I’ve mentioned here several times that the cast of Real Housewives of Atlanta was paid $5,000 for their entire season when the show debuted in Atlanta. Now the top paid person on RHOA makes 20 times that amount per episode. Nene Leakes is of course that person and she also has a “most favored nation” clause in her contract to insure no one else, and in particular Kim Zolciak, does not make more per episode than she does. It’s also the reason Nene is not included in all the episodes.
Bethenny Frankel disclosed that the RHONY season one cast made 50% more on their first season.
Bethenny told InStyle magazine:
On being taken seriously… In the beginning, I wasn’t. But it was what it was. I shouldn’t have been taken seriously in the beginning; I had no value. Or I didn’t know the value I would have yet. I was a person that Bravo was hiring for $7,250 for the entire first season of [Real Housewives]. But I knew what I wanted, which was to keep anything that I did in business. If you go on a reality show, you have to give a percentage [of any business you promote on the show] to the network—but I never did that. The industry ended up calling it “The Bethenny Clause.” So that was very destructive in the industry, but I only got paid $7,250—and I was keeping whatever I earned. But I was nobody; I had(n’t) accomplished anything yet, really.
Bethenny also explained that the financial ups and downs of her childhood played a role in her tenacity to be sure she was taken care of. Bethenny has talked about her childhood a good bit in some of her books and other interviews. Doubters have acted like the fact she was sent to decent schools for high school that got her accepted into a good college means that her family didn’t have financial difficulty but that is just not true.
Bethenny told Instyle:
“I grew up around a racetrack where there was a lot of feast or famine and gambling. It created what I call ‘money noise.’ My room was completely decorated, but the rest of the house had no furniture in it. The dining table was literally a card table, and my stepfather would be asking me to break into my piggy bank to cover his bets. But then at the same time, we’d have multiple cars in the driveway. It was a very up-and-down type of thing, seeing glamour and limousines but then having nothing.”
“I always thought that everything was sort of going to be okay,” she says. But when she headed to college, that changed. “I was pretty much on my own, and that’s when I had to start worrying about money and working. I knew that there was really no one who was ever going to take care of me, so I just had to take care of myself.”
Samantha Simon’s interview with Bethenny on InStyle is one of the best I’ve read and I strongly encourage you to click the link and read the whole thing. It does not disappoint.
That explains SO much about her persona today. Great piece TT!
Thank you TT, that was a great article. I absolutely love Bethaney. I have always been on her side from the very beginning. I think she has a caring heart and lots of empathy.
It was so impressive to see all she did in Puerto Rico! I was in Louisiana, San Francisco and Texas and never does the media show the real devastation from what us humans suffer after disaster. Bethany has taken her success and reached out and I’ve never seen arrogance or anything but sheer honest gumption from her and could only wish to be a friend to someone as kind as I see her and another one or two housewife
Yes, thanks TT, good article and I would have missed it without your post.
Wow what an article !! Thanks TT 😘
That was interesting. Leave it to Bethenny to have a clause named after her due to her business savvy. She is quite the inspiration.
I think all of her nastiness towards the other women have finally caught up to her this season. They’ve been trying to band together against her in varying capacities and alliances for seasons now. This is the time that she’s finally cracking I think. I just wish it weren’t Dorinda/Tinsley/Carole on the winning side. They all look very ugly.
Don’t call Bethenny down for the count just yet. There’s still lots of shows to go. My money is still on Bethenny as it is every year. If Jill Zarin couldn’t take her down, and Bethenny loved Jill, I don’t see Carole as a big threat. An angry woman, yes, but she’s not the victor yet.
I absolutely agree. Bethennys not down, she sounds like she is doing very well.
Bethenny must be extremely busy and organized her life away from the HW show possibly that trait makes her call out the insincere when she see’s them.
So very happy for her.
This was great! Thanks TT
I have always been a huge fan & defender of Bethenny. That is until this season. I’m disappointed by all the hypocrisy she is displaying now. I hold out hope that she will go back to being more ‘self-aware’.
Are we watching the same show? This seems like Bethenny’s redemption season. She running a charity, she’s defending Sonja. She’s supporting Luann. I wasn’t a fan UNTIL this season.
AGREE! I think she has an affection for Luann and Sonja – after all, that have been co-workers for such a long time. Clearly Luann has had a major life moment and I think we’ve only seen part of Sonja’s “stuff” as the majority of viewers are saying she’s not all there… these are women who needed some care. Carole and Dorinda have agenda written all over them.
PS Ramona is in a category all of her own and Tinsley appears to want to run with who ever can help her snag a rich guy *cough – Scott* so I’m not counting them in the pile on.
Luann and Sonja are just so likeable. They’re willing to share themselves on TV, and of course it’s for the paycheck, but they both come across as people I’d enjoy hanging out with
I always liked Bethenny, more so after realizing how much she had suffered growing up & the things her mother did were horrible. There were also issues with her father if I remember correctly. Then Jason turned out to be such a jerk. I feel that she is always having to fight to save herself from those people she’s let in to her heart & trust. She trusted Carol & here she is trying to survive that relationship too. I think it broke her heart but she’s a fighter & I don’t see her negatively commenting about Carol, Dorinda (the nutcracker, you’d have thought she paid $30,000 & had given it to her!) & Ramona every day either. I see her showing her work, her daughter & her unbelievable capacity for charity. I respect who she has become. She can be harsh & she does talk a mile a minute, but she is also hilarious. Tamara, unless some huge “receipts” show up from Carol, this has definitely been Bethenny’s redemption season. After Carol’s blogs & petty tweeting & IG, pretty sure I’ll still be #teamBethenny.
That’s a really good article. Thanks TT.
Thanks TT I am so glad that I read this .it is inspirational for sure.
There is a reason the other women have issues with Bethenny Ramona ,Carol esp.they need to get over it .I do not see Bethenny going anywhere due to the fact she is able to come out ahead in any diverse situation thrown at her.
People either love her or hate her and she is fine with that.oh and laughing all the way to the bank.
Happy belated birthday, love your recaps.
Thank you for sharing about the interview with Bethenny, she has become extremely inspiring.
I think that for some of the women the Bethenny Clause is at the root of what has pissed them off. Not Jill, FYI.
Now, here is my question about that clause… does that mean that Bravo gets a cut of every restaurant that Lisa has, or a part of the profits from American Woman that Kyle has created?
I can see if you have a career like Erika Jayne – where the publicity from the show is worth paying them a percentage – but while Kyle may have had it a little easier to seek out partners and networks for her show b/c she is on the HW, she was already familiar with the industry and had some ins.
I’ve always been a Bethenny fan, and her brutal honesty.