The war between “Real Housewives of New York” Aviva Drescher and Carole Radziwill is escalating after Drescher has been accused of having a ghostwriter on her latest book, “Leggy Blonde.”
The brouhaha began when Drescher recently said on an episode of the Bravo series that Radziwill used a ghostwriter for her first book, “What Remains” — which Radziwill denied, then vented on her blog, “Although I know which ghostwriter Aviva worked with, out of professional courtesy to the writer and to Aviva’s publisher, I’m not going to name her. But she is well-known in the industry and has penned many books, including several by reality stars.”
Sources tell Page Six that Drescher hypocritically used not one but two ghostwriters on her own memoir, released last month, which Drescher adamantly denies.
“Aviva had two ghostwriters for her book,” sniffed a source. “Valerie Frankel and another writer named Rebecca Paley.” Frankel is well-known for having previously written books with Joan Rivers, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Melissa Gorga.
But Drescher explained to us that when she first struck a deal to write “Leggy Blonde,” it was publisher Gallery Books that suggested that Paley help her — but that never materialized. She then “ran into Andy Cohen, who said, ‘Just start writing.’ ” She adds, “I was writing my own story. This is not rocket science. It’s not like Maya Angelou.” The Vassar grad with a master’s and a law degree further told us that she wrote a draft herself and that Frankel then helped her as an editor.
“I did not give my story to her and have her write it,” she insists. “She was a real editor.”
Adding a dig, she said, “Carole’s second book, ‘The Widow’s Guide to Sex and Dating,’ had to be overhauled. She showed us chapters [on vacation] in St. Barts, and it was awful.” Other sources told us that six publishers are currently vying for Radziwill’s next book.
Frankel’s and Radziwill’s reps didn’t comment.