Once again, it seems there is unnecessary drama on Real Housewives , but this time with another Sonja Morgan business venture. No more toasters or clothing. This time, Morgan wants to build on the success of Bethenny Frankel’s Skinnygirl cocktails, but Morgan wants to call hers Tipsy Girl, which she thinks is not similar at all.
According to the Inquisitr , Real Housewives Sonja Morgan has made a habit this year of ticking off the other women , but trying to snag a friend’s business is a whole new level of nerve. This year on Real Housewives of New York , Sonja picked a fight with Kristen Taekman for mocking her former toaster oven venture, when Taekman did nothing of the sort. She had actually been supportive of Morgan’s fashion show, but Morgan went on the attack anyway, in a drunken manner that was also a hallmark of the season.
Had a blast at tonight’s @skinnygirl event! It was so nice to meet you @labyrinth3000! Xo pic.twitter.com/KYpp8Picn7
— Bethenny Frankel (@Bethenny) December 15, 2015
Vanity Fair is calling this latest attempt of Sonja Morgan’s venture into business “booze wars” because she is obviously, and not at all subtly, cutting in on Bethenny Frankel’s territory. Frankel’s company is Skinnygirl, while Morgan is trying to launch Tipsy Girl.
“In one corner you have Bethenny Frankel, the booze baron who left the show triumphant—she was a rich business success, newly married with a baby on the way—only to return a few years later, still successful, but craving some new/old validation in her life. And in the other corner you have Sonja Morgan, purple-eyed dark mistress, a tall-tale-telling lush who wants to make her own way in the business world. By sorta copying Bethenny’s big idea.”
The press is having a field day mocking Morgan, but Frankel is not going to let this get by.
“Morgan is releasing a bubbly wine called Tipsy Girl. (Much like that popular whiskey brand, Drunk Man.) So you can see where Bethenny, owner of Skinnygirl, feels a little encroached upon by Sonja, owner of Tipsy Girl.”
Page Six says that Frankel was not born yesterday, and has enough legal representation to squash Morgan like a bug.
“But we’ve since learned Frankel had already taken action to muddy the waters for Morgan in the marketplace: Frankel’s company, SG Marks LLC, applied to trademark ‘Tipsygirl’ (one word), according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. Records show Morgan’s partner, Peter Guimaraes, already registered to trademark ‘Tipsy Girl’ seven months earlier.”
Just in case Morgan was confused, Frankel just made it that much harder to try to do business as Tipsy Girl. Take that!
Representatives for Morgan are calling Frankel underhanded and believe that Frankel must be threatened by Morgan’s latest business venture, this time into alcohol. Morgan’s lawyer is ready to “do battle” with Frankel.
“I have already retained an attorney to handle Miss Frankel’s sneaky and illegal move,” he wrote.
He also says that after Proseco, Morgan plans to move on to tequila and other alcohols and mixers, exactly like, Skinnygirl.
@MommyRou @honeypiepie @marbrenda123 Bethenny Frankel ready to battle over Sonja Morgan’s booze line https://t.co/3VNuJZcUIm via @pagesix
— Darrell W. Robinson (@DarrellDWRSE7EN) December 15, 2015
It’s hard to imagine what Sonja Morgan is thinking by trying to knock off Frankel’s business, but it’s easy to imagine that Frankel and her business backers have quite the legal team ready to do battle.
Do you think Frankel’s company Skinnygirl sounds similar to Morgan’s company Tipsy Girl, or are they different enough to both do business in the same industry?
[Photo courtesy of Theo Warger/Getty Images]