On the heels of Real Housewives alum Bethenny Frankel urging reality stars to organize for better wages and working conditions, SAG-AFTRA released a statement on Thursday acknowledging “the exploitative practices that have developed in this area.” The guild added that it will now work “toward the protection of the reality performers” and “engage in a new path to union coverage.”
In July, Frankel shared that she was paid only $7,250 for her first season of Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City. “I have generated millions and millions of dollars in advertising and online impressions being on reality TV and have never made a single residual,” she said. “Either I’m missing something, or we’re getting screwed too.”
She’s not the only reality star to speak up in favor of unionizing. Survivor winner Wendell Holland told The Daily Beast he thinks a reality TV union is “a great idea,” adding, “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.”
