Bethenny Frankel's on-and-off boyfriend Dennis Shields was found dead of a suspected overdose in Trump Tower on Friday morning.
Shields, 51, was discovered at his Trump Tower address and pronounced dead at the scene by police, The New York Post reported. Sources told the Post that Shields had asked his assistant to give him Narcan around 9 a.m. because he believed he took too many OxyContin pills, but he lost consciousness before the medication could take effect and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
Shields and Frankel, the Skinnygirl founder and star of “The Real Housewives of New York,” dated on and off after Shields separated from his wife, Frankel’s high school friend Jill Schwartzberg, the Post reported. Frankel was spending some time at her Bridgehamptons home and her rep did not respond to requests for comment, Fox News reported.
Shields was a banker and CEO of LawCash, which provides money for lawsuits against New York City and charges clients high interest rates for advances on their settlements, the Post reported.
Schwartzberg, Shields’ estranged wife, said in a statement to People, “We are all heartbroken. Dennis was, and will always be, the love of my life. His spirit lives on in our children. Please respect our family’s privacy at this time. ”
Frankel said in a May interview with Steve Harvey that her relationship with Shields was complicated. While Frankel suggested in that interview that she might be ready to be “all in” with Shields, a source told People that the two became close friends when they “realized they didn’t work as a couple.”
“Real Housewives” co-star Sonja Morgan called Shields Frankel’s “rock” and lamented “another tragedy in her life,” Radar reported.
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