SAG-AFTRA Takes Up Bethenny Frankel’s Fight to Unionize Reality TV Performers

“Real Housewives” star Bethenny Frankel just got a powerful new ally in her push for reality TV performers to unionize and join the actors on the picket lines: SAG-AFTRA.

The guild said Thursday that it has spoken with Frankel’s attorney, entertainment lawyer Bryan Freedman, about the treatment of reality performers, and said the other performers Freedman represents can indeed be covered under the guild’s Network Code Agreement.

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“We stand ready to assist Bethenny Frankel, Bryan Freedman, and Mark Geragos along with reality performers and our members in the fight and are tired of studios and production companies trying to circumvent the Union in order to exploit the talent that they rely upon to make their product,” the guild wrote in an official statement. “We encourage any reality performers and/or members to reach out to SAG-AFTRA’s Entertainment Contracts Department so that we may work together toward the protection of the reality performers ending the exploitative practices that have developed in this area and to engage in a new path to Union coverage.”

Frankel has been leading the charge for reality stars to be unionized for almost as long as the actors have been on strike. In just a short time, her efforts have escalated to other famous reality stars joining her cause and even Freedman and Geragos sending a litigation hold letter to NBCUniversal on behalf of a group of unnamed clients who have appeared on shows on Bravo, E!, and CNBC.

On July 19, Frankel in an Instagram post wondered why reality TV stars are still working, pointing out that reality stars “don’t get paid shit” in residuals despite ratings that can often surpass other scripted programming, and she also called out ways in which reality stars can be exploited. She revealed that for her first season of reality television she was paid just $7,250, and she called on stars to stop filming network and streaming content until other shows that are generating money for the studios for free are taken down.

Certain reality shows are covered under SAG-AFTRA’s Network Code Agreement, which also applies to non-primetime and non-dramatic primetime television, including daytime talk shows, game shows, soap operas, variety programming, and more. It’s the reason those programs have dominated the airwaves while the writers and now actors have been on strike, leading to almost all new scripted shows to be delayed from the fall TV season.

Frankel, in her original post, challenged the notion that the reason reality stars don’t get traditional residuals is because cast members on such shows are able to use the exposure and platform to grow their own personal brands and businesses.

“The mentality that we were nobodies and that these streamers and networks have given us platforms and that we can capitalize on them is also moronic,” she wrote on June 19. “Just because talent signs their life away doesn’t make exploitation correct.”

Shortly thereafter, Frankel retained Freedman and Geragos and drew a line in the sand, acknowledging that she “may have burned bridges in the entertainment space and torched the kingdom Khaleesi style” for her words.

“This is the reality check, the reality reckoning….it’s cool until it’s not,” she wrote in part in another Instagram message. “I have used my voice and I keep pushing and hopefully I can make a difference that will resonate into other exploited professions and industries as well. I was given a platform for a reason and I intend to use it not only for superficial and entertaining reasons but for something important as well.”

SAG-AFTRA took notice after Freedman and Geragos’ letter, sent on August 3, alleged the “grotesque and depraved mistreatment” of the reality stars. The letter accused NBCUniversal of plying cast members with alcohol and depriving them of food and sleep, denying mental health treatment to performers, exploiting minors, distributing or condoning revenge porn, covering up acts of sexual violence, and refusing stars the opportunity to leave their shows.

“NBCUniversal is committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew on our reality shows,” NBCUniversal later responded in a statement to THR. “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.”

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