Speaker 1: Hi, Hey, Bethany, nice to meet you.
Speaker 2: It's nice to meet you. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1: So this is Patrick McDonald.
Speaker 3: What I didn't realize is that you've worked on thirteen
Speaker 3: Bravo seasons across nine franchises and we've never crossed paths.
Speaker 2: That's right, I know. The one of the few that
Speaker 2: I have not done was New York.
Speaker 1: And how many production companies have you worked with?
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, most of the shows I did, so I
Speaker 2: did Housewives of Atlanta, Potomac. I was doing a lot
Speaker 2: of the East Coast shows with Truly Original before I
Speaker 2: moved back out west and started doing a lot of
Speaker 2: Evolution shows, which is Beverly Hills, Orange County and vand
Speaker 2: of Pump Rules.
Speaker 1: Got it okay?
Speaker 3: So those of you who don't know, I was sent
Speaker 3: a video that you did that you posted was out
Speaker 3: on Instagram.
Speaker 2: Yes, on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 3: Okay, because there was a lot of media pickup of it.
Speaker 3: So you posted a video on Instagram and TikTok basically
Speaker 3: just expressing yourself and sharing your experience, and it seemed
Speaker 3: like something provoked you to just tell a portion of
Speaker 3: the truth about your experience as a reality television producer.
Speaker 3: Starting from the bottom and moving your way up through
Speaker 3: the ranks, Is that accurate?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I've been working with Bravo for the
Speaker 2: past five years. I started as a logger, which is
Speaker 2: kind of at the bottom of the totem pole in
Speaker 2: terms of producers. Some shows call them loggers, some shows
Speaker 2: call them associate producers, but basically the people transcribing all
Speaker 2: the dialogue for the show so they can write a
Speaker 2: hot sheet for the network to see what happened. So
Speaker 2: I started there on Married to Medicine, and within five years,
Speaker 2: like with it before that, I mean, within like three years,
Speaker 2: I climbed the ranks from associate producer, a segment producer,
Speaker 2: field producer, senior field producer, to supervising producer. So you know,
Speaker 2: by the time I left, I was working I was
Speaker 2: directly under the co executive producers on those on my
Speaker 2: last three shows.
Speaker 3: So okay, So for people who don't know, when we
Speaker 3: started out and we were doing our own hair and
Speaker 3: makeup and everything was recorded in our living room versus
Speaker 3: now in a studio, there was usually one executive producer,
Speaker 3: like the head person in charge. And so now on
Speaker 3: shows this big, there are co executive producers, so they
Speaker 3: have two show runners. They're the ones running the show,
Speaker 3: and then you were right under the show runner, so
Speaker 3: you're like reporting directly to them, and they're making the
Speaker 3: whole machine work.
Speaker 2: Right, Essentially, I am so like the supervising producers and
Speaker 2: the field producers. Essentially, the field producers are the ones
Speaker 2: running the show in the field, the co executive producers
Speaker 2: and the secutive producers are usually in the office, you know,
Speaker 2: working on other things, but out in the field, like
Speaker 2: shooting the scenes day to day with the ladies as
Speaker 2: me and the other field producers.
Speaker 3: So if you go up into production offices, which in
Speaker 3: only rare cases do housewives or talents see behind the
Speaker 3: curtain at OZ, but in some cases when you're coming
Speaker 3: up over the years for economical reasons, you'd be doing
Speaker 3: interviews in the same space where the production offices are.
Speaker 3: So if you're doing your interviews in one room, you
Speaker 3: walk out and then you walk by that it sort
Speaker 3: of seems like a classroom and there's a big whiteboard
Speaker 3: and it's kind of got like the family tree looking
Speaker 3: type of thing where it's like, here's this person and
Speaker 3: they're having a fight with this person so we have
Speaker 3: to get these two together.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So it's like, so you've got Jane and Jill,
Speaker 2: but Bobby over here knows something that we need to
Speaker 2: get to Jill. So we need to get Bobby and
Speaker 2: Jane together before you know, got it, Jill and Jay
Speaker 2: get together. You know what I mean? Basically, if you're
Speaker 2: going into a scene. Was something I usually tell people
Speaker 2: is like, if you know cast members, if you're going
Speaker 2: into a scene and there's something that you really don't
Speaker 2: want to talk about, you can pretty much guarantee that
Speaker 2: you're going to be asked about that thing today exactly,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 3: And so you spoke fairly briefly compared to what this
Speaker 3: interview will be like, and it was sent to me
Speaker 3: and it's gotten a decent amount of pickup.
Speaker 1: And I was moved by how beloved you.
Speaker 3: Are and how former cast members begrudged, cast members, current
Speaker 3: cast members, crew members, like people in the community verified
Speaker 3: and validated you, saying that you had a great reputation
Speaker 3: and that cast and crew alike loved you, which, by
Speaker 3: the way, we all know that it's very rare that
Speaker 3: a cast member is liked by everyone. You're a bad
Speaker 3: reality participant or a housewife. If everyone likes you, that
Speaker 3: would be the definition of being a bad house wife.
