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Bethenny Frankel may be leading the charge in a legal war against NBCUniversal and Bravo, but back in 2018, she accused Aviva Drescher of lying about what her attorneys, Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos, are now accusing the networks of doing.
As the Real Housewives of New York City alum’s past tweet resurfaces, slamming Aviva for “misrepresenting the truth” with claims of being forced to drink by producers, she’s being labeled as the ringleader of a legal letter sent to the companies on Friday, which accused them of “feeding [their reality talent] alcohol” and “not giving them food.”
After Variety confirmed it was Bethenny who hired the lawyers, who heard from around “50 reality show castmembers” in recent days, another report claims there are even more ready to share their stories.
“It’s going to be a massive thing. There are multiple individuals wanting to join this … at least 80 people have reached out, men and women,” sources told Page Six on August 4. “It’s definitely ‘Housewife’ heavy [with] multiple franchises of ‘Housewives,’ but it’s people from all different Bravo shows.”
In the legal letter sent on Friday to NBCUniversal’s General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation, Kimberley Harris, the networks were accused of making “deliberate attempts” to “manufacture mental instability” by plying their talent with “alcohol while depriving them of food and sleep, as well as denying mental health treatment for those displaying obvious and alarming signs of mental deterioration.”
According to one insider, the conditions are made to be mentally exhausting for cast members so producers can “get the best content,” and according to another, “Bethenny is recruiting people” in the charge.
In addition to Bethenny enlisting reality cast members to join the case, there may also be production members involved. In fact, a source claimed Bravo works their production “like animals.”
“It may be a bigger case with them,” they said.
During the 13th season of RHONY, it was reported that prior to the cancelation of the reunion and reboot of the entire cast, showrunners walked off the set due to insensitive and racial comments.
“It felt like a cover-up,” someone said.
But in response to Bethenny and her attorneys, an NBCUniversal spokesperson insisted they’re “committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew on our reality shows.”
“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,” they said.
As Bethenny continues to call for reality stars to unionize, her potential hypocrisy is being highlighted.
In a 2018 tweet, after reading that Aviva had said she “sometimes felt forced to drink” on the show, Bethenny fired back at the allegations.
“Hello [Aviva Drescher] as the person responsible for putting you on RHONY, I take offense to you misrepresenting the truth [and] saying producers prodded you to drink. As someone here since day [one] with 13 years of reality TV experience, it is a [flat-out] falsehood,” Bethenny tweeted, as seen in a screenshot shared by Sarah Galli on her Instagram Story on August 4.
She also tagged Bravo and Andy Cohen.
But fast-forward to five years later and her attorneys have suggested that NBCUniversal and Bravo have done just that.
“People can change their minds, but it’s helpful to do so while taking accountability for that shift,” Sarah noted with the post.
Sarah also shared Aviva’s response to Bethenny’s message.
“I am so happy for you and your experience. I was once asked to do a shot with Ramona for a make-up scene (suggested by producers). When I asked producer to fill my shot with water – I was refused and told that I HAD to drink the shot with alcohol. That happened,” she insisted.
Live Viewing Thread – This is also the live viewing thread for tonight’s new episode of The Real Housewives of New York City season 14 which airs at 9/8c on Bravo. Feel free to chat below and share your thoughts as the episode airs!