NEW YORK — Kelly Killoren Bensimon appeared in court Tuesday morning to face a misdemeanor assault charge for allegedly punching her boyfriend, Nicholas Stefanov.
"I'm really upset by the entire process," the 40-year-old "Real Housewives of New York City" star told Extra after the hearing. "My beautiful girls and I are being exposed to a horrible situation. I just think it just unsettling."
"It's about my girls," she added. "My girls don't need to be exposed to something like this. It's really inappropriate."
Bensimon was arrested on March 5 when she turned herself into authorities. According to police reports, Stefanov suffered a black eye and a gash on his left cheek when she punched him in the face.
Bensimon's lawyer Ed Hayes believes the 30-year-old Stefanov is responsible for the altercation because he refused to leave her apartment after the couple broke up.
"I can't believe the guy went to the police," Hayes told New York's Daily News. "It is very, very mean-spirited. It's not like she's in his apartment. He's in her apartment."
Stefanov did not attend Tuesday's hearing, but he previously told the Daily News that their fight was over the "usual stuff that couples fight about." He said that he still loves Bensimon, even though he claimed this wasn't the first time she hit him. He blamed her outburst on the stress of their recent engagement and her role on the Bravo reality show.
"She is a great girl," he told the paper. "I do want to work it out. But what are you supposed to do when a girl is hitting you, just sit there like a punching bag?"
When asked by Extra if he thinks the incident is best described as a lovers' quarrel, Hayes offered the following: "I don't even know if I qualify him as lover. How about a jilted moron?"
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