Speaker 3: If everyone likes you, something's wrong. Because there's always it's
Speaker 3: a zero sum game.
Speaker 2: I mean, content is King. That's the thing that you
Speaker 2: hear the most doing these shows. So the biggest priority
Speaker 2: is what's happening on screen, and that is a theme
Speaker 2: that is prevalent across the board. So yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: in so many words like if it's not happening on
Speaker 2: the screen, like, it's not the priority. You're holding a camera,
Speaker 2: You've been holding a camera for five hours and you
Speaker 2: need to pee. Well, sorry, these two ladies are going
Speaker 2: in on their second hour talking about the same thing.
Speaker 2: You're gonna have to wait to pee or eat, you know, right, unfortunately.
Speaker 2: So that's kind of the content is King mentality. Is
Speaker 2: this blanket umbrella used to justify putting all these crew
Speaker 2: members through, you know, extreme working conditions and you know,
Speaker 2: keeping it moving. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So there have been many people who have wanted to
Speaker 3: talk on this podcast, and it's not that I've distanced
Speaker 3: myself from the reality reckoning that I started. It's that
Speaker 3: there's nothing I can really fully do to control it.
Speaker 3: The thing that's interesting about you, and why I was
Speaker 3: interested in talking to you is because you are not
Speaker 3: a disgruntled employee. You were not fired, you have a career,
Speaker 3: you're earning an income, You're not suing anyone. So you
Speaker 3: are just expressing yourself, which is courageous because like me,
Speaker 3: there's no upside to you doing this, like you're doing
Speaker 3: this because what it's se you'll tell me why you're
Speaker 3: doing this, But from my viewpoint, you are doing this
Speaker 3: because you just think it's the right thing to do,
Speaker 3: which is courageous because so many crew members have reached
Speaker 3: out to me, and you're a crew member, which makes
Speaker 3: this drastically different. You never you didn't monetize in the
Speaker 3: way that a housewife did. You didn't make millions of dollars.
Speaker 3: You're not begging to come back. You are a crew member.
Speaker 3: And I talked a lot about the crew members because
Speaker 3: they are invisible and forgotten, and many people feel exploited
Speaker 3: in the crew community. But they don't have a void
Speaker 3: because they don't have the same value. And that became
Speaker 3: really prevalent during the strike because during the strike everybody
Speaker 3: was out of work. But housewives can make money doing
Speaker 3: other things and be home doing Zooms, the crew really
Speaker 3: could not make any money, and they also didn't have
Speaker 3: a voice, and they were desperate to get work again,
Speaker 3: so they certainly weren't going to say how they felt.
Speaker 1: So you stand out.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you for saying that. Well, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: obviously the reality reckoning happening a couple of years ago
Speaker 2: definitely like started this conversation, you know, And I think
Speaker 2: that you know, I was working on vander Pump Rules
Speaker 2: in the midst of that happening, and I will say
Speaker 2: just from like the vibe of the crews and the
Speaker 2: people that I worked with, because, like you said, crew
Speaker 2: members and people behind the scenes don't have as loud
Speaker 2: of a voice, Like their voices weren't being represented as
Speaker 2: loudly in that beginning of that movement. You know, you
Speaker 2: had a lot of big cast members coming out and
Speaker 2: speaking of their you know, mistreatment and the things that
Speaker 2: they went through. And I know you said, you know,
Speaker 2: you talked to some crew members as well, but even still,
Speaker 2: like I just because those people aren't known, their voices
Speaker 2: aren't amplified, it kind of gets lost in the sauce.
Speaker 2: So I feel like at the beginning of that movement,
Speaker 2: like maybe like some of the crew's producers didn't feel
Speaker 2: as represented in that at the beginning, you know, so
Speaker 2: because they weren't like seeing their stories kind of being
Speaker 2: talked about and the things that they've gone through being
Speaker 2: talked about as loudly and as prevalently as some of
Speaker 2: these BRA celebrities. But they're there, the stories are there.
Speaker 2: I mean, like like you said, I have been so
Speaker 2: blown away and overwhelmed by the response that I have
Speaker 2: gotten since I posted those videos. I'm talking like hundreds
Speaker 2: and hundreds of messages from crew members, producers, cast members
Speaker 2: past and present, like you said, thanking me for saying
Speaker 2: the things I said. Thank you for saying the things
Speaker 2: that we've all been wanting to say for years but
Speaker 2: haven't been able to because we need to work. You know.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: So I am. I do feel like I'm in a
Speaker 2: unique position now because I don't want to go back
Speaker 2: to that you know what I mean. I don't want
Speaker 2: to go back to that grind. I've found, you know,
Speaker 2: so much more of a peaceful life, you know, doing OnlyFans,
Speaker 2: you know, doing my own thing, generating my own income
Speaker 2: and being in charge of my own stuff, you know.
