Why does RHONY alum Bethenny Frankel think reality stars should join the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes? Details explored

Amid the ongoing strikes by SAG-AFTRA and WGA, former Real Housewives of New York City (RHONY) star Bethenny Frankel has taken a stand. She has urged reality TV stars to join the picket lines and demand fair treatment. She has been raising awareness of how reality shows residuals have been unfair to the stars.

Bethenny Frankel has voiced her concerns over the lack of residuals and fair pay for reality TV stars, starting a very important conversation within the entertainment industry.

Residuals are payments made to actors and writers for the continued use of their work, such as reruns, syndication, and streaming. While scripted actors and writers benefit from this financial safety net, reality TV stars often receive a one-time payment and no further compensation.

Recently, she took to Instagram to explain why reality stars should receive residuals as their content is still being used by higher entities to make more money. She said,

"Hollywood is on strike, entertainers are fighting for residuals and no one will promote anything. Why isn’t reality TV on strike?"

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RHONY alum Bethenny Frankel urges reality stars to go on a strike too

Bethenny Frankel's call to action is based on the fact that reality TV stars have long been overlooked and undervalued despite their significant contribution to the history of the entertainment industry.

Watch her Instagram video here:

In the Instagram video, posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, Frankel expressed her frustration regarding the ever-present situation and questioned why reality TV stars weren't standing in solidarity with their fellow actors and writers. She added,

"I got paid $7,250 for my first season of reality TV and people are still watching those episodes. We’ve always been the losers … During the last writers strike, we were providing all the entertainment and that’s really when the gold rush of reality TV started."

Bethenny Frankel's words shed light on the perceived hierarchy in the entertainment industry, where producers and owners often take precedence over reality TV stars.

She emphasized the need for unity among artists, irrespective of their genre, as they will collectively fight for their rights in an industry that sometimes fails to acknowledge the back that they are riding on.

RHONY alum's argument is centralized around the glaring disparity between reality TV stars' residuals and those of actors in scripted television shows.

She said,

"I have never made a single residual. So either I’m missing something or we’re getting screwed too."

In her recent Instagram story, she made a comparison between Tom Cruise movies and The Kardashians. She explained that reality TV celebrities should receive residual income because people are still watching and buying their stuff.

Pointing out that even if a Tom Cruise film is made with $50 million dollars, people still go to watch that movie so why shouldn't the same treatment be given to reality TV stars?

Bethenny Frankel's call for reality TV stars to start their own strike aligns with the ongoing labor disputes in the industry. The SAG-AFTRA has been in a deadlock with AMPTP on several issues.