Bethenny Frankel:  "They Made Millions Off Of Me"

 

 

Former Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel is questioning why reality TV hasn’t unionized just a week into the WGA and SAG-AFTRA double strike.  She feel that now is the time as networks turn to reality TV to support their fall schedules.  Frankel has problems with networks and streamers profiting from reality stars without acknowledging the cultural and financial impact of reality shows like The Hills, Vanderpump Rules, Jersey Shore, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.

 

“I have never made a single residual,” she claims. “So either I’m missing something, or we’re getting screwed too.” She homed in particularly on the issue of residuals, pointing out that stars like Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari “don’t make a damn dollar” from their time on their hit MTV series that Frankel says was “getting ratings that network television doesn’t get” and is “still being watched today.”

 

I get it, and it does seem outrageous that the "players" on reality tv aren't acknowledged as worthy contributors to the entertainment industry, especially when their shows reach pop cultural phenomenon status, like the "Housewives" or Bachelor series. 

 

The problem are these little documents called contracts, and as Kelle Levanthal recently said, "We all know damn well what we signed ... you just don't get to change the terms of the contract later".   The way I see it, is if actual actors like the entire cast of Gilligan's Island, or Happy Days, or The Brady Bunch haven't succeeded in making "residual money" from their years of actual skilled work, then these modern-day fame ho's, aren't either.