Bravo’s “Real Housewives of New York” stars Aviva Drescher and Carole Radziwill are currently in the midst of what the fandom is calling #Bookgate.
Aviva has said “the word on the street” is that Carole used a ghostwriter to pen her memoir “What Remains,” about her late husband’s battle with cancer. But the journalist and author didn’t take kindly to the accusation.
Watch an extended cut of Aviva and Carole’s #bookgate fight above.
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This isn’t the first time “Housewives” stars have been embroiled in controversy over a book.
On all the franchises, the women have parlayed their fame from the show into book deals. And on several occasions, the women and their books have become the subject of ire and in other occasions a book was just a replacement for deeper issues between the ladies.
Move over Aviva and Carole, here are six other tome-ultuous “Real Housewives” controversies:
1. Jill Zarin (“RHONY”): “Amazon-Gate”
The former “RHONY” castmember has been accused of using fake names to post threatening messages for people who negatively reviewed her book, “Secrets of a Jewish Mother.” One journalist reported that Zarin suggested she use a different name in order to skirt journalism ethics and give her book a positive review.
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2. LuAnn de Lesseps (“RHONY”): Practice what you preach
LuAnn was asking for it when she wrote the advice book, “Class With the Countess.” First, it’s tough to keep your manners while the cameras are shooting you for hours on end and you have women gunning for you. Then, soon after the book had been released in 2009, reports spread that her husband had just left her. They would soon divorce and thus make her a countess in (book) title only.
3. Alex McCord (“RHONY”): Kids do the darndest things
Alex and her husband, Simon van Kempen, wrote their book about parenting in the Big Apple titled “Little Kids, Big City.” Although it was more of a memoir than a guide to raising children, the couple’s parenting was the source of much criticism by castmates and fans alike for their kids’ rampant behavior problems, including when Bravo’s cameras caught their son climbing up a stranger’s leg in The Hamptons.
4. Danielle Staub (“RHONJ”): Secrets have a way of getting out
From the very beginning, castmembers felt there was just something not quite right about the single mom who wanted to be just one of the girls. The answers came from a true crime story being passed around between the women, “Cop Without a Badge,” which alleded that Staub had a spotty past that included prostitution, an arrest for drug possession, the violent kidnapping of a young man and extortion. It, of course, would inspire the legendary Teresa Giudice “prostitution whore” table flip.
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5. Taylor Armstrong (“RHOBH”): Way too soon
The star was heavily criticized when the news broke that she had made a book deal four months after her husband committed suicide. The move was perceived as opportunistic by some and way too soon by others.
6. Teresa Giudice (“RHONJ”): Cooking up a little drama
We’re not sure how family recipes and trash-talking belong in the same book, but Teresa did just that with her cookbook “Fabulicious!” She said some disparaging things about Caroline Manzo’s claim to her Italian roots and her Italian cooking, then basically called her sons lazy mama boys. She also took a moment to call sister-in-law Melissa Gorga out for copying her style.