Bethenny Frankel’s Legal Battle To DESTROY Bravo Grows Bigger Amid Her Friendship Fallout With Andy Cohen
Bethenny Frankel’s Legal Battle To DESTROY Bravo Grows Bigger Amid Her Friendship Fallout With Andy Cohen
Bethenny Frankel’s lawsuit against Bravo and NBCUniversal is gaining steam.
The Real Housewives of New York City alum, who has reportedly rallied about 80 reality stars to her cause, hired powerhouse attorney, Bryan Freedman, to lead the fight in holding the network accountable for alleged mistreatment of their reality stars.
Freedman, who declined to name names, told the outlet — “NBC, Bravo and its agents have wrongfully silenced even the most famous of these reality performers and continue to do so today. Their stories are horrific and in due time will be made public.”
An insider close to the legal drama said — “They got these performers wasted on national TV, there has been revenge porn, they have illegally filmed people having sex — and they are trying to keep people silent. You will definitely know their names.”
Bethenny has reportedly recruited women from various “Housewives” franchises along with other Bravo personalities to join her crusade.
Earlier this month, Freedman and fellow legal eagle, Mark Geragos, issued a warning to NBCUniversal’s General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation, Kimberley Harris.
The letter accused NBC and Bravo of making “deliberate attempts” to “manufacture mental instability” by giving unscripted stars “alcohol while depriving them of food and sleep, as well as denying mental health treatment for those displaying obvious and alarming signs of mental deterioration.”
Real Housewives of Dallas alum, Stephanie Hollman, seemingly backed the claims when she alleged that the former Bravo cast was “over-served” and “starved” while in production.
The former Bravo star recalled a Season 3 boat excursion during a recent episode of her podcast, “Weekly Dose of BS.” She claimed that cast members where given “a lot of alcohol,” but were not given food “until maybe midnight, 1 am.”
Stephanie added that she often watered down her wine or spit out alcohol to dodge being “s**tfaced and starving” on camera.
Stephanie claimed that filming often occurred when the ladies were “over served alcohol on empty stomachs.” She explained that she could only remember “bits and pieces” of her reality TV experience due to the network’s purported practices.
Freedman went on to accuse the company of demanding adherence to nondisclosure agreements even amid alleged misconduct issues. He called the practice a breach of California law.
A Bravo rep denied the allegation, telling Page Six that while NDAs are a standard practice, cast and crew members are “free to discuss and disclose any allegedly unlawful acts in the workplace, such as harassment or discrimination, or any other conduct they have reason to believe is inappropriate.”
Freedman called the network’s statement a “bald-faced lie,” commenting—“NBCU is a party to NDAs which specifically restrict disclosure of anything that occurs during the person’s employment. This clearly includes any illegal activity witnessed or experienced on set.”
“This restriction is enforced through a draconian penalty of $500,000 per violation for individuals making $28,000 or less,” Freedman explained. “They can say whatever they want to but restrictions are actually in writing and are clearly intended to silence reality performers, producers, and crew members.”
Geragos referred to the statement as a “concocted explanation” and a “transparent effort to try to insulate themselves from their obvious illegal actions… This is all in response to NBCU/Bravo response to my demand that they release reality performers from their illegal NDAs.”
As reported, the former Bravolebrity confirmed that she had not spoken to her friend, Andy Cohen, since her legal battle against Bravo/NBCUniversal began, marking the end of their friendship.
“Some people say to me, ‘Oh wow, is Andy mad you’re doing this? Have you spoken to him?’ And I say, ‘I have not, but I’m sure he is.’” Bethenny added, “[But] this is not a target on Andy. This is not a target on Bravo. This is about a systemic issue in the entertainment industry.”
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Avigail is an Entertainment blogger at All About The Tea, who specializes in The Real Housewives of Atlanta and The Real Housewives of Potomac. Avigail has a background in marketing. She’s a Brooklynite living in the Bahamas, with a passion for travel, writing, reality TV watching, pop culture and spoken word.