Speaker 1: Setting your own limits and the way you are treated.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3: Let's compare your work self worth and work life balance
Speaker 3: experience on Only Fans between OnlyFans and working on reality
Speaker 3: TV and Bravo financially, emotionally, spiritually, all of it.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean, I can tell you with one
Speaker 2: hundred percent conviction that my life is far less toxic
Speaker 2: and filled with much less drama now that I am
Speaker 2: working like in adult entertainment on OnlyFans than I was
Speaker 2: when I was working in reality you know, like I
Speaker 2: said in the video I posted, on most of these shows,
Speaker 2: you're working like six days a week, You're shooting five days,
Speaker 2: and then a lot of times on these shows there's
Speaker 2: a six day which has spent in the office looking
Speaker 2: at that whiteboard all day. So you've got a Sunday off,
Speaker 2: you know, to get your laundry done, to get your
Speaker 2: earan's done, and get your life back together before you're
Speaker 2: shooting the next day. My life is completely different now.
Speaker 2: I like spend months set of time traveling to different
Speaker 2: countries to film for OnlyFans, and most of the time
Speaker 2: on these trips is spent like enjoying myself and having fun,
Speaker 2: and like maybe fifteen percent of the time is spent filming,
Speaker 2: you know, and working, editing, doing that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2: So the work life balance is just completely different. I
Speaker 2: mean in terms of my mental health and my peace
Speaker 2: and just like my general happiness and enjoyment of life.
Speaker 2: It's night and day, you know, night and day. I
Speaker 2: feel like from I'm working on those shows, I mean,
Speaker 2: you are living for that show for those three four
Speaker 2: months while you're in production on a housewive show or
Speaker 2: I mean, that is your life, you know, especially if
Speaker 2: you're on location.
Speaker 3: So let's talk about the quality of the work, the
Speaker 3: actual work and the morality of the work. What about
Speaker 3: the actual work, what you're doing, how do you feel
Speaker 3: about it?
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean I will say that I feel
Speaker 2: that reality TV is far more invasive than adult entertainment
Speaker 2: than OnlyFans, you know, and I'm having sex with people,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. And it's like that is
Speaker 2: much less invasive to me than some of the things
Speaker 2: that I have been behind the camera for filming for
Speaker 2: these shows.
Speaker 3: You know, you feel more morally compromised on reality television
Speaker 3: than you do doing adult entertainment.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. I mean, I don't feel morally compromised
Speaker 2: at all. Doing adult entertainment, Like it's the most human,
Speaker 2: humanly natural thing a human can do is to like
Speaker 2: have sex. Right, So I don't think I have I
Speaker 2: don't feel anything im moral about what I'm doing on OnlyFans,
Speaker 2: But yeah, there were definitely some moral dilemmas that I
Speaker 2: experienced in my later years at Bravo for sure.
Speaker 3: What are the biggest moral dilemmas you faced doing reality television?
Speaker 3: What were the moments where you questioned your own integrity.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it was me questioning my own integrity,
Speaker 2: but questioning what it is we were all doing as
Speaker 2: a whole. I don't think it was one singular moment.
Speaker 2: I think it's been a journey, okay getting there. I
Speaker 2: mentioned in the video that I made. I think at
Speaker 2: the beginning, the first couple of years, I was like
Speaker 2: blinded to the toxic environment by my excitement to just
Speaker 2: be there. You know, I was a Housewives fan. I've
Speaker 2: watched it for years before I started producing these shows,
Speaker 2: and it was like fun. You know, they're like, oh shit,
Speaker 2: I'm in here, Like, oh, we'sturn some shit up between
Speaker 2: like candy and charat. You know, like you know you're
Speaker 2: having a good time, and then you know, as time
Speaker 2: goes on, you're like, oh wow, this is like really
Speaker 2: taking a toll on this woman here, you know, like
Speaker 2: or this just seeing how absolutely spent the my colleagues
Speaker 2: were and barely even being able to like stay awake
Speaker 2: at times on these cash trips because they're so exhausted.
Speaker 2: But I will say in terms of the content we
Speaker 2: were shooting, the first time, I like kind of paused
Speaker 2: and took a step back to myself internally, was like,
Speaker 2: whoa wait, what are we doing here? Well, I would
Speaker 2: have to say was during scandabal with that reunion with
Speaker 2: Rachel Levis fascinating. Yeah, that was uh, you know, I
Speaker 2: produced both of the scandaball seasons of Faint of Pump Rules.
Speaker 2: I did seasons nine and ten, and and so my
Speaker 2: first season was season ten when that big scandal broke
Speaker 2: at the very end. And it's so funny because you know,
Speaker 2: I worked really closely with Rachel that season about kind
Speaker 2: of like finding her voice and like stepping into her own.
Speaker 2: This is kind of like she's coming out of her
Speaker 2: relationship with James and she's now a character on the
Speaker 2: show on her own, so she's not part of this
Speaker 2: couple anymore. So we kind of talked a lot about
Speaker 2: like stepping into her own power as you know, as
Speaker 2: an individual on the show, and we really like leaned
Speaker 2: into that a lot. And she had a great season
Speaker 2: that year. Like during production, that was Raquel's season, Like
Speaker 2: everybody knew it. Everybody was talking about it, like, oh
Speaker 2: my god, like look at this. By the way, going
Speaker 2: into that season, you know that she was the highest
Speaker 2: rated cast member in terms of market research, Like wow,
Speaker 2: coming out of season nine and going into ten, she
Speaker 2: was the highest rated one more than Lisa.
