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Ramona Singer loves to put her foot in her mouth.
This time, Ramona’s cozying up to a figure even more controversial than she. And no, for once, it isn’t her lookalike Donald Trump.
Some defenders speculated that perhaps Ramona was simply too clueless to know who Daniel Penny is.
Her defense against the backlash is asserting otherwise.
Ramona Singer wanted everyone to see how much she likes Daniel Penny
On Friday, May 9, Ramona Singer took to her Instagram page to share a now-deleted photo and caption.
The former The Real Housewives of New York City star shared a photo of herself next to an infamous man.
“So proud Daniel Penny !!” she wrote in the caption of the post. “#apennysaved #hero” she captioned. Oof.
Ramona singer is a disgusting human. We better never see her on anything on bravo. And Bitch you look all the 66 years you’ve been on this planet stop gassing yourself. @ramonasinger @BravoTV pic.twitter.com/JkcNZW9MdW
— jasmine (@Jasminesta36195) May 11, 2025
If that name sounds familiar, it should. On May 1, 2023, a 30-year-old man named Jordan Neely died on a New York subway.
The medical examiner determined that Neely had died by homicide, that the victim had died from “compression of neck (chokehold).”
Daniel Penny, who had taken it upon himself to forcefully restrain Neely due to the latter’s alleged erratic behavior, was charged in the killing.
However, in December 2024, the jury acquitted Penny on the charge of criminally negligent homicide.
So … why is he taking photos with controversial reality stars?
As we have all seen in recent years, certain types of people are able to turn what should probably be a life-ruining scandal into a financial springboard.
From George Zimmerman over a decade ago to that woman who called a 5-year-old the N-word, if the worst people alive think of you as a “hero,” your lifestyle can receive a major upgrade.
None of us can claim to know what was going through Penny’s mind when Neely died.
But it is unclear why someone who convinced a jury that he did not intend for someone to die is now attending galas in his honor.
The gala honoring Daniel Penny sounds like it was a sort of real life supervillain get-together. Former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly was there, if that gives you an idea of the vibes.
Ramona Singer was there, too.
Some have speculated that Ramona, who does not have a reputation for being particularly bright — or even for following very simple conversations, at times — had no idea who Penny was. That sounded plausible … at first.
The backlash was intense, but the ‘RHONY’ alum doubled down
Ramona Singer’s rep spoke to Page Six and offered an unabashed and absurd defense of the reality TV personality after commenters called her “foul” and more.
“Daniel was found not guilty and he was protecting lives,” the rep claimed.
The rep then outlandishly continued: “Some of the same people who are criticizing her seem to be people who praise Luigi Mangione who is an actual murderer.”
Obviously, Luigi Mangione has not been convicted of or confessed to anything.
Though some have uplifted him as a hero, it might be more appropriate to refer to him as an “accused hero” until there is a legal determination.
The rep’s statement, like Ramona herself often does, misses the point.
The death of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson has been well-received with much of the public across political lines because the for-profit health insurance industry is widely unpopular due to its predatory nature and the harm that it exacts.
Meanwhile, the death of Jordan Neely — a man who many believe to have been having a mental health episode — shows that people living under that same for-profit health insurance system may be one bad day again from dying at a stranger’s hands because they cannot afford the treatment that they need.
