July 17, 2023 • 53 mins
Get ready for some unfiltered truth about reality TV! Brandi Glanville is joined by Nick Thompson, star of "Love is Blind" Season 2, mental health advocate, and founder of the UCAN Foundation. They tackle the negative effects of reality shows, discussing the feeling of being trapped and the valuable life lessons that can be gleaned from reality TV. Buckle up for an eye-opening conversation that will leave you thinking and reflecting on both the pitfalls and wisdom found in the world of reality TV!
Get Brandi's Audiobook NOW!
From Straw Hut Media
For early access to ad-free episodes w/ additional bonus content make sure to go to www.patreon.com/
Get Brandi's Audiobook NOW!
From Straw Hut Media
For early access to ad-free episodes w/ additional bonus content make sure to go to www.patreon.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Straw Media. Wow from straw HuntMedia. This is Brandy Glanville fun film.
Hey Ryan, how are you?I'm recording? Okay, great,
(00:22):
that's your job. I'm good.I'm good. I'm good. How are
you? I'm good? Um,I'm I left my car at the podcast
that we had yesterday and I wentI was gonna go get an ivy.
I went into my garage. Iwas like, ah, yeah, but
it's not here. Well, solast night or yesterday or all of the
(00:43):
day yesterday was pretty wild fun.It was so fun. I had the
best time. Everyone was like,like so nice and it was like,
just a great time. Did youget your AI skinned? Not yet?
I mean, I don't think they'retoo it yet. They are They said,
only takes seconds. They's gotta takesome photos. Oh they should.
(01:06):
Like I definitely got the lowdown,and I'm excited. It seems like Hello.
I kept on joking. I'm like, if I just lay down,
take my AI scan so that Ican make money while I go to sleep,
the exactly the point, that's exactlythat's what you're gonna do. I
know what. I was just making. We were doing crazy ship as time.
We were like doing charades and doingall of these different people were quitting
(01:30):
and throw anythings. But it waslike in the best way, like not
in a bad way, in afun, super fun way. Was it
just you and James? No,it was both Josh's James, Nancy Um.
I also went to Disneyland. She'sa Disney princess's name, and just
she went to Disneyland. She doeshave a Disney princess name. Yeah,
(01:52):
yeah, Elsa. Is she gonnago to dinner with you? You're going
to dinner with them tonight? Right? Yeah? Good good, So yeah,
there's a good time. I'm justtired. Couldn't fall asleep once I
got home. My dog was somad at me. You had been like
pawing at me to play because Iwas gone all day, and so yeah,
I was, I'm a horrible dog. I feel bad because I saw
(02:15):
your text this morning. I wokeup at seven. I saw the text
and it came in at like onethirty am, and I was like,
oh shitin no, I mean,I'm not hungover anything. We were actually
just it was a lot of talking. I'm just so glad that you were
able to make it. What doyou mean, like, I don't show
what that sounds horrible. Well,I just like I could have. I
(02:38):
had the feeling that like it wasgonna be bad. Yeah I sound I'm
not even hungover, literally just tired. Yeah you sound great. I can't
see you, but you sound greatbecause I slept with my makeup on,
and I do not look great.Well, I tried to sleep and then
makeup on. I should have justgot up and watch my face since I
was not sleeping. Well, yousay, you tell me that you like
(03:00):
when they're remote to do it withno video because then you can be feisty,
well, feisty year because if theycan see you, then they're like,
you feel bad about being an asshole. So it's better for me.
So for this guest that we're gonnahave on, how feisty are you gonna
be? I understand where he's comingfrom wholeheartedly. However, the Keyston One
(03:25):
reality show. Yeah, and it'sI think it's hard for him to have
the perspective that a lot of usthat are ogs have been doing it for
years have So I'm interested to hearwhat he has to say. Um,
And I also I fully agree thatthere should be some protection and that there
should be some sort of union Ijust I want to hear what he has
(03:47):
to say, because I just don'tevery time someone brings up a positive point,
I can shoot it down because no, not I'm perfect. I'm just
playing the bad guy because I knowwhat the networks are going to do.
Yeah, so and like you jointhis union and guess what, You're never
gonna work? You know, Idon't know. I just I want to.
I want to hear what he hasto say. He seems like a
(04:08):
smart guy. I watched his seasonof Love is Blind. Do you know
what you what do you think it'sgoing to make it work? Make a
union work? I think that we'regoing to need a big sister, Kay,
we need sag after it to makea division for unscripted talent. So
you think that his like union thingwould have to connect with a larger absolutely,
(04:30):
because otherwise it's, you know,David and Glisas situation. You need
everyone to band together and say I'mnot going to work out of network,
like out of unless you know,I'm union. And there's so many people
that are willing to, you know, work for almost nothing just to be
on CV. So that's where Ithink it. The struggle is going to
be m Okay, all right,Well, I'm very interested to hear how
(04:54):
this goes me too. I'm like, I want to know, but like
again, I'm a little bit ofa pessimist when that comes to this,
although I do I agree with himand that we all should be protected.
But well we'll see. Let's bringhim on. All right, Hello,
(05:15):
Nick, how are you? Hey? I'm doing fine. How are you
I I'm a little ungover. I'mnot gonna lie, but welcome to Brandy
Glenville. I'm filtered. Thank youfor having me on. And don't worry,
I've been there plenty of times andprobably will be plenty more. Yeah.
I hear that you're going through adivorce or have you already gone through
the divorce. I have gone throughthe divorce. That was official sometime in
(05:39):
January. Okay, so I knowthat we're here to talk about um more
of you know, the union kindof non union union thing that you started
and for a reality television But Iwant to chuck a little bit about the
show, right Well, I mean, when you sign up for a show
like this, you have to haveyour decks in a row. You have
to make sure that like everything's handledfor the whole you know, however long
(06:01):
it's going to be, you can'tjust like not go get home and go
back to like, oh my god, I'm paid bills, I have this,
I have work, I have allof that stuff. I mean,
you had to have expected that,right. Well, they actually tell you
that once you're finished with your firstthree weeks, which you do two weeks
in the pods and then one week. For us it was Mexico, I
think other other places where where theywent for other seasons, but they tell
(06:26):
you like, no, you goback to your normal life. When you
get back, you go back towork, and then we'll film in the
evenings and film on the weekends,and we'll work around your schedule. And
so they kind of set a bitof a false precedence. And there were
you know, things like deaths inthe family and illnesses and stuff like that
that popped up that we just weren'treally like able to handle. Instead we
had to do with cake tasting.Did you feel like you definitely couldn't do
(06:53):
it, You couldn't say there's deathin the family, I'm going to go,
or did you feel pressure not tobe able to go? So there's
a lot of pressure, as youknow, all the time, right,
because they're spending you know, Ithink I heard I don't know if this
is true. It's like almost amillion dollars a day to film that show,
which makes sense when you think that'snot true. You said, no,
that's not true. Yeah, itprobably not. Wouldn't surprise me.
(07:15):
But whatever they're spending to film theshow, right, they put a lot
of pressure on you about the crewand that this and that that and we
have to get the scenes and allthat stuff. So even when they knew,
they would just kind of like downplaysome of the stuff that was going
on. And you know, whetherthey said no, you can't leave,
no, but it was it waspressure, and when it would be brought
up, it would just be downplayed. It'd be like, well, let's
(07:38):
just get through this and then youcan go handle it. Yeah, I
think a lot of people fall kindof victim to that because ultimately, if
there is a death in the familyor you know, and I've my contracts
are like basically they own you,and I get that, but like,
if there is a death in thefamily or there's an family emergency, they
(07:58):
can't tell you not to leave.So as much as people say pressure,
like If you have that, you'reallowed to leave like pressure will get you
nowhere in court. You know whatI mean? Right, Because I had
a friend on a Housewives show andshe's like, well, production wouldn't let
me leave. My grandma was,you know, drying. And I'm like,
well, I've been doing Housewives fora long time and other shows and
(08:20):
you absolutely can't leave. Like youcan't because you know, a lot of
these shows, the producers are independentcontractors, as I'm sure you know,
so their number one is getting theshow done at any cost. But they
can't they can't force you to sayif you're having an emergencies. So I
(08:41):
think you're you're totally right on that. And I also think too, one
of the things that is in ourcontract, specifically for Love is Blind,
that if you leave at any pointwithout producers permission, you can be fined
fifty thousand dollars. So that's kindof drilled into your dad through yeah,
through the lawyers, through the producers. So when you're a rookie in reality
(09:01):
TV like we all were for Loveis Blind, like you read that contract
or you I don't think everyone readthe contract like I did, but you
read that contract, then you knowthat puts sort of like the fear of
God in you, Like who hasfifty thousand dollars to pay to a giant
production company like Kinetic? And sountil you kind of know your rights,
which I think one of the thingswe're trying to do with the Foundation is
(09:24):
go through these contracts and say,hey, this is not legally binding this
section. Doesn't you know what they'regonna do as they're going to say thanks
next you know what I mean,this is the problem. No, no,
get me, don't get me wrong, Like, um, I do
believe there should be If they're goingto implement HR on these shows now and
implement all of these things that protectthem, they have to then protect us
(09:48):
like after Sag does Like you know, I am, you know, a
member of after Sage, but onreality TV, we don't have a union.
