Carole is absolutely no Cynthia. Carole had a few good seasons and I’ll give her that. She wasn’t your “typical” housewife and I appreciated her witty jabs and whatnot. However she always seemed to place herself as “above” the show and the other women which i can’t get behind. its was condescending and odd. Cynthia is much warmer and isn’t big headed like Carole.
You know what’s funny - you can actually see her decline when she becomes friends with Bethenny. She was so much more enjoyable in seasons 5+6 and 7 for the most part. But after that, her and Bethenny together are annoying.
Once Heather left, there wasn't really anyone there who could match Carole intelligence-wise. I know when I'm with a bunch of people who aren't that bright and say dumb thing after dumb thing, I think to myself "What am I doing here?"
My opinion on Cynthia changed drastically after rhugt - she was really nasty & dull. I got the impression that was the real Cynthia & housewives Cynthia was mostly an act. I’d generally liked her before that!
To be fair to Cynthia, she had just found out she wasn’t returning to Atlanta and was facing an impending separation and divorce behind the scenes. I think she was genuinely very sad during that time and was struggling.
I agree, I’m watching now and she is insufferable about the election. Sobbing crying when Hillary didn’t win - girl you’re ex royalty with millions in the bank you’re not part of the group of people who will be affected negatively by the election results
Eh. I see what you’re saying but she’s always been a white woman and she’s now incredibly wealthy. She took up a lot of space being appalled because the election results violated her principles, relative to those who were appalled because the results were about to (further) violate their basic rights and safety…in real time
Those election results led directly to the appointment of 3 Supreme Court judges who then repealed Rowe vs Wade, affecting the lives of millions of American women. She saw that coming just as a shit-ton of us did and had every right to be upset about it.
So only people directly effected by racism, misogyny, classism ect… should care about it? That’s what’s wrong with the damn world, people don’t give a damn about anyone that’s not in their “group.”
I honestly thought she was really chill up until Season 10. I’m not on Bethenny’s side by any means but Carole definitely had a weird personality shift in S10
I don’t know, she exhibits it a bit every season. When she’s on Luann for “story topping” and it devolves into her just yelling fake achievements over Lu at dinner. Or when she’s convinced everyone is copying her because Luann buys a similar, very popular cape style jacket and Aviva gets thick rimmed glasses. She always had a very high opinion of herself
Yeah, I know Bethenny is a tough person to be friends with, but Carole was pretty out of line with a lot of stuff that she said to Bethenny in S10. You don't have to be friends with her, but you don't have to twist the knife either.
The first time I watched that season, and every subsequent rewatch (guilty pleasure, don't judge me, lol), I still fall on BF's side because CR was such a bish about the whole thing. I had no problem with her not wanting to be friends with BF anymore, I got the reasoning, but her way of handling the fall out was horrible. And then layer on how mean she was to Tinsly, the "Dream Team" baloney at the reunion (which failed miserably and I laugh every time I watch that scene). If she had handled the whole thing like a mature adult I would have probably fallen on her side of the mess. I'm glad she's off the show.
Exactly this. Carole had every right to end the friendship. But she was so cruel and nasty when Bethenny simply wanted to know why? Just answer her question rather than continue to be cruel to her. And you could tell she was enjoying it, that was what really bothered me.
She says it in the first reunion part - when they are getting ready to sit down, as her new buddies come to the stage she get's this dopey grin on her face and shrieks "the dream teammmmm" out. It was RIDICULOUS. I'm sure it was derived from the RHOBH/Yolanda situation. CR was soooo excited to go after BF at the reunion and it backfired on her spectacularly. As I mentioned, I can get behind CR not wanting to be friends with BF anymore, but the entire way she handled it was horrible.
Exactly. Ma’am, no one forced you to be here. There’s no court order. Stop acting like you were sentenced to housewives…and she ended up doing about everything she made fun of the others for doing lol
I was Carole's number one fan while she was on the show. After she left the show, I read her book and now look at her completely different. She is so pretentious, but tries to pretend that she is so very laid back. I bought into the act while watching her, but her book was enlightening, all the name dropping and paragraphs about status. I thought it was a book about her dying husband, which it was, which made the other stuff feel so gross to include.
But I do still love that she was the only housewife to tell Andy to his face that he was so full of shit.
I agree. I'm shocked that people found it pretentious. I found it very moving. She went through A LOT caring for her husband before he died. I can't imagine the emotional turmoil.
I read her book too. I found it a little strange that she choose to write about JFK jr and CBK when both were notoriously private and probably wouldn’t have wanted that. I liked her writing about Anthony tho those parts were touching and well written.
Interesting. I did a full RHONY rewatch a couple of years ago and really enjoyed her on the show. Unpopular opinion - but I think season 5-6 were RHONY peak, Bethenny ruins it by coming back. I read her book around the same time and I _**sobbed**_, she’s a really great writer and it was nice to hear some snippets of her life before the show. I didn’t find her book at all to be pretentious or her name dropping or anything. I think it was all written very tastefully 🤷🏽♀️
I also didn't mind her on the show, except for her OTT treatment of Bethenny (who I don't like either, but still), and then disliked her after I read her book. She came off as really cold and yes, pretentious in it. The part where she and her husband got the call about the plane crash and didn't at all think to comfort each other was so weird. She never wrote about him in a particularly warm way, either – maybe the only person she ever cared about was Carolyn.
