Bethenny Frankel Custody Battle Gets Nasty: He Threatened to 'Destroy Me'

By
Getty Images

Reality star/entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel's custody battle over her 4-year-old daughter Bryn with estranged husband Jason Hoppy is reportedly getting nasty.

The two appeared in a New York City courtroom Wednesday, where according to People, Frankel alleged that Hoppy threatened to "destroy" her. She is seeking primary custody over Bryn, while Hoppy wants joint custody.

Video: Bethenny on Divorce -- I Feel Like a Failure

"He said, 'I'm going to destroy you. I'm going to have you and your publicist crying and crumbling in a corner. Now you're going to see what I was like on the basketball court,'" Frankel reportedly testified. “He said, 'You don't know what it's like to have a family, you'll never have a family. Let's go baby.'"

For his part, Hoppy accused Frankel of using their daughter as a "prop," and using her to promote her own business ventures such as her upcoming children's book and Skinny Girl cocktail line.

"Bethenny Frankel's priority is Bethenny Frankel," Hoppy's lawyer Bernard Clair allegedly told the judge. "In pursuit of career success, she has used the child as a prop. [Frankel is trying to] relegate the father of her child to a walking sperm bank."

Though according to Frankel, Hoppy was just as into the spotlight as she is.

"We did not discuss anything being off-limits," she testified. "He said, 'I would never be able to have a wedding like this if it weren't on television.'"

"Jason embraced family life in the spotlight," Frankel's attorney Allen Mayefsky said during Wednesday's emotional courtroom battle. "But ever since the marriage ended, he puts desire for revenge over his family and child."

Related: Bethenny Frankel & Husband Jason Hoppy Separate

Frankel and Hoppy split in December 2013, after almost three years of marriage and two reality shows together -- 

Bethenny Getting Married? and Bethenny Ever After.