What was supposed to be a fun week for TikTok stars Bunny Barbie and Kodye Elyse turn into a very public battle with a former reality TV star.
The pair were headed to Revolve Fest, an invitation-only event during the first week of Coachella. The event was sponsored by clothing line Revolve and boasted an A-list roster of influencers from all platforms to visit and create content. The festival was criticized online and even drew comparisons to Fyre Festival.
Bunny and Kodye shared to TikTok some chaotic moments they experienced during the trip. They say they were almost “trampled by people” as they got off the bus. “People were like rushing the bus. It was really actually scary,” Kodye recounts in one TikTok video.
A day later, the pair say they realized people were tagging them in a video posted by Bethenny Frankel, a former Real Housewives of New York cast member and philanthropist.
“Crying over douchella and the underprivileged influencers—it’s a cause near and dear to my heart,” Frankel sarcastically says in the video, joking about sending them relief as she often does in times of need (Frankel is the founder of a relief organization). “My favorite is them saying, ‘Oh my god this is terrible. We were being trampled and we couldn’t get on the bus, and it was horrible.’”
Her video has been viewed nearly 700,000 times. “Why not tag her next time,” one comment reads, referring to Bunny, who boasts nearly 2 million followers on the platform.
Bunny and Kodye told the Daily Dot they knew Frankel was talking about them, even though she didn’t name-drop anyone in the video, because “she directly quoted us on the word ‘trampled.’”
“She directly quoted us on the word ‘snatched,’” Bunny added.
“I honestly was shocked. I could not believe that a 51-year-old mother would come to the internet and just mock other women that way,” Kodye said.
Bunny told the Daily Dot she was out to dinner with her husband when she saw the post. She said stitched Frankel’s original post there and then.
“Oh, I know, because human rights and being trampled and pushed over is like ‘Oh my god, we should not complain about that,” Bunny says in the video posted from the restaurant. “But why don’t we talk about how you hindered my income for two years, and you had me under a contract that I could not start a YouTube. That I could not start a podcast because you needed more money from my reality show.”
For years, Bunny has shared tidbits about a reality show deal turned sour. She mentioned in previous videos that she was unable to do a lot of things because she was being held to a deal, while the reality show never came to fruition.
She never revealed, until now, any of the alleged people behind the alleged show (she claimed Frankel was the executive producer of the show).
“I couldn’t speak about the things for so long, and I felt that this abuse of power had been going on for so long in this dynamic that I have with her and other big companies,” Bunny told the Daily Dot. “I was just fed up with it, and it was enough.”
Bunny and Kodye said they said their piece and were ready to move forward. However, on her podcast Just B With Bethenny Frankel, Frankel once again brought up “douchella.”
On the podcast, Frankel says she doesn’t understand why she is told to support all women.
“A girl is a trashcan who sleeps with her best friend’s boyfriend. I don’t support that woman. A girl lays on her back and is a Godd*mn gold digger and is superficial and hasn’t contributed or made use of her life in any … charitable way or anything that adds to the universe and is just withdrawing on the ATM of life—I don’t support that woman,” she says on the podcast.
Kodye recently opened up on TikTok about how she “ended up in a relationship with” her friend’s ex-husband after their seperation. She says in the video she no longer has a relationship with either of them and that she was “harassed every day for the last four years” since.
Bunny, on the other hand, says she’s often called a gold digger by trolls online, despite building her own brand after gaining traction on TikTok.
“She must have done some digging,” Kodye told the Daily Dot of Frankel finding out about her relationship.
“It’s just really disappointing,” Kodye said. “I used to be a fan of hers. We don’t want to have to be making these videos and talking to you about this, and we would not have to do this if we weren’t defending ourselves. I just want to make it very clear that defense is not the same as offense.”
The pair said they have girls following them and want to set a good example by standing up for themselves.
“I think it’s a very bad thing to put on the internet and out in the universe,” Bunny said. “Spewing hate towards other women [and] slut-shaming me and other women on her podcast.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Bethenny Frankel via email.
