Former Real Housewives Of New York star Bethenny Frankel is continuing her rampage against reality TV network Bravo, and reality television in general. This week, her gaggle of lawyers have demanded that Bravo and its parent company, NBC Universal, allow reality stars on its networks to break their non-disclosure agreements so they’re free to reveal alleged mistreatment.
According to Page Six, Frankel’s lawyer Bryan Freedman sent the networks a legal letter which accused Bravo and NBC Universal of violating a law in California that prohibits companies from forcing employees to sign documents that would prevent them from disclosing “unlawful acts in the workplace.”
In the letter, Freedman claimed that some of the content created on the network can include “racism, sexism, sexual violence, revenge porn, child labour, forced intoxication, and psychological, emotional and physical abuse.”
Frankel’s lawyers are requesting that NBC Universal and Bravo release reality TV stars from their NDAs or at the very least allow contestants to disclose the alleged illegal conduct they believe may have happened during production.
Bethenny Frankel’s lawyers coming for the networks is no surprise. Earlier this month, Frankel reportedly hired lawyers to go after the network and sent a letter to NBC’s general council which accused the company of making “deliberate attempts to manufacture mental instability” along with giving the stars “alcohol while depriving them of food and sleep,” as per Page Six.
Following the letter, Frankel has been starting conversations about a “reality reckoning” that she wants to bring on the industry.
In a video podcast posted to YouTube last week, Frankel explained why the actors and writers’ strikes inspired her to take on the network that made her an international name.
“Off the cuff I posted a video saying ‘Why aren’t reality stars on strike’ and that ‘We should have a union’ because I know that my content is all over the world that I did 15 years ago, before I ever knew that there would be a Peacock streamer or any streamers or gifs or memes or any YouTube clips or social media,” she said to the camera.
“I go to Australia and I’ll see my entire body on the back of buses promoting shows for Hayu Australia, which I never even knew existed because it didn’t exist. So we signed our lives away not realising where it would be distributed for decades to come.”
The 25-minute video goes into more detail about her experience and the horror stories she’s heard of other reality stars having their content allegedly exploited.
You can watch the full video below.
Now, Frankel has said that she is trying to organise a union for unscripted TV performers and claims to already have 80 reality stars who have reached out for more details of her proposed lawsuit.
But not all reality television stars are backing Frankel’s movement. Many, including Real Housewives Of New York‘s Dorinda Medley, have spoken out in support of Bravo.
“My experience has been positive. I’ve been part of the network for nearly 10 years, and I’ve loved getting to share my journey with the viewers,” she said to Page Six.
Real Housewives Of Atlanta star Kardi Burruss has also stated to Entertainment Tonight that she’s not joining Frankel’s crusade.
In a statement to Page Six following Frankel’s original letter, a spokesperson from NBC Universal has said that it is “committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew on their reality shows.”
“At the outset, we require our third-party production partners to have appropriate workplace policies and training in place.
“If complaints are brought to our attention, we work with our production partners to ensure that timely, appropriate action is or has been taken, including investigations, medical and/or psychological support, and other remedial action that may be warranted such as personnel changes.”
Look, I understand where Frankel is coming from. In a time when actors and writers are still on strike, reality stars take the load. After all, the last time we saw the writers go on strike in 2007, reality TV was born.
The television landscape has changed so fkn much over the last 15 years and stars like Frankel could have never expected their shows to be going strong forever on streaming platforms when they signed their name along the dotted line. But with that being said, today’s stars who sign up for these shows have a better degree of reality television literacy.
But the whole point of this potential lawsuit is examining whether they totally understand the risks of signing up to these shows for clout, and whether the network violates their rights to create the drama-filled content we all know and love.
Will Frankel’s reality reckoning create change within the reality television landscape? We’ll have to wait and see.
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