We can you know, work eighteenhours. We can you know,
there's no pretty limiting alcohol. They'rein fact they're pushing alcohol. Um you
know, because that's reality choose.But if they're gonna have you know,
that's funny. I'm gonna borrow thatright, yeah, but it is.
(10:11):
Yeah, if they're gonna have theserules set in place to protect themselves.
Then I truly believe that we shouldhave rules that protect us, which we
don't. We are the bottom ofthe barrel when it comes to talent and
entertainment, even though we get thehighest ratings. You know, it's exactly
(10:31):
right, and that's exactly why westaid at the foundation. It is.
It's it's totally fucked up. Andthe other thing that you mentioned that I
think isn't I haven't really thought toomuch about. But they do have the
opportunity to put all these protections inplace for themselves through the contracts and through
the way that they run production.And you you are like, we're viewed
as the bottom of the barrel,and I thought, you know, two,
(10:52):
that's kind of what the industry thoughtof us. But that's actually not
necessarily that's the talent industry. That'snot necessarily the case. They actually know.
They just want us to think that. I mean, we get the
great numbers we give them, rightTV. In fact, I just found
out the last show I did,Traders, just got nominated for an Emmy.
It's reality that's a game show.I mean that's amazing, right,
(11:15):
Like that's yeah, that's the oneyou just finished, right, Yeah,
I finished it like six or sevenmonths ago. But like that's a big
deal, you know, and that'sunscripted, that's reality. So if we're
getting these nominations and everything, Ithink we need to be treated better and
we need we need things put inplace that protect us as much as it
protects them, Like working eighteen hoursin a day and not having anything,
(11:41):
getting you know, pushed to drinkalcohol and told to bring the party and
all of these things, and thenthen turning around saying, oh, you
did something bad. I'm like,oh, you mean on the eighteenth hour
of the last you know what Imean, tenth shot, right, And
I'm like, so, why werewe working so many hours? You know,
It's just it's a lot of bullshit. Yeah, they're just yeah,
(12:03):
go ahead, No, you goahead and finish your thought. No,
they're just now they're just now kindof putting this hr situation into place with
these shows, which we know theywant us unhinged on these shows, so
they can't like, say, getunhinged. And then, by the way,
you're in trouble for getting unhinged,right well, and even if you're
you don't get in trouble for gettingunhinged. You get the edit that makes
(12:26):
you look unhinged or even maybe moreunhinged than you actually were, and so
the public has their perception of youat that point. No, that's what
I said. I'm like, it'snot what they leave in, it's what
they leave out, you know,because you're not going to get a well
rounded version. They're going to giveyou highlights of our bad behavior. And
that's fine, you know, that'swhat we sign up for. But when
they start policing us and mistreating usand you know, acting like, oh,
(12:52):
I'm just so frustrated with it all. Honestly, I've been doing this
for thirteen years now. I don'tknow how you've done it for thirteen years.
All the show is getting kicked offbeing brought back, Like, I
just I don't know how you doit well. I have no traice.
I'm a single mom, so gotcha, you know. And like when you
know it is a lot of moneyand it falls into your lap and you're
(13:15):
like, oh, I'm getting paidto be myself. There's like for me,
I'm so used to like the hatersand the backlash andal that shit.
I'm fine with it. I don'tcare anymore. But when it comes to
the companies themselves like we're going toinvestigate and see what happened. I'm like,
you're going to investigate yourself. Ohyeah, I guess well, you're
(13:35):
not going to find yourself guilty,So that's great. Can we get somebody
from the outside to investigate this shit? Right? And that's one of the
things that I really want to fightfor, is like we need mental health
professionals that are not part of theproduction because I've heard horror stories of from
you know, some of the castmembers that I've reached out that I've talked
to, where they think that evenwhen there is a mental health professional are
(13:58):
actually just feeding what they find outto the producers and that's horrifically harmful to
an individual. You Know what's funnyis so um I was talking to this
therapist that they had me talk tobecause I'm in saying obviously, and he's
like, don't you have like,um like psych people on every show,
like when you're having a hard time. I'm like, no, they want
(14:20):
us to blow up and go fuckingbut like not Netzo Balzo to the ball,
that's what they're waiting for. Butwhen I did shows over in the
UK, they had a psych professionallike always there. When I had Traders,
there was the same guy. I'mlike, oh my god, hi,
Like we go way back. Butso the UK, like they definitely
(14:41):
they operate differently. They were moreworried about us, you know, as
human beings, because oh I forgotto tell you we're human fucking beings.
That's what I always say. Ilead with that. I don't forget that
when you watch these shows, there'sa human being behind that character that they've
crafted. Yeah, but people don'tget that. Like I'm like, we're
trying to entertain you, stop beinghaters, Like, just take it,
(15:03):
have a good time with it.But that said, like over the years,
there's been so many times I maybe, you know, film all day,
you're fucking exhausted, and you knowyou sign this contract that they basically
kind of gives your firstborn child away. Yeah no, like I did House
(15:26):
tids, you're so along. Mysister's a like a lobbyist and a CPA
and all these fancy things, andshe read the contract. She's like,
I will never fucking be on thatshow with you. Like why she like,
have you read your contract? I'mlike, girl, I gotta do
this. I have no choice.Like she's like, it's the worst contract
I've ever seen. They can dowhatever they want, whatever they want,
(15:46):
and do whatever they want with thefootage. I'm like, defame you,
misrepresent you. Yeah, well,I mean I think they're very careful about
well, they're very careful to protectthemselves, right, and you can't like
there's a clause in most of thecontracts that you're not allowed to sue for
defamation. You're not, you know, so they are very careful in these
(16:08):
contracts. That's why my sister's like, if you do something, you're fucked,
Like, I'm never going on thatshow with you. And and this
is like every single show you know, over the years, it's basically the
same contract. I'm shocked no one'slike really addressed it yet. To be
(16:34):
honest, well, I think thatthey make you feel like you're just lucky
to be there. Oh yeah,you're gonna get a following, You're gonna
make a million dollars off of this, Like that's the stuff they feed you,
right, and like the second youcan play and guess what, you're
replaceable. Yeah, yep, exactlyright. Y I tell everyone like that,
like, well they did this,they did that, and like you
(16:55):
might want to shut up because you'rereplaceable, you know, And I think
it for a long time, thatwas my mentality, like I don't want
to you know, I want todo the right thing. I want to
make everyone, like you know,the Bravo everyone happy, because I feel
like I'm just lucky to be here. But that's a lot of manipulation that
goes into that feeling. That's exactlyright. And I think, you know,
(17:17):
from my experience on love is blind, and I get that precautions had
to be taken. Like I knewI wasn't going to have access to my
phone or the internet for three weeks. I made my arrangements with work,
I made my arrangements with my pet, you know, family, had an
emergency contact, all that. Butthen when I got there, they took
my wallet, they took my creditcards, they took my cash, they
took my actually I don't think Ihad cash, but they just take your
(17:38):
wallet, passport, all of it, and then you're actually, so that's
another contributing factor to feeling stuck.But like they basically strip away your humanity
and then you're sitting there like,oh, I really can't do anything.
I really can't sing a part ofthe manipulation. Like, so a lot
of these game shows, what Ido, They come in the second you
(18:00):
it there, they go through yourluggage or take away anything and everything that
like you know, you're you're holdingonto your phone to the last second and
you're like no, and like takeawaymedications so that they can monitor our medications.
They have to give them out tous every morning. And that's more
for the safeties of others, likelike, but you also just feel like
(18:22):
you're trapped. Yes, that's exactlyright. And you know, one of
the analogies I like to say is, imagine if I actually when we were
filming in the studio in the podsand they literally would you'd film for eighteen
twenty hours, you'd get a couplehours to sleep at a hotel, they'd
ship you back. You couldn't leaveyour hotel room. You're like literally a
prisoner. And imagine if I decidedto just run, what am I going
(18:44):
to do? Like, Hey,I've been held hostage from a reality TV
production. Helped me. Do youhave an ID? No? Do you
have any money? No? Whoare you? Doesn't matter at that point,
right, but you have run outbefore oh, I mean I've hidden,
I've gone in stores that they donot enter. I like to break
the rules. But Meta world Piece, I think he's back to our runner
(19:06):
test. He actually actually broke outof the Big Brother House. He went
into the diary room. All weheard was all of this banging around and
they're like some metas free, youmet us out, He's out, And
then like, oh, I lovedit because if anyone was gonna because you
do start to feel claustrophobic and youhave no concept of time. We didn't
(19:26):
know if it was light outside,dog outside, if they were tricking us
with the clocks, because it's alla mind fuck, right, Yeah,
but you know we signed up forthat. I think the game shows are
a little they have some different rules. I think some different laws. You're
a little more protected. For me, I felt more protected on the game
shows, even though they had youknow, my wallet, my this that
(19:49):
because we had someone to go andtalk to. We had the psych person,
you know, somebody had to leavehim go to the hospital and one
of the shows. But it's notso like you're lucky to be here.
