Bethenny Frankel says her influencer income has eclipsed her Skinnygirl payday.
Frankel, 55, said in a recent interview that her biggest year from the low-calorie cocktail brand she sold for over $100 million pales next to her current social media earnings. “My biggest year of Skinnygirl is not as big as this,” she said. “It’s out of control. It’s amazing. It’s the most successful I’ve ever been by far.”
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The former “Real Housewives of New York City” star launched Skinnygirl in 2009 and sold it to Beam Global two years later for a reported sum exceeding $100 million, though SEC filings later complicated that figure. She retained the rights to the Skinnygirl name for non-alcohol categories, building a portfolio that reportedly reached $1 billion in cumulative retail sales across food, shapewear, apparel and cookware.
Frankel’s pivot to full-time influencing has proven extraordinarily lucrative. On Emma Grede’s “Aspire” podcast in May, she disclosed pulling in more than $20 million annually from her social media presence. With 3.4 million TikTok followers and 4 million on Instagram, she has built her brand on unfiltered food and product reviews, luxury travel content, and commentary on pop culture moments.
Her online authenticity has become a business engine. Speaking Friday morning on SiriusXM’s Page Six Radio, Frankel explained how her followers function as an unpaid research and development team for her newest venture. “What people don’t realize is they are research and development,” she said. “As long as I feel like they’re being honest and not doing it just to hate, people are the R&D team.”
She offered a concrete example. After influencers Halley Kate Williams, Jazz Smith and Greta Louise Tomé told her they “didn’t like” the miso tahini at her new Supermodel Cafe, she pulled it from the menu immediately. “I mean, I could take something off the menu right now,” she added.
Frankel is even embracing the negativity. Her cafe serves an item called the “Rage Bait Bagel,” a wink at the online provocations that drive engagement. “I’m just excited that everyone’s talking to each other,” she said. “I’m excited about the people. The product is secondary to me. I mean, I’m glad it’s going well. I’m just having fun. Who cares? We started a month ago. Let’s see what happens.”
The Supermodel Cafe pop-up opened August 13 in East Quogue at 674 Montauk Highway, serving lighter bagels, protein spreads, lattes, caviar and low-calorie cheesecakes. Frankel said the concept came together in just three weeks after followers kept asking where they could buy the foods she featured online. “This is an extension of everything I’ve been doing online,” she said. “People have been asking where they can get these things, and now they can.”
She has ambitious expansion plans. Frankel revealed that a “big-name brand” will open a Supermodel Cafe location in St. Barts, and she envisions the concept as a rotating operation. “It’s going to be like a living, breathing organism, which I love because it’s fun and people get to engage and it changes,” she said. “Like Crumbl Cookies [has a] different cookie [every week], this could be a different store and location every month.”
In the viral moment that launched her current influencer dominance, Frankel transformed grocery store reviews and hotel room tours into must-watch content. Her candid takedowns of overpriced products and celebrity brands regularly rack up millions of views, with one reel hitting 22.2 million plays. The blunt persona that made her a breakout RHONY star has translated seamlessly to TikTok, where her unscripted delivery stands out against polished influencer content.
That authenticity has attracted major brand partnerships. Industry estimates peg her sponsored Instagram posts at around $30,000 each, and she has worked with at least 55 brands through her social channels. The approach has also opened equity opportunities, including a seven-figure exit from her stake in Cameo when the company hit a $1 billion valuation.
Frankel hosted a Supermodel Cafe promotional event in the Hamptons on Thursday, continuing the blitz for her newest brand. She said that Supermodel Cafe will “100 percent” become bigger than Skinnygirl ever was.
The East Quogue pop-up remains open through the summer season.