Bethenny Frankel Stopped Looking For A NYC Apartment After Being Punched

After commenting on a TikTok video from a woman who was punched in the face while walking down the street in New York City, Bethenny Frankel is now sharing her story.

In a recently shared TikTok video, the "Real Housewives of New York" alum explains what happened to her a few months ago and why she stopped apartment hunting in the city.

After leaving a comment on Mikayla Toninato's TikTok video about being punched in the face, Frankel decided to share her own story.

"So many of you have wanted to punch me in the face at one point or another, and someone else did do it for you," she began her video. "I didn't realize that this issue had gotten so much pickup. So I saw a woman talking about the fact that she had been punched in the face on the street, and I commented, 'Oh my God, the same thing happened to me.'"

Frankel said after the incident happened, she recorded her reaction but felt "embarrassed or weird" about posting it.

While Frankel was in the city doing some apartment hunting, she stopped into a small deli/bakery.

"I walked in and I was shooting the baked goods, and as I turned around, I mean the place was the size of a bathroom, turned around to walk out the door, I was walking out the door and this guy punched me," she said. "Hit me is more, it wasn't like a closed fist. Just hit me in the face, and I was completely stunned."

After the incident happened, she texted her broker to say she didn't want to view any apartments anymore because "This city's insane."

"I attributed this to the crime, you know, that was happening during the pandemic," she continued. "Little did I know that this would become this trend of people getting hit. And even when I had commented on that post, I didn't know that it had been multiple people."

She also explained that it's being reported that her comment on Toninato's post was deleted, but she said she did not delete it and it's still there. Toninato's post received nearly 35,000 comments so it's possible Frankel's comment could be easily missed while scrolling.

Frankel said she feels sorry for all the other women that this is happening to.

"I hope it's more of like, a weird trend than an actual reflection of crime because it did scare me about New York City," she said. "In the past, I talked about the difference in feeling safe in New York City since the pandemic and I was criticized about it because I left the city and didn't feel safe."

Many viewers of Frankel's TikTok video shared more information about the recent "trend" of punching women, and others shared their thoughts.

One person wrote, "I heard that they found the guy," to which Frankel responded, "Mine was months ago and it’s not that guy. My guy was homeless."

Another person reminded everyone of another terrifying trend from years ago. "Years ago in NY, it was slashing faces. I was scared to death." Frankel responded, "Wow YES."

One person asked if she called the police after it happened, and Frankel said, "No."

Toninato was just one of quite a few women who shared TikTok videos this week revealing that she was punched in the face while walking down the street. Her video went viral with more than 12.8 million views.

“So I just got punched in the face walking home. I was literally leaving class, I turned the corner and I was looking down, and I was looking at my phone and texting. And then out of nowhere, this man just came up and hit me in the face,” she said. “I’m actually in shock right now. I’m just like walking home because what else do you do?”

Frankel commented on the video to say she was also punched.

"This is insane bc this happened to me a few months ago but I was embarrassed to say. I was on the UWS [Upper West Side]. Insane. I was taking a video of a bakery," Frankel shared.

In an update video shared on Thursday evening, Toninato revealed that the man who punched her was just arrested.

"They just arrested the man that assaulted me," she said in her TikTok video.

"I am seriously in shock, but I just got a call from my detective, who has been working on this case. He was going to different buildings in the area to get more surveillance footage, and then literally saw the man walking around the street and just arrested him and is taking him to the station."

Her video quickly went viral with more than 2 million views and thousands of comments.

"I’m so thankful that you had a positive outcome! I’m sorry this happened to you, to begin with! Thank you for speaking out about this!" one viewer shared in the comment section. Another added, "Such great news!! Thank you so much for keeping us updated!"