Is Bethenny Frankel’s Fight For A Union A Hit With Other Reality Stars?

The ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have shut down most of Hollywood’s scripted plans for the foreseeable future, leaving networks to, once again, lean heavily on reality TV programing to keep their schedules filled with fresh content.

After all, candid and competitive reality TV is an affordable alternative with stars who (ostensibly) come up with their own lines and showcase their own interpersonal dramas—and they don’t even have a union. That means there’s no collective bargaining and little risk of networks having to push pause on reality TV productions.

Yet.

But if Real Housewives of New York City alum and entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel has anything to say about it, a new union is on the horizon, one that would give unscripted stars a chance to fight for new rights, including replay residuals, as well as affording them the opportunity to strike—a power that could take away the entertainment industry’s plan-B programming amid other strikes.

The question is: Are other reality stars ready to join her fight?

“Just because you can exploit young, doe-eyed talent desperate for the platform TV gives them, it doesn’t mean you should,” Frankel, 52, told Variety last month, explaining why she’s passionate about the cause.

Frankel believes reality stars should have a way to make money off their past work, since networks and streaming services can continue to profit from their content in perpetuity. They should not be, as she put it in a TikTok rant, “the stepchildren, the losers, the mules, the pack horses, the ones that the entertainment industry is going to rely on right now to carry the water and do the heavy lifting when real stars, real A-list Hollywood is on strike.”

She’s enlisted the help of entertainment attorneys Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos to help her fix what the latter calls a “broken” system, and in the wake of Frankel’s public campaign for change, several reality TV veterans have chimed with their support.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Survivor champ Wendell Holland told The Daily Beast over the weekend. “I’ve heard rumblings in the Survivor community where people would see themselves on these large streaming sites and wonder why they aren’t receiving compensation for that.”

Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Margaret Josephs told the same publication that while “it’s a very big undertaking,” she sees the merit in Frankel’s union talk, adding, “I think it’s definitely a conversation that should be had.”

Just days ago, Lisa Rinna, the actress who stars in the Beverly Hills edition of Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise, took to her Instagram Stories and urged fellow SAG-AFTRA members who also star on reality TV to boycott the network’s annual BravoCon convention in November.

“You want them to start to take you seriously and pay you the money you deserve?” she asked. “Then start a reality union per Bethenny.”

While the union talk has the approval of many in the industry who are willing to publicly discuss the topic, not everyone is on board.

Captain Lee Rosbach, beloved star of Bravo’s Below Deck, admitted to Yahoo Entertainment that he’d like “to be paid better” and “to be paid for all the reruns,” yet he also believes Frankel’s solution is a bridge too far.

“As far as unionizing and going on strike, I think that’s pretty harsh rhetoric,” he said.