December 12, 2024 • 22 mins
The Reality Reckoning is REAL. Bethenny weighs in on the James Kennedy arrest, Love is Blind is a workplace, and what it ALL means for reality.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
A couple of things to discuss today. Love is Blind
has been deemed a legal workplace, James Kennedy has been
arrested for domestic violence, and the reality reckoning that I
started is rumbling and starting all over again. It's bubbling.
What do I mean? First, let's discuss Love is Blind.
Love is Blind is a very popular show, and people
(00:35):
on that show have claimed that the way that they've
been treated compensated, and the workplace conditions there have been
nothing short of cruel, torturous, and definitely illegal. Why is
this relevant to me? Because I started the reality reckoning
during the strike, the talent and writer strike, and it
(00:56):
wasn't intentional. I just mentioned that reality talent is exploited
ad nauseum and that they're the ones that get called
upon when quote unquote real actors are on strike and
reality talent doesn't have a script or anybody else's words
to read. They're just being themselves. And some people have
burkins and diamonds and reap the benefits. Most of those
(01:19):
people don't actually have that money. They're actually fronting and
stunting for television. But that's a separate matter. But for
every one wealthy housewife who made it out the top
of the pyramid. There are twenty five discarded Brandy Glanville's
people on other shows that you guys think are on savory,
characters you don't like. Let's say Danielle Staub, She's like
(01:42):
trashy to you. You know, Brandy's a mess. Whatever. The
bottom line is, there are people who have messaged me
saying that they never signed a release for their pregnancy
to be shown on television, that producers abused them, that
they were silenced. There are people like Brandy Glanville who
got caught up in this like sexual assault situation in
(02:03):
Morocco in an episode and a season that will never
see the light of day. Why because it's murky, because
Caroline is suing, because Brandy's suing, because they both work
in this tox success pool where the top wants bad behavior.
Was because bad behavior rates. The same thing happens on
Love is Blind, The same thing happens on Jersey Shore,
the same thing happens everywhere. Why is this relevant to
(02:25):
the reality reckoning? Because I went to sag Aftra to
say the following reality television Housewives vander Pump Rules Love
is Blind below deck, where somebody climbed on top of
a girl and assaulted her, and a makeup artist from
that show said it wasn't the first time, and she
filed complaints. Everything gets buried. Why because these areas of entertainment,
(02:51):
This entire area of entertainment has talent being paid as
independent contractors. So the way that brav Oh, Netflix, Streamers, Networks,
MTV pay talent is as independent contractors. Why because it
means that they can't file claims. It means they're not
real employees. It means that they get in trouble. They
(03:14):
sign these NDAs and these confidentiality agreements that say that
if there's racism, abuse, if they're pushed to drink, if
they're put in a strange sexual situation. Remember Tamra's son
like cornering Gretchen in a bathroom and her telling him
to get off her, and producer's not stopping it. When
Tamra and another house I said, we're gonna get her
(03:35):
naked wasted. Remember below deck, the guy climbing on top
of the girl. Yes, the captain was lovely and intervened
in that, but we didn't know that had happened before.
Remember vander Pump rules, many members of the cast whispering
and saying that James Kennedy has a history of domestic violence.
Rachel referred to it on my podcast. So there is
(03:57):
I there is an alleged physical abuse. There's a physical
abuse allegation with Kristen and James. Yes, and people say
something was cut out of And I've gotten people that
have called me about other incidents related to that. And
you think that a spinoff is good hush money for
(04:19):
someone who was fired for like a racist an alleged
racist act.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yeah, I think she was in relation with Stassy and
they both got fired at the same time. But I
do believe what she has said about James. I know
James Is. I've seen him be a violent person, so
I have no doubt that what she's saying is true.
(04:46):
I hope that one day it will come to light
and there will be justice.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
But people had been silenced, and people had been rewarded
with spinoff shows, and people had been discouraged from talking.
And people don't have claims because they're paid as independent contractors.
They're not employees, so they can't go to HR in
the way that a normal person would in their office.
So Tom is a is a partner in these bars.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yes he is.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
So he profits off of the marketing that the show provides,
and then Bravo profits off of the sales, and everybody
was going into these bars. Is he a producer?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
He's not technically a producer. He's been on the series
from day one, season one. H there. I don't know
if I'm even able to disclose this information, but he did.