Speaker 1: Oh what a fault, what a demise?
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so and even like after we kind of
Speaker 2: got to the end of filming, it was like Raquel
Speaker 2: really really gave us a season here, you know, and
Speaker 2: she was kind of like having a hero arc actually.
Speaker 2: And then you know, a few weeks after rewrap, of
Speaker 2: course we all know what happened. But yeah, that was
Speaker 2: a fascinating thing to be a part of and to witness.
Speaker 2: And look, I don't want to act like sitting here,
Speaker 2: like the entire time we were going through it, I
Speaker 2: was like this is problematic and fucked up, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. It wasn't like that it was kind
Speaker 2: of like, you know, this is the job I've been
Speaker 2: doing for years, but suddenly there's this amplified attention on
Speaker 2: this and the vitriol from the world that started to
Speaker 2: kick up was pretty intense, you know. And so for
Speaker 2: a couple of weeks, like here you had and look,
Speaker 2: I understand that this was a very upsetting thing, and
Speaker 2: I have a lot of empathy for what Arianna went
Speaker 2: through on that show, you know, and and all the
Speaker 2: pain that she experienced. Absolutely, but like Arianna had like
Speaker 2: the entire world rallying around her, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: So in that moment, you know, that's a lot of
Speaker 2: support and that kind of can soften the blow of
Speaker 2: this really painful experience she was going through, which she's
Speaker 2: entitled to feel about however she feels, right. But then
Speaker 2: on the flip side, you have Rachel and thom Sandibal,
Speaker 2: who are suddenly like the most hated people in America.
Speaker 2: And so for weeks you're building up to this like
Speaker 2: amping it up, amping it up, amping it up, of
Speaker 2: this vitriol towards them, and then we get to this
Speaker 2: reunion where I mean, they and specifically specifically Rachel got annihilated,
Speaker 2: you know, So I spent that entire day with Rachel
Speaker 2: that reunion. We met super early in the morning, went
Speaker 2: and shot like a one on one interview with and Andy,
Speaker 2: and then I rode in the van with her together
Speaker 2: over to the reunion stage. Like we stopped and got
Speaker 2: a smoothie on the way there, and just kind of
Speaker 2: worth catching up, you know, like since because we weren't filming,
Speaker 2: you know, when that all happened, So like I hadn't
Speaker 2: seen her in a minute, so we were just kind
Speaker 2: of like catching up on everything that had been going
Speaker 2: on and and what she'd been going through. And I like,
Speaker 2: I could only imagine what she felt like that day.
Speaker 2: Being swept shamed by the entire world is something I
Speaker 2: don't think many people could understand. I don't even know
Speaker 2: what it could have felt like, but I know that
Speaker 2: it couldn't have felt good, you know. So we get
Speaker 2: to that reunion and you know, we were in this
Speaker 2: trailer like across the street the whole day because you know,
Speaker 2: there was like a restraining order filed so her and
Speaker 2: Sheena couldn't be in the same building. So Quel was
Speaker 2: in a trailer watching most of the reunion until it
Speaker 2: was her turn to come on stage. So it was
Speaker 2: such a wild experience because it felt like I was
Speaker 2: like sitting there with someone and you're like watching a
Speaker 2: Housewives reunion, right, and you're like you're seeing you know,
Speaker 2: Phedra like annihilate Kenya, you know, with some read right,
Speaker 2: and then it's like sending. It's like watching that and
Speaker 2: like all right, now it's your turn. You're gonna go
Speaker 2: in there and get read by them, or you know.
Speaker 2: It was it was a wild experience to watch your
Speaker 2: reunion with the person who everyone is talking about and
Speaker 2: just destroying.
Speaker 3: And what did you feel like her going into that?
Speaker 3: What was she walking into.
Speaker 2: We sat there for hours watching, you know, just and look,
Speaker 2: I love a lot of those girls on that show.
Speaker 2: I think they're great and I care for them a lot.
Speaker 2: Everybody was really upset that day, and at that time
Speaker 2: it was a moment of pause. You know. Yeah, so
Speaker 2: I'm sitting there with her for hours watching everyone trash her,
Speaker 2: and then it's like, well, all right, let's walk on over.
Speaker 2: You're ready. You know. It felt like I was walking
Speaker 2: her into a firing squad, you know, like we were
Speaker 2: walking the green mile to her execution.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: And then sitting there and just like watching her get
Speaker 2: just destroyed for look making a mistake. I mean, look,
Speaker 2: they made a mistake, you know, which I think is
Speaker 2: the most human thing we can do. We all make mistakes.
Speaker 2: So I think it just like the sensationalism of it
Speaker 2: all just kind of folded in on itself and like
Speaker 2: everyone got so amped up by it, and like and
Speaker 2: the cast got amped up by it, and then the
Speaker 2: more attention the show got, it was just like it
Speaker 2: was at a level like one hundred, you know. And
Speaker 2: so you get her in there, and I mean, I'm sorry,
Speaker 2: but to be called subhuman and to be told that
Speaker 2: you should be fucked by a cheese greater like on
Speaker 2: national television, I think is pretty pretty unacceptable and disgusting.