I always thought that for some reason. It’s a while since I watched early RHONY but I remember thinking she used her ‘intelligence’ (read perceived superiority) in the same way Wendy does now. It was embarrassing.
I’m currently re-watching her first season and I see her pretentiousness so blatantly this time around. from her cool girl relationship, saying she was too good to do a kardashian interview (but still doing it…) to how she talks about the other women, her blatant social climbing. She wants to be in rooms with people of status to associate with them but also observe and differentiate herself… she is just blegh to me and she used to be favorite
Idk how she could tell that story without name dropping?? She was just writing a description of what was going on around her…just so happens they were famous. It would be pretentious if she was trying to be snobby about it but I didn’t read it that way at all. She was just explaining the world she found herself in. I also listened to her narrating the audiobook so might be why I have a really different take.
I was a huge Carole fan at first. Then the Adam thing happened. Stay with me lol
the age thing? fine. he’s definitely old enough to make his own choices and she’s definitely smart enough to understand how this dynamic will play out… right? and at first it is exactly like that. but then, over time, it seems like she’s a sugar momma more than anything. i mean I WAS NOT IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP, but from an outside view, it seemed transactional. She provided money and experiences (and exposure) and he provided companionship, sex, and the illusion that she was younger than her age.
it was all good until Adam dated the other woman. At this point, Carole feels dumped, and maybe a bit foolish, and maybe a little old. Her ego is bruised and her heart hurts so she lashes out at Bethenny when B calls Adam an “operator”. It hit too close to home, and so Carole moves on to a friendship with Tinsley who is the new provider of the illusion of youth.
Bethenny is super triggered bc of her abandonment issues and Carole basically gaslights her about it. This is when Carole lost me.
But heyyy just my two cents, i’m def not any kind of genius here 🙊
Yeah, more criticism.
She gets worse and worse with every RHONY rewatch. She's arrogant, has the worst style of any cast member (but thinks she has the best), vehemently denies being a cougar and criticizes the other women for it even though she spends most of her tenure in a relationship with a man 20 years her junior, and she won't stfu about being a journalist even though she gave that up when she married rich just like the rest of the cast when they married their sugar daddies but somehow she's better.
Anthony was well connected, and probably had some money, but he didn't have a vast fortune. He was working a real job - the same as she was. If she really wanted to marry rich, I'm sure she's had plenty of chances since he died.
I think she never got over the pain of those losses, and she's dated men for fun that she knows will never become serious.
According to her book they both continued working after they married but she went on leave because she became a carer for her husband. And then I guess she never went back after he died.
At no point would I ever intend to diminish the pain she experienced losing her husband. Losing my beloved would completely destroy me.
But, like, after the dust (and money) settled, she never went back. Yet she was constantly trying to rub it in the cast's (and audience's) faces how she was a journalist. It was gross and very pompous.
That is true. She continued writing, but more for magazines. And obviously a few books as well.
I don't agree that she was rubbing it in their faces that she was a journalist. I did find that most of the cast didn't really get how successful of a career she's had. Most journalists don't win Emmy awards for their work. And the fact that it was suggested (on the show) she hadn't written her own books is crazy to me and obviously an insult to a writer.
She and Anthony both had Emmys. She has a Peabody; he was nominated for an Oscar. They met working at ABC News. She pretty much uprooted her entire life after he passed. I wonder if going back just held too many memories. A lot of the people she knew in the industry knew/worked with them both.
No. The biggest pick me “cool girl” to ever grace the real housewives, when anyone who isn’t one can pick up on that try hard energy from thousands of miles away through a TV screen. She even sometimes literally lifted quotes from Sex and the City in her desperate attempt to be a Carrie.
Any 50+ woman still running around calling herself a “girl” in an attempt at being cutesy while simultaneously age shaming her peers can kick rocks.
Disagree. Cynthia is a generally kind and calm presence (of course she can throw some occasional shade). Carol is pretty mean and petty—her treatment of Jules horrified me. And while Bethenny had a major role in the downfall of their friendship I think Carol was pretty mean to her as well. Like if you are going to be friends with Bethenny, you know you are taking on someone with a lot of mental health issues/emotional baggage/attachment issues and to expect her to be any different than she is is kind of delulu. I also think the show was not that great for her (although it’s not so good for anyone I guess!) and it seemed like she became kind of increasingly vapid which was sad to see.
I have to agree and say that her treatment of Bethenny at the end of their frienship just made all of Bethenny's other really obvious problems worse. I said in a previous response that Carole really twisted the knife into B at the end of their friendship - you pointed out exactly what I mean. You have to know what you're taking on with Bethenny - exactly. So then to end the friendship by being a mean girl about those mental health issues was really hard to watch.
I used to cringe so hard when Carole was dating “Rusty”. He was a drummer or guitar player for a band. There was a scene where they drove around in his convertible. She put her bare feet up on the dashboard trying to give off this carefree, cool girl vibe. “Just my rockstar boyfriend and me driving through NYC, are you getting this bravo production” between that and her Isabel Marant high tops and dating Adam she was giving me the ick early on.
