Bethenny Frankel says reality TV stars should strike (original) (raw)
Real Housewives alum Bethenny Frankel says reality TV stars should strike: 'We've always been the losers'
The former Housewife added that anyone currently on a Bravo show stop shooting until they are paid residuals for all past episodes or "those episodes should be taken down."
Published on July 19, 2023 11:30PM EDT
Norma Rae, take a seat — Bethenny Frankel has entered the union chat.
Amid the dual writers' and actors' strikes, the former Real Housewives of New York City mainstay took to Instagram to call for unscripted talent to get paid residuals.
"Why isn't reality TV on strike?" Frankel wondered aloud. "I got paid $7,250 for my first season of reality TV and people are still watching those episodes. We've always been the losers, the 'I'm up here, you're down here' to the actresses and actors."
Bethenny Frankel on 'The Real Housewives of New York'.
Frankel points out that during the last writers' strike (from November 2007 to February 2008), reality TV filled the void left by scripted entertainment, noting this was when "the gold rush of reality TV started."
The unscripted vet, who also counts stints on her own shows as well as The Apprentice and other gigs, says she herself has generated "millions and millions of dollars in advertising and online impressions" from her time on reality TV and yet has "never made a single residual."
"Either I'm missing something or we're getting screwed, too," the erstwhile Mayor of Scary Island concluded. "Anyone shooting a Bravo show should not be shooting until they get paid residuals for all the other episodes that they've ever done or those episodes should be taken down. Reality stars should go on strike."
Wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Bethenny does have a point. Reality stars should be getting paid residuals, but let's not entertain the idea of taking down any episodes. Countess Luann de Lesseps death-dropping into a bush in Mexico ought to be preserved for any and all future generations.
Frankel goes on to argue that reality TV stars, such as those from The Hills, got exploited and in return their shows receive ratings that neither network or streaming television get.
"If a network or streamer is currently making money on me telling someone to GO TO SLEEP then maybe I should be compensated," the Skinny Girl creator wrote in the caption for her post, referencing her own iconography. "And maybe I'm the one who needs to GET A HOBBY and maybe this will be it."
Well, when Bethenny Frankel puts her mind to something, it usually gets done. Though her concern for her fellow reality stars is a bit odd considering she's been, in the words of her ex boss Andy Cohen, "trashing" the Housewives for the past few years. But even a Skinny Girl loves a fat check.
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