Speaker 2: But but you know, like I'm pretty sure ten years
Speaker 2: from now, when we look back and watched that reunion again,
Speaker 2: I think people will look at that with a different
Speaker 2: set of eyes as a society.
Speaker 3: And I think ten days, I think when Rachel sat down,
Speaker 3: when she walked into talking to me, one hundred percent
Speaker 3: of the country hated her. Now I think probably fifty
Speaker 3: percent like she got because people have said to me
Speaker 3: on the street, oh my god, because people I have
Speaker 3: the chills. I have no frame of reference. And people
Speaker 3: criticized me for interviewing her when I wasn't a fan
Speaker 3: of the show. I hadn't watched the show. I saw
Speaker 3: that and I thought amy insane, Like what could she did?
Speaker 3: She kill someone's mother? Like she was annihilated and emotionally abused,
Speaker 3: and when she tried to walk off the reunion, she
Speaker 3: was told to come back. Yeah, so I think you're
Speaker 3: it's interesting because it became better ratings to despise her,
Speaker 3: like it was working for everybody, was working for the network,
Speaker 3: it was working for the people, the cast members. It
Speaker 3: just became good television and good ratings to hate her.
Speaker 3: And you know, there's a line, and it crossed it.
Speaker 3: And they would have paid her anything to come back too,
Speaker 3: So she didn't go for the money. Like there are
Speaker 3: things that people criticize people about. And yes, she made
Speaker 3: a drastic mistake. And I don't even I know her
Speaker 3: from the interview and from this experience, So it's not
Speaker 3: like I'm vouching for her. I'm saying she's a human.
Speaker 2: I know that. Yeah, I mean she chose her piece.
Speaker 2: She chose her piece over this whole glitz and glamor
Speaker 2: of this whole thing, because I think she realized that
Speaker 2: she didn't want to wear the golden handcuffs anymore.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: So, what responsibility do you think that Andy and Lisa
Speaker 3: who were there? Andy's a figurehead at the network, if
Speaker 3: not technically a producer, he used to be a producer.
Speaker 3: He's a figurehead at the network. That he and Lisa
Speaker 3: vander Pump, who's an executive producer, what responsibility do they
Speaker 3: hold in that experience? And also in asking her about
Speaker 3: her meds? And then what responsibility does the production hold,
Speaker 3: the production company hold, and then the network like who
Speaker 3: are the characters and what responsibility do they all bear
Speaker 3: in this type of situation? Well, no one said anything.
Speaker 3: It's like someone's bleeding on the side of the road
Speaker 3: and no one said anything. So does anyone bear that
Speaker 3: responsibility or do they all bear that responsibility?
Speaker 1: Who's accountable?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I guess that would have to fall
Speaker 2: on the production company in the network. I guess. I
Speaker 2: mean they're all there, you know, the head of the
Speaker 2: production company is there at the reunion. Network executives are
Speaker 2: there at the reunion. The people who had the power
Speaker 2: to intervene in any way we're all there, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean? I think that if one of them
Speaker 2: had done that, I think that it would have been
Speaker 2: listened to, you know, Okay, I mean in the moment
Speaker 2: when it's all happening, like, I don't think I was
Speaker 2: thinking like who's doing something about this or whatnot. I
Speaker 2: just think in the moment I was thinking like holy shit,
Speaker 2: like this is brutal and this is this is like
Speaker 2: painful to watch, you know, and it's like is this God?
Speaker 2: Is this all right? You know what I mean?
Speaker 3: Like Okay, Well, that's that's where the moral compass comes
Speaker 3: in because as a person in reality TV, I've said
Speaker 3: it's the upside down. So what's happening in my from
Speaker 3: my point of view is you're excited something's happening because
Speaker 3: it's good for the show. So what's good for the
Speaker 3: show is not good for the individual and for the
Speaker 3: for the for the mental health. What is extraordinary for
Speaker 3: the show? What is game changer? Ratings, Emmys and like
Speaker 3: can make or break a show that was on its
Speaker 3: last legs is horrendous for the individual. So it's almost
Speaker 3: like big corporation is making all this money, but the
Speaker 3: people out there are getting cancer by being exposed to
Speaker 3: the radiation.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, that's definitely at the expense. It's all coming
Speaker 2: in someone's expense. You know, any big story, in saalacious
Speaker 2: event that happens on these shows is coming at a
Speaker 2: huge price to someone, you know, and it's uh, it
Speaker 2: can be crazy, and you're right, drama and salacious scandals
Speaker 2: are rewarded on these shows.
Speaker 3: So have you heard from anyone from Bravo or anyone
Speaker 3: from you know, production or anything like that since you
Speaker 3: posted your video.
Speaker 2: I have not heard anyone direct like from directly from Bravo. No.
