(JTA) — The cable network Bravo dropped from its popular reality television show “The Real Housewives of New York City” the socialite Jules Wainstein, who is involved in a messy alimony fight with her estranged husband.
Wainstein, whose mother is Jewish and whose father is Japanese, joined the show last year for its eighth season but was dropped amid a legal fight with her ex, Michael Wainstein, who is also Jewish. Their marriage fell apart during filming for the eighth season, in which Jules Wainstein was the sole addition to the lineup of the previous season, the New York Post reported Thursday.
The show follows the lives of New York women from different backgrounds.
The couple is quoted as saying that they regard the Jewish tradition as an important element of the upbringing they give their two small children. She has posted on Instagram pictures of her lighting candles during a Shabbat dinner with her two children.
Wainstein called the police against her husband, claiming he behaved violently to other family members, though he has denied this and no charges were filed against him. During a divorce proceeding Thursday at a New York family court, he demanded that $200 in weekly grocery money be given to the nanny instead of to his wife.
Michael Wainstein’s lawyer suggested in court Thursday that Jules wasn’t providing her kids with adequate meals. “We want to ensure that there is proper food in the home for the children,” said Michael’s lawyer Morghan Leia Richardson. “The nanny is fully familiar with what the children eat.”
Jules’ attorney Allan Mayefsky — who also represented Bethenny Frankel, another “Real Housewives of New York City” protagonist, in her divorce — insisted that his client get the food money directly.
Justice Michael Katz agreed. He slashed Jules’ request for $25,000 in monthly child and spousal support to just $10,000 a month after Michael Wainstein pleaded poverty.
