Inside Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy’s bitter EIGHT year divorce: Look back at custody battle

It was reported on Tuesday that Bethenny Frankel had finally finalized her divorce with Jason Hoppy after eight years amid news that she was engaged to film producer Paul Bernon.

And here DailyMail.com takes a look back into their tumultuous marriage and contentious custody battle over 10-year-old daughter Bryn.

Frankel and Hoppy, both now 50, began dating in late 2008 and were engaged after 11 months of dating.

Scroll down for video 

The SkinnyGirl founder then got pregnant before they got married in front of reality TV cameras for spinoff Bethenny’s Getting Married in March 2010.

Two months later the couple welcomed daughter Bryn in May 2010 and their relationship was documented on additional spin-off Bethenny Ever After.

However two years later they announced their split and it did not take too long for it to get ugly.

DECEMBER 23, 2012 – FRANKEL AND HOPPY ANNOUNCE THEY ARE SEPARATING 

Frankel and Hoppy’s whirlwind romance came to a screeching halt as they announced that they were separating after two years of marriage in December 2012. 

The entrepreneur tweeted at the time: ‘I am heartbroken. I am sad. We will work through this as a family.’

She also gave a statement to UsWeekly at the time which read: ‘We have love and respect for one another and will continue to amicably co-parent our daughter who is and will always remain our first priority. This is an immensely painful and heartbreaking time for us.’

JANUARY 2013 – CUSTODY BATTLE BEGINS

Both Frankel and Hoppy were seeking primary custody of their daughter Bryn when the first paperwork was filed.

MAY 2014 – CUSTODY BATTLE GETS UGLY

An attorney for Frankel accused Hoppy of hacking into her personal email and ‘sought to obsessively control her every move through their daughter,’ according to a report from PageSix at the time. 

Frankel hired lawyer Allan Mayefsky, who repped Katie Holmes in her split from Tom Cruise.

Mayefsky claimed the Bravo star’s husband went ‘to war’ once their union crumbled in 2012. ‘He threatened to destroy her,’ Frankel’s attorney said.

‘He had her followed and spied on along with their daughter. He hacked into her most private personal email.’

​’​He has consciously placed his desire for revenge … over the best interests of this family and particularly the child,’ Mayefsky concluded.​ ​’He has sought to obsessively control their every move through their daughte​r.’

Mayefsky said his client is a ‘very, very involved mother’ whose success will benefit the child.

While Bethenny was insisting on primary custody and sole decision-making authority for Bryn, Jason ​was asking for shared custody.

While under attack, Jason showed no emotion. His attorney Bernard Clair, who has also repped Simon Cowell’s baby mother Lauren Silverman, also accused the Skinnygirl businesswoman of wanting to get even,

JUNE 2014 – CUSTODY AGREEMENT REACHED

The two finally agreed to share parenting duties to their daughter Bryn, who was four-years-old at the time, as Frankel said she was ‘thrilled.’

 A source close to the reality TV star has revealed to People just how happy she is that the long-running saga is finally over.

‘Bethenny never wanted to take it this far, never wanted this to be dragged out in court,’ the source tells the publication. ‘She’s thrilled this has settled.’

In a statement released by her ex’s attorney, Bernard Clair, at the time he also confirmed his client’s ‘delight’ that their legal dispute has been settled.

‘My client is delighted that this custody dispute has been resolved; that his co-parenting status has been acknowledged; that the parties’ child will have the benefit of being raised by both parents; and most importantly, that his daughter will no longer be at the mercy of a high profile courtroom battle,’ Clair stated.

He added on behalf of his client: ‘Jason wishes Bethenny only the best of luck, and he looks forward to sharing with her all of the joyous occasions, milestones and blessings that will be coming up in his daughter’s future.’ 

Clair also said that the specific terms of the settlement were confidential.

JULY 2016 – DIVORCE FINALIZED? 

It was reported that Frankel and Hoppy had finalized their divorce but details of the settlement were not disclosed.

Hoppy’s attorney Bernard Clair confirmed at the time the two had agreed on their settlement. 

‘Jason is thrilled that this chapter of his life is over; he is extremely pleased with the settlement that was reached,’ Clair said in a statement. 

‘Jason looks forward to the future and enjoying that time privately with family, friends and most important to him, his daughter.’ 

The two had haggled bitterly over her assets with frequent trips to court over how much he should be paid out.

Frankel has made an enormous sum not just from her reality show The Real Housewives Of New York City, but also from her Skinnygirl brand that sells vodka and candy, among other business ventures.

JANUARY 2017 – HOPPY IS ARRESTED FOR ‘STALKING’

Hoppy was arrested at his Manhattan apartment just four hours after Frankel claimed that her ex-husband rushed at her and new boyfriend at the time, Dennis Shields, after they had dropped off Hoppy and Frankel’s daughter Bryn at school and began to scream at the pair.

