Could we be inching closer and closer to a reality TV stars’ strike? We recently reported that former Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel called for an industry-wide boycott for reality TV performers. Now former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna is joining that chorus.
Rinna took to her Instagram story to share her thoughts and urged her fellow cohorts to not attend the annual fan convention BravoCon.
“Every [SAG-AFTRA member] who is on a Bravo show should boycott Bravocon. You want them to start to take you seriously and pay you the money you deserve? Then start a reality show union per Bethenny. Time is now.”
A fan commented that Bravo fans should also join the boycott, and pointed out Bravo loves to flex “how progressive they are by calling everybody racist” but that there is “nothing more left-wing than workers’ rights and unions!”
Page Six reached out to get a response from Bravo about the issue, and an unnamed source took a shot at Rinna, who left RHOBH earlier this year: “I’m sure if she was invited to BravoCon, she wouldn’t be saying this.”
Rinna also faced some backlash during her time on the show. In season 12, she accused Kathy Hilton of having a psychotic break and Hilton fired back, calling Rinna a bully. Rinna was even booed at BravoCon last year.
Residuals are at the center of the ongoing actors and writers strike, and as Frankel previously noted, reality TV stars often generate “generated millions and millions of dollars in advertising and online impressions,” but they never get a share in a show’s continued earnings. As reality TV shows are expected to help Hollywood keep things moving while the dispute continues, a strike at this time would really put the nails in AMPTP’s coffin. It would be a historic movement if it did happen.