Speaker 2: I did, however, get one call from someone that was
Speaker 2: trying to steer me in the opposite direction, and that
Speaker 2: was from Lisa vander Pump.
Speaker 1: Actually, oh interesting. Do you have a relationship with her?
Speaker 2: Well, I worked with her for two years, you know,
Speaker 2: I produced two seasons of vander Pump Rules. We always
Speaker 2: had a really great working relationship. You know, we weren't
Speaker 2: super close or anything, but you know, always had a great,
Speaker 2: great relationship. I haven't spoken to her since we wrapped
Speaker 2: season eleven of vander Pump Rules. And then over the
Speaker 2: weekend after I posted the video, I got a call
Speaker 2: from Lisa and I mean, I really hate to say
Speaker 2: this because I'm very disappointed by the call, but in
Speaker 2: my opinion, she was calling to manipulate me and use
Speaker 2: In my opinion, she was calling to extract information from me,
Speaker 2: to see what I was going to do next, to
Speaker 2: give me the name, specific names, and to discourage me
Speaker 2: from speaking out on this. Unfortunately, I think she was
Speaker 2: trying to exploit my good relationship with her and take
Speaker 2: advantage of our good working relationship to get information from
Speaker 2: me on behalf of someone at either the production company
Speaker 2: or the network. And if she's very close with people
Speaker 2: at the top of the production company and people at
Speaker 2: the top of the network, what's bad for Bravo's business
Speaker 2: is bad for Lisa Vanderpump's business. And look, I'm a
Speaker 2: reality TV producer. I know how to extract information from someone,
Speaker 2: and I know when someone's doing that.
Speaker 3: To me fascinating. That's so fascinating. I would never have
Speaker 3: thought of that on my own. Well, that's so fascinating.
Speaker 2: Interesting, like you, Well, yeah, I mean, I did two
Speaker 2: seasons of that show with Lisa. We talked to her
Speaker 2: a lot of times before a scene where we were
Speaker 2: going to talk to one of the cast members, and
Speaker 2: I've seen her do this very thing too many of them,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, And so it was kind
Speaker 2: of mind blowing for me to be sitting here in Thailand.
Speaker 2: It's eleven PM and I get a call from Lisa Vanterpump.
Speaker 2: The first words out of her mouth after staying hello were, so,
Speaker 2: is it just these two videos then? Or is there
Speaker 2: more to come? You know, like trying to see if
Speaker 2: I was going to be continuing to speak, but all
Speaker 2: under the guise of our friendship. You know, she's calling
Speaker 2: me as a friend and no one had she had
Speaker 2: spoken to no one about this beforehand. I think she
Speaker 2: reiterated that about three times on the phone call.
Speaker 1: You're the only person she spoke to.
Speaker 2: And well, I was like honestly disappointed in her by
Speaker 2: the call because I knew exactly what she was doing,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. And uh, it's did not
Speaker 2: feel good to get that call, honestly, And I mean,
Speaker 2: what it told me is that like they're listening, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, They hear what I'm saying, and
Speaker 2: they know that I'm right, you know.
Speaker 1: Yes, And so you're strong.
Speaker 3: You're the strongest person I've spoken to so far. Period
Speaker 3: period the end, everybody talks a big game.
Speaker 2: But yeah, you know, she called me, and you know,
Speaker 2: she was saying, like, you know, you know how much
Speaker 2: I loved working with you, and how I know how
Speaker 2: empathetic you are, and you have such a bright future
Speaker 2: ahead of you. I would just hate to see you
Speaker 2: do something that's going to cost you jobs in the future.
Speaker 2: And then when I kind of you know, she didn't
Speaker 2: ask me, like, do you still want to work in
Speaker 2: this industry? And I was like, you know, not really,
Speaker 2: you know, my life's kind of moving in a different direction.
Speaker 2: And she asked me, like, what do you stand to
Speaker 2: gain from doing all of this? And I said, well, Lisa,
Speaker 2: I don't. Well, I think the reason that a lot
Speaker 2: of people are resonating with what I'm saying is because
Speaker 2: I don't really stand a lot to gain from what
Speaker 2: I'm doing here other than trying to like initiate some
Speaker 2: change for these hard working crews, you know, on my
Speaker 2: way out. So I don't like really see a negative side.
Speaker 2: And honestly, the only people that would have a problem
Speaker 2: with what I said in that video are the people
Speaker 2: who are perpetuating the toxic culture that I speak of.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's interesting.
Speaker 2: So for me, it felt like this call was coming
Speaker 2: on behalf of the realm, and I felt really gross
Speaker 2: to be like manipulating, and it just it was kind
Speaker 2: of comical to me to have it being done to
Speaker 2: me in such a way that I've seen it being
Speaker 2: done to these other cast members.
Speaker 1: Oh, you were a cast member for a moment, like
Speaker 1: you were a cast member.
Speaker 2: Yes, she was trying to produce me. Yeah, she was
Speaker 2: trying to produce me. Wow, you know, I felt like
Speaker 2: she was trying to produce me. So yeah. And she
Speaker 2: also then began hounding me for names of specific people
Speaker 2: who were mistreating the crew, you know, so like Jolie,
Speaker 2: who are these showroomers that are treating the crew horribly?