He did tell me during negotiations for season eleven that
(05:50):
he was offered a producer credit for season eleven. Oh okay,
so I think he was being rewarded for the scandalal
of it all.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Wow, you know, it sounds like everyone. It sounds like
Lisa vander Pump is profiting, Bravo's profiting, Tom is profiting,
Arianna is profiting. So and you're in a deficit, you're
in debt. Is Lisa vander Pump in a position to
protect you? Guys? Within this place you're working, like, are
(06:25):
you supposed to feel like someone's there to protect you,
that there's someone to go to, a supervisor, a manager,
a boss.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
There really isn't anybody that's a safe place to go to.
I don't think that anybody on that show has my
best interest at heart, So it's hard for me to
be so trusting like I once was.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And people have spent Kristen has a spinoff. She was
fired years ago and now she's back and she has
a spinoff coming right, Yes, So you kind of get
sucked in and you'll do whatever it is because you
want to get a spinoff and you want your bar
to succeed. So it sounds logical that people would play
the game because take a few punches, you're making money.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
You're selling your soul essentially, and this past season really
did feel like the first season where I was like,
oh my god, I am selling my soul. And it's
interesting that you mentioned Kristen because Kristin was just starting
to talk about her tumultuous relationship with James and what
(07:32):
happened behind closed doors, and then all of a sudden,
she's presented with this spinoff, which I believe is a
way to silence her, to keep that under wraps so
that the longevity of vander Pump Rules can continue.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
And I've been on the phone with producers who have
said to me, with any luck, lu amb will start
drinking again. After being sober mentioning Derinda's drinking, saying, hopefully
she'll have a couple of martinis, something crazy will happen.
The upside down is what reality television is. Reality television
is the upside down. Bad behavior is not only allowed,
(08:13):
it is encouraged. It is rewarded. Ask Heidi and Spencer
if it's rewarded. Ask Heidi and Spencer if Spencer kicking
Heidi out of his car was rewarded with a burken
Ask Spencer. So, what I'm saying to you is I
(08:44):
went to SAG after it to say, because they don't
understand reality TV. Nobody I've been on fifteen reality shows.
I said to them, what you don't understand is this
is a workplace. You have to be there on time.
You have to do what they tell you to do.
You have to go on trips they tell you to
go on. You have to bye by their hours. You're
not allowed to take other jobs. This comes first. You
(09:06):
sign a contract saying so, but no one cares about
your lunch, how long you're working, if you're cold, what
the conditions are. And certainly, when a producer crawls into
a jacuzzi with a talent member, that talent member is
told by another producer, don't say anything, it will be
bad for them. When there's racism on a show which
Nini had a racism claim, it's brushed under the rug
(09:29):
and people look down upon her for saying that. If
Leah McSweeney says that drinking was encouraged when she's sober,
because people don't like her, they don't want to believe that,
and they believe that all reality TV is just a
bunch of dumpster fire, trashy train wrecks, no matter how
much lipstick they put on an airm me as they wear.
(09:49):
But the truth is there's still human beings. So even
if you think Danielle Staub is an unsavory character, is
her coworker allowed to call her multiple times a prostitution horror?
And his Bravo khn then allowed to have that be
a section of this conference that they monetize and market,
thus bullying someone. Let's say that she was a girl
(10:13):
who was promiscuous. Is it okay for someone to repeatedly
call her a prostitution horror? Is it okay? On a
reunion for Rachel Lewis the most hated woman in America.
She cheated on some scumbag on television with a bunch
of scumbags that are drunk all day working in a
bar on a reality show. She cheated on one of them.
Everybody's cheated on everybody. You hate her. Mazo Arianna is
(10:35):
the princess. Rachel's ursula, the bad witch and watch the
road just come out of the floorboards. Now on vander
Pump rules that that show is discontinued because James Kennedy
was a thoroughbred that made it rain. He's charming, he's entertaining.
People like him, and it was widely known with production,
with Lisa vander Pump and with the network that he
(10:59):
is believed to be an abuser by everyone on the show.
But he's charismatic, charming, he's a DJ, he's entertaining, and
he makes it rain. And never did it rain more
than during scandival. So now what happens. Rachel is the
most hated woman in America. She goes on the reunion,
Andy Cohen. I'm not sure if it was on the
reunion or elsewhere. I think it was elsewhere. He comments
(11:21):
in public as her employer. Call it whatever you want,
but I'm telling you what it is because I know
how the machinations work in that underbelly of that beast.
