Bethenny Frankel Calls for Reality Stars Union: ‘Networks and Streamers Have Been Exploiting People for Too Long’ (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comMarc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Bethenny Frankel says reality stars should take a page out of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes and unionize.
She says she believes reality stars should be earning residual-like payments when their series become hits and are replayed by networks and streamers across multiple platforms.
Frankel shot to fame on the original “Real Housewives of New York.” She says she was paid $7,250 for the first season, but has never received any compensation based on the show’s massive success.
She has a starred in a variety of reality series since “RHONY,” including “Bethenny Getting Married,” “Bethenny and Frederick” and “Bethenny Every After.” “Just because you can, as a streamer or a network, play the show as much as you want, doesn’t mean you should,” she told me Wednesday. “Meaning, yes, they’re going to get as much milk out of the cows as they could because it’s legal.
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