Speaker 2: And I'm like, well, Lisa, there's many showrunners that do that,
Speaker 2: you know, And she's like, well, who specifically I need
Speaker 2: to know because I'm in charge of hiring these people
Speaker 2: that I need to know so I don't hire them,
Speaker 2: you know, And I'm like, okay, you know, I didn't, like,
Speaker 2: you know, I didn't take de bait. But it felt
Speaker 2: like it was such a blatant manipulation to me because
Speaker 2: then in the next breath she was talking about well,
Speaker 2: I mean, would you would you want to come back
Speaker 2: to vander Pump rules, you know? And I was like, no,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't want to come back to vander Pump Rules
Speaker 2: at this point, you know what I mean. So I
Speaker 2: just kind of felt like throwing things at the wall, like, oh, well,
Speaker 2: maybe he wants to come back or I don't know.
Speaker 2: It was it was very strange. It was like throwing
Speaker 2: things at the wall to see what might work well,
Speaker 2: scaring you out of your future jobs. Oh well he
Speaker 2: doesn't care anymore, Okay, well maybe would you want to
Speaker 2: come back to this or do you what? It was
Speaker 2: just very much like trying to get a gauge of
Speaker 2: where I was, where my mind was, to see like
Speaker 2: what kind of strategy we could move forward with, you
Speaker 2: know what? That's yeah, that's what it very much felt like.
Speaker 2: And then she was so she kept literally pressing for names,
Speaker 2: and I was like, Lisa, you know, I'm not going
Speaker 2: to say any names, and she goes, come on, now
Speaker 2: you open the door, now walk through it.
Speaker 3: I'm like, what when you're ironically trying to protect the crew,
Speaker 3: which brings me.
Speaker 2: To ask, I know, I'm like, why would you? Why
Speaker 2: would anyone have a problem with us speaking out about
Speaker 2: crew members being mistreated and like don't you want the
Speaker 2: crews to be taken care of on your shows? Like
Speaker 2: why do you want me to stop talking about this?
Speaker 2: This is important? You know?
Speaker 1: So why now?
Speaker 3: Why me?
Speaker 1: Why here?
Speaker 2: Why now? I think it's important for me to speak
Speaker 2: about this now because I have the opportunity to. You know,
Speaker 2: I'm no longer at the mercy of these networks or
Speaker 2: the production company. They have nothing that I want any longer.
Speaker 2: So I have nothing to lose by speaking out on
Speaker 2: these mistreatments that are going on. And if I can
Speaker 2: impart some change on my way out of these shows,
Speaker 2: then why would I not want to do that? If
Speaker 2: on my way out I can make their lives a
Speaker 2: little better or maybe initiate some change and bring some
Speaker 2: light to this, then That's what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 3: There's an audience faction, it's reduced, but that are like
Speaker 3: they will say, oh, Bethany, they you know this is
Speaker 3: they made you. They did not make me. I was
Speaker 3: successful in anything I was going to do. I'm more
Speaker 3: successful now astronomically in different spaces than then. So I
Speaker 3: was going to be successful because I grew up in
Speaker 3: a very abusive, crazy life at the racetrack, and I
Speaker 3: am a survivor. It is why I'm aggressive, and it's
Speaker 3: who I am. But they made money off my back.
Speaker 3: They got other people to do that show based on
Speaker 3: the success that I had. I'm the only one that's
Speaker 3: ever had that level of success. And the other people
Speaker 3: would come and do the show and say to producers,
Speaker 3: I'm sure you've heard it that they wanted to do
Speaker 3: what I had done. So many producers I'm not going
Speaker 3: to name the names, have said to me, oh my god,
Speaker 3: every Housewife comes in and says they want to do
Speaker 3: what Bethany did, so coming for me, it doesn't land
Speaker 3: because people are like, oh my god, you made more
Speaker 3: money than anyone and you want to shoot on the
Speaker 3: hand that fed you, And I'm like, I've fed the
Speaker 3: hand too.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well literally also case in point, I mean it
Speaker 2: goes for the crew too. I mean there was a
Speaker 2: report that came out recently that Housewives generated over three
Speaker 2: hundred million dollars for Peacock last year. All while the
Speaker 2: rate of pay for producers and crew members has gone
Speaker 2: unchanged for like the past decade. You know, there's been
Speaker 2: no increase in the rates of each position in so
Speaker 2: many years. While the network and Peacock is raking in
Speaker 2: millions and millions and millions of dollars, how about putting
Speaker 2: some of that money in the cameraman's pockets who is
Speaker 2: literally carrying the show on his back, or putting those
Speaker 2: in the pockets of the producers who are working day
Speaker 2: and night to bring these stories to life. Maybe maybe
Speaker 2: compensate them for some of the work they're doing and
Speaker 2: maybe start treating them better.
Speaker 1: Well, here's who has reached out to you.
Speaker 3: Which is interesting because, like I said, I started this
Speaker 3: by saying, it's remarkable the people who are currently on
Speaker 3: the show would would say something to you.