We're taking the first time. Youfeel kind of like, I don't want
to say the word, but um, I mean you could say it,
(20:11):
No I can't. Actually, youjust feel like, oh my god,
what just you know, you're strippedof everything and you get used stood after
a while. But like I understandhow you feel because the first time that
all happened, like someone's going throughyour luggage, you're underwear, you're you
know, looking at all your ship, like going over your medications, which
(20:32):
is no one's business. But wesigned a contract and you know, you
know that's the part that was reallylike took a long time after the show
for me to reflect on because theydid it so slowly. Like first they
pick you up at the airport,you're like, oh, you guys,
can't talk to each other. Everythingneeds to be on camera. They transport
you tom I remember quickly it waslike a piece of the studio we were
(20:56):
filming in, but it wasn't set. And then we sit at different tables
and they feed you lunch, andthen they're like, okay, it's time
to take your phones. And thenthey do that and that's a slow,
one by one process because you can'tbe close enough to talk to each other.
And then it's like, okay,we're going to give you a bag.
We need you to put your walletin your passport in here. You
will zip it up, lock it, and then you'll get it back when
(21:17):
you when you're finished, and soyou're just kind of like, oh,
okay, well I knew, youknow, I guess the phone is gone.
Okay, and then it's like,okay, now open your bags where
they go through and they check anymedication or they make sure you're not hiding
some electronic device or something like that, and it's just so it's like this
slow process where they just slowly stripthese things away from you. And it's
funny because I've said this recently becauseI recently met someone who escaped a cult
(21:41):
and she just what she described.I'm like, how did you end up
there? That was like my biggestquestion, like what was it? And
it was a slow process, justlike that, where it was first you're
going to give up your ID andwe'll have it for you if you if
you need to leave for something,and then you know, by the end
of a couple days, she hadnew parents that they just assigned to her,
and it was just like a slowprocess where you just kind of like
(22:04):
don't know that it's happening until youlook back on it and you see how
crazy it actually is. And well, they treated you guys with the kid
gloves because the second we arrived theywere like open, you're suitcas like it's
just I mean, very you're verylucky. It went down like that.
I think they did that because itwas your first reality show. I was
going to ask, and then,you know, because they wanted to make
(22:26):
you not because people freak out.They really, I mean, that's why
we have the psych on the gameshows. We do have like the psych
evaluation. And they asked, youknow about some of the other shows.
I'm like, no, they don't. They don't want you to feel comfortable.
They want you unhinged. But thenwhen you're on a hinge, they
can't come in now and police itunless they're gonna treat us the way they're
(22:49):
treating themselves right right, if theyif they get to like be careful and
protect themselves with HR, then protectus. We need a union, we
really do. I couldn't agree more. And I think too, you know,
and you alluded to this earlier,the challenge, which is one of
the things we talked about the foundation, like what are we a five O
one C three are we trying toform a union? Are five O one
(23:11):
C four, which means you canlobby the government, and you know,
we have obviously long term plans.But I think the most difficult thing is
we're not even labeled as workers bythe National Labor Relations Board, which is
one of the things I want Iwant to ask you your thoughts on that,
on being workers, But the factthat we're not considered workers means we're
(23:33):
not protected by whistle blowing laws,labor laws, anything like that. And
if we're going to if we're goingto take a first step, that needs
to be the first step, becauseotherwise they're just going to be like,
Okay, you are in the union, you will do it. You're not
in the union, and they'll justcontinue because there's an endless supply of regular
people. Right. That's what I'mafraid of. I feel like you almost
(23:53):
are going to be blacklisted if yougo and join this union and say,
you know, we want to betreated like human beings, and they'll say,
guess what, Just like when somebodystrikes, like the teachers strike,
they go out and get people thatare work cheaper and we'll cross the picket
lines. So it's almost like adouble edged sword. So if you join
(24:14):
this union and you're here for theunion, like, yeah, good luck.
We're going to find people that willdo this ship for free, even
cheaper than you guys, and notasked to be protected. Yeah, and
so it's gonna be a long likeI mean, I'm I'm here for it,
but it's gonna be a long road. And I have a feeling some
of the bigger companies, until theyfeel like they have no choice, they're
(24:38):
going to continue to use other quoteunquote talent that'll work for nothing. Because
there's a million people out there thatwant to be famous, that want to
be ANTV and those are the onesthat say, you you signed up for
it. You're not a worker,You're just keep being filmed in your life.
And I get that, and Ithink that's probably a good ten twenty
(24:59):
percent the population thinks that way.And I do think it's going to take
a lot of time and figuring out, like what's the best first step after
getting our second step after getting labeledas workers, Because I think when people
know the opportunity is going to bethere, if we all stand together,
and you will make more money,you will have better working conditions, you.
(25:21):
I think that's where we got toget that groundswell of of people in
whether it's a specific city, ona specific show, or with a specific
production company, which is going tobe a challenge for sure, But that's
where it's going to have to starta little smaller than I think we would
want it. We're not going tobe ups with the biggest strike in history
coming up or the WGA, butwith Amazon, who gives a fuck about
(25:44):
ups and then not saying that inlike literally you can send anything with Amazon
now like they are taking over.It's like it is a like insane.
It's it's almost like now they havetheir own delivery service, which I know
those I'm saying, and they havea coffee bar and they have their own
wines. I'm like, what thefuck, Jeff Bezos. They have their
(26:06):
own wines? Yeah, they Well, I'm in la I don't know where
where are you. I'm in Chicago. I mean it's a big city.
But yeah, there's a like aone stop shop with coffee and wines and
Amazon, like they have other stuffin there, but they have their own
brand. Yeah, And I'm likeJesus, like what are they not doing?
And with that all the small businessesare going out. This is what
(26:27):
it's kind of comparable, Like youhave this giant Amazon. Let's say you
have this giant company where is itWarner Brothers, right, and all the
little like little people around like WarnerBrothers is now making doing everything the Amazon's
doing so but with people instead ofproducts. Because it really is like all
(26:48):
the small businesses are going out,so all the people that you know want
a union and want to be protectedby Sorry, can't help you. You're
not You're no longer hire Ball.It's just very frustrating because I've thought about
it so hard to take a raceto the bottom where, like you said
earlier, like yeah, okay,we'll have people that will strike, but
(27:10):
then there's also people that are sodesperate that they'll cross a picket line and
make significantly less money than they they'reworth. And it's it's just super depressing.
And that's very you know, mirrorsreality TV. Right. If I
said no, I don't you know, and I met someone who actually was
a lawyer read the contract. Shereached out to me. We got together
a couple months ago and she's like, here's when I went through the contract.
I said no, no, no, no, no, and they
(27:33):
just that they ended the conversation,so they just haunt them the next it's
the contracts are crazy. But likeeveryone's like, well you should ask who
that you should I'm like, guesswhat they will get someone else. I
mean, it gets that simple.I had to ask mine to be amended
for work because apparently in ours,once the show comes out, they own
(27:53):
every media appearance for you and youcan't do anything without their permission. And
yeah, I was like a VPof to software company, so I had
to go and do interviews on youknow, on publications and go on podcast
and you know, be a publicfigure for the company and our our product.
And I was like, you guysgot to amend that because I have
to be able to do work.You know. No, they own you
(28:15):
for like you even have to getpermission. They're like, Okay, you're
gonna shoot this in May. Thishappens a lot of times. We don't
know when it's going to come out. Maybe it's going to come out the
following May, so they say theyown you until it airs. So what
so I'm doing one job in Mayand I can't work until whenever you guys
decide to air this. It's justI mean, be careful what you sign
(28:38):
up for. I really like,as much as I'm here saying, I
feel like we should be treated thesame way that sig After treats their actors.
They're they're not better than us.I married one, trust me,
I know this. That was adick That was a dicks thing to say.
But no, I mean, we'reall equal people, but in the
(29:00):
eyes of television actors, they're royaltyand we are the side chicks like they're
the wives, were the side chicks, and we get treated that way.
I agree. But you know whatI think in what I've noticed, and
I've talked to some people at SAG, I've talked to some people in SAG,
the perception I think is changing becauseI think they're looking, you know,
(29:26):
in SAG is possibly striking soon aswell. I think they're looking at
reality TV because when these strikes happenwa sa, Yeah, it just increases
reality TV production. That's been thehistory all the way back to the eighties.
