Bethenny Frankel is coming under fire for what appears to be a VERY shady contract she once tried to get a popular TikTok star to sign!
Aside from being the former star of Real Housewives of New York City, the Skinnygirl CEO has also dabbled in being an executive producer of reality TV shows herself. This includes a show tentatively titled Mommy Mafia. Good name — but bad business practices? One of the series’ potential stars is speaking out about how Bethenny allegedly tried to take advantage of her!
In Instagram DMs to fan account Bravo_Boo, TikToker Bunny Hedaya claimed she noticed two clauses in a contract for the unaired series that she felt uncomfortable with because they were “SO EXPLOITATIVE.” In the five-season contract, Bethenny (as an EP) was allegedly requesting to take 15% of all Bunny’s income — including what was unrelated to the show! Damn!! She also claimed this would last for “I think 11 years.” That is some wild, Colonel Parker contract sketchiness!
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But aside from greediness, Bunny insisted there was another downright creepy and invasive aspect to the reality show’s demands — they wanted complete access to her home! In an email she sent to her lawyer at the time, she explained:
“There are two major points I want them to change that are non negotiable before we start negotiating. One being – they said we have to release all rights to privacy and hidden cameras and listening devices in our homes. That is completely unacceptable considering we have families and children.”
WTF.
We understand wanting cameras and mics on while filming, but this seems like they wanted to be able to lurk all the time! If that’s true, we understand why she said no! As for the money problemz, the content creator noted:
“The second is they want 15% of all likeliness royalties starting sign of contract. I have built an online following to over 550k followers since March and I refuse to pay them anything on my deals UNTIL the show airs.
I also had a long and aggressive back and forth with [redacted] over me starting my own podcast – that i did anyways since again they have not promoted us at all.”
It’s very inneresting she stipulated the fact she wouldn’t cut them into a brand deal until after the show aired since Mafia Mommas never actually premiered! So, if she had signed that deal, she’d be on the hook for so much without any real reward! Jeez! FWIW, Bunny did not end up signing the contract and the show never filmed any episodes. Bullet dodged, it sounds like.
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One reason this contract is particularly of note is because it makes Bethenny look like a massive hypocrite! Just last week, she used her platform to question why reality TV wasn’t unionized yet — going so far as to claim stars of unscripted content were “getting screwed.” In an Instagram video, she claimed she was only paid $7,250 for her “first season of reality TV.”
Obviously, that’s not much money for a full season of a now very popular Bravo series — but she didn’t exactly get stiffed. She reportedly had a clause in her contract stating the network would have NO rights to the future business ventures she might receive as a result of the show. Yes, this is the exact thing Bunny was trying to clap back against in her contract! So, while Bethenny is claiming to want fair deals for all reality stars, she’s also looking out for her best interest behind the scenes. Damn. Check out her full rant (below)!
While everything she might be saying is fair, it seems rather shocking in light of this leaked contract! If all this is true, she sounds like part of the problem! Thoughts? Sound OFF (below)!
[Image via WHHL/YouTube & Bunny Hedaya/Instagram]
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