No one knows better. And I have a code, And
no matter how much I talk about this, because I
do not have a personal ripe with Andy co like
this is not I have all the receipts, I have
(11:41):
all the texts I've ever had from Andy Cohen, and
I don't rat anyone out and I never share anything
anyone's shared with me. So I can just tell you,
as a viewer that Andy Cohen talked about what medication
Rachel Lewis was on. I thought to myself, how can
he talk about what medication? He speculates that she's on
(12:02):
it and asked her she on something? Was she on something?
Is your employer allowed to ask if you're on something?
They're not legal employees, why because they're paid as independent contractors.
Why so they can't have any claim against anything that
would normally be prohibited in a workplace. You can't call
(12:24):
Jane an Hr and tell her someone is encouraging that
I drink. Someone is telling me not to speak about
this thing I just saw. My boss just sent me
a graphic sexual video. He says he's kidding, but I
don't find it appropriate. This is not the landscape for that. Okay,
So now it's the weird wild wild West upside down?
What is it? It's not a workplace? Why do we
(12:46):
have to go to work? It is a workplace? Why
is Why am I witnessing racism or excited when somebody
you know, sexually intimidates someone else. Why is Rachel Lewis
the most hated woman in America? Why is she repeatedly
being verbally abused on television to the point where she
walks off and seems off and sedated, and the host
(13:07):
Andy and Lisa vander Pump sit by while Andy says
to her, wait, come back. Why is that allowed in
a workplace? So now Love is Blind has been deemed
a workplace. And when I went to SAG after I
tried to explain to them, I did explain to them
what this is. I said, listen, this is a workplace.
But bad behavior is encouraged. It's just not categorized because
(13:31):
of the way that people are paid. Aka a loophole.
So now the reality reckoning, which people at Bravo con
have said, Wait, whatever happened to Bethany's reality reckoning? Like
laughing it off? You know, creating a legal sweep is
not like making ramen. And I, like I said, am
not suing anyone. I have no legal claim. But when
I said something, people reached out to me, and I thought,
(13:53):
wait a second, this is an interesting thing. The people
at the top make all this money justing, and every
night it's about who look the worst at the party,
who's the rudest, who's the thirstiest, who has the ugliest house.
Like it's disgusting, it's actually disgusting, And the reason three
hundred thousand people are watching New York is because they
(14:15):
know it's disgusting. We can pretend that with streaming and
plus five and all this shit, but they are scrambling
over there because it is disgusting. And women fighting in
twenty twenty four, and the word housewives, which is like
an archaic leave it to beaver term in twenty twenty four,
while we try to pretend we're in a post me
to environment, is ridiculous and absurd. You know this stuff
(14:38):
is not this is like it's like, it's like aged,
and so we can market it as women supporting women,
and they do a token charity scene every twenty five episodes,
but it's disgusting and it is a workplace, and it
hasn't been treated as such. And so the Land of
the wounded lost toys that nobody likes, like Rachel and
Danielle and Brandy and Leah. They just may have a
(14:59):
case Niani, et cetera. They just may have a case
because they were literally discarded. They can't work, Brandy's disfigured,
Danielle can't afford her rent. I mean, it's tragic. So
not everybody is at the top. And the people who
are at the top, who have been quoted, I've never
experienced anything like that. They're all on the take. They're
(15:19):
all making money, and they've been rewarded greatly for being good,
obedient protectors of the realm, and they continue to make
more money and they get to be the stars because
competitive people like me, who are the best at the
job are out of the way. So the crop has thinned.
And anyone who says different is being paid by this
realm or wants to be paid by this realm. And
(15:54):
why do I not care that I'm burning the bridge?
There is no bridge. There is there's no bridge. Bravo
is bedrock. It is archaic dinosaur land, okay, And every
dog has its day, and nobody gets out without paying
the bill, and the reality reckoning is real. And you
could call Brian Friedman and Mark Garregos, those lawyers that
(16:16):
took on all these cases pro bono, and they're gonna
probably get major settlements for a lot of these people
because people are scrambling, and yes, people are afraid of
being canceled, and yes, every dog has its day. But
the reason Bravocon didn't exist is not because of some
bullshit excuse any more than the reason Morocco didn't air.
(16:38):
It's because they have blood on their hands and it's dirty.
