Fans of The Real Housewives of New York City say the show went down after Bethenny Frankel left. She landed her own spinoff chronicling her marriage and family life that ended a few seasons later. But she has remained a staple example of what using your reality television platform can do if managed properly. She’s one of the wealthiest people to ever appear on reality television. Prior to this, she was living a modest life life most working New Yorkers. But things changed when she made the decision to change the contract that she was offered for the inaugural season of the show.
Why Bethenny Frankel says she changed her Season 1 ‘RHONY’ contract
The Real Housewives of New York premiered on Bravo in 2008. It followed a group of socialites in Manhattan who were making moves in the Big Apple. Frankel was the youngest cast member and was unmarried at the time and working in the food and beverage industry. But she became an instant fan favorite for her wit and hard-working attitude. Within a few seasons, she was the wealthiest of the franchise. But had she signed her original contract, she wouldn’t have amassed such success.
Frankel took to Instagram to reveal what made her have the courage as a reality television newbie to amend her contract. She explained:
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How much was my contract for Season 1 of The Real Housewives of New York City? The contract said $7,250, which I did not dispute. I was a nobody, that was a lot of money to me. All I had was time on my hands, no kids, and no family. The only thing I did cross out was the thing that said Bravo would take a percentage of anything that I made. Now, I was a nobody, I had nothing, and what would I care? But somewhere deep down inside, I understood conceptually that was wrong, and that I was going places, and that I was going to do something, and no one was going to own any part of it…I read a contract, something didn’t feel right to me, and I took it out. And it changed my entire life, and it changed the entertainment industry and their practices. So, never assume anyone is smarter than you.
Because of Bethenny Frankel’s decision, a clause was created that’s included in every ‘Housewives’ contract
Frankel eventually launched the popular Skinnygirl Cocktails brand, which offered low-calorie alcoholic beverages. In 2011, she made national news when it was reported by multiple publications that she sold the business for $100 million. She said prior to the show and her business venture that she had only $8,000 to her name. As a result of the sale, Bravo and the entertainment industry as a while in terms of reality television contracts changed because they saw the potential success a reality star could bring.
“The Hollywood Reporter article came out on me, and the Forbes article came out, because I had sold a cocktail portion of my business for a lot of money, Bravo woke up, the entertainment industry woke up, reality television woke up – and they created what is now known in the industry as The Bethenny Clause, which means that anybody going on reality TV have to give a percentage to the powers that be,” Frankel explained in the video.
Bethenny Frankel is considered to be one of the most successful reality stars
Outside of her Skinnygirl sale, Frankel also is keen on real estate and philanthropy, and had her own talk show and now a podcast. At the height of her time on RHONY, she was reportedly earning $40k per episode. Celebrity Net Worth lists her worth at $80 million.
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