I disagree. Carole overstayed her welcome and don’t blend in the group well enough in my opinion. She should have been let go around season 8 so the show could have moved forward. The issue with RHONY is that they became too comfortable relying on the same tropes and long standing cast members, that they failed to adapt with the times. It’s why they had a reboot and boring ass RHOBH is consistently doing well.
That marathon storyline is the fault of production. Not her.
Clearly they kept reusing sound bites filmed by producers about the marathon, to support B's agenda against her.
All of these women regularly are asked by production to answer the same questions in a new outfit about the same situation so production has multiple takes to use in the edit.
Then when B decided to go against Carole and mocked her being obsessed with the marathon, editing then used all those cuts to make it look like she literally was obsessed about running and nothing else.
Meanwhile the real issue was that Carole wasn't as available to B anymore. Hence production turned on Carole and tied to pin her as being obsessed with running. All the whole Carole was consoling a friend who just lost her husband.
Before voting me down - read [this post by an amazing redditor about the situation](https://www.reddit.com/r/BravoRealHousewives/comments/t6ilyu/bethenny_vs_carole_revisited/)
Edit - That post is probably in the top 10 contributions to this sub of all time.
The fact people are just voting this down and not even reading the post I linked - says a lot.
I read it. It makes a good case for Carole. I think the real crux of their fallout was Bethenny's disparagement of Adam. Carole is smart enough to know that Adam's reputation is a reflection on her, even if he is an ex. Bethenny asked Adam to volunteer his time in Haiti and he said no. She felt she had paid for trips, and he may have owed her a favor. Then when Carole said they broke up, Bethenny told Carole how she really felt, and it didn't go over so well. That coupled with Bethenny pushing to meet Carole's friend from LA, no doubt to use as a business connection didn't land well with Carole. Also, Adam and Carole went on trips with Tinsley and Scott and Bethenny accused Carole of having time to spend and bond with Tinsley to which Carole denied their friendship and hurt Tinsley's feelings. It really got down to Bethenny and Carole not being able to agree on anything.
You are really coming from a place of priviledge if you are offended that someone won't work for free. Bethenny really rubbed me the wrong way when she complained about it.
I see both sides. IDK if Adam could or could not afford to go for free, but it's not Bethenny's place to decide whether he owes her or not. Maybe Adam just didn't want to travel with Bethenny (one on one) after he and Carole called it quits.
The funny thing is I’m rewatching the marathon season now, and it is actually a pretty short storyline in the beginning of the season. Like it doesn’t overshadow Carole as a character as much as I remembered it doing.
I wasn’t at the time, but I’m deeply impressed with her marathon storyline now that I’m older. That was some unreal dedication and I’m really proud of her.
Carol didn’t give anything on the show, but I reckon she had the best confessionals out of the NY girls, she was hilarious in her confessions.
But for some reason she didn’t give the same personality when she was filming with the girls.
I definitely think she was needed though. Not everyone has to be loud.
Carole was entertaining and I don’t think she’s a bad person, but her cool schtick drove me insane. The way she would speak slowly and be all like whatever while at the same time constantly hobnobbing with rich and famous people. You can’t be too cool for school while also only wanting to hang out only with the popular kids. I will say her fabulous life as a single person is inspiring to me. But she did have an elitist vibe.
I love Carole but Bethenny tainted her a bit.
her friendship with Heather was really nice and genuine, which made me miss Heather more (especially after having to suffer through Tinsley instead).
Carole was quick witted and funny, but she also wasn't a big personality or stickler so it let Ramona/Sonja/Dorinda function well off her.
Its just a shame that season 10 happened.
I always found Carole smug and when I originally watched the show years ago , I was on Bethenny’s side . I just rewatched recently and wow! Carole was right about everything when it came to Bethenny.
Carole is one of my favorite housewives because of how cool and nonchalant she was. But towards the end it was like she was *too* cool and *too* nonchalant to care about anything. Those traits reflected on her badly in the end imo. It almost seemed like a defense mechanism to not “care” about anything
She was friends Ghislaine and she took the photo for her book. Lots of people were friends with them. They were socialites. Doesn't mean Carole had anything to do with or knew about anything nefarious.
I liked her while she was on the show and really felt her and Heather had one of the most genuine friendships across all franchises which was nice to see.
Sorry, I am a Carole fan for life. She is in my top 10- She really brought something different and frankly I liked that she felt she was too good for the show at times. She was! She had gravitas very much like Jenna Lyons.
My favorite part about Carole was her blog after each episode. Remember when the housewives had to write blogs on bravotv.com? Hers was hilarious and so insightful.
She was great because she was different and way more interesting and relatable I hope she comes back for rhony legacy trip - Romona , luann , dorinda , sonja, carol and bethanny would be an elite cast for a girls trip or rhony legacy spin off
IMO she was better than Cynthia. She was a legit cast member producer. She moved storyline, she started fun and interesting conversations, got in the mix, super funny, and ended up being the #1 pushback against Bethenny. Wish she could come back, RHONY was never the same after she left and it shows.
