Bethenny Frankel and her ex-husband Jason Hoppy were back in court today to fight over custody of their daughter Bryn.
Bethenny’s divorce from Jason is over, but Frankel is now filing to get full custody of Bryn.
Today marked the first day of the custody trial, and saw Jason Hoppy speak out about his past behavior.
During the first day of the trial, Bethenny’s lawyer Allan Mayefsky argued that full custody of Bryn should be granted to Frankel because of alleged abusive behavior by Hoppy towards Bethenny, which he said was harmful to Bryn.
“The father’s behavior before and after their marriage is extremely harmful to Bryn,” Mayefsky argued, adding, “His abusive behavior towards her not only damages her relationship with her mother but to everyone else in her life.”
He then proceeded to list many of the things Hoppy has allegedly done to Bethenny since she filed for divorce, including reportedly locking Frankel’s dog Cookie in a storage room without telling her, sending her 500 emails over three months, and more.
It was also argued that Hoppy acted in a way that made appeared as if he was competing with Bethenny as a parent.
However, Hoppy’s lawyer, Robert Wallack, argued that the couple’s current co-parenting agreement worked just fine. He admitted that Jason had made mistakes in the past, but said that the current custody plan made everyone happy, including Bryn.
He added that when Bethenny had Jason arrested for stalking in January 2017, she expressed no desire to change the custody agreement.
Hoppy later took the stand, admitting that he “regrets” things that he sent to Bethenny in the past and that he took full responsibility for his actions at the time.
Frankel has said nothing in public about her court date. She has reportedly canceled an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen this week ahead of the new season premiere of The Real Housewives of New York, which takes place this Wednesday.
The Real Housewives of New York returns to Bravo with Season 11 this Wednesday, March 9 at 9/8c.