Bethenny Frankel, an American entrepreneur and former ‘Real Housewife,’ has filed a class action lawsuit against TikTok for ‘unauthorized ads.’ The lawsuit, which was filed on October 6 in Manhattan federal court, claims that the video-sharing platform allowed users to create “numerous videos” using her name, image, and other features of her “persona to peddle counterfeit goods.”
Who Is TikTok Star Bethenny Frankel?
Bethenny Frankel, a Tiktok star, has over 864 thousand followers. Skinnygirl was founded by her in 2009.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Frankel graduated from New York University. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree. The entrepreneur founded BB Endeavors LLC in 2001.
The fashion expert has 2.7 million followers on Instagram. She also hosts the unapologetic business and life advice show Just B with Bethenny Frankel.
Bethenny Frankel’s Early Life
Frankel is the only child of horse trainer Robert J. Frankel and interior designer Bernadette Birk.
Her father was German-Jewish, and her mother was a Welsh Roman Catholic.
Frankel’s father abandoned her mother when she was four years old. Her mother married horse trainer John Parisella, who is Italian and Roman Catholic when she was five years old. Frankel recalls a difficult childhood. According to Frankel, her mother “was always drinking” and frequently argued violently with her stepfather.
Frankel stated that she had moved several times and attended several schools before attending boarding school. Frankel attended Catholic schools as a child and graduated from Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she lived on campus, in 1988. She studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, Boston University for two years, and graduated from New York University with a degree in psychology and communications.
TikTok made use of Bethenny’s proprietary content.
TikTok is being sued in a class action lawsuit for infringing on Bethenny Frankel’s publicity rights. In a class action lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court on October 6, a former “Real Housewife” and successful businesswoman accused TikTok of “allowing users to misuse her and others’ likenesses to endorse products without permission.” If you’re a content creator and have experienced a similar situation, you can join Bethenny Frankel’s lawsuit.
According to the recently filed lawsuit, TikTok allowed users to create “numerous videos” with her name, voice, image, and other features of her persona in order to peddle counterfeit goods, infringing on her publicity rights. The renowned law firm “Morgan & Morgan” is handling Bethenny’s case.
What Exactly Occurred?
The “Real Housewives of New York City” issued a statement before the lawsuit was made public. She claimed that a company selling counterfeit products stole her TikTok video from September and reposted it for marketing purposes. TikTok, on the other hand, allowed it to happen.
In a statement, Frankel said, “It came to my attention that TikTok was disseminating videos using my proprietary content without my consent to sell merchandise with which I have no affiliation.” “I’ve discovered that this is a widespread problem that affects creators of all sizes all over the space.” It’s unacceptable, and I want to be a change agent and use my platform to effect change in the industry.”
According to her lawyer at Morgan & Morgan, Frankel seeks compensation for “significant damages to her business and reputation, as well as broad changes to impose stricter regulations regarding TikTok’s advertising” in the prayer section.
Because the lawsuit is a class action, Bethenny’s lawyers have urged other creators who have been victims of such scams to come forward and potentially join the suit. The good news is that this class action lawsuit is not being brought solely for personal gain. She is advocating for sweeping policy changes at TikTok.
What is TikTok’s reaction?
When Frankel previously approached TikTok about this, they refused to remove the unauthorized content. Influencers and content creators spent months building and developing their brands, according to John Morgan and John Yanchunis, who are representing Frankel in the class action lawsuit. Not to mention the time it takes to gain the trust of their audiences.
“As the fastest growing social media platform, TikTok has the responsibility to implement measures to detect and stop illegal practices, such as the misuse of their content creators’ names and likenesses,” the attorneys continued. It was also claimed that the alleged videos violated Frankel’s right to privacy and caused significant financial harm to her business.
“These practices deceive and harm consumers, in addition to causing damage to her individual business and reputation.” “Our goal is to hold TikTok accountable and ensure that they take the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again,” the attorneys concluded in a joint statement.
TikTok, the popular social media platform, stated that it has strict policies in place to “protect people’s hard-earned intellectual property and keep misleading content off of TikTok.”
When Frankel previously approached TikTok about this, they refused to remove the unauthorized content. Influencers and content creators spent months building and developing their brands, according to John Morgan and John Yanchunis, who are representing Frankel in the class action lawsuit. Not to mention the time it takes to gain the trust of their audiences.
“As the fastest growing social media platform, TikTok has the responsibility to implement measures to detect and stop illegal practices, such as the misuse of their content creators’ names and likenesses,” the attorneys continued. It was also claimed that the alleged videos violated Frankel’s right to privacy and caused significant financial harm to her business.
“These practices deceive and harm consumers, in addition to causing damage to her individual business and reputation.” “Our goal is to hold TikTok accountable and ensure that they take the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again,” the attorneys concluded in a joint statement.
TikTok, the popular social media platform, stated that it has strict policies in place to “protect people’s hard-earned intellectual property and keep misleading content off of TikTok.”
Bethenny Frankel Personal Life
From 1996 to 1997, Frankel was married to entertainment executive Peter Sussman.
She married pharmaceutical sales executive Jason Hoppy in March 2010. Bryn is their only child. Frankel filed for divorce in January 2013 after the couple separated in December 2012. A custody agreement was reached in June 2014, and a financial settlement was reached in July 2016. The divorce of Frankel and Hoppy was finalized in January 2021. She is married to Paul Bernon, a film producer.
Frankel has a severe fish allergy and was hospitalized in December 2018 after eating fish-containing soup.
She has since advocated for airlines to stop serving fish, claiming that the presence of cooked seafood in an enclosed commercial airline jet poses a risk to passengers with fish allergies.