Hurricane Hilary has come and gone, yet NBCUniversal may be feeling drenched today in more fallout from their reality TV blockbusters like Vanderpump Rules and the Real Housewives franchise.
Three weeks after lawyers for Bethenny Frankel’s move to unionize the unscripted genre sent their first blistering correspondence to the Comcast-owned media giant full of accusations of booze, sexual violence and the “grotesque and depraved mistreatment of the reality stars and crewmembers,” a part two has shown up in EVP/General Counsel Kimberley D. Harris’ inbox – and it ain’t pretty.
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“In the course of our investigation, we have not only confirmed the veracity of our initial allegations but have also discovered that the breadth and scope of your wrongdoing is greater than previously believed,” says attorney Bryan Freedman in an August 20 letter sent to the NBCU exec over shows on Bravo, CNBC, NBC and more (read the latest Reality TV letter here).
“We are left with the inescapable conclusion that NBC and its production partners are grappling with systemic rot for which sunlight is the first necessary remedial measure,” the Bev Hills legal prize fighter goes on to state, on behalf of himself, Mark Geragos and other lawyers. “To date, that has been impossible owing to the draconian terms of NBC’s contracts with its cast and crew, which contain onerous confidentiality provisions coupled with ruinous penalties for breach. To ensure silence, NBC has been wielding these contractual terms like a sword.”
Pulling Vanderpump Rules and Housewives producers Evolution Media into the mix by name, the attorneys allege that the nondisclosure agreements reality TV cast and crews are told to sign “are unlawful and unenforceable.” Essentially, digging into the fine print, Freedman’s silver bullet is cased in the fact that the NBCU NDAs lack terms required under California statutes specifically barring participants from “discussing or disclosing information about unlawful acts in the workplace, such as harassment or discrimination or any other conduct that you have reason to believe is unlawful.”
“This culture of fear and silence is no doubt responsible, in part, for the disproportionate rate of suicide among reality tv participants,” the lawyer exclaims elsewhere in the letter.
Having thrown down the gauntlet, and with the shadow of the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes looming, the less than stellar rep reality TV productions have to begin with and potential “civil liability,” Freedman then offers NBCU an out of sorts from the “reprehensible practice.”
“NBCUniversal has two choices: lead by example or be forced into compliance,” he states. “In 2019, NBC News voluntarily released its employees from the nondisclosure agreements that had prevented them from sharing their experiences of sexual harassment and discrimination. This request is no different. We trust that NBCUniversal will do the right thing.”
As of right now, NBCU could not be reached for comment on what they will be doing or any other response to long-time combatant Freedman’s correspondence. If and when they do respond, we will update this post.
Previously, NBCU responded to Freedman’s initial August 3 letter declaring “the day of reckoning has arrived” in a rather circumspect way, at least publicly, “NBCUniversal is committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew on our reality shows,” a spokesperson for the company told Deadline on August 4. “At the outset, we require our third-party production partners to have appropriate workplace policies and training in place.”
The company supposedly got on a call with the lawyers after the first letter of earlier this month. Also, individual correspondence from reality TV stars themselves could be in the offing to up the ante, I hear.
Regardless, if the reality of corporate safeguarding is anything to go by, NBCU’s second public verse on this will likely sound a lot like the first.
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