If you thought that you hated Jason Hoppy before, when he was stalking and harassing Bethenny Frankel, you’re about to be even less of a fan of his.
Dennis Shields was found dead last week, and while Bethenny was mourning the loss of her ex-boyfriend, Hoppy and his attorney readied their move.
Hoppy is already trying to use Shields’ death to hurt Bethenny in court.
Us Weekly had an insider in court on Thursday, August 16, when Hoppy’s attorney brought up Dennis Shields in a disgusting attempt to cast doubt on Bethenny’s qualifications as a mother to the couple’s 8-year-old, Bryn.
“It was reported that he died of an Oxycodone overdose,” Hoppy’s attorney reportedly said in the courtroom.
You can immediately see where this is going. Ugh.
Hoppy’s attorney continued: “Our concern is while his death is very sad, this raises serious concerns about Ms. Frankel’s parental judgment.”
For the record, Dennis Shields’ final words revealed that he had mixed ordinary medications that may have had a deadly interaction, but that’s the least of the problems with this argument.
“Dennis Shields spent a great deal of time with Bryn,” Hoppy’s attorney asserted. “And even cared for Bryn at times when Ms. Frankel wasn’t around.”
Well, Shields was part of Bethenny’s life for a couple of decades and he also dated her. That’s normal.
“Considering Mr. Shields’ addiction,” Hoppy’s team argued. “What does that say about Ms. Frankel’s parenting that she would allow this person to care for her daughter?”
That is heavily loaded with assumptions about Shields’ health and unfounded prejudices against people who use prescription painkillers.
“This doesn’t just constitute a lapse in judgment,” Hoppy’s attorney claimed. “This was just downright dangerous parenting.”
This didn’t come up in court out of nowhere. Apparently, Hoppy’s team waited until things were going well for Bethenny before bringing up such a loaded attack.
“Bethenny, in Bryn’s best interest, asked for a new trial,” the courtroom insider reports.
“The minute the judge agreed to that today,” the source continues. “Jason’s side brought up the Dennis stuff.”
One wonders how long they waited after news broke of Shields’ tragic passing before preparing to use this as a weapon in court.
That said … we have to remember that attorney’s are sworn to zealously represent their clients.
The courtroom insider said that the judge noticed that this was quite an escalation.
The source shares: “The judge said now you’re throwing ‘grenades.’”
“Jason and his team were OK with Bethenny as a mom when they walked into the courtroom,” the insider reports.
That chagned when things stopped going their way, it seems.
“But then once Bethenny got what she wanted,” the insider describes. “They didn’t think the was a good mom.”
Hoppy’s team also tried to dredge up Bethenny’s The Real Housewives of New York City behavior, as if it reflected her skills as a parent.
“There was a recent episode in which she appeared to be intoxicated,” Hoppy’s team reportedly argued. “She was running around without clothes on and then she passed out and it was said she passed out from mixing Ambien with alcohol.”
Arguing that someone’s child-free behavior on a reality series disqualifies them from being a parent is usually a stretch, akin to confusing an actor with a movie role they played.
“Our concerns are whether Ms. Frankel may have some type of substance-abuse problems,” Hopps’ attorney had the nerve to say. “So we would ask the court to order drug testing of Ms. Frankel to find out whether that’s an issue.”
Outrageous.