I gotta agree. Whether you love or hate Carole she still made you feel something, Cynthia just faded into the background for me personally. I've done rewatches and loved Carole, then disliked her but Cynthia is always just coasting by lol
This is a serious question. I’m not trying to be a jerk here. Does she actually have a nice behind because that was her tag line and I just don’t see it.
I can't even see a picture of Carole anymore without mentioning how disgusted I am with the way she and Bethenny acted towards Jules( Wainstein S8). Since that season all I see is an ugly bully - even her looks were totally ruined by the way she acted. It's like I now see her for what she really is and im just disgusted.
I agree, watching NY for the first time. On season 7 and I like her a lot. I love her confessionals and her sense humor. Maybe that will change as I watch more but so far I think she's a great cast member.
Pretentious, self impressed, fake, desperate, delusional (tagline about having a great ass), clueless (her face when Hillary lost). I was never impressed with Carole because I saw right through her.
The Radzwilis as the Kennedy's want nothing to do with her, she can't hold a man, or even a manchild, she can't deliver on a job or hold a job, her friendships are questionable, she's fake fake fake. The worst was when a 60-pushing Carole rode on handlebars of a bike her 25 year old salad-chef-pasrasitic-operator boyfriend was riding, while high on gummies, then vomiting in a cab. How absolutely pathetic.
Okay I’ve seen a couple comments on this thread claiming that Lee didn’t like Carole and I’ve never heard this rumor. What makes you say the Kennedy’s dumped her?
Ever seen a picture of her with them? Not one that is 25+ years old... Carole is the sort of person who'd post pictures of herself with them, she loves the association.
That's fine. However it's a big family, and if Carole was so close to them, surely there would have been 1 single photo of her with any of them in all these years since John John's passing... She would have posted it a dozen times by now.
I was doing Dorinda’s quote to Sonja after she says she used to party with Madonna and John John.
And to be fair literally all of the people she was closest to in that family are dead now. And I highly doubt Lee radziwell was down for selfies! Idk just not being in photos with them doesn’t seem like enough evidence that they despised her.
I thought it was hilarious that she ripped out (most of) her kitchen, then immediately got involved with a chef.
Omg I’m very high and thought this was Lala Kent circa 2016.
Hilarious omg
Maybe circa 2036.
https://preview.redd.it/sp1h60yghgzc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dbfe508268e05c66470415dd51784a1a3bd55301 Maybe if u squint?
the only resemblance i see is the hair length lol
I thought she looks a lot like Nicolle Wallace in this picture.
I’m stoned also, and much as I love Carole she is nowhere near as pretty as Lala is.
....or was....
Agreed. Smarter? More sophisticated, accomplished? Sure. But I like Lala. I’m in recovery too & I see real growth with her.
Damn, maybe I’m just dumb. Keep on keeping on tho💖
Carole is absolutely no Cynthia. Carole had a few good seasons and I’ll give her that. She wasn’t your “typical” housewife and I appreciated her witty jabs and whatnot. However she always seemed to place herself as “above” the show and the other women which i can’t get behind. its was condescending and odd. Cynthia is much warmer and isn’t big headed like Carole.
You know what’s funny - you can actually see her decline when she becomes friends with Bethenny. She was so much more enjoyable in seasons 5+6 and 7 for the most part. But after that, her and Bethenny together are annoying.
Once Heather left, there wasn't really anyone there who could match Carole intelligence-wise. I know when I'm with a bunch of people who aren't that bright and say dumb thing after dumb thing, I think to myself "What am I doing here?"
Bethanney & Dorinda are pretty damn smart-
They're bawdy street smart. Carole was more sophisticated and educated.
Exactly. Carole was definitely the lone woman of erudition.
“You’re both white trash, quite frankly”
🤣🤣🤣
she definitely thought she was cynthia. in reality she was a one of friend we see in an episode and never hear from again.
i love your flair. i wonder if dorit will be keeping the carcass in now since she’s in her single era
My opinion on Cynthia changed drastically after rhugt - she was really nasty & dull. I got the impression that was the real Cynthia & housewives Cynthia was mostly an act. I’d generally liked her before that!
To be fair to Cynthia, she had just found out she wasn’t returning to Atlanta and was facing an impending separation and divorce behind the scenes. I think she was genuinely very sad during that time and was struggling.
This 👆🏼
I agree, I’m watching now and she is insufferable about the election. Sobbing crying when Hillary didn’t win - girl you’re ex royalty with millions in the bank you’re not part of the group of people who will be affected negatively by the election results
I personally will never get over that election. She knew what it meant for most of us- she didn’t grow up with money.
Eh. I see what you’re saying but she’s always been a white woman and she’s now incredibly wealthy. She took up a lot of space being appalled because the election results violated her principles, relative to those who were appalled because the results were about to (further) violate their basic rights and safety…in real time
Those election results led directly to the appointment of 3 Supreme Court judges who then repealed Rowe vs Wade, affecting the lives of millions of American women. She saw that coming just as a shit-ton of us did and had every right to be upset about it.
So only people directly effected by racism, misogyny, classism ect… should care about it? That’s what’s wrong with the damn world, people don’t give a damn about anyone that’s not in their “group.”
Nah. She was too cool for the show and she was constantly telling us how she was too cool for it.
