Sonja Morgan Talks Booze Feud: Will She Let Bethenny Frankel Win?
Sonja Morgan has been growing her international lifestyle brand for years, and she has used The Real Housewives of New York to spread the word about her brand. It is no secret that Bethenny Frankel has been very successful with her liquor brand, Skinnygirl, so every time a new housewife launches a wine line or liquor brand, they are often compared to Frankel. So, when Sonja decided to launch a line of booze with the word “girl,” their friendship was on the line. According to a new Bravo report, Sonja Morgan is now revealing that her friendship with Bethenny may be worth more than booze.
This week, Morgan visited Khloe Kardashian on her new show, Kocktails With Khloe. And during her visit, Sonja revealed that she was getting close to releasing her new cocktail line, “Tipsy Girl,” but Morgan faced some legal complications. Apparently, Bethenny wasn’t happy with the name “Tipsy Girl,” as it reminded her too much of the name “Skinnygirl.” Of course, tipsy and skinny aren’t related at all, but the “girl” part was too close.
“I have to do something about the name. My girlfriend Bethenny wasn’t thrilled with that,” Sonja revealed to Khloe Kardashian, adding, “It didn’t hit me, and then Bethenny was like, ‘Uh, I don’t like that.’ And I was like, ‘Oops, OK. We need to go back to the drawing board and figure something out that doesn’t come between my friendship. You know, I love the name, and I want to work. I’m just trying to work.’ ”
But it may not be easy for Sonja Morgan to let go of this name. As Morgan points out herself, she really likes the name “Tipsy Girl,” and it really fits with her brand. But Bethenny wasn’t happy about it, and her friendship with Frankel is more important than a legal battle. As Morgan points out, she will have to go back and brainstorm some new names.
“I need to drop the word ‘girl,’ but my partners already trademarked that almost a year ago,” Sonja explained, adding, “I’ve been in the restaurant business for decades, and I have my Sonja in the City catering business, so it all goes hand-in-hand. It’s all coming together at this ripe old age.”
Of course, this battle has been on-going for a while. Last year, Sonja’s business partner, Peter Guimaraes, claimed that the Skinnygirl owner was only going after Morgan’s business name for the sake of publicity. On the other side, Bethenny feels that Sonja and her business partner are just trying to use this fake story to get a storyline on The Real Housewives of New York. According to People, Bethenny decided to take a legal step by filming the trademark papers for “Tipsygirl,” something that Peter wasn’t happy with.
“[Frankel] is threatened by this Tipsy Girl brand, which is not a copycat nor competition for Skinnygirl,” Peter has revealed, according to People, adding, “We are not advocating that you will lose weight with our product.”
A source has revealed that Bethenny isn’t intimidated by Sonja Morgan and Peter Guimaraes’ new product. Frankel may just have filed the papers to protect her own business, which is a smart business move. But Morgan may have felt a little stabbed in the back, as she didn’t think about filing the papers first — and maybe even trusted her co-star. But Frankel runs a multi-million dollar business, and she isn’t about to let Sonja bring her down with a similar line of booze.
What do you think of Sonja Morgan changing her business name to suit Bethenny Frankel? Do you think it is a wise move, or do you think Sonja should keep going with her own name even though it may not please her co-star?
[Image via Instagram]
