Inside Bethenny Frankel's Emotional Custody Battle Testimony

ByMICHAEL ROTHMAN ABCNews logo
Thursday, May 29, 2014

-- Bethenny Frankel is seeking primary custody of her daughter Bryn, 4, and testified in New York court Wednesday about her estranged husband Jason Hoppy, who wants joint custody.

The former reality star and talk show host, 43, told the court how things got ugly after she filed for divorce in January 2013, People magazine reports.

"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 said. "He said, 'You don't know what it's like to have a family, you'll never have a family. Let's go baby.'"

Both Frankel and Hoppy, 42, argued on who would be the better parent.

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

Frankel rebutted and said Hoppy actually loved being on TV and had never said anything was off-limits, including Bryn being in front of the camera for any reality shows the couple was featured on.

"Jason embraced family life in the spotlight," Frankel's attorney Allen Mayefsky said. But now, "He puts desire for revenge over his family and child."

Frankel also accused Hoppy of being verbally abusive after the split and changing Bryn's diet without her knowledge.

Related: Bethenny Frankel: 'I'm Going Through a Brutal, Brutal Time'

"He would take bad press about me and put it on the counter," she testified. He "would pee and poop and leave it in the toilet ... He would say things [to Bryn] like, 'Mommy should be the witch. She's a great witch. You'll be the princess and I'll be the prince.'"

Hoppy and Frankel also argued over religion, with the reality host alleging that her ex takes her daughter to religious services without first consulting her, which breaks a previous agreement the couple made before the split.

The two are to appear back in court on June 11.

A rep for Frankel and Hoppy's attorney both had no comment.

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