And so what I think is happeningis now they're looking at like,
oh, wait a minute, ifthey're going to just discard us to the
side and just produce more reality TVand less scripted television, then maybe we
(29:49):
need to look at them better sothat it's not just dirt cheap for them
to do five more reality shows,right, because they need content more than
anything. Like after COVID, everyonewas out of content, so they were
like making shows left and right becausewe all bingched everything that was on TV's
the only thing to do. Yeah, So it was just like now they're
(30:11):
out, there's so many shows goingon, and I think with the writer
strike, you're right, they're lookingat it like, God, these kids
are not kids. These people arekind of crossing the picket line because they're
making reality TV, which we knowit's not scripted let's just say non scripted,
and they don't need writers for that, so they're taking jobs away from
(30:33):
us. They don't need actress asand actors either, right, And so
if they could protect us a littlebit, then we could if we could
all come together and have a divisionof SAG after that was unscripted, like,
I think doing it on our ownis almost next to impossible. Don't
worry, I'm not doing it onmy own. No no, no,
(30:55):
no, no, I don't meanI'm just saying like it's a David and
situation exactly. And that's why Ithink for us, the best thing that
we have to figure out as acollective unit or at least some some majority
of us, is we need tofigure out, like what is the best
way to go about this and what'sthe path we're going to go into,
because it can go like is itgoing to be a division of sag is
(31:21):
it going to be you know,a upstart? Like those are the things
that I'm working to find out withnow and using my network and my resources
to do that, because it it'sa beast and because reality you know,
cast members now are a dime adozen, and that's not meant to be
insulting. There's just so much realityTV that you know, it's it's difficult
(31:41):
when you're in that unscripted world andthen you know your instance, you're relying
on it. So like let's sayyou you decide that you want to be
a part of this union and thenall of a sudden you're out of work
if we're not careful and we don'tdo it the right way. It's one
hundred percent true. Like I thinkthat with the writers strike and everything that
maybe with everything going on inside we'llsee it would protect them as actors,
(32:05):
to protect us exactly. And that'swhere I think the shift is happening now
that they're looking at it like,well, if we strike and there's more
reality TV, like we're losing bargainingcapabilities, right. And I also think
(32:28):
the other interesting thing to me withall of this is there are so many
people that have reached out and they'relike, I support what you're doing,
but I can't be public about it. Whether they're scared about contracts, whether
they're you know, there's some peopleare doing more shows and making more money,
or being ambassadors for Netflix and makingmore money. So it's like,
(32:49):
where do you cut the hand thatfeeds you? And you know, even
for me, I thought about thatand I realized, I'm like, I
probably would never do another show anyway. Um, And then I was like,
but I still think like everyone deservesto be treated like a human being
and we are workers. Which letme ask you that, because I hear
(33:09):
this a lot people say in oppositionof the foundation and opposition of what I'm
trying to do, they say,well, you guys aren't workers, You're
just being yourselves. Um. RealityTV is a lot of fucking work.
It is a lot of work,and like it is such a joke.
I mean, like like I alwaysjoke, Yeah, I get paid to
myself. It's great. It isemotionally like devasta, it can be devastating.
(33:36):
We had somebody on our on thefirst time season I did Housewives,
some one of the husband's committed suicide. Like god, I didn't know that
this is real shit, Like it'snot made up shit. This is like
emotionally draining and like you go throughdepression, like it's it's a lot um.
But again, this is why I'mon the fence. I'm not I'm
(33:59):
not saying like I just don't seeunless a bigger company gets involved, like
SAG after it gets involved, Idon't see how this works because even if
like we get all these people thathave done one show or ten shows,
there's still a million people out thereoutside of the union that will work and
(34:20):
cross that picket line. That's yeah, that's that's the biggest challenge I know
we're facing. That's why I'm like, Okay, if you can figure out
a way to make it work,then I would want to be involved.
But like I'm going over and overand over in my head and like everything,
we're expendable. It sucks. Peoplethink it doesn't right because people think
(34:44):
we don't have talent. I'm tellingyou guys, reality TV takes fucking talent.
It does. It takes perseverance too, It takes resilience, It takes
emotional strength, not to mention likethe physical toll. As you mentioned earlier,
it sounds like you film eighteen hourdays too, and not knowing what
day it is, or what timeit is or even you know sometimes like
(35:07):
where you are, Like I hadno idea where they were driving me back
and forth, you know, tofrom a hotel to a set. No,
we had blindfolds on. It wasgreat, No, not great.
I was like, but again,that's what I signed up for. That
is the part that like, I'mnot so upset about that. I'm upset
more about then being able to policeto protect themselves without protecting us, right,
(35:30):
Like it's you don't get to haveyour cake and eat it too.
So if you want, if theyhave, if they bring in this hr
and have this unreality television television,it changes reality television forever that we will
no longer see people getting on hingeand acting crazy because that's what we sign.
(35:52):
Let's I want to watch a trainwreck. I don't want to watch
while sitting there clutching their pearls.But then I do believe that we should
be protected if we're going to beatthe train wrecks, So especially if they're
going to push you into it throughlike psychological and physical warfare. Yeah,
I mean, at the end ofthe day, they can try to produce
(36:12):
you. This is so I'm seeing, but like I'm playing the bad guy
here. They can say, youknow, bring the party, we don't
have a show. Do this,do that. You've got to help,
you know, my job's on theline. But at the end of the
day, it's what I want todo, right, unless I'm so fucked
up from smoking pot and drinking allfucking day and it's the eighteenth hour,
(36:34):
and then like fuck it, I'lldo it, you know, like whatever.
Right, that's where they have tohave. This is where I think
that the protection parts should come in. If they're going to have HR and
their shows and we're not going toget a union, then we need to
have some rules with HR that protectus as actors or whatever you want to
call it, as talent. Idon't see that happening right now. But
(36:55):
my mom works for the government,she works in HR, so she's like,
uh, this is so wrong onso many levels, Brandy. Um,
but I said, well, like, if I stand up and complain,
I'll never work again. I knowthat's simple. It's so I mean,
quite frankly, it's so fucked up. And we got ourselves here by
(37:16):
ignoring this stuff so long. Yeah, exactly, yeah, And I feel
you. I think that's that's awful, especially since you rely on it as
a single mom to raise a childand live your life and and um,
you know, make a real Idon't career as the word. I don't
want to use the wrong word,but no, like like my career is,
(37:38):
I'm a mom um. I alsohave a New York Times bestselling author.
I have other things I do besidesreality TV. But it was a
great platform to get me these otheropportunities so that I can be home with
my boys and I can like beyou know, the best mom to them
because I'm not you know, goingnine to five and not home. So
(38:00):
that's been super great. And youknow, there are good sides to it.
I'm not going to sit here andbash it, like you know,
the platforms are great, but Ido think that we're getting to a point
where we're so careful with everything wesay and do in this world right now,
but we're not careful with the assas humans, the talent that we're
(38:24):
just like like we don't matter.We're expendable, like I said, We're
expendable, replaceable, all the stuff, and it's almost like they're setting us
up for failure. I completely agree, and I don't. I just don't
understand. I mean, I getit, like you have to, you
have to tell a story, butit just seems like as the seasons of
(38:46):
these shows go on to like theyjust escalate even higher and higher. So
it's not even like when I thinkback to Love is Blind season one,
which I hadn't watched the show,and they reached out to me on LinkedIn
to to cap asked I watched theshow, and I was like, Oh,
there's some messiness, but this isactually pretty genuine, seems pretty genuine
(39:07):
and sweet. Yeah, that's whyI watch it because for me, that's
you guys are actually getting married.So that's a big, real reality where
we're not just going to dinner asa housewife and throwing a wine like at
the end of this. That's whyI like ninety Day Fiance and I like
like the ones are you guys arereally putting yourself out there and you're gonna
possibly get married. That that bringsa whole new realness to the show.
(39:32):
But when I watch it, Idon't, like. I understand how the
housewife shows work, and a lotof these shows work, but I've never
been behind the scenes on a showlike yours, where you know, you
do end up possibly getting married.So I just thought it was a little
more serious, yeah, and likeI and sweet, you know what I
(39:53):
mean, and not so reckless.I completely agree, And that was why
I was so cautious throughout the castingprocess, because I knew how reality TV
was produced, and I knew whatit did to people, and I knew
about like the Love Island suicides.I did not know about the Housewife one,
so I apologize for that, butit's horrible. It's just awful,
(40:15):
and you hear about these things,and this show just looked and felt different.
And I had only watched one seasonof The Bachelor and and stuff,
so like, I kind of hada little bit of you know, the
author's sweet, they're too young they'renot trying to get married. They just
want to be in TV. LikeI can't even watch a bachelor. Oh,
(40:37):
I mean one season was enough forme and I didn't even watch the
whole thing. But the thing Inoticed in season two on my season was
some people were there because the showwas so big, and they would just
casually say things like, Oh,I need to lock someone down so that
I can go to Mexico and gofurther. The further you go, the
more followers you get and the moremoney. And it was just like,
(41:00):
what are you here for on thebatch or most of the people there want
to be on TV and get thefollowers, and they probably have a girl
from back at home. You knowsome of those rumors too on my season.
Yeah, but that's a weird training, like why would you sign up?
Well, I can't like like again, fames the one thing you can't
buy. But I just feel likewatching these kind of shows made reality TV
(41:24):
more authentic and sweet. But nowI'm sad to hear that you guys had
a bad or you had a badexperience. Um well, I think yeah,
Like overall the experience was was rough, right, and it took me
a while to look back on it. But it is like, you know,
I would justify it by saying basicallythe things they tell you to say.
