Bethenny Frankel is being accused of attempting to lock Bunny Heyada into a five-season contract for Mommy Mafia, a reality series that never made it to air, that Bunny has deemed “so exploitative.”
As the Real Housewives of New York City alum is accused of being “greedy” and attempting to get her hands on 15% of Bunny’s earnings even before the show aired, she continues to call for reality stars to unite and unionize, even spotlighting Andy Cohen for his lack of knowledge about what reality stars actually go through.
“I think that we should have our own union and terms that networks and streamers should abide by. There are different issues. It’s a different medium and some issues overlap but there are different circumstances,” Bethenny explained during an interview with Entertainment Tonight, via The Real Housewives Zone on Instagram. “We also are not really respected by the mainstream entertainment community.”
Amid the ongoing writers’ strike in Hollywood, Bethenny said reality stars “need specific language and terms and contracts that protects them versus exploits them.”
“I am fine. This has nothing to do with me, per se, meaning I’m very successful,” she noted. “I’ve played the fame game and won and it’s not about me. It’s about, what if it was me? What if it was me, what if all those years ago, 15 years ago, I was paid $7,250 and my episodes were still airing today and I had never made another [penny]?”
As RHONY fans may recall, Bethenny was paid $7,250 for her first season on the show. However, she created the “Bethenny clause” at that time, which blocked Bravo from having access to her earnings outside of the show.
“I am not looking for anything except for principle,” Bethenny continued. “People shouldn’t be watching these shows right now, people shouldn’t be shooting these shows, people shouldn’t be promoting these shows. You wanna go promote yourself on YouTube, and yourself on Instagram, go ahead. I’m saying, we should be stopping down so once and for all, we know what we’re getting paid. We know when we see a residual what we’re getting paid, we know when we see merchandise with a brand that we’re building.”
Bethenny also said that she could be the person mandating what’s going on and understanding the decisions and meeting with important people before adding that the “most important thing” for her was to get a response from networks and streamers.
“I want to hear an answer,” she stated.
As for Andy, Bethenny was asked about his role.
“Andy Cohen is very involved in negotiations and he produces the shows and he knows everything about what goes on inside entertainment,” Bethenny began. “He’s quite knowledgeable of what the television industry represents and what it means and he’s knowledgeable as a producer and as an observer and as a monetizer of this dynamic.”
What Andy doesn’t know, according to Bethenny, is how it feels on the other side.
“[He doesn’t know] what it feels like to be a degraded member of reality television and a person that experiences ‘gotcha’ moments and is always the last one to know and is effectively treated like a well-paid famous handmaid,” she revealed.
But amid her calls for change, Bethenny is being blasted for attempting to get Bunny to sign a five-season contract for Mommy Mafia.
“Bethenny Frankel is a SCAM. She was screwing her own reality stars over before the show even aired, but now is trying to stop this from happening? Sure, Jan,” wrote Bravo Boo on Instagram, along with a series of screenshots from Bunny, which included the terms of her contract.
“I’m literally about to post my contract … [because] it was SO EXPLOITATIVE … I believe [$22,000] for the YEAR 12 what’s after she got [$8,000] … That doesn’t even make sense with inflation,” Bunny wrote in a series of messages. “And they have this chart in there that [they] wanted to take a percentage (I think it was 15% of my income) for ALL MY BUSINESSES UNRELATED TO TH SHOW for I think 11 years. It’s been two years since I looked at the contract.”
Bravo Boo then noted, “Bethenny wanted to put hidden cameras in Bunny Hedaya’s home and 15% of any of her brand deals on TikTok before the show even aired,” and she labeled her antics “disgusting.”
In another screenshot, which featured an email with a subject reading, “Confirming Information for Engagement Letter,” Bunny was seen writing to her attorney about the contract.
“The contracts are completely in their favor (expected) but there are two major points I want them to change that are non negotiable before we start negotiating,” she stated. “One being- they said we have to release all rights to privacy and hidden cameras and listening devices in our homes. This is completely unacceptable considering we have family’s and children. The second is they want 15% of all likeliness royalties starting sign of contract. I have built an online following to over 550k followers since March and I refuse to pay them anything on my deals UNTIL the show airs.”
Bunny was also met with aggression after creating her own podcast.
Continuing on, Bunny said, “I forgot they wanted hidden cameras in our homes!!!! … And 15% of my income before the show even went live (assuming a year before of filming ad editing).”
Bunny then detailed a portion of the contract, writing, “WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, I ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT DURING MY PARTICIPATION IN THE PROJECT, I SHALL HAVE NO EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY AND THAT ANY AND ALL OF MY ACTIONS MAY BE RECORDED (INCLUDING BY HIDDEN CAMERAS AND LISTENING DEVICES) AND USED BY COMPANY, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IN AND IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROJECT AND ALL ANCILLARY AND DERIVATIVE MATERIALS THEROF.”
Bethenny appeared on The Real Housewives of New York City for the series’ first three seasons and returned for seasons seven through 11.