The stars of Netflix’s buzzy new reality series “Members Only: Palm Beach” aren’t crazy about Bethenny Frankel’s latest commentary. In fact, they appreciate her attention.
The former “Real Housewives” star, who recently moved to Florida, set social media on fire after comparing the women of “Members Only: Palm Beach” to “Walmart Birkins” and claiming that the uproar surrounding the show was more due to the jealousy of a veteran Palm Beach security guard than any relationship with the cast.
“I had to talk about ‘Members Only: Palm Beach,'” Frankel said in a recent TikTok rant. “This involves so many people in the same way that the Wal-Mart Birkin involved people, because the people who had real Birkins wanted everyone to know how different and elite they were.”
Frankel went on to suggest that longtime Palm Beach residents are desperate to separate themselves from newcomers, especially women who don’t technically live on the island.
“And now, all of us in Palm Beach are really trying to figure out and define the differences between Palm Beach headquarters and West Palm,” she said, likening the dynamic to the “Gilded Age” and calling the territoriality “totally absurd and overblown.”
The comments may sound harsh, but several stars of Netflix’s latest guilty pleasure told Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” that they actually took Frankel’s words as a compliment.
Ro Mina Ustaev admitted that she was initially taken aback by the statement, but ultimately felt supported.
“I don’t know if[her comments]were about me or about other members[of the cast]. I think she was defending me,” Ustaev says.
“I didn’t fully understand 100 percent what she was trying to say, but my friends were like, ‘She’s defending you, like it was something that was going on behind the scenes that you had to deal with,'” she elaborates. “I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I would love to connect with her, talk to her, and take her to Palm Beach.”
Meanwhile, Rosalyn Yellin relished the moment and the chaos.
“I love it. What’s going on? She’s talking about it,” Yellin says. “The country can talk about it, you can talk about it, and people can talk about it. Come on, let’s listen.”
Yellin said Frankel’s larger points didn’t go unnoticed, especially her criticism of Palm Beach residents who are obsessed with who lives on the island and who doesn’t.
“At the end, she said, ‘These people who live on the island… go online and[the cast]don’t live on the island,’ and she said, ‘They’re more ridiculous than the women on the show,'” Yellin recalled. “So what? They are. They’re even more ridiculous.”
Yellin dismissed accusations that the women were simply desperate outsiders.
“We are having fun and doing great things. We are always on the island,” says the founder of Juvetica. “Actually, it’s none of their business. They just want to stick to our interests.”
Taja Abitol echoed that sentiment, arguing that Frankel’s “Walmart Birkin” analogy is largely misunderstood.
“I don’t think it was an insult at all. I think people misunderstood,” Avitol said this week on SiriusXM’s Page Six Radio. “People said, ‘Did you hear what she said about you?’ I said, ‘I’m really honored that she’s watching.’
Mr. Avitl, who founded Tajadrip, a wellness company based at Miami Beach’s famous Faena Hotel, publicly recruited Mr. Frankel.
“I said, ‘Bethenny, thank you for tuning in and please come to Faena to see Taja Drip. I want the treatment!’ Because she’s a member of Faena,” she added.
For Frankel, the whole situation is less about the Netflix cast and more about what she sees as Palm Beach’s deeply ingrained obsession with wealth and status.
“The only currency in Palm Beach is how rich you are,” she said on TikTok. “For example, a billionaire feels poor because there are other billionaires who are richer. What! Could that be your identity?”
Love it or hate it, this social experiment is clearly working. And if Frankel’s commentary is any indication, “Members Only: Palm Beach” is already doing exactly what reality TV is supposed to do best: wake you up, entertain you, and keep you talking.
“Members Only: Palm Beach” is available to stream on Netflix.