And Van der Pump rules probably went away because everybody
knows that James Kennedy had some muck around him and
now they're all coming out and speaking. So James Kennedy
getting arrested for domestic abuse has everything to do with
Love is Blind being a legal workplace, which has everything
(16:59):
to do with reality reckoning, which is entirely real. So
sometimes we're too early. Sometimes people were too early to
talk about me too. Somebody had something happened with Danny
Masterson or Harvey Weinstein or Diddy or Russell Simmons or
any of these guys. They were too early. They couldn't
(17:20):
say anything. They were afraid they look crazy. These guys
were gods and kings. And I walked up to Ted
Sarandos at a party in Malibu to ask him to
proactively speak to his team he had heard about the
reality reckoning. I later called my lawyers to tell them
that I had spoken to him, and they were like,
oh shit, they're like the biggest on the list because
(17:40):
of this love is Blind stuff. So he put me
on with his head people, and I said, hey, proactively,
why don't you get involved with me and I'll explain
to you what goes down and you can be ahead
of it and you can say, we're aligning with this
reality reckoning. We want to course correct, we want to
do things right. And I said, and I would make
you guys look like heroes. They basically acted like nothing
was wrong. They said, there is nothing there, there's nothing
(18:02):
going on. They completely blew me off. They completely took
the obligatory call just because I walked right up to
Ted Sarandos and sort of made it happen. And they
ignored me. And why is Bravo bedrock? Why are these
reality shows bad rock to me? Because we have social media,
I have you, I have this. I don't need to
go and let a bunch of suits. You don't know
what the fuck is going on with real people. Tell
(18:22):
me what's going to We're not gonna work. Wait six
months to get at green light, shoot it for six months,
edit it for four months, do an archaic press tour
on archaic talk shows. Then wait to see what everybody
thinks after two years. Fuck that same day, James Kennedy
just got arrested. We're talking about it now. Love is
Blind just got deemed illegal workplace. We're talking about it
(18:44):
now because trust and believe, Bravo and the rest of
reality TV will all be a legal workplace. And you
can already see the scrambling. Everyone tells me from production
and every show that the Reality reckoning shook the core.
They don't allow excessive drinking. How are your feelings, Let's
talk to someone. Do you want to talk to a therapist?
Touchy feely, We're here if you need us. We just
(19:06):
want to make sure you have a work life balance.
We just want to make sure our talent is taken
care of and everybody's happy. We're really making changes. We're
you know, on watch what happens live. It's like, how
did that make you feel? Like? There's definitely been a rint,
but the past damage still exists and the fact remains
that it is a workplace. Reality television stars are exploited
(19:29):
and many want that, and yes, many know what they're
signing up for. I agree, but what's done is done.
Everything in the dark comes to light, and this is
a come uppance. And when Rachel was on my podcast,
she told me she was early too. She made fun
(19:50):
of hated, came on my show, hated. She did get
back about half of her audience because she was completely despised,
but made fun of all the time trolled, and she
said she basically alluded to and told me that like
kind of like that Kristen knew and that it was known,
and she didn't want to go all the way on
the domestic violence. Again, people feel like they're too soon.
(20:11):
She didn't want to go too far. We talked off camera.
I will not divulge anything she told me, but I
will tell you that she will now say she didn't
want to go too far. She didn't know she was
in so deep, meaning she was doing three episodes of me.
We didn't know it would be that long, but we
talked for so long. She had been in hiding for
three months at a mental health facility, and she really
(20:33):
just didn't know how deep to go, and I certainly
didn't push her. And she told me that other members
of the cast all know. She also told me that
the people who knew got spinoffs, got different shows, and
now we can't prove that. She said that people that
got fired for racism got asked back, like you know,
she said, there were a lot of people that knew this.
So what happens is it's not popular to say certain things,
(20:56):
and then one day something makes sense and something lands
and all worlds collide and then it's okay to say.
So even me, I've been quiet. I haven't said anything
but on this day with what happened with love is.
But I just need you to understand that for all
of these years, reality television has not been treated as
(21:18):
a workplace because of a loophole. So people have been silenced, threatened,
discouraged from speaking their truth. They have been completely nutered
in having any claims. They have not been allowed to
say when they feel violated, triggered, uncomfortable, abused, emotionally abused,
(21:41):
in fact, they say that the opposite has been the case.
It has been encouraged that they're emotionally abused, It has
been encouraged that they break their sobriety. It has been celebrated,
which it has to me when other people break their sobriety.
