Call her any number of titles: the most successful cast member at monetizing being on the Real Housewives franchise; a philanthropist whose BStrong initiative has raised millions of dollars to support those affected by natural disaster and civil unrest; a TikToker who relishes in discount beauty reviews and seafood; creator of Skinnygirl (watch out, deli meat connoisseurs and consumers of the since-discontinued Skinnygirl Kids bath and body line); and now—unionizer.
Bethenny Frankel, former star of The Real Housewives of New York and many reality TV spin-offs, recently announced her plan to create a reality TV union. She said she was partly inspired by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and the work of actors and writers to demand protection and compensation for their work and likeness. Frankel is calling attention to an industry often left out of the workers’ rights conversation. One that Frankel feels is taking advantage of its vulnerable participants.
Frankel has since shared a video outlining proposed terms, and suggested that until those terms are met reality TV stars like the Kardashians should stand down from filming and show up to support less successful participants. Frankel suggested that essential workers, including nurses and teachers, could be inspired to create their own models because of her call to action. “Change takes courage,” Frankel posted on her social media, referencing how the call to unionize has potentially affected her business. “I’ve alienated this industry & burned bridges with the entire network and streaming community in one fell swoop. This is not for the faint of heart but it’s for the greater good.”
Would other reality TV stars join her in challenging their industry? That was the question on my mind when I ventured to Jill Zarin’s Luxury Luncheon, talking to reality TV veterans like Cynthia Bailey, Luann de Lesseps, and Wendell Holland, who had thoughts about Frankel’s bombshell proposal.
In the weeks since Frankel first announced her plans, she onboarded two power-player attorneys in Hollywood, Mark Geragos and Bryan Freedman, for what they have described as “a war.” Freedman told Variety he intends to look into OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] standards when it comes to reality-TV working conditions. And Frankel has mentioned receiving stories from dozens of reality TV participants who want to join her campaign.
Frankel recently told Variety she believes people who sign on for reality TV aren’t aware of what they’re actually giving up in order to chase potential fame and fortune. And their very ignorance is being exploited—financially, physically, psychologically— by the networks and production companies in power positions.
One wonders how many reality TV stars agree with Frankel’s call to action. In the days following her blockbuster reunion with former bestie Jill Zarin on Frankel’s JustB and Rewives podcasts, I decided to find out. And what better place to start than Zarin’s annual luxury lunch, held this past Saturday in Southampton, attended by several reality TV stars.
Mention It All
Speaking to me next to a press line that appeared to be managed by prayer, Survivor winner Wendell Holland agreed with Frankel’s mission. “I think it’s a great idea,” Holland said. “I’ve heard rumblings in the Survivor community where people would see themselves on these large streaming sites and wonder why they aren’t receiving compensation for that.”
“We are being reused and reused and reused and reused,” he continued. “I’ve always been a big Survivor fan, a superfan who just wanted to get on the show, right? And now I can watch myself on streaming sites. And I just think, for a lot of the fans, we think that just getting on is it. But if you think about it, if they can use your likeness into perpetuity, then they’re obviously getting something for it.”
Holland noted that networks take advantage of people’s naiveté, including about what it is they’re agreeing to do. “We get a huge contract, hundreds of pages that maybe everyone doesn’t read through with a fine-tooth comb,” Holland shared. “And maybe if they did, they would understand that [the networks] truly own you.”
And what did other members of the Jill Zarin Luxury Lunch community have to say? Well, it was a somewhat mixed (gift) bag.
Current Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member Margaret Josephs emphasized the power of a collective. “It’s a great idea,” Josephs told Obsessed, “coming off the SAG-AFTRA strike, which I totally support. The strike, and the writers.”
“I think it’s a very big undertaking,” Josephs continued. “But I don’t think [Bethenny’s] wrong. I think it’s a conversation. I think it’s definitely a conversation that should be had.”
You know who wasn’t afraid to mention it all? Cabaret star of stage and screen, currently on Peacock’s hit series Sonja and Luann: Welcome to Crappie Lake, Luann de Lesseps. What did Lu think of her former cast member—and maybe frenemy—Frankel’s plans? “I would love to have a union, but it’s never going to happen,” said de Lesseps. “Because if we do a picketing line, [the network’s] gonna be like, ‘Bye! We’ve got the next younger, brighter, hotter star than you.’ You can’t unionize reality, because it’s too easy to get other people.”
“I believe people are irreplaceable,” de Lesseps noted, as I fantasized about air conditioning while spending minute 400 in the sun on this Hamptons red carpet. “But I feel like in reality, yeah, it’s too easy to say, ‘Let people go.’ Because we don’t [currently] have a union. I mean, already SAG-AFTRA is protected, right? And the writers are protected. But we have no protection whatsoever.”
To borrow from de Lesseps’ hit dance single “Chic C’est La Vie,” ladies and gentleman, this is the Countess speaking. And de Lesseps noted that since she wasn’t protected by a union during her original run on RHONY, she mandated certain boundaries around what production was allowed to film. “Really from the get-go, I was like, ‘This is my bedroom. You’re not allowed in here.’ This is what time is convenient for me [to film]. I'm not going to Scary Island because it's my daughter's birthday.” (Writer’s note: Victoria, couldn’t we have rescheduled?)
“So pretty much from the get-go,” de Lesseps continued, “I think what made me comfortable was managing myself in a way that I’m happy with.” She mentioned standing back up after falling on her face a few times in later seasons (bushes have nothing on the Countess’s might), her hit cabaret tour and new show with Sonja Morgan. C’est bon, c’est bon.
The Peach Perspective
Cynthia Bailey is set to cameo on next week’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta, after being a cast member for several years. Bailey fully supports unionizing reality TV. “I've always wondered why reality TV was not unionized,” she said, looking every inch a cool supermodel in a long sleeved button down and jeans, as my cotton dress created a lap pool of its own making.
“I definitely think, especially as someone who’s been on a reality show for 11 years, to not be able to at least get residuals, because all that stuff helps with our health insurance, I never thought that was really fair,” Bailey said. And “for our likeness, to just be used [until] the end of time and not be compensated?”
“And I’m not saying we have to make millions of dollars in residuals,” she said, “but those residuals add up.” Bailey said that while details of Frankel’s plan need to be flushed out, “I’m not opposed to joining the movement.”
Braunwyn Windham-Burke, formerly of The Real Housewives of Orange County, also felt that unionizing was necessary. “I think unionizing any group is smart,” Windham-Burke said.
“The things that we do on these shows will be there forever. For better or worse. Whatever I was [like] on the show, [it] will always be there. And if someone's profiting off of that, we deserve to have that too.” And what does the host of today’s event have to say about her former—and maybe future—friend’s plans? About unionizing, not much.
“I’m not going to respond,” Zarin said, before sharing an oft-used Housewives refrain to say that her charity lunch (don’t forget luxury!), created in the memory of her late, universally beloved husband Bobby Zarin, was “not the time” to discuss unionizing.
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