Bethenny Frankel doesn’t have any dragons, but she’s ready to burn things to the ground in support of her fellow reality stars.
The Real Housewives of New York City alum appeared on Team Coco’s Literally! with Rob Lowe podcast this week to talk up her “reality reckoning” plan, which calls for fairer treatment for reality show stars.
Frankel realizes that her pro-unionization stance hasn’t made her popular with Bravo, her former network.
“I can tell you with great certainty that everyone at Bravo likely despises me, including Andy Cohen, because it’s very personal and because they have to protect the realm,” she said on Thursday’s episode.
Frankel is currently working with lawyers and supported by SAG-AFTRA in her campaign for fair conditions for reality TV stars.
“While we’re talking about a union and what that would look like, [SAG-AFTRA] also want to know in the short term what they could do to help,” she said. “And I was saying there should be some language, some contract language that goes into these contracts that everybody in reality knows to include.”
Among her biggest beefs are “unrealistic NDAs,” which prohibit reality stars from sharing bits of the show or their own life with the public. “It’s a very complicated thing I walked myself into whilst also burning bridges and seeming like I’m biting the hand that fed me, but I fed myself,” she said. “There are a lot of people who didn’t get fed.”
Bravo responded to Frankel’s NDA complaints in a statement.
“Confidentiality clauses are standard practice in reality programming to prevent disclosure of storylines prior to air, They are not intended to prevent disclosure by cast and crew of unlawful acts in the workplace, and they have not been enforced in that manner. To be clear: any current or former cast or crew is free to discuss and disclose any allegedly unlawful acts in the workplace, such as harassment or discrimination, or any other conduct they have reason to believe is inappropriate.”
Frankel claims she is advocating for people who are “taking such risks by being their own voice. During this strike, they’re going to be the ones that everybody goes to for cheap labor.”
Using a Game of Thrones reference, she added, “Instead of just counting my money and not pissing anybody off, I chose to, you know, shake that whole thing up and burn bridges and torch the kingdom, Khaleesi-style.”
