Carole Radziwill Kristina Bumphrey/Variety/Getty Images Logo text Carole Radziwill is addressing her name appearing in the Epstein files, which will seemingly be a hot topic on the 16th season of The Real Housewives of New York City.
The Housewife used to be friends with Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell; Maxwell also shot the author’s photo for Radziwill’s 2007 memoir What Remains. Her connection to the Epstein files was brought up in the trailer for the upcoming season of RHONY, and she says it’s an important topic to discuss.
“Me and many, many, many more people found our names in these files, and it’s not something I shy away from because I think really it’s important to talk about it,” Radziwill said in a video shared by Vulture during a RHONY cast Q&A hosted by Andy Cohen on Tuesday. “It’s important to be transparent.”
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Radziwill said that “obviously I didn’t know anything as no one, you know, 20 years ago would have known anything,” but that it’s “hard also” to grapple with the idea “that someone you knew that long ago and even called a friend at some point was a horrible, horrible person doing horrible things.”
“At first, I was really nervous, but I just think it’s an opportunity to talk about it,” Radziwill added. “There’s real victims and survivors that were brave enough to really stand up to these very, very powerful people. So, you know, not to be a downer, though.”
Radziwill is returning to the RHONY cast after previously starring on the series from season five through 10. It had previously been reported that she would be returning to the show for season 16, but only in a reduced status; however, she has regained her “Apple,” making her a full-time Housewife.
RHONY will debut its 16th season on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 8 p.m. on Bravo. The new season arrives a little over a year after the second season of the reboot (season 15) concluded on a rocky note in February 2025.
RHONY was rebooted with a brand new cast for the show’s 14th season, following another hectic season 13. After that installment, Bravo initially planned to split RHONY into two shows — one centered around a fresh slate of women and another spotlighting the “legacy” cast. The latter idea was shelved when Peacock instead released The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy, a one-season project that highlighted Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer, Kelly Bensimon, Sonja Morgan, Dorinda Medley and Kristen Taekman on vacation.
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