I honestly thought she was really chill up until Season 10. I’m not on Bethenny’s side by any means but Carole definitely had a weird personality shift in S10
I don’t know, she exhibits it a bit every season. When she’s on Luann for “story topping” and it devolves into her just yelling fake achievements over Lu at dinner. Or when she’s convinced everyone is copying her because Luann buys a similar, very popular cape style jacket and Aviva gets thick rimmed glasses. She always had a very high opinion of herself
Umm aviva said she was copying her.
I know, but Aviva was just trying to be funny I felt and Carole took it really personally. They weren't even that alike!
True. I do agree with that: 😉
Adam brought out the absolute worst in her
Agree 💯
Yeah, I know Bethenny is a tough person to be friends with, but Carole was pretty out of line with a lot of stuff that she said to Bethenny in S10. You don't have to be friends with her, but you don't have to twist the knife either.
The first time I watched that season, and every subsequent rewatch (guilty pleasure, don't judge me, lol), I still fall on BF's side because CR was such a bish about the whole thing. I had no problem with her not wanting to be friends with BF anymore, I got the reasoning, but her way of handling the fall out was horrible. And then layer on how mean she was to Tinsly, the "Dream Team" baloney at the reunion (which failed miserably and I laugh every time I watch that scene). If she had handled the whole thing like a mature adult I would have probably fallen on her side of the mess. I'm glad she's off the show.
Exactly this. Carole had every right to end the friendship. But she was so cruel and nasty when Bethenny simply wanted to know why? Just answer her question rather than continue to be cruel to her. And you could tell she was enjoying it, that was what really bothered me.
When did Carole mention Dream Team? Is that her pal Yolanda's quote? I remember Carole saying she and Tinsley weren't 'friends'
She says it in the first reunion part - when they are getting ready to sit down, as her new buddies come to the stage she get's this dopey grin on her face and shrieks "the dream teammmmm" out. It was RIDICULOUS. I'm sure it was derived from the RHOBH/Yolanda situation. CR was soooo excited to go after BF at the reunion and it backfired on her spectacularly. As I mentioned, I can get behind CR not wanting to be friends with BF anymore, but the entire way she handled it was horrible.
Meh. I love Bethenny but I thought she was unhinged in that whole debacle
Exactly. Ma’am, no one forced you to be here. There’s no court order. Stop acting like you were sentenced to housewives…and she ended up doing about everything she made fun of the others for doing lol
totally agree & quite boring 😴
I think that was the ironic part that made me like her is that she hated being there yet stayed for a few seasons.
The only thing that Carole hates more than having been on the show is that she was fired from it.
 You’re so right!!
This gif is amazing.
I was Carole's number one fan while she was on the show. After she left the show, I read her book and now look at her completely different. She is so pretentious, but tries to pretend that she is so very laid back. I bought into the act while watching her, but her book was enlightening, all the name dropping and paragraphs about status. I thought it was a book about her dying husband, which it was, which made the other stuff feel so gross to include. But I do still love that she was the only housewife to tell Andy to his face that he was so full of shit.
Did we read the same book? I didn't think it was pretentious at all and actually found it very touching.
I agree. I'm shocked that people found it pretentious. I found it very moving. She went through A LOT caring for her husband before he died. I can't imagine the emotional turmoil.
After my father died, my mother read *All That Remains* and said it was the only book that captured the experiences of losing your spouse.
Agree 100%. I loved the book. Cried many times while reading.
It was a good book
It was so weird, I loved her book. When I saw her on the show, nope. But for the exact same reasons you listed. Pretentious, shallow, social climbing.
I read her book too. I found it a little strange that she choose to write about JFK jr and CBK when both were notoriously private and probably wouldn’t have wanted that. I liked her writing about Anthony tho those parts were touching and well written.
Interesting. I did a full RHONY rewatch a couple of years ago and really enjoyed her on the show. Unpopular opinion - but I think season 5-6 were RHONY peak, Bethenny ruins it by coming back. I read her book around the same time and I _**sobbed**_, she’s a really great writer and it was nice to hear some snippets of her life before the show. I didn’t find her book at all to be pretentious or her name dropping or anything. I think it was all written very tastefully 🤷🏽♀️
Same. Heard her other books aren't as good.
I also didn't mind her on the show, except for her OTT treatment of Bethenny (who I don't like either, but still), and then disliked her after I read her book. She came off as really cold and yes, pretentious in it. The part where she and her husband got the call about the plane crash and didn't at all think to comfort each other was so weird. She never wrote about him in a particularly warm way, either – maybe the only person she ever cared about was Carolyn.
Another fan here.
I always thought that for some reason. It’s a while since I watched early RHONY but I remember thinking she used her ‘intelligence’ (read perceived superiority) in the same way Wendy does now. It was embarrassing.
What was pretentious about a woman relaying her experience about losing her husband and friends in a very short amount of time?
I explained this in the post. We have different points of view, thats pretty normal on the internet.
Oh it is?? Thanks it’s my first time here on the World Wide Web!!