 There’s nothing you can do to stop me. You’ll be sorry. You’ve been warned. I can’t help it,’ Hoppy told Frankel according to her complaint.

He then told Shields that the Real Housewives of New York star was ‘pure evil’ before adding: ‘You’ve been warned. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

Prior to that, Hoppy had sent over 150 emails in less than three months to Frankel, this after he called her complaints that he was harassing her comical and told her: ‘I’ll never go away.’

He was charged with harassment in the second degree and stalking in the fourth degree an NYPD spokesperson told DailyMail.com for contacting the ‘female victim numerous times via email and facetime’ as well as approaching her and ‘making verbal threats.’

Frankel was also granted a six-month restraining order the following day which prohibited Hoppy from speaking with her or an unnamed third party involved in the incident, who is likely Shields.

Hoppy’s attorney Robert C. Gottlieb responded to the charges against his client by telling DailyMail.com: ‘We look forward to having all the evidence and the truth exposed in a courtroom.’

In a statement to DailyMail.com at the time, Frankel’s lawyer Barry Zone of Moses & Singer said that the charges against Hoppy come after his client endured a great deal of ‘abuse’ from her ex.

‘Ms. Frankel’s decision to report Mr. Hoppy’s abusive behavior followed years of systematic bullying, harassment, stalking and torment on an almost daily basis,’ said Zone.

‘Indeed, Mr. Hoppy has sent hundreds of escalating texts and emails to Ms. Frankel, her assistants and her boyfriend, demanding that she meet with Mr. Hoppy unnecessarily, stating that ‘I’ll never go away’ and that ‘[y]ou left me no choice but to go to extremes’, claiming that her ‘definition of harassment is comical’ and that he will ‘continue to communicate with [her] as [he] see[s] fit’, requesting copies of her life insurance policy, and telling her that ‘I’ll pray for you.’

MARCH 2018 – FRANKEL REQUESTS NEW CUSTODY AGREEMENT

Frankel sued Hoppy for full custody of then seven-year-old daughter Bryn nearly a year after his arrest.

AUGUST 2018 – HOPPY QUESTIONS FRANKEL’S ‘PARENTAL JUDGEMENT’ AFTER BOYFRIEND DENNIS SHIELDS DIED OF DRUG OVERDOSE

The custody case got even uglier when Hoppy questioned Frankel’s ability to parent after the death of her on-off boyfriend who died the previous week from a suspected opioid overdose.

He invoked Dennis Shields’, the star’s recently deceased boyfriend, in his case to win joint custody of their daughter Bryn.

He argued that Frankel sometimes left Bryn in Shields’ care which he described as a questionable decision.

As Frankel fought back tears, Hoppy’s lawyers went on to suggest that she herself may have an alcohol problem by pointing to footage of her on the Real Housewives of New York City where she is inebriated.

‘Dennis Shields spent a great deal of time with Bryn and even cared for Bryn at times when Ms. Frankel wasn’t around.

‘Considering Mr. Shields’ addiction what does that say about Ms. Frankel’s parenting that she would allow this person to care for her daughter?

‘This doesn’t just constitute a lapse in judgment this was just downright dangerous parenting,’ Hoppy’s attorney Robert Wallack told the court, according to Page Six which attended the hearing.

Wallack went on to make reference to a recent episode of the Bravo show in which Frankel appears as proof of her apparently ‘dangerous’ parenting.

‘There was a recent episode in which she appeared to be intoxicated.

‘She was running around without clothes on and then she passed out and it was said she passed out from mixing Ambien with alcohol.

 ‘Our concerns are whether Ms. Frankel may have some type of substance abuse problems so we would ask the court to order drug testing of Ms. Frankel to find out whether that’s an issue,’ he said.

MARCH 6, 2019 – FRANKEL CRIES ON WITNESS STAND AS FULL CUSTODY BATTLE BEGINS

Frankel sobbed on the witness stand as she described how her ex-husband Jason Hoppy tormented her for six-and-a-half years after she asked for a divorce and the custody battle for their daughter began.

In the third day of their bitter custody hearing at Manhattan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, a weepy Frankel described in detail how Hoppy tried to turn their eight-year-old daughter Bryn against her, turned her life into a ‘torture chamber’, and even left mess in the toilets of their Tribeca apartment for her to find.

Among the more disturbing anecdotes Frankel gave was one in which she described Hoppy drawing a picture of her beloved dog Cookie and leaving it in Bryn’s lunchbox for her to find just a day after the pup died. It was signed ‘Dad’

The court also heard recordings of phone calls between Hoppy and Bryn in which he told his daughter that Frankel wouldn’t let him speak to her.

Frankel, who had the support of new boyfriend (now fiance) Paul Bernon in the courtroom, described in detail the ‘thousands’ of ‘abusive’ text messages, emails, and phone calls Hoppy has bombarded her with since they split in 2012.