(41:45):
I'm like, oh, well,I get a platform, Oh I
got married. Oh. And thenit was like, oh, and I
get the trauma of the divorce aland it's very public and I don't want
to leave my house and no one'shere to support me. And then I
lost my job and I was itoff and I haven't found a job since
it's been eight months. And it'sbecause people don't take me seriously because I
was on a reality TV show.You know. It's like it's crazy,
(42:09):
yeah, but that like you gotmarried, you would think that everyone would
think that you were there for theright reasons. So I dare someone to
find it anything that they've seen anywherethat I was there for any other reason
than maybe it would work. Iwant to wish you like good luck on
(42:29):
this. I wish I could.I feel like I'll keep on thinking on
it and if I have any likegreat, like aha moments where it could
work. I'm just I'm a littlepessimistic because these are giant companies you're going
against. There's so many people theycan't film reality television with rules that makes
(42:54):
sense. Not in its current form, they certainly can't, right, So
I'm just I'm at a loss,But I like, I think you're right.
I think we need to be protectit. But do I think that
there's a million people that will happilystep in take our jobs and do it
(43:15):
for next to nothing so that theycan be on TV work twenty hours a
day, You know? I do? So, yeah, I agree,
And that's why step one of gettingthe National Labor Relations Board to declare cast
members of reality TV as workers,which there's a precedence they just did it
with. Actually I don't know ifthey just did it. They recently did
(43:35):
it with Telemundo actors and actresses whoare not part of anything, and the
nlr B, after being petitioned bymultiple cast members, they said they are
workers. And then when you becomea worker, you first of all,
all these production companies are going tohave to let us know about Section seven
of the National Labor Relations Act,which means you're protected by whistleblowing, which
means you can talk about your workingconditions. And if everyone starts talking about
(43:59):
these working conditions freely instead of beingcontractually obligated, to stay silent and being
scared to speak up. Then youknow that's going to be a huge difference.
And then you are protected when youtry to form a union because it's
illegal to union bust in this country. So there's so many different things,
and they'll have to tell everyone they'veever had on a show, like hey,
(44:20):
like you are now considered a workerand here's your rights based on Section
seven of the National Labor Relations Act. So that right there, Yeah,
that should be afforded to everyone.That is like, yeah, that like
just the conditions alone and being ableto speak up about it. I mean,
I still think you're fucked if youdo speak up. I mean yes,
but like I don't know, Isee both sides of it. But
(44:44):
like I applaud you for going inand doing this. I wish the best
for you. Again, if Ican think of anything that would be helpful,
I'll definitely reach out to you,even just supporting the idea, like
you, you know, if youwant to support the foundation, and that's
great too. We would love tohave you know, an ambassador, endorsement,
whatever. But I also understand thatit's very early on and it's like
(45:07):
we're trying to find you know ourway and our steps and all of that
too. But any idea you have, just let me know. Well,
there's a lot of stuff coming upthat I will have answers too, and
four which will help me better beable to help you if I can or
at least give you answers even ifyou don't want to hear them, you
(45:28):
know what I mean, Yeah,absolutely, because I don't have them,
Like I'm waiting to hear all ofthem still. I think they're still trying
to figure it out, to behonest, because no, there's a lot
of these giant companies. They justhad this like huge what do you call
it? When people got a conference? They did an hr conference for all
(45:50):
of these giant companies to figure outhow the fuck do they do this with
reality TV? Because there's people suing. I'm not suing anyone. I don't.
I feel like I don't want toshoot myself in the foot, but
like I just don't hello, likeI just don't like to do that.
But there's a lot of people suing. There's a lot of backlash. There's
(46:14):
gonna be you know, a bigexpose that's going to come out soon that
might help you. I don't know, how soon. But it's you know,
it's about reality TV, about realityTV in general. Yeah, all
across the board, not just housewives, um, just you know and how
it's yeah, like that will probablybe beneficial. Shoot you, because I
(46:35):
think people are starting to wake upand see how this is all working.
Um, however, they're scared.You know where everyone's scared. Everyone still
wants to get their check, getthe bag. Um be famous. I
don't I could give. If yougive me forty million dollars, you would
never see my ass again. Idon't even think i'd take forty for me
(46:57):
to disappear. No, no one'stried to pay me off yet. What's
the point of being famous if you'renot rich? Like, it's some bullshit.
If you ask me, I completelyagree, But I'm not rich.
I'm like, just give me themoney and I'll quit and shut up up?
Will I will go. I'll beon a yacht somewhere and it would
(47:21):
be amazing. And my goal isto retire to a private island, So
I would love to speed that up. If anyone's listening that wants to shut
me up, yeah, they mightput you on a private island. Be
careful yourself, A good point.Yeah and fill that Yeah, yeah,
exactly. Um, the reality TomHanks, maybe what do you call it?
Cast away? Yeah? But buttruly you will be cast away.
(47:46):
Well, and it's been lovely talkingto you. You seem like you're on
a great path. Um. Iwish you luck. It's you're you know,
you're you're going up the hill.You know, I was born for
this more than I was born forreality TV. I've been organizing and politics
for since two thousand and eight withObama, and I work locally and everything,
so do I do have experience inthat more than I do in reality
(48:08):
TV. So I'm hoping that thatbackground helps. I think it will absolutely,
And you know, you obviously arepassionate about it, and I think
that is great because a lot ofpeople are, just like you said,
scared to step forward and say,hey, great idea, but can't publicly
support you. And I know alot of people in reality TV feel the
(48:30):
same way as you do. Butwe've all thought, like a lot of
us have sat around that have beenmultiple shows and talked about like good Cop,
Bad Cop, and like the badcouple always fucking wins, Like there's
it's just right now, but keepat it and good luck to you,
and I applaud you and yeah,nice talking to you. Yeah, it's
(48:51):
nice talking to you too. Iappreciate you having me on and helping spread
this message and word. Well,I mean, tell me what you think,
because I feel like everything you saidis valid, yet everything I said
(49:12):
to shoot it down is valid.I do think that you're right that people
get a lot of TV time andit's just they just they'll do it for
free, just to be famous,you know. Yeah so and that is
never going to change. Like butbut it's like, but when it becomes
people like you that people want tosee on TV that they know can change
(49:37):
a show, make it better,Um, then that's where I guess it's
it's it's it's a little dicey.It's almost like because people don't think that
we have talent. Like the reasonthat the like sag After is great is
because these people are so talented thatthey have the right to ask for protect
(50:00):
and the studios want to work withthem because of their talent. When people
look at reality stars, h theydon't necessarily see talent. But I think,
like with like with sag After,you have to pay dues, you
have to um, you get youknow, hopefully you have to make a
(50:21):
certain amount of money and be onTV for a certain amount of time before
you're even allowed to be a member. You have to you know, you
have to. You have to pay. It's just a lot like there's you
have to pay into SAG too,right, you pay once you start,
when you start, you pay,and then you have your dues. Um,
so you're paying for that protection.And I don't know, really reality
(50:46):
TV, you don't, especially inthe beginning, don't make a lot of
money. And has SAG not triedto get into this battle at all.
I don't open my SAG mail becauseI don't want to pay any more bills
because I'm not on a show rightnow, so I'm not talking with them
right at the moment. It's hardfor me to pay dudes when I'm not
(51:08):
working and I haven't been on anyou know, a scripted show in no
long time right. Well, that'sanother thing that is really fucked about it,
you know too, is that likein the situation in your situation,
you know, like because you're ona million shows, but you're not like
they're not regular, they're not reoccurring, and so it's like it almost like
puts you in this no man's limboland where you keep like, how do
(51:30):
you Yeah, exactly, that's thething I think that. Yeah, yes,
it's good. His intentions are reallygood and I respect what he's saying.
Yeah, I just it's it's goingto be an uphill battle and we'll
see it happens. Like I like, I wish him the best, and
I think a lot of change iscoming. I just want to see what
that changes. I want to knowabout this article that you're talking about,
(51:52):
Like, do you know when thatcomes out? I know nothing, Like
if I knew, if I knew, I know that there is one happening,
but I don't know. I reallyYeah, they're very secretive about it,
which is that they have to beokay, all right, Well,
I mean that's an interesting conversation.I think it's a conversation that needs to
(52:13):
happen, you know, and needsto keep happening. Yeah, he's a
smart guy, Like like, Ithink that just getting that, you know,
getting just putting you one foot infront of the other and starting the
conversation is the first move. Agreed. Thank you, Nick, bye,
Thank you and Brandy, see younext week. All right, Bye?
(52:35):
Rye. Thanks for listening to BrandyGlanville Unfiltered. Download new episodes every week,
and if you haven't already subscribe,I'd be sure to leave us a
rating and review, and while you'reat it, check out some of the
other great shows available on straw HutMedia.
Straw Media. Wow from straw HuntMedia. This is Brandy Glanville fun film.