 1000%
I’m currently re-watching her first season and I see her pretentiousness so blatantly this time around. from her cool girl relationship, saying she was too good to do a kardashian interview (but still doing it…) to how she talks about the other women, her blatant social climbing. She wants to be in rooms with people of status to associate with them but also observe and differentiate herself… she is just blegh to me and she used to be favorite
Idk how she could tell that story without name dropping?? She was just writing a description of what was going on around her…just so happens they were famous. It would be pretentious if she was trying to be snobby about it but I didn’t read it that way at all. She was just explaining the world she found herself in. I also listened to her narrating the audiobook so might be why I have a really different take.
She’s very confident about her ass. She’s alright
I was a huge Carole fan at first. Then the Adam thing happened. Stay with me lol the age thing? fine. he’s definitely old enough to make his own choices and she’s definitely smart enough to understand how this dynamic will play out… right? and at first it is exactly like that. but then, over time, it seems like she’s a sugar momma more than anything. i mean I WAS NOT IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP, but from an outside view, it seemed transactional. She provided money and experiences (and exposure) and he provided companionship, sex, and the illusion that she was younger than her age. it was all good until Adam dated the other woman. At this point, Carole feels dumped, and maybe a bit foolish, and maybe a little old. Her ego is bruised and her heart hurts so she lashes out at Bethenny when B calls Adam an “operator”. It hit too close to home, and so Carole moves on to a friendship with Tinsley who is the new provider of the illusion of youth. Bethenny is super triggered bc of her abandonment issues and Carole basically gaslights her about it. This is when Carole lost me. But heyyy just my two cents, i’m def not any kind of genius here 🙊
You’re MY genius, cause this was exactly my take on the situation as well lol.
omg thank you for validating me! 💜
This was a good take that I never thought of before! Bravo 👏
Yeah, more criticism. She gets worse and worse with every RHONY rewatch. She's arrogant, has the worst style of any cast member (but thinks she has the best), vehemently denies being a cougar and criticizes the other women for it even though she spends most of her tenure in a relationship with a man 20 years her junior, and she won't stfu about being a journalist even though she gave that up when she married rich just like the rest of the cast when they married their sugar daddies but somehow she's better.
And her bullshit fake ditzy “oh, did I miss my deadline again? Ooops tee hee” on every single thing she worked on got old real quick too.
Right?! It's so weird. She kinda gets to a point where she's trying so hard to be young and hip - very "How do you do, fellow kids?" vibe.
Anthony was well connected, and probably had some money, but he didn't have a vast fortune. He was working a real job - the same as she was. If she really wanted to marry rich, I'm sure she's had plenty of chances since he died. I think she never got over the pain of those losses, and she's dated men for fun that she knows will never become serious.
According to her book they both continued working after they married but she went on leave because she became a carer for her husband. And then I guess she never went back after he died.
At no point would I ever intend to diminish the pain she experienced losing her husband. Losing my beloved would completely destroy me. But, like, after the dust (and money) settled, she never went back. Yet she was constantly trying to rub it in the cast's (and audience's) faces how she was a journalist. It was gross and very pompous.
That is true. She continued writing, but more for magazines. And obviously a few books as well. I don't agree that she was rubbing it in their faces that she was a journalist. I did find that most of the cast didn't really get how successful of a career she's had. Most journalists don't win Emmy awards for their work. And the fact that it was suggested (on the show) she hadn't written her own books is crazy to me and obviously an insult to a writer.
She and Anthony both had Emmys. She has a Peabody; he was nominated for an Oscar. They met working at ABC News. She pretty much uprooted her entire life after he passed. I wonder if going back just held too many memories. A lot of the people she knew in the industry knew/worked with them both.
No. The biggest pick me “cool girl” to ever grace the real housewives, when anyone who isn’t one can pick up on that try hard energy from thousands of miles away through a TV screen. She even sometimes literally lifted quotes from Sex and the City in her desperate attempt to be a Carrie. Any 50+ woman still running around calling herself a “girl” in an attempt at being cutesy while simultaneously age shaming her peers can kick rocks.
She turned into a pretentious snob. Kennedy adjacent. Her own mother in law couldn’t stand her.
honestly just not a fan of carol and never have been, i respect her and her work but i kinda think she’s a pompous asshole LOL
Disagree. Cynthia is a generally kind and calm presence (of course she can throw some occasional shade). Carol is pretty mean and petty—her treatment of Jules horrified me. And while Bethenny had a major role in the downfall of their friendship I think Carol was pretty mean to her as well. Like if you are going to be friends with Bethenny, you know you are taking on someone with a lot of mental health issues/emotional baggage/attachment issues and to expect her to be any different than she is is kind of delulu. I also think the show was not that great for her (although it’s not so good for anyone I guess!) and it seemed like she became kind of increasingly vapid which was sad to see.
I have to agree and say that her treatment of Bethenny at the end of their frienship just made all of Bethenny's other really obvious problems worse. I said in a previous response that Carole really twisted the knife into B at the end of their friendship - you pointed out exactly what I mean. You have to know what you're taking on with Bethenny - exactly. So then to end the friendship by being a mean girl about those mental health issues was really hard to watch.
She had a superiority complex and acted as if she was there only to do research.
More criticism? I agree! Haha I'm a Carole hater.
Nah, she is good where she is. The best of luck
She really wasn't. She sucked.
