Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

‘Real Housewives’ Dumps Socialite Jules Wainstein as Marriage Crumbles

— 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 on Thursday reported.

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 “The 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.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.