It is the upside down. That's what the reality reckoning
was about. And yeah, these things don't happen overnight, and
(22:04):
no zero claims, not suing anyone, make zero dollars. All
I have done is burn a bridge that is going
to go up in a burst of flames anyway,
A couple of things to discuss today. Love is Blind
has been deemed a legal workplace, James Kennedy has been
arrested for domestic violence, and the reality reckoning that I
started is rumbling and starting all over again. It's bubbling.
What do I mean? First, let's discuss Love is Blind.
Love is Blind is a very popular show, and people
(00:35):
on that show have claimed that the way that they've
been treated compensated, and the workplace conditions there have been
nothing short of cruel, torturous, and definitely illegal. Why is
this relevant to me? Because I started the reality reckoning
during the strike, the talent and writer strike, and it
(00:56):
wasn't intentional. I just mentioned that reality talent is exploited
ad nauseum and that they're the ones that get called
upon when quote unquote real actors are on strike and
reality talent doesn't have a script or anybody else's words
to read. They're just being themselves. And some people have
burkins and diamonds and reap the benefits. Most of those
(01:19):
people don't actually have that money. They're actually fronting and
stunting for television. But that's a separate matter. But for
every one wealthy housewife who made it out the top
of the pyramid. There are twenty five discarded Brandy Glanville's
people on other shows that you guys think are on savory,
characters you don't like. Let's say Danielle Staub, She's like
(01:42):
trashy to you. You know, Brandy's a mess. Whatever. The
bottom line is, there are people who have messaged me
saying that they never signed a release for their pregnancy
to be shown on television, that producers abused them, that
they were silenced. There are people like Brandy Glanville who
got caught up in this like sexual assault situation in
(02:03):
Morocco in an episode and a season that will never
see the light of day. Why because it's murky, because
Caroline is suing, because Brandy's suing, because they both work
in this tox success pool where the top wants bad behavior.
Was because bad behavior rates. The same thing happens on
Love is Blind, The same thing happens on Jersey Shore,
the same thing happens everywhere. Why is this relevant to
(02:25):
the reality reckoning? Because I went to sag Aftra to
say the following reality television Housewives vander Pump Rules Love
is Blind below deck, where somebody climbed on top of
a girl and assaulted her, and a makeup artist from
that show said it wasn't the first time, and she
filed complaints. Everything gets buried. Why because these areas of entertainment,
(02:51):
This entire area of entertainment has talent being paid as
independent contractors. So the way that brav Oh, Netflix, Streamers, Networks,
MTV pay talent is as independent contractors. Why because it
means that they can't file claims. It means they're not
real employees. It means that they get in trouble. They
(03:14):
sign these NDAs and these confidentiality agreements that say that
if there's racism, abuse, if they're pushed to drink, if
they're put in a strange sexual situation. Remember Tamra's son
like cornering Gretchen in a bathroom and her telling him
to get off her, and producer's not stopping it. When
Tamra and another house I said, we're gonna get her
(03:35):
naked wasted. Remember below deck, the guy climbing on top
of the girl. Yes, the captain was lovely and intervened
in that, but we didn't know that had happened before.
Remember vander Pump rules, many members of the cast whispering
and saying that James Kennedy has a history of domestic violence.
Rachel referred to it on my podcast. So there is
(03:57):
I there is an alleged physical abuse. There's a physical
abuse allegation with Kristen and James. Yes, and people say
something was cut out of And I've gotten people that
have called me about other incidents related to that. And
you think that a spinoff is good hush money for
(04:19):
someone who was fired for like a racist an alleged
racist act.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yeah, I think she was in relation with Stassy and
they both got fired at the same time. But I
do believe what she has said about James. I know
James Is. I've seen him be a violent person, so
I have no doubt that what she's saying is true.
(04:46):
I hope that one day it will come to light
and there will be justice.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
But people had been silenced, and people had been rewarded
with spinoff shows, and people had been discouraged from talking.
And people don't have claims because they're paid as independent contractors.
They're not employees, so they can't go to HR in
the way that a normal person would in their office.
So Tom is a is a partner in these bars.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yes he is.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
So he profits off of the marketing that the show provides,
and then Bravo profits off of the sales, and everybody
was going into these bars. Is he a producer?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
He's not technically a producer. He's been on the series
from day one, season one. H there. I don't know
if I'm even able to disclose this information, but he did.