Hey Ryan, how are you?I'm recording? Okay, great,
(00:22):
that's your job. I'm good.I'm good. I'm good. How are
you? I'm good? Um,I'm I left my car at the podcast
that we had yesterday and I wentI was gonna go get an ivy.
I went into my garage. Iwas like, ah, yeah, but
it's not here. Well, solast night or yesterday or all of the
(00:43):
day yesterday was pretty wild fun.It was so fun. I had the
best time. Everyone was like,like so nice and it was like,
just a great time. Did youget your AI skinned? Not yet?
I mean, I don't think they'retoo it yet. They are They said,
only takes seconds. They's gotta takesome photos. Oh they should.
(01:06):
Like I definitely got the lowdown,and I'm excited. It seems like Hello.
I kept on joking. I'm like, if I just lay down,
take my AI scan so that Ican make money while I go to sleep,
the exactly the point, that's exactlythat's what you're gonna do. I
know what. I was just making. We were doing crazy ship as time.
We were like doing charades and doingall of these different people were quitting
(01:30):
and throw anythings. But it waslike in the best way, like not
in a bad way, in afun, super fun way. Was it
just you and James? No,it was both Josh's James, Nancy Um.
I also went to Disneyland. She'sa Disney princess's name, and just
she went to Disneyland. She doeshave a Disney princess name. Yeah,
(01:52):
yeah, Elsa. Is she gonnago to dinner with you? You're going
to dinner with them tonight? Right? Yeah? Good good, So yeah,
there's a good time. I'm justtired. Couldn't fall asleep once I
got home. My dog was somad at me. You had been like
pawing at me to play because Iwas gone all day, and so yeah,
I was, I'm a horrible dog. I feel bad because I saw
(02:15):
your text this morning. I wokeup at seven. I saw the text
and it came in at like onethirty am, and I was like,
oh shitin no, I mean,I'm not hungover anything. We were actually
just it was a lot of talking. I'm just so glad that you were
able to make it. What doyou mean, like, I don't show
what that sounds horrible. Well,I just like I could have. I
(02:38):
had the feeling that like it wasgonna be bad. Yeah I sound I'm
not even hungover, literally just tired. Yeah you sound great. I can't
see you, but you sound greatbecause I slept with my makeup on,
and I do not look great.Well, I tried to sleep and then
makeup on. I should have justgot up and watch my face since I
was not sleeping. Well, yousay, you tell me that you like
(03:00):
when they're remote to do it withno video because then you can be feisty,
well, feisty year because if theycan see you, then they're like,
you feel bad about being an asshole. So it's better for me.
So for this guest that we're gonnahave on, how feisty are you gonna
be? I understand where he's comingfrom wholeheartedly. However, the Keyston One
(03:25):
reality show. Yeah, and it'sI think it's hard for him to have
the perspective that a lot of usthat are ogs have been doing it for
years have So I'm interested to hearwhat he has to say. Um,
And I also I fully agree thatthere should be some protection and that there
should be some sort of union Ijust I want to hear what he has
(03:47):
to say, because I just don'tevery time someone brings up a positive point,
I can shoot it down because no, not I'm perfect. I'm just
playing the bad guy because I knowwhat the networks are going to do.
Yeah, so and like you jointhis union and guess what, You're never
gonna work? You know, Idon't know. I just I want to.
I want to hear what he hasto say. He seems like a
(04:08):
smart guy. I watched his seasonof Love is Blind. Do you know
what you what do you think it'sgoing to make it work? Make a
union work? I think that we'regoing to need a big sister, Kay,
we need sag after it to makea division for unscripted talent. So
you think that his like union thingwould have to connect with a larger absolutely,
(04:30):
because otherwise it's, you know,David and Glisas situation. You need
everyone to band together and say I'mnot going to work out of network,
like out of unless you know,I'm union. And there's so many people
that are willing to, you know, work for almost nothing just to be
on CV. So that's where Ithink it. The struggle is going to
be m Okay, all right,Well, I'm very interested to hear how
(04:54):
this goes me too. I'm like, I want to know, but like
again, I'm a little bit ofa pessimist when that comes to this,
although I do I agree with himand that we all should be protected.
But well we'll see. Let's bringhim on. All right, Hello,
(05:15):
Nick, how are you? Hey? I'm doing fine. How are you
I I'm a little ungover. I'mnot gonna lie, but welcome to Brandy
Glenville. I'm filtered. Thank youfor having me on. And don't worry,
I've been there plenty of times andprobably will be plenty more. Yeah.
I hear that you're going through adivorce or have you already gone through
the divorce. I have gone throughthe divorce. That was official sometime in
(05:39):
January. Okay, so I knowthat we're here to talk about um more
of you know, the union kindof non union union thing that you started
and for a reality television But Iwant to chuck a little bit about the
show, right Well, I mean, when you sign up for a show
like this, you have to haveyour decks in a row. You have
to make sure that like everything's handledfor the whole you know, however long
(06:01):
it's going to be, you can'tjust like not go get home and go
back to like, oh my god, I'm paid bills, I have this,
I have work, I have allof that stuff. I mean,
you had to have expected that,right. Well, they actually tell you
that once you're finished with your firstthree weeks, which you do two weeks
in the pods and then one week. For us it was Mexico, I
think other other places where where theywent for other seasons, but they tell
(06:26):
you like, no, you goback to your normal life. When you
get back, you go back towork, and then we'll film in the
evenings and film on the weekends,and we'll work around your schedule. And
so they kind of set a bitof a false precedence. And there were
you know, things like deaths inthe family and illnesses and stuff like that
that popped up that we just weren'treally like able to handle. Instead we
had to do with cake tasting.Did you feel like you definitely couldn't do
(06:53):
it, You couldn't say there's deathin the family, I'm going to go,
or did you feel pressure not tobe able to go? So there's
a lot of pressure, as youknow, all the time, right,
because they're spending you know, Ithink I heard I don't know if this
is true. It's like almost amillion dollars a day to film that show,
which makes sense when you think that'snot true. You said, no,
that's not true. Yeah, itprobably not. Wouldn't surprise me.
(07:15):
But whatever they're spending to film theshow, right, they put a lot
of pressure on you about the crewand that this and that that and we
have to get the scenes and allthat stuff. So even when they knew,
they would just kind of like downplaysome of the stuff that was going
on. And you know, whetherthey said no, you can't leave,
no, but it was it waspressure, and when it would be brought
up, it would just be downplayed. It'd be like, well, let's
(07:38):
just get through this and then youcan go handle it. Yeah, I
think a lot of people fall kindof victim to that because ultimately, if
there is a death in the familyor you know, and I've my contracts
are like basically they own you,and I get that, but like,
if there is a death in thefamily or there's an family emergency, they
(07:58):
can't tell you not to leave.So as much as people say pressure,
like If you have that, you'reallowed to leave like pressure will get you
nowhere in court. You know whatI mean? Right, Because I had
a friend on a Housewives show andshe's like, well, production wouldn't let
me leave. My grandma was,you know, drying. And I'm like,
well, I've been doing Housewives fora long time and other shows and
(08:20):
you absolutely can't leave. Like youcan't because you know, a lot of
these shows, the producers are independentcontractors, as I'm sure you know,
so their number one is getting theshow done at any cost. But they
can't they can't force you to sayif you're having an emergencies. So I
(08:41):
think you're you're totally right on that. And I also think too, one
of the things that is in ourcontract, specifically for Love is Blind,
that if you leave at any pointwithout producers permission, you can be fined
fifty thousand dollars. So that's kindof drilled into your dad through yeah,
through the lawyers, through the producers. So when you're a rookie in reality
(09:01):
TV like we all were for Loveis Blind, like you read that contract
or you I don't think everyone readthe contract like I did, but you
read that contract, then you knowthat puts sort of like the fear of
God in you, Like who hasfifty thousand dollars to pay to a giant
production company like Kinetic? And sountil you kind of know your rights,
which I think one of the thingswe're trying to do with the Foundation is
(09:24):
go through these contracts and say,hey, this is not legally binding this
section. Doesn't you know what they'regonna do as they're going to say thanks
next you know what I mean,this is the problem. No, no,
get me, don't get me wrong, Like, um, I do
believe there should be If they're goingto implement HR on these shows now and
implement all of these things that protectthem, they have to then protect us
(09:48):
like after Sag does Like you know, I am, you know, a
member of after Sage, but onreality TV, we don't have a union.
We can you know, work eighteenhours. We can you know,
there's no pretty limiting alcohol. They'rein fact they're pushing alcohol. Um you
know, because that's reality choose.But if they're gonna have you know,
that's funny. I'm gonna borrow thatright, yeah, but it is.
(10:11):
Yeah, if they're gonna have theserules set in place to protect themselves.
Then I truly believe that we shouldhave rules that protect us, which we
don't. We are the bottom ofthe barrel when it comes to talent and
entertainment, even though we get thehighest ratings. You know, it's exactly
(10:31):
right, and that's exactly why westaid at the foundation. It is.
