Bethenny Frankel is prepared to burn it all down.
As you may have heard, the former Real Housewives of New York City mainstay teamed up last week attorneys Mark Geragos and Bryan Friedman to send a pointed legal letter to Bravo.
The letter alleged “grotesque and depraved mistreatment” by the network, including “plying cast members with alcohol while depriving them of food and sleep,” “denying mental health treatment to cast members” and “covering up acts of sexual violence.”
YIKES, huh?
The wildly successful businesswoman, meanwhile, is also attempting something rather unique:
She hopes to organize an actual union for unscripted TV performers — akin to actors’ guild SAG-AFTRA, which is currently on strike and which has reportedly been in touch with Frankel.
According to Bethenny, she has amassed over 80 small screen personalities; folks who are either down with the union idea or who have reached out for more details of the lawsuit, which has not been filed yet.
The timing of Frankel’s troubling accusations comes just as Below Deck: Down Under has made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Last week, cast member Luke Jones was fired after he entered a sleeping Margot Sisson’s bunk without clothes or permission… prompting a production member to break the fourth wall and intervene.
Page Six sources, meanwhile, claim that those within the Bravo family are VERY pissed off at Frankel for taking her allegations public.
She’s “s-tting on the house that made her,” one insider recently told this outlet, for example.
Frankel is one of the best-known names in Bravo history, and also one of the most successful.
She famously sold part of her Skinnygirl company for $100 million during her eight-year Real Housewives run and triggered what has become known “Bethenny clause” in future contracts, which gives Bravo a cut of cast members’ profits during their time on the network.
The argument here is that cast members benefit from the exposure they receive on various Bravo programs, which entitles the network to these profits.
Another Page Six source sniped that Frankel would “still be selling cookies in the supermarket if it wasn’t for appearing on the Housewives,” referring to one of Frankel’s first business endeavors, Bethenny Bakes.
Then there’s a third source who believes the outspoken star is bragging at parties in the Hamptons that “she is going to bring down Bravo” and “not to cross her.”
As for who may be on her side?
Amid a flurry of social media posts, Bethenny has tagged personalities such as Tom Sandoval, Stassi Schroeder, Jennifer “JWoww” Farley and many stars from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, implying that may be joining her union or lawsuit.
No one has gone on record with this support, however.
Bethenny Frankel: I’m Taking Bravo Down! Who’s With Me?!? was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.