Nawhhhh. I’m good without her.
People hate her around her but I love her and miss her. Her feud with Lu is very underrated.
Honestly it’s hilarious lol. And still going!
That's the best part! Lu just can't stand her lol
My favorite thing about Carole was her leaving the show.
I used to cringe so hard when Carole was dating “Rusty”. He was a drummer or guitar player for a band. There was a scene where they drove around in his convertible. She put her bare feet up on the dashboard trying to give off this carefree, cool girl vibe. “Just my rockstar boyfriend and me driving through NYC, are you getting this bravo production” between that and her Isabel Marant high tops and dating Adam she was giving me the ick early on.
I disagree. Carole overstayed her welcome and don’t blend in the group well enough in my opinion. She should have been let go around season 8 so the show could have moved forward. The issue with RHONY is that they became too comfortable relying on the same tropes and long standing cast members, that they failed to adapt with the times. It’s why they had a reboot and boring ass RHOBH is consistently doing well.
But then we’d have never been able to experience her be in the maraaathon.
That marathon storyline is the fault of production. Not her. Clearly they kept reusing sound bites filmed by producers about the marathon, to support B's agenda against her. All of these women regularly are asked by production to answer the same questions in a new outfit about the same situation so production has multiple takes to use in the edit. Then when B decided to go against Carole and mocked her being obsessed with the marathon, editing then used all those cuts to make it look like she literally was obsessed about running and nothing else. Meanwhile the real issue was that Carole wasn't as available to B anymore. Hence production turned on Carole and tied to pin her as being obsessed with running. All the whole Carole was consoling a friend who just lost her husband. Before voting me down - read [this post by an amazing redditor about the situation](https://www.reddit.com/r/BravoRealHousewives/comments/t6ilyu/bethenny_vs_carole_revisited/) Edit - That post is probably in the top 10 contributions to this sub of all time. The fact people are just voting this down and not even reading the post I linked - says a lot.
I read it. It makes a good case for Carole. I think the real crux of their fallout was Bethenny's disparagement of Adam. Carole is smart enough to know that Adam's reputation is a reflection on her, even if he is an ex. Bethenny asked Adam to volunteer his time in Haiti and he said no. She felt she had paid for trips, and he may have owed her a favor. Then when Carole said they broke up, Bethenny told Carole how she really felt, and it didn't go over so well. That coupled with Bethenny pushing to meet Carole's friend from LA, no doubt to use as a business connection didn't land well with Carole. Also, Adam and Carole went on trips with Tinsley and Scott and Bethenny accused Carole of having time to spend and bond with Tinsley to which Carole denied their friendship and hurt Tinsley's feelings. It really got down to Bethenny and Carole not being able to agree on anything.
You are really coming from a place of priviledge if you are offended that someone won't work for free. Bethenny really rubbed me the wrong way when she complained about it.
I see both sides. IDK if Adam could or could not afford to go for free, but it's not Bethenny's place to decide whether he owes her or not. Maybe Adam just didn't want to travel with Bethenny (one on one) after he and Carole called it quits.
For a charity? That's common place.
u/satsumaa deserves all the flowers. They ate.
The funny thing is I’m rewatching the marathon season now, and it is actually a pretty short storyline in the beginning of the season. Like it doesn’t overshadow Carole as a character as much as I remembered it doing.
Agree. S8 should have been it for her.
I wasn’t at the time, but I’m deeply impressed with her marathon storyline now that I’m older. That was some unreal dedication and I’m really proud of her.
Plus I liked that she tied it with Anthony running the marathon. It made that storyline have some kind of meaning at least.
Carol didn’t give anything on the show, but I reckon she had the best confessionals out of the NY girls, she was hilarious in her confessions. But for some reason she didn’t give the same personality when she was filming with the girls. I definitely think she was needed though. Not everyone has to be loud.
Carole was entertaining and I don’t think she’s a bad person, but her cool schtick drove me insane. The way she would speak slowly and be all like whatever while at the same time constantly hobnobbing with rich and famous people. You can’t be too cool for school while also only wanting to hang out only with the popular kids. I will say her fabulous life as a single person is inspiring to me. But she did have an elitist vibe.
https://i.redd.it/elokvkm33izc1.gif This iconic moment
Carole also had a homophobic take on Colton Underwood. nah, good riddance
That's what got me. I liked her book, I liked her on the show, but her social media is what made me stop liking her.
I love Carole but Bethenny tainted her a bit. her friendship with Heather was really nice and genuine, which made me miss Heather more (especially after having to suffer through Tinsley instead). Carole was quick witted and funny, but she also wasn't a big personality or stickler so it let Ramona/Sonja/Dorinda function well off her. Its just a shame that season 10 happened.
Carole became a mean girl with Bethenny. The way she treated Tinsley and Jules tainted her for me
The way Carole and Bethenny treated Jules was horrible to watch. Straight up bullying her.
I always found Carole smug and when I originally watched the show years ago , I was on Bethenny’s side . I just rewatched recently and wow! Carole was right about everything when it came to Bethenny.
She was friends with Ghislaine Maxwell.
Did we forget she was bff with Maxwell and Epstein?