It's it's totally fucked up. Andthe other thing that you mentioned that I
think isn't I haven't really thought toomuch about. But they do have the
opportunity to put all these protections inplace for themselves through the contracts and through
the way that they run production.And you you are like, we're viewed
as the bottom of the barrel,and I thought, you know, two,
(10:52):
that's kind of what the industry thoughtof us. But that's actually not
necessarily that's the talent industry. That'snot necessarily the case. They actually know.
They just want us to think that. I mean, we get the
great numbers we give them, rightTV. In fact, I just found
out the last show I did,Traders, just got nominated for an Emmy.
It's reality that's a game show.I mean that's amazing, right,
(11:15):
Like that's yeah, that's the oneyou just finished, right, Yeah,
I finished it like six or sevenmonths ago. But like that's a big
deal, you know, and that'sunscripted, that's reality. So if we're
getting these nominations and everything, Ithink we need to be treated better and
we need we need things put inplace that protect us as much as it
protects them, Like working eighteen hoursin a day and not having anything,
(11:41):
getting you know, pushed to drinkalcohol and told to bring the party and
all of these things, and thenthen turning around saying, oh, you
did something bad. I'm like,oh, you mean on the eighteenth hour
of the last you know what Imean, tenth shot, right, And
I'm like, so, why werewe working so many hours? You know,
It's just it's a lot of bullshit. Yeah, they're just yeah,
(12:03):
go ahead, No, you goahead and finish your thought. No,
they're just now they're just now kindof putting this hr situation into place with
these shows, which we know theywant us unhinged on these shows, so
they can't like, say, getunhinged. And then, by the way,
you're in trouble for getting unhinged,right well, and even if you're
you don't get in trouble for gettingunhinged. You get the edit that makes
(12:26):
you look unhinged or even maybe moreunhinged than you actually were, and so
the public has their perception of youat that point. No, that's what
I said. I'm like, it'snot what they leave in, it's what
they leave out, you know,because you're not going to get a well
rounded version. They're going to giveyou highlights of our bad behavior. And
that's fine, you know, that'swhat we sign up for. But when
they start policing us and mistreating usand you know, acting like, oh,
(12:52):
I'm just so frustrated with it all. Honestly, I've been doing this
for thirteen years now. I don'tknow how you've done it for thirteen years.
All the show is getting kicked offbeing brought back, Like, I
just I don't know how you doit well. I have no traice.
I'm a single mom, so gotcha, you know. And like when you
know it is a lot of moneyand it falls into your lap and you're
(13:15):
like, oh, I'm getting paidto be myself. There's like for me,
I'm so used to like the hatersand the backlash andal that shit.
I'm fine with it. I don'tcare anymore. But when it comes to
the companies themselves like we're going toinvestigate and see what happened. I'm like,
you're going to investigate yourself. Ohyeah, I guess well, you're
(13:35):
not going to find yourself guilty,So that's great. Can we get somebody
from the outside to investigate this shit? Right? And that's one of the
things that I really want to fightfor, is like we need mental health
professionals that are not part of theproduction because I've heard horror stories of from
you know, some of the castmembers that I've reached out that I've talked
to, where they think that evenwhen there is a mental health professional are
(13:58):
actually just feeding what they find outto the producers and that's horrifically harmful to
an individual. You Know what's funnyis so um I was talking to this
therapist that they had me talk tobecause I'm in saying obviously, and he's
like, don't you have like,um like psych people on every show,
like when you're having a hard time. I'm like, no, they want
(14:20):
us to blow up and go fuckingbut like not Netzo Balzo to the ball,
that's what they're waiting for. Butwhen I did shows over in the
UK, they had a psych professionallike always there. When I had Traders,
there was the same guy. I'mlike, oh my god, hi,
Like we go way back. Butso the UK, like they definitely
(14:41):
they operate differently. They were moreworried about us, you know, as
human beings, because oh I forgotto tell you we're human fucking beings.
That's what I always say. Ilead with that. I don't forget that
when you watch these shows, there'sa human being behind that character that they've
crafted. Yeah, but people don'tget that. Like I'm like, we're
trying to entertain you, stop beinghaters, Like, just take it,
(15:03):
have a good time with it.But that said, like over the years,
there's been so many times I maybe, you know, film all day,
you're fucking exhausted, and you knowyou sign this contract that they basically
kind of gives your firstborn child away. Yeah no, like I did House
(15:26):
tids, you're so along. Mysister's a like a lobbyist and a CPA
and all these fancy things, andshe read the contract. She's like,
I will never fucking be on thatshow with you. Like why she like,
have you read your contract? I'mlike, girl, I gotta do
this. I have no choice.Like she's like, it's the worst contract
I've ever seen. They can dowhatever they want, whatever they want,
(15:46):
and do whatever they want with thefootage. I'm like, defame you,
misrepresent you. Yeah, well,I mean I think they're very careful about
well, they're very careful to protectthemselves, right, and you can't like
there's a clause in most of thecontracts that you're not allowed to sue for
defamation. You're not, you know, so they are very careful in these
(16:08):
contracts. That's why my sister's like, if you do something, you're fucked,
Like, I'm never going on thatshow with you. And and this
is like every single show you know, over the years, it's basically the
same contract. I'm shocked no one'slike really addressed it yet. To be
(16:34):
honest, well, I think thatthey make you feel like you're just lucky
to be there. Oh yeah,you're gonna get a following, You're gonna
make a million dollars off of this, Like that's the stuff they feed you,
right, and like the second youcan play and guess what, you're
replaceable. Yeah, yep, exactlyright. Y I tell everyone like that,
like, well they did this,they did that, and like you
(16:55):
might want to shut up because you'rereplaceable, you know, And I think
it for a long time, thatwas my mentality, like I don't want
to you know, I want todo the right thing. I want to
make everyone, like you know,the Bravo everyone happy, because I feel
like I'm just lucky to be here. But that's a lot of manipulation that
goes into that feeling. That's exactlyright. And I think, you know,
(17:17):
from my experience on love is blind, and I get that precautions had
to be taken. Like I knewI wasn't going to have access to my
phone or the internet for three weeks. I made my arrangements with work,
I made my arrangements with my pet, you know, family, had an
emergency contact, all that. Butthen when I got there, they took
my wallet, they took my creditcards, they took my cash, they
took my actually I don't think Ihad cash, but they just take your
(17:38):
wallet, passport, all of it, and then you're actually, so that's
another contributing factor to feeling stuck.But like they basically strip away your humanity
and then you're sitting there like,oh, I really can't do anything.
I really can't sing a part ofthe manipulation. Like, so a lot
of these game shows, what Ido, They come in the second you
(18:00):
it there, they go through yourluggage or take away anything and everything that
like you know, you're you're holdingonto your phone to the last second and
you're like no, and like takeawaymedications so that they can monitor our medications.
They have to give them out tous every morning. And that's more
for the safeties of others, likelike, but you also just feel like
(18:22):
you're trapped. Yes, that's exactlyright. And you know, one of
the analogies I like to say is, imagine if I actually when we were
filming in the studio in the podsand they literally would you'd film for eighteen
twenty hours, you'd get a couplehours to sleep at a hotel, they'd
ship you back. You couldn't leaveyour hotel room. You're like literally a
prisoner. And imagine if I decidedto just run, what am I going
(18:44):
to do? Like, Hey,I've been held hostage from a reality TV
production. Helped me. Do youhave an ID? No? Do you
have any money? No? Whoare you? Doesn't matter at that point,
right, but you have run outbefore oh, I mean I've hidden,
I've gone in stores that they donot enter. I like to break
the rules. But Meta world Piece, I think he's back to our runner
(19:06):
test. He actually actually broke outof the Big Brother House. He went
into the diary room. All weheard was all of this banging around and
they're like some metas free, youmet us out, He's out, And
then like, oh, I lovedit because if anyone was gonna because you
do start to feel claustrophobic and youhave no concept of time. We didn't
(19:26):
know if it was light outside,dog outside, if they were tricking us
with the clocks, because it's alla mind fuck, right, Yeah,
but you know we signed up forthat. I think the game shows are
a little they have some different rules. I think some different laws. You're
a little more protected. For me, I felt more protected on the game
shows, even though they had youknow, my wallet, my this that
(19:49):
because we had someone to go andtalk to. We had the psych person,
you know, somebody had to leavehim go to the hospital and one
of the shows. But it's notso like you're lucky to be here.
We're taking the first time. Youfeel kind of like, I don't want
to say the word, but um, I mean you could say it,
(20:11):
No I can't. Actually, youjust feel like, oh my god,
what just you know, you're strippedof everything and you get used stood after
a while. But like I understandhow you feel because the first time that
all happened, like someone's going throughyour luggage, you're underwear, you're you
know, looking at all your ship, like going over your medications, which
(20:32):
is no one's business. But wesigned a contract and you know, you
know that's the part that was reallylike took a long time after the show
for me to reflect on because theydid it so slowly. Like first they
pick you up at the airport,you're like, oh, you guys,
can't talk to each other. Everythingneeds to be on camera. They transport
you tom I remember quickly it waslike a piece of the studio we were
(20:56):
filming in, but it wasn't set. And then we sit at different tables
and they feed you lunch, andthen they're like, okay, it's time
to take your phones. And thenthey do that and that's a slow,
one by one process because you can'tbe close enough to talk to each other.