He did tell me during negotiations for season eleven that
(05:50):
he was offered a producer credit for season eleven. Oh okay,
so I think he was being rewarded for the scandalal
of it all.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Wow, you know, it sounds like everyone. It sounds like
Lisa vander Pump is profiting, Bravo's profiting, Tom is profiting,
Arianna is profiting. So and you're in a deficit, you're
in debt. Is Lisa vander Pump in a position to
protect you? Guys? Within this place you're working, like, are
(06:25):
you supposed to feel like someone's there to protect you,
that there's someone to go to, a supervisor, a manager,
a boss.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
There really isn't anybody that's a safe place to go to.
I don't think that anybody on that show has my
best interest at heart, So it's hard for me to
be so trusting like I once was.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And people have spent Kristen has a spinoff. She was
fired years ago and now she's back and she has
a spinoff coming right, Yes, So you kind of get
sucked in and you'll do whatever it is because you
want to get a spinoff and you want your bar
to succeed. So it sounds logical that people would play
the game because take a few punches, you're making money.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
You're selling your soul essentially, and this past season really
did feel like the first season where I was like,
oh my god, I am selling my soul. And it's
interesting that you mentioned Kristen because Kristin was just starting
to talk about her tumultuous relationship with James and what
(07:32):
happened behind closed doors, and then all of a sudden,
she's presented with this spinoff, which I believe is a
way to silence her, to keep that under wraps so
that the longevity of vander Pump Rules can continue.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
And I've been on the phone with producers who have
said to me, with any luck, lu amb will start
drinking again. After being sober mentioning Derinda's drinking, saying, hopefully
she'll have a couple of martinis, something crazy will happen.
The upside down is what reality television is. Reality television
is the upside down. Bad behavior is not only allowed,
(08:13):
it is encouraged. It is rewarded. Ask Heidi and Spencer
if it's rewarded. Ask Heidi and Spencer if Spencer kicking
Heidi out of his car was rewarded with a burken
Ask Spencer. So, what I'm saying to you is I
(08:44):
went to SAG after it to say, because they don't
understand reality TV. Nobody I've been on fifteen reality shows.
I said to them, what you don't understand is this
is a workplace. You have to be there on time.
You have to do what they tell you to do.
You have to go on trips they tell you to
go on. You have to bye by their hours. You're
not allowed to take other jobs. This comes first. You
(09:06):
sign a contract saying so, but no one cares about
your lunch, how long you're working, if you're cold, what
the conditions are. And certainly, when a producer crawls into
a jacuzzi with a talent member, that talent member is
told by another producer, don't say anything, it will be
bad for them. When there's racism on a show which
Nini had a racism claim, it's brushed under the rug
(09:29):
and people look down upon her for saying that. If
Leah McSweeney says that drinking was encouraged when she's sober,
because people don't like her, they don't want to believe that,
and they believe that all reality TV is just a
bunch of dumpster fire, trashy train wrecks, no matter how
much lipstick they put on an airm me as they wear.
(09:49):
But the truth is there's still human beings. So even
if you think Danielle Staub is an unsavory character, is
her coworker allowed to call her multiple times a prostitution horror?
And his Bravo khn then allowed to have that be
a section of this conference that they monetize and market,
thus bullying someone. Let's say that she was a girl
(10:13):
who was promiscuous. Is it okay for someone to repeatedly
call her a prostitution horror? Is it okay? On a
reunion for Rachel Lewis the most hated woman in America.
She cheated on some scumbag on television with a bunch
of scumbags that are drunk all day working in a
bar on a reality show. She cheated on one of them.
Everybody's cheated on everybody. You hate her. Mazo Arianna is
(10:35):
the princess. Rachel's ursula, the bad witch and watch the
road just come out of the floorboards. Now on vander
Pump rules that that show is discontinued because James Kennedy
was a thoroughbred that made it rain. He's charming, he's entertaining.
People like him, and it was widely known with production,
with Lisa vander Pump and with the network that he
(10:59):
is believed to be an abuser by everyone on the show.
But he's charismatic, charming, he's a DJ, he's entertaining, and
he makes it rain. And never did it rain more
than during scandival. So now what happens. Rachel is the
most hated woman in America. She goes on the reunion,
Andy Cohen. I'm not sure if it was on the
reunion or elsewhere. I think it was elsewhere. He comments
(11:21):
in public as her employer. Call it whatever you want,
but I'm telling you what it is because I know
how the machinations work in that underbelly of that beast.