She was fighting not only for sole custody of Bryn but also for sole decision making powers on the grounds that she is afraid of her unpredictable and ‘violent’ ex. 

 Hoppy claimed they were co-parenting successfully despite Frankel crying on the stand and asking the judge to tell her ex-husband to stop ‘glaring’ at her.

MARCH 26, 2019 – DURING CUSTODY HEARING IT IS REVEALED THAT FRANKEL CALLED HOPPY ‘WHITE TRASH’ AND THREW WATER ON HIM WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING

Frankel was cross-examined as it was revealed she called her ex-husband white trash and once threw water on him while he was sleeping.

Robert Wallack, Hoppy’s attorney, asked Frankel about an incident in which she called her ex-husband ‘white trash’. 

‘You called him white trash, correct?’ Wallack asked Frankel.

‘I think I called his family that,’ she replied.

Wallack then had Frankel read from a transcript of the couple’s 2014 divorce hearing.

Frankel had said during the hearing that she called Hoppy ‘white trash’ after he told her he found an ‘investor’ to fund his divorce battle.

‘You called him white trash,’ Wallack asked again.

‘Yes,’ Frankel replied.

Wallack had Frankel read from the same transcript as he questioned her about the time she threw water on her ex-husband while he was in bed.

‘There was a time where he was sleeping and you threw water at him, correct?’ Wallack asked, according to Radar.

‘I don’t know if he was sleeping, but I threw water on him,’ she said.

Wallack then had Frankel look at a specific page of the 2014 testimony, in which she said ‘I splashed water at him when he was sleeping, I cracked’.

‘Okay, then yes,’ she told Wallack.

Frankel had begun crying just minutes into her testimony earlier on Monday as she revealed how Hoppy would taunt her with FaceTime calls.

 MAY 2019 – FRANKEL YELLS ‘YOU TORTURED ME’ AT HOPPY IN EMOTIONAL COURTROOM OUTBURST

 On day three of court proceedings in New York, Bethenny Frankel interrupted Hoppy’s testimony in an emotional outburst, RadarOnline reported.

As he spoke about how ‘furious’ he was that Frankel did interviews about their failed marriage, the Real Housewives Of New York star yelled at him: ‘You tortured me. You tortured me!’

 The judge then reprimanded Frankel, reminding her that it was her former husband’s time to testify, and then ordered a break in proceedings.

According to Radar, the reality star and Skinnygirl businesswoman ‘stormed out’ of the courtroom and was then seen speaking with her boyfriend Paul Bernon. 

JUNE 2019 – HOPPY CLAIMS FRANKEL WON’T LET DAUGHTER PRAY AT HER HOUSE

In the final day of the trial in the battle over the then nine-year-old daughter Bryn, Hoppy claimed Frankel does not allow their child to pray in her home.

‘Bryn tells me when [she] tries to pray at Bethenny’s house, Bethenny shuts it down [and] says don’t say that in my house,’ the businessman alleged on Friday, June 21, according to Us Weekly.

 The former couple also had a bout of give-and-take when they argued about whether Frankel began to object to their daughter’s religious education in the recent months.

Also during testimony, Hoppy pleaded his case as a good parent and said he has accepted who his ex-wife is and moved on from the relationship. 

‘She is strong-willed. She does what she wants. Her actions, her behavior, I can’t control,’ he confessed.

‘I’ve moved on. I have no opinion of what Bethenny does outside our daughter. I have no interest in sparring with her anymore. I have no interest in violating the parenting agreement. I care about Bryn.’

SEPTEMBER 2020 – FRANKEL REVEALS SHE IS STILL MARRIED TO HOPPY   

Frankel revealed that she is still technically married to her estranged second husband Hoppy nearly eight years after they legally separated in December 2012.

The topic came up when Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen asked the Manhattan socialite if she was going to marry her boyfriend since October 2018, Rubicon Real Estate managing partner Paul Bernon.

That’s when Bethenny flashed a huge grin and confessed: ‘I’m still married…Crickets again! And scene. And we’re back. And we’re walking.’

Frankel’s 52-year-old former boss was so shocked his jaw literally dropped: ‘You’re killing me.’

JANUARY 20, 2021 – DIVORCE FINALLY MADE OFFICIAL 

A judge finally signed off on Frankel and Hoppy’s divorce but the news was not reported until two months later.

MARCH 23, 2021 – FRANKEL IS REVEALED TO BE ENGAGED TO PAUL BERNON

The Skinnygirl founder is set to wed her boyfriend, 42-year-old real estate developer Paul Bernon – whom she started dating in 2018, split from in late 2020 and got back together with earlier this year – according to People.

The Real Housewives Of New York star was seen flashing a very large diamond, which is believed to be her engagement ring, on her wedding finger over the weekend when on the beach in Miami.

Frankel’s spokesperson did not immediately return calls to DailyMail.com for comment.