Bethenny Frankel Celebrates 50th as Other Reality Stars Face Birthday Bash Backlash
As the coronavirus rages on, people are turning a year older all over the world under the shadow of pandemic.
Ivy Griffith
As the coronavirus rages on, people are turning a year older all over the world under the shadow of pandemic. Most people are opting to have smaller celebrations, or skipping them altogether. However, some reality star elites have been celebrating their birthdays with lavish birthday parties, attended by dozens or even hundreds of people. Social media has blasted these parties as irresponsible, dangerous, and dripping with privilege. It’s against this background which Bethanny Frankel chose to celebrate her own 50th birthday, and the Real Housewives of New York’s choices are raising some eyebrows.
Tone-Deaf Parties As People Suffer
In recent months, several high-profile reality stars have come under fire for their birthday party celebrations.
Back in August, TikTok star Bryce Hall was slammed after hosting a massive birthday party. The Sway House star turned 21 in August, and as CELEB wrote at the time, “Friday, Hall turned 21. And his friends turned up. Video of a massive party was shared by DefNoodles on Twitter, showed a who’s who of Gen Z influencer superstars. The party included dancing, drinking, and male and female strippers. TikTok stars Curtis Newbill, Teala Dunn, Brooke Hyland, and TV’s, ‘Too Hot to Handle,’ star, Harry Jowsey, all showed up to party at the maskless gathering, where social distancing was most definitely not occurring. Police broke up the bash around 4am.”
More recently, Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner both came under fire for their respective birthday parties. Kardashian hosted a lavish private island party and shared images on social media that had fans crying foul. According to critics, not only was it tone-deaf to brag in the face of the world’s suffering, but Kardashian’s defensive explanations made it worse. On Twitter, Kardashian tried to explain the steps guests took to insure they weren’t going to spread COVID-19 at the party, but the very privilege inherent in the precautionary measures they were able to take rubbed social media the wrong way.
Just last week, Jenner, apparently not learning from sister Kim’s mistakes, hosted her own birthday party. With about 100 people in attendance and no masks in sight, Jenner did at least try to mitigate the backlash by asking guests to refrain from posting on social media. That did not happen, and photos were soon spread of the lavish bash which was a who’s who of Hollywood. As CELEB explored, “Celebrity guests included Kylie Jenner, Justin Bieber, Hailey Baldwin, Paris Hilton, Travis Scott, Quavo, Jaden Smith, Saweetie, Nikita Dragun, Doja Cat, The Weeknd, Winnie Harlow, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Scott Disick, Justine Skye and more.”
It’s Not Just Birthday Parties
It’s not just birthday parties getting celebs in trouble these days. Real Housewives of Orange County star Kelly Dodd has also faced massive backlash recently for a bridal shower. In early October, Dodd posted images of herself and friends celebrating her impending nuptials. In the pictures, most were unmasked and nobody was social distancing.
How did Frankel Celebrate?
In what fans consider a breath of fresh air, Frankel has bucked the trend of big birthday bashes and chose to celebrate responsibly at home, with just her daughter in attendance.
The Sun shares, “Bethenny and Bryn – who she shares with her estranged husband Jason Hoppy – wore pajamas and matching party hats as they blew out the candles on the Bravo star’s first flower-decorated cake.
The makeup-free Bravo star then tucked into a simple pasta for dinner and told fans: ‘Big birthday party here, this is me, Bryn and Biggie Smalls [her dog].
‘This is raging and lit. Cake number two coming right up.’”
A Kinder Choice
Frankel’s decision to opt out on a large birthday party is both role model material and kind. With Americans suffering deeply from the pandemic, opinions are divided. Some appreciate the glimpse into a more normal pre-COVID life, and think critics need to leave the celebs alone to enjoy their lives. Others find the celebrations tone-deaf and consider them setting bad examples for the fans who imitate them.
Frankel has certainly found a way to embrace a safe way to celebrate. The RHONY star even poked fun at Kardashian’s celebration. Per The Sun, “Bethenny seems to be a fan of a night in, and recently poked fun at Kim Kardashian‘s tropical island getaway by recreating it in her kitchen.
The Skinnygirl mogul and Bryn sat on top of her kitchen counter wearing oversized sunglasses and clutching cocktails, with shells around them to symbolize the beach.
Bethenny captioned the amusing post: ‘Took the family to my private (kitchen) island…privileged #blessed #humbled #thisis50 #thisisme #turning50.’”
We at CELEB wish Bethenny a happy 50th birthday and hope she saves us some cake for when people can celebrate together safely again!