No one knows better. And I have a code, And
no matter how much I talk about this, because I
do not have a personal ripe with Andy co like
this is not I have all the receipts, I have
(11:41):
all the texts I've ever had from Andy Cohen, and
I don't rat anyone out and I never share anything
anyone's shared with me. So I can just tell you,
as a viewer that Andy Cohen talked about what medication
Rachel Lewis was on. I thought to myself, how can
he talk about what medication? He speculates that she's on
(12:02):
it and asked her she on something? Was she on something?
Is your employer allowed to ask if you're on something?
They're not legal employees, why because they're paid as independent contractors.
Why so they can't have any claim against anything that
would normally be prohibited in a workplace. You can't call
(12:24):
Jane an Hr and tell her someone is encouraging that
I drink. Someone is telling me not to speak about
this thing I just saw. My boss just sent me
a graphic sexual video. He says he's kidding, but I
don't find it appropriate. This is not the landscape for that. Okay,
So now it's the weird wild wild West upside down?
What is it? It's not a workplace? Why do we
(12:46):
have to go to work? It is a workplace? Why
is Why am I witnessing racism or excited when somebody
you know, sexually intimidates someone else. Why is Rachel Lewis
the most hated woman in America? Why is she repeatedly
being verbally abused on television to the point where she
walks off and seems off and sedated, and the host
(13:07):
Andy and Lisa vander Pump sit by while Andy says
to her, wait, come back. Why is that allowed in
a workplace? So now Love is Blind has been deemed
a workplace. And when I went to SAG after I
tried to explain to them, I did explain to them
what this is. I said, listen, this is a workplace.
But bad behavior is encouraged. It's just not categorized because
(13:31):
of the way that people are paid. Aka a loophole.
So now the reality reckoning, which people at Bravo con
have said, Wait, whatever happened to Bethany's reality reckoning? Like
laughing it off? You know, creating a legal sweep is
not like making ramen. And I, like I said, am
not suing anyone. I have no legal claim. But when
I said something, people reached out to me, and I thought,
(13:53):
wait a second, this is an interesting thing. The people
at the top make all this money justing, and every
night it's about who look the worst at the party,
who's the rudest, who's the thirstiest, who has the ugliest house.
Like it's disgusting, it's actually disgusting, And the reason three
hundred thousand people are watching New York is because they
(14:15):
know it's disgusting. We can pretend that with streaming and
plus five and all this shit, but they are scrambling
over there because it is disgusting. And women fighting in
twenty twenty four, and the word housewives, which is like
an archaic leave it to beaver term in twenty twenty four,
while we try to pretend we're in a post me
to environment, is ridiculous and absurd. You know this stuff
(14:38):
is not this is like it's like, it's like aged,
and so we can market it as women supporting women,
and they do a token charity scene every twenty five episodes,
but it's disgusting and it is a workplace, and it
hasn't been treated as such. And so the Land of
the wounded lost toys that nobody likes, like Rachel and
Danielle and Brandy and Leah. They just may have a
(14:59):
case Niani, et cetera. They just may have a case
because they were literally discarded. They can't work, Brandy's disfigured,
Danielle can't afford her rent. I mean, it's tragic. So
not everybody is at the top. And the people who
are at the top, who have been quoted, I've never
experienced anything like that. They're all on the take. They're
(15:19):
all making money, and they've been rewarded greatly for being good,
obedient protectors of the realm, and they continue to make
more money and they get to be the stars because
competitive people like me, who are the best at the
job are out of the way. So the crop has thinned.
And anyone who says different is being paid by this
realm or wants to be paid by this realm. And
(15:54):
why do I not care that I'm burning the bridge?
There is no bridge. There is there's no bridge. Bravo
is bedrock. It is archaic dinosaur land, okay, And every
dog has its day, and nobody gets out without paying
the bill, and the reality reckoning is real. And you
could call Brian Friedman and Mark Garregos, those lawyers that
(16:16):
took on all these cases pro bono, and they're gonna
probably get major settlements for a lot of these people
because people are scrambling, and yes, people are afraid of
being canceled, and yes, every dog has its day. But
the reason Bravocon didn't exist is not because of some
bullshit excuse any more than the reason Morocco didn't air.
(16:38):
It's because they have blood on their hands and it's dirty.