Speaker 1: So there's a ship.
Speaker 2: So these are the people who commented publicly.
Speaker 3: Yeah, these are the people that commented publicly. Crystal Kung Minkoff,
Speaker 3: you were a shining light during very challenging experiences for
Speaker 3: me miss seeing you on a daily heart the real Candice,
Speaker 3: my Darling Gaga, you shine for all of us in
Speaker 3: a world that is sometimes dark, twisty and convoluted.
Speaker 2: You are a light.
Speaker 1: You are brave. I love you so much. And then
Speaker 1: she said.
Speaker 3: Reality TV cast and crew Needa union full stop. Thank
Speaker 3: you for saying the quiet part out loud, Love you down.
Speaker 3: And then Vander Pump Rules Co executive producer, Love you
Speaker 3: and loved working with you.
Speaker 1: Unbelievable.
Speaker 3: Sharis Jackson, Jordan Potomac happiness over everything. You're such an
Speaker 3: amazing person and by far one of the realist producers
Speaker 3: in the industry.
Speaker 1: Wishing you the very best.
Speaker 3: Robin Dixon Potomac, I love you, Patrick Jason Augustine, who's
Speaker 3: an audio mixer on Winter House said absolutely loved working
Speaker 3: with you. Thank you for saying all this. I wish
Speaker 3: you the very best in your endeavors. The whole industry
Speaker 3: needs to be unionized. Lauren Flucker, segment producer, two seasons
Speaker 3: Real Housewives of Atlanta, also Beverly Hills my mentor, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna cry, my mentor my friend. I love you and
Speaker 3: is always I appreciate your transparency. I so hate that
Speaker 3: it came to this, because your passion for any project
Speaker 3: or show you take on is truly aspirational. I've become
Speaker 3: a better producer and person under your tutelage and with
Speaker 3: your advocacy.
Speaker 1: We see you. Thanks for sharing. I love you.
Speaker 3: And then last DP and head of Camera Department vand Apart,
Speaker 3: Brules Patrick, I consider you one of the best producers
Speaker 3: I've ever known, but more importantly, I consider you a friend.
Speaker 3: So while we may be losing one of the best
Speaker 3: producers out there, I'm just glad you found that work
Speaker 3: life balance. So many of us in the reality TV
Speaker 3: industry are constantly chasing love you, brother. Those people will
Speaker 3: have been reprimanded by now, and I give them a
Speaker 3: shout out too, because it's courageous even to like and
Speaker 3: comment on your video, which they did, which speaks to
Speaker 3: you and why we're talking and why so many people
Speaker 3: have reached out to me. But I wanted to talk
Speaker 3: to you because I felt that you had the best
Speaker 3: intentions with no agenda.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you, Bethany. I do appreciate that very much,
Speaker 2: and I appreciate you inviting me on to talk about
Speaker 2: this and to continue this conversation about this treatment that's
Speaker 2: clearly been going on for many years now, Like you said,
Speaker 2: started doing this like two years ago, and I'm glad
Speaker 2: to see that people are starting to talk about it
Speaker 2: again and that it's starting to come back up. I mean,
Speaker 2: you just read all of those amazing things that people
Speaker 2: said about me. I mean, I feel that way about
Speaker 2: those people. You know, So those people are still in
Speaker 2: that world. They're still working, they're still doing that, They're
Speaker 2: still busting their ass on those cast strips, they're still
Speaker 2: schlepping around these tropical locations in the heat, you know, sweating.
Speaker 1: So were you nervous about talking to me about it?
Speaker 2: I was.
Speaker 3: Actually I'm flattered and grateful that you chose to talk
Speaker 3: talk to me, hear about it, because I don't really
Speaker 3: talk about this stuff that much, you know often.
Speaker 2: No, I wasn't nervous to talk to you at all.
Speaker 2: I mean, you're you know, you've been in it. You
Speaker 2: know what I mean, So you get it. So you
Speaker 2: know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3: You've seen it, so you know, Listen, you should be
Speaker 3: very proud of yourself. You should feel strong. You should
Speaker 3: feel honored that you're speaking up, that you're living in
Speaker 3: your truth, that you're doing what you want to do.
Speaker 3: It's very hard to speak up. These are very powerful
Speaker 3: entities that are layered and tentacles and they will. You know,
Speaker 3: this is extremely courageous. I have to say this to you.
Speaker 3: This is extremely courageous. Like I said, I recognize that
Speaker 3: even the people commenting they're not in my financial position.
Speaker 3: They don't you know, they don't have a nest egg.
Speaker 3: This is extremely honorable and courageous where people live paycheck
Speaker 3: to paycheck. So that I would like to say, you
Speaker 3: are a class act. You are honorable, you are honest,
Speaker 3: you are courageous, You have no agenda, you're the best intentions.
Speaker 1: People love you.
Speaker 3: You're beloved by cast, by crew, you are respected, and
Speaker 3: I'm really grateful, So I thank you, Thanks Tethany, thanks
Speaker 3: for having me.
Speaker 2: Go pers walk back to after walk back, the faster