With the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shaking up the entertainment industry, Real Housewives of New York alum Bethenny Frankel wants reality stars to follow suit and unionize—and she’s already warned networks and streamers that she’s “coming in hot.”
The entrepreneur laid out her argument on Instagram on Wednesday, where she wrote in part, “I’m well aware that unscripted talent aka ‘reality stars’ should have a union or simply be treated fairly and valued. And the mentality that we were nobodies and that these streamers and networks have given us platforms and that we can capitalize on them is also moronic.”
Frankel also shared in her video that when she joined the Real Housewives franchise in 2008, she was paid only $7,250 for the entire season—and she hasn’t been given a cent since, even though the series is streaming on Peacock.
“I myself have generated millions and millions of dollars in advertising and online impressions being on reality TV and have never made a single residual,” Frankel, who remains one of the most famous Housewives alums, said. “Either I’m missing something, or we’re getting screwed too.”
“Critics will say that actors have ‘talent’ which is what studios pay for: in fact, studios pay for advertisers and advertisers pay for the purchasers of the household aka women,” Frankel continued. “And what gets women? Reality tv. Just because talent signs their life away doesn’t make exploitation correct. Reality stars should also stop shooting network and streaming content until their free content is taking down. We also deserve residuals.”
“Agreed,” Real Housewives of Atlanta star Nene Leakes commented on Frankel’s post. “I been saying this but they will hear you better than me.”
“Wish I had your brain when I signed my life away haha,” Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe added. “I’m with you!!!”
Reality shows are still in production in the midst of the ongoing strikes because they are covered under the SAG-AFTRA Network Code, or the National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting. A new Network Code contract was ratified last summer, and the contract doesn’t expire until 2024, meaning that reality stars are free to work: Vanderpump Rules, Bravo’s biggest hit at the moment, is currently filming its 11th season in Los Angeles.
But clearly, Frankel struck a nerve. In another series of videos posted to her Instagram Story on Thursday morning, she said she received over 100 messages from fellow reality TV stars who agreed with her. She added that she has begun putting together a list of terms that reality talent can ask for in the future, warning, “Networks and streamers, we’re coming in hot.”