And Van der Pump rules probably went away because everybody
knows that James Kennedy had some muck around him and
now they're all coming out and speaking. So James Kennedy
getting arrested for domestic abuse has everything to do with
Love is Blind being a legal workplace, which has everything
(16:59):
to do with reality reckoning, which is entirely real. So
sometimes we're too early. Sometimes people were too early to
talk about me too. Somebody had something happened with Danny
Masterson or Harvey Weinstein or Diddy or Russell Simmons or
any of these guys. They were too early. They couldn't
(17:20):
say anything. They were afraid they look crazy. These guys
were gods and kings. And I walked up to Ted
Sarandos at a party in Malibu to ask him to
proactively speak to his team he had heard about the
reality reckoning. I later called my lawyers to tell them
that I had spoken to him, and they were like,
oh shit, they're like the biggest on the list because
(17:40):
of this love is Blind stuff. So he put me
on with his head people, and I said, hey, proactively,
why don't you get involved with me and I'll explain
to you what goes down and you can be ahead
of it and you can say, we're aligning with this
reality reckoning. We want to course correct, we want to
do things right. And I said, and I would make
you guys look like heroes. They basically acted like nothing
was wrong. They said, there is nothing there, there's nothing
(18:02):
going on. They completely blew me off. They completely took
the obligatory call just because I walked right up to
Ted Sarandos and sort of made it happen. And they
ignored me. And why is Bravo bedrock? Why are these
reality shows bad rock to me? Because we have social media,
I have you, I have this. I don't need to
go and let a bunch of suits. You don't know
what the fuck is going on with real people. Tell
(18:22):
me what's going to We're not gonna work. Wait six
months to get at green light, shoot it for six months,
edit it for four months, do an archaic press tour
on archaic talk shows. Then wait to see what everybody
thinks after two years. Fuck that same day, James Kennedy
just got arrested. We're talking about it now. Love is
Blind just got deemed illegal workplace. We're talking about it
(18:44):
now because trust and believe, Bravo and the rest of
reality TV will all be a legal workplace. And you
can already see the scrambling. Everyone tells me from production
and every show that the Reality reckoning shook the core.
They don't allow excessive drinking. How are your feelings, Let's
talk to someone. Do you want to talk to a therapist?
Touchy feely, We're here if you need us. We just
(19:06):
want to make sure you have a work life balance.
We just want to make sure our talent is taken
care of and everybody's happy. We're really making changes. We're
you know, on watch what happens live. It's like, how
did that make you feel? Like? There's definitely been a rint,
but the past damage still exists and the fact remains
that it is a workplace. Reality television stars are exploited
(19:29):
and many want that, and yes, many know what they're
signing up for. I agree, but what's done is done.
Everything in the dark comes to light, and this is
a come uppance. And when Rachel was on my podcast,
she told me she was early too. She made fun
(19:50):
of hated, came on my show, hated. She did get
back about half of her audience because she was completely despised,
but made fun of all the time trolled, and she
said she basically alluded to and told me that like
kind of like that Kristen knew and that it was known,
and she didn't want to go all the way on
the domestic violence. Again, people feel like they're too soon.
(20:11):
She didn't want to go too far. We talked off camera.
I will not divulge anything she told me, but I
will tell you that she will now say she didn't
want to go too far. She didn't know she was
in so deep, meaning she was doing three episodes of me.
We didn't know it would be that long, but we
talked for so long. She had been in hiding for
three months at a mental health facility, and she really
(20:33):
just didn't know how deep to go, and I certainly
didn't push her. And she told me that other members
of the cast all know. She also told me that
the people who knew got spinoffs, got different shows, and
now we can't prove that. She said that people that
got fired for racism got asked back, like you know,
she said, there were a lot of people that knew this.
So what happens is it's not popular to say certain things,
(20:56):
and then one day something makes sense and something lands
and all worlds collide and then it's okay to say.
So even me, I've been quiet. I haven't said anything
but on this day with what happened with love is.
But I just need you to understand that for all
of these years, reality television has not been treated as
(21:18):
a workplace because of a loophole. So people have been silenced, threatened,
discouraged from speaking their truth. They have been completely nutered
in having any claims. They have not been allowed to
say when they feel violated, triggered, uncomfortable, abused, emotionally abused,
(21:41):
in fact, they say that the opposite has been the case.
It has been encouraged that they're emotionally abused, It has
been encouraged that they break their sobriety. It has been celebrated,
which it has to me when other people break their sobriety.
It is the upside down. That's what the reality reckoning
was about. And yeah, these things don't happen overnight, and
(22:04):
no zero claims, not suing anyone, make zero dollars. All
I have done is burn a bridge that is going
to go up in a burst of flames anyway,
Host
Bethenny Frankel
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