Rachel Zoe Speaks Out About Ex-Husband’s Public Relationship
Rachel Zoe isn’t holding back about her ex-husband Rodger Berman.
On Thursday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the fashion mogul addressed how Berman was photographed with his girlfriend Bree Jacoby just four months after they announced their separation in September 2024.
During lunch with costar Bozoma “Boz” Saint John, Zoe was asked about Kyle Richards’ situation with ex-husband Mauricio Umansky. Saint John wanted to know how Zoe would feel seeing her ex “in the press kissing somebody.”
“Well, I did,” Zoe said. “It’s funny because no one really cared – it came out in the Daily Mail.”
Saint John asked if the photos surfaced after the separation. Zoe confirmed they did, “but early.”
Children Found Out Through Media
The 54-year-old emphasized her main concern was protecting her sons.
“Please remember that I have kids that are 14 and 11,” she said. “For me it’s a lot of: ‘Are you okay? Are you unwell? What the f— are you thinking about?’ I didn’t understand, and it really upset me.”
In a confessional, Zoe revealed that sons Skyler, 14, and Kaius, 11, didn’t know about Berman’s girlfriend until after he was photographed with her.
“I can’t think of anything more f—— indiscreet than being photographed on the sidewalks of Los Angeles with your arm around your girlfriend that no one knows about, and – most importantly – that your children don’t know about.”
“Use your f—— head,” she said. “What about your businesses? What about your team? What about our investors? What about our company, our kids? Hide. Hide.”
Timeline Raises Questions
During last week’s premiere, Zoe revealed Berman had been dating “the same girl for a year.” The boys had known about her for about “10 months.”
When a producer pointed out this meant Berman “got a girlfriend right after you guys separated,” Zoe responded, “I’ll let you do the math.”
The fashion designer said her sons’ relationship with their father has been “tricky” since the split.
“I think that they wonder why he sometimes does or says things he says, why he acts the way he does, why there’s time spent with his girlfriend versus his kids,” she explained.
Previous Comments on Cheating Rumors
Zoe previously addressed cheating rumors surrounding Berman, 57, in a recent interview with PEOPLE, saying “the timeline’s the timeline.”
“Everything I answer is through a lens of what my children will see and hear,” she said. “It is what it is. Whether or not they’re together now, I don’t really know. Life is wild, and I can say it takes a whole lot to really shock me.”
Finding Freedom After Split
Earlier in the December 11 episode, Zoe described life post-separation as both challenging and liberating.
Life can be “paralyzing at times,” she admitted. But it’s also been “incredibly refreshing to make all my decisions for myself and for my kids and not have to check and ask anyone about anything.”
“There’s a freedom that I have never experienced,” she said. “It’s wild.”
In a confessional, Zoe revealed she was “living in an anxious state with shields up all the time” toward the end of her marriage.
She described feeling like she was walking on eggshells about simple requests. “I felt like that was annoying,” she said. “It was like f—— Jekyll and Hyde.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo. Episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
