'REGRETTABLE'

Real Housewife Luann de Lesseps Apologizes For Drunken Piano Bar Debacle

“I’m in recovery and taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen again,” de Lesseps wrote on Instagram.

Luann de Lesseps, longtime star of the Real Housewives of New York reality show, apologized on Saturday for a drunken incident that allegedly led to her ouster from a gay piano bar in Manhattan.

“This week, after a regrettable incident I was faced with the truth,” she began in a statement posted to her Instagram account. “I want to apologize to the staff at Townhouse [Bar] and anyone else I may have offended by my behavior. Clearly my struggles with alcohol are real!”

De Lesepps went on to note that she is in recovery for alcohol abuse, and that while she has made “great strides” over the years, “it’s one day at a time.”

She said that she is taking steps to “ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

According to Page Six, the 56-year-old de Lesseps arrived at Townhouse on Wednesday alongside Broadway’s Kinky Boots producer Jim Kierstead. Inside the venue, she grabbed a microphone and started singing, then refused to relinquish her spot.

Eventually, the outlet said, the crowd began to boo her. The former countess responded by declaring “F*ck you.”

Off screen, de Lesseps has emerged as something of a cabaret star. She has 14 performances lined up next month at the famed venue Feinstein’s/54 Below.

But the crowd at Townhouse wasn’t there to see her. “She grabbed the mic and simply wouldn’t stop,” a source told Page Six. “Luann thought she was doing her act. She tried to sing [her own song] ‘Money Can’t Buy You Class,’ but they didn’t know it.”

The publication noted that de Lesseps disputed that she had been kicked out.

This week wasn’t her first public incident involving alcohol. In 2018 she was arrested after allegedly kicking a police officer in Palm Beach, Florida. She pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing, battery, and disorderly intoxication as part of a plea agreement and receiving 50 hours of community service, among other requirements.

It's been a year of controversy for the housewives (which of course is sort of the point). In January Bravo fired a cast member from the series’ Salt Lake City franchise over social media posts that were criticized as racist.

De Lesseps’ fellow Real Housewives of New York star Ramona Singer has also faced scrutiny for her long history of controversial comments, but she remains squarely part of the cast.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Noah KirschWealth and Power Reporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.