoes, her audience asked where to buy them, and since Nou was sold out, she linked an available alternative. No malice, just retail strategy.
Sources close to the situation say Iannou had been sitting on this grievance for nearly a year, waiting for a moment of viral visibility before going public — a calculated move that didn't sit well with Bravo insiders who remember Frankel's own Shark Tank hustle all too well.
Iannou sent Frankel shoes from Nou 'almost a year ago.' Frankel linked Black Suede Studio heels at Bloomingdale's for $345 on her Instagram Story. Dina Manzo publicly called the move 'SO odd' via her own Instagram Story post directed at Frankel.
Bethenny didn't build a Skinnygirl empire by playing nice, and she's not about to start now — Iannou learned the hard way that in influencer business, free product doesn't buy loyalty.
Bethenny Frankel is never one to stay quiet when someone comes for her reputation, and she proved it once again this week — torching Alexia Iannou, daughter of Real Housewives of New Jersey star Dina Manzo, after the young entrepreneur publicly accused her of being a "weirdo" who wore gifted shoes without giving credit where it was due. The drama unfolded across Instagram Reels, TikTok videos, and Instagram Stories in a back-and-forth that had all the messiness Bravo fans live for.
It started when Iannou posted an Instagram Reel calling out Frankel for wearing her shoe brand Nou multiple times online without tagging the business — and then, when asked by followers where to buy the shoes, linking to a dupe instead. "I sent her a pair of shoes from Nou almost a year ago because I look up to her," Iannou explained in her video. "She's an entrepreneur, [in the] Bravo universe like me, and she's been on Shark Tank." The real sting came when she noted that Frankel linked similar heels via an affiliate link rather than crediting the brand that gifted her the original pair.
"She got the shoes for free from a woman-founded brand — mine — and then she made money sending her followers somewhere else," Iannou fumed to her audience. Dina Manzo backed her daughter without hesitation, reposting screenshots of Frankel's Instagram Story to her own page with a scathing message. "WOW BETHENNY WOW!!
So odd of you to post a dupe of your GIFTED shopnou shoes instead of giving a young woman entrepreneur the credit," Manzo wrote. "You wear them often so we know you like them???" TheRHONJ vet made it clear she was Team Iannou all the way, turning what started as a product callout into a full-blown family affair. Frankel, never one to absorb criticism quietly, fired back hard with her own TikTok video laying out exactly why she linked elsewhere — and the reasoning was pure business.
"The audience gets frustrated when they can't buy something immediately," Frankel explained to her followers in a Friday video. She confirmed that her team had tagged Black Suede Studio heels from Bloomingdale's on her Instagram Story because the Nou shoes were sold out at the time of posting, not out of any vendetta against Iannou or her brand. But the real shot came when Frankel turned her camera directly toward the criticism and dismantled it with the cold efficiency of someone who's been in the influencer trenches for years.
"Whining and being a crybaby about something that didn't go your way in business means you're not a real business person," she told Iannou straight to the lens. She went further, emphasizing that gifted products come with zero obligation — no requirement to link, tag, wear, buy, or promote any brand that sends her items. "The business lesson is: there are other lovely things on this person's site and there are about a hundred brands that will watch this video and will message her to tell her how much product I move," Frankel continued, name-dropping her track record with Sprinkle cookies for Melissa Gorga, dresses for Amy Brooke, and Guess jeans as evidence of her promotional power. "I move a lot of product because I don't bulls–t." She later gave Nou its proper credit in a follow-up Instagram post offering a full OOTD breakdown, but the message was clear — she plays by her own rules, and anyone expecting special treatment is about to get an education.