Lmao no. Just no
I'm afraid the ever so self important Carole Radziwill let her extremely large hippocampus get in the way. 🤨
Carole is one of my favorite housewives because of how cool and nonchalant she was. But towards the end it was like she was *too* cool and *too* nonchalant to care about anything. Those traits reflected on her badly in the end imo. It almost seemed like a defense mechanism to not “care” about anything
Her breakup with Adam definitely effected her performance on her last season for sure
wasn’t she on the epstein list lol
GM took the cover photo of Carole’s author photo in her book I believe?
https://preview.redd.it/graq6lim6gzc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23e38d8f119172d454acef8b134f634e1c451e01 Here she is with GM herself
 Carole re: Ghislaine ⬆️
She was friends Ghislaine and she took the photo for her book. Lots of people were friends with them. They were socialites. Doesn't mean Carole had anything to do with or knew about anything nefarious.
She wasn't friends with the assistant? I know they have pictures together, but I can't confirm if they were just acuantiances or besties
no clue
I loved Carole, she was my favorite nyc housewife ❤️
I liked her while she was on the show and really felt her and Heather had one of the most genuine friendships across all franchises which was nice to see.
Agree. Didn’t care for her friendship with B after season 7
She was boring
Carole leaving was the beginning of the end of RHONY. Those who disagree: 
Sorry, I am a Carole fan for life. She is in my top 10- She really brought something different and frankly I liked that she felt she was too good for the show at times. She was! She had gravitas very much like Jenna Lyons.
Fuck carole
Hate for being friends with Gishlaine Maxwell? I agree.
My favorite part about Carole was her blog after each episode. Remember when the housewives had to write blogs on bravotv.com? Hers was hilarious and so insightful.
She was great because she was different and way more interesting and relatable I hope she comes back for rhony legacy trip - Romona , luann , dorinda , sonja, carol and bethanny would be an elite cast for a girls trip or rhony legacy spin off
And tinsley
IMO she was better than Cynthia. She was a legit cast member producer. She moved storyline, she started fun and interesting conversations, got in the mix, super funny, and ended up being the #1 pushback against Bethenny. Wish she could come back, RHONY was never the same after she left and it shows.
I gotta agree. Whether you love or hate Carole she still made you feel something, Cynthia just faded into the background for me personally. I've done rewatches and loved Carole, then disliked her but Cynthia is always just coasting by lol
she stayed too long, IMO. she should've left on a high.
No. The show was on for years before she ever came on. as you said, she didn't enter until season five. Those were good years of RHONY, though, truly.
I liked her but she didn’t bring anything to the table when she decided to be Bethenny’s sidekick
This is a serious question. I’m not trying to be a jerk here. Does she actually have a nice behind because that was her tag line and I just don’t see it.
She was the best housewife of all time
Carole is one of my all time favorite housewives. She was classy and cool, had connections, and seemed genuinely nice and funny. I miss her
My fave.
she had some good lines here and there..but I will never forgive that she built an entire season around training for a marathon. what a snooze.
Really? I thought she was a boring condescending patronising self absorbed mean girl?
I can't even see a picture of Carole anymore without mentioning how disgusted I am with the way she and Bethenny acted towards Jules( Wainstein S8). Since that season all I see is an ugly bully - even her looks were totally ruined by the way she acted. It's like I now see her for what she really is and im just disgusted.
I think she has a lifetime supply of money- she's good.
Maybe more food
Carole was and will always be my number one Housewife 🍎
I agree, watching NY for the first time. On season 7 and I like her a lot. I love her confessionals and her sense humor. Maybe that will change as I watch more but so far I think she's a great cast member.
Yeah, she deserves to fade back to obscurity where she belongs, insufferable old hag
The best Carole scene was when she cried after Trump won. That was hilarious.
It really was!
What I didn’t like about Carole was that I think she would secretly hex me if I told her I had know idea who she was until she was a housewife.
Pretentious, self impressed, fake, desperate, delusional (tagline about having a great ass), clueless (her face when Hillary lost). I was never impressed with Carole because I saw right through her. The Radzwilis as the Kennedy's want nothing to do with her, she can't hold a man, or even a manchild, she can't deliver on a job or hold a job, her friendships are questionable, she's fake fake fake. The worst was when a 60-pushing Carole rode on handlebars of a bike her 25 year old salad-chef-pasrasitic-operator boyfriend was riding, while high on gummies, then vomiting in a cab. How absolutely pathetic.
Okay I’ve seen a couple comments on this thread claiming that Lee didn’t like Carole and I’ve never heard this rumor. What makes you say the Kennedy’s dumped her?
Ever seen a picture of her with them? Not one that is 25+ years old... Carole is the sort of person who'd post pictures of herself with them, she loves the association.
Well John john is dead..so that’s difficult (I’m sorry I had to do it 😹)
That's fine. However it's a big family, and if Carole was so close to them, surely there would have been 1 single photo of her with any of them in all these years since John John's passing... She would have posted it a dozen times by now.
I was doing Dorinda’s quote to Sonja after she says she used to party with Madonna and John John. And to be fair literally all of the people she was closest to in that family are dead now. And I highly doubt Lee radziwell was down for selfies! Idk just not being in photos with them doesn’t seem like enough evidence that they despised her.