And then it's like, okay,we're going to give you a bag.
We need you to put your walletin your passport in here. You
will zip it up, lock it, and then you'll get it back when
(21:17):
you when you're finished, and soyou're just kind of like, oh,
okay, well I knew, youknow, I guess the phone is gone.
Okay, and then it's like,okay, now open your bags where
they go through and they check anymedication or they make sure you're not hiding
some electronic device or something like that, and it's just so it's like this
slow process where they just slowly stripthese things away from you. And it's
funny because I've said this recently becauseI recently met someone who escaped a cult
(21:41):
and she just what she described.I'm like, how did you end up
there? That was like my biggestquestion, like what was it? And
it was a slow process, justlike that, where it was first you're
going to give up your ID andwe'll have it for you if you if
you need to leave for something,and then you know, by the end
of a couple days, she hadnew parents that they just assigned to her,
and it was just like a slowprocess where you just kind of like
(22:04):
don't know that it's happening until youlook back on it and you see how
crazy it actually is. And well, they treated you guys with the kid
gloves because the second we arrived theywere like open, you're suitcas like it's
just I mean, very you're verylucky. It went down like that.
I think they did that because itwas your first reality show. I was
going to ask, and then,you know, because they wanted to make
(22:26):
you not because people freak out.They really, I mean, that's why
we have the psych on the gameshows. We do have like the psych
evaluation. And they asked, youknow about some of the other shows.
I'm like, no, they don't. They don't want you to feel comfortable.
They want you unhinged. But thenwhen you're on a hinge, they
can't come in now and police itunless they're gonna treat us the way they're
(22:49):
treating themselves right right, if theyif they get to like be careful and
protect themselves with HR, then protectus. We need a union, we
really do. I couldn't agree more. And I think too, you know,
and you alluded to this earlier,the challenge, which is one of
the things we talked about the foundation, like what are we a five O
one C three are we trying toform a union? Are five O one
(23:11):
C four, which means you canlobby the government, and you know,
we have obviously long term plans.But I think the most difficult thing is
we're not even labeled as workers bythe National Labor Relations Board, which is
one of the things I want Iwant to ask you your thoughts on that,
on being workers, But the factthat we're not considered workers means we're
(23:33):
not protected by whistle blowing laws,labor laws, anything like that. And
if we're going to if we're goingto take a first step, that needs
to be the first step, becauseotherwise they're just going to be like,
Okay, you are in the union, you will do it. You're not
in the union, and they'll justcontinue because there's an endless supply of regular
people. Right. That's what I'mafraid of. I feel like you almost
(23:53):
are going to be blacklisted if yougo and join this union and say,
you know, we want to betreated like human beings, and they'll say,
guess what, Just like when somebodystrikes, like the teachers strike,
they go out and get people thatare work cheaper and we'll cross the picket
lines. So it's almost like adouble edged sword. So if you join
(24:14):
this union and you're here for theunion, like, yeah, good luck.
We're going to find people that willdo this ship for free, even
cheaper than you guys, and notasked to be protected. Yeah, and
so it's gonna be a long likeI mean, I'm I'm here for it,
but it's gonna be a long road. And I have a feeling some
of the bigger companies, until theyfeel like they have no choice, they're
(24:38):
going to continue to use other quoteunquote talent that'll work for nothing. Because
there's a million people out there thatwant to be famous, that want to
be ANTV and those are the onesthat say, you you signed up for
it. You're not a worker,You're just keep being filmed in your life.
And I get that, and Ithink that's probably a good ten twenty
(24:59):
percent the population thinks that way.And I do think it's going to take
a lot of time and figuring out, like what's the best first step after
getting our second step after getting labeledas workers, Because I think when people
know the opportunity is going to bethere, if we all stand together,
and you will make more money,you will have better working conditions, you.
(25:21):
I think that's where we got toget that groundswell of of people in
whether it's a specific city, ona specific show, or with a specific
production company, which is going tobe a challenge for sure, But that's
where it's going to have to starta little smaller than I think we would
want it. We're not going tobe ups with the biggest strike in history
coming up or the WGA, butwith Amazon, who gives a fuck about
(25:44):
ups and then not saying that inlike literally you can send anything with Amazon
now like they are taking over.It's like it is a like insane.
It's it's almost like now they havetheir own delivery service, which I know
those I'm saying, and they havea coffee bar and they have their own
wines. I'm like, what thefuck, Jeff Bezos. They have their
(26:06):
own wines? Yeah, they Well, I'm in la I don't know where
where are you. I'm in Chicago. I mean it's a big city.
But yeah, there's a like aone stop shop with coffee and wines and
Amazon, like they have other stuffin there, but they have their own
brand. Yeah, And I'm likeJesus, like what are they not doing?
And with that all the small businessesare going out. This is what
(26:27):
it's kind of comparable, Like youhave this giant Amazon. Let's say you
have this giant company where is itWarner Brothers, right, and all the
little like little people around like WarnerBrothers is now making doing everything the Amazon's
doing so but with people instead ofproducts. Because it really is like all
(26:48):
the small businesses are going out,so all the people that you know want
a union and want to be protectedby Sorry, can't help you. You're
not You're no longer hire Ball.It's just very frustrating because I've thought about
it so hard to take a raceto the bottom where, like you said
earlier, like yeah, okay,we'll have people that will strike, but
(27:10):
then there's also people that are sodesperate that they'll cross a picket line and
make significantly less money than they they'reworth. And it's it's just super depressing.
And that's very you know, mirrorsreality TV. Right. If I
said no, I don't you know, and I met someone who actually was
a lawyer read the contract. Shereached out to me. We got together
a couple months ago and she's like, here's when I went through the contract.
I said no, no, no, no, no, and they
(27:33):
just that they ended the conversation,so they just haunt them the next it's
the contracts are crazy. But likeeveryone's like, well you should ask who
that you should I'm like, guesswhat they will get someone else. I
mean, it gets that simple.I had to ask mine to be amended
for work because apparently in ours,once the show comes out, they own
(27:53):
every media appearance for you and youcan't do anything without their permission. And
yeah, I was like a VPof to software company, so I had
to go and do interviews on youknow, on publications and go on podcast
and you know, be a publicfigure for the company and our our product.
And I was like, you guysgot to amend that because I have
to be able to do work.You know. No, they own you
(28:15):
for like you even have to getpermission. They're like, Okay, you're
gonna shoot this in May. Thishappens a lot of times. We don't
know when it's going to come out. Maybe it's going to come out the
following May, so they say theyown you until it airs. So what
so I'm doing one job in Mayand I can't work until whenever you guys
decide to air this. It's justI mean, be careful what you sign
(28:38):
up for. I really like,as much as I'm here saying, I
feel like we should be treated thesame way that sig After treats their actors.
They're they're not better than us.I married one, trust me,
I know this. That was adick That was a dicks thing to say.
But no, I mean, we'reall equal people, but in the
(29:00):
eyes of television actors, they're royaltyand we are the side chicks like they're
the wives, were the side chicks, and we get treated that way.
I agree. But you know whatI think in what I've noticed, and
I've talked to some people at SAG, I've talked to some people in SAG,
the perception I think is changing becauseI think they're looking, you know,
(29:26):
in SAG is possibly striking soon aswell. I think they're looking at
reality TV because when these strikes happenwa sa, Yeah, it just increases
reality TV production. That's been thehistory all the way back to the eighties.
And so what I think is happeningis now they're looking at like,
oh, wait a minute, ifthey're going to just discard us to the
side and just produce more reality TVand less scripted television, then maybe we
(29:49):
need to look at them better sothat it's not just dirt cheap for them
to do five more reality shows,right, because they need content more than
anything. Like after COVID, everyonewas out of content, so they were
like making shows left and right becausewe all bingched everything that was on TV's
the only thing to do. Yeah, So it was just like now they're
(30:11):
out, there's so many shows goingon, and I think with the writer
strike, you're right, they're lookingat it like, God, these kids
are not kids. These people arekind of crossing the picket line because they're
making reality TV, which we knowit's not scripted let's just say non scripted,
and they don't need writers for that, so they're taking jobs away from
(30:33):
us. They don't need actress asand actors either, right, And so
if they could protect us a littlebit, then we could if we could
all come together and have a divisionof SAG after that was unscripted, like,
I think doing it on our ownis almost next to impossible. Don't
worry, I'm not doing it onmy own. No no, no,
(30:55):
no, no, I don't meanI'm just saying like it's a David and
situation exactly. And that's why Ithink for us, the best thing that
we have to figure out as acollective unit or at least some some majority
of us, is we need tofigure out, like what is the best
way to go about this and what'sthe path we're going to go into,
because it can go like is itgoing to be a division of sag is
(31:21):
it going to be you know,a upstart? Like those are the things
that I'm working to find out withnow and using my network and my resources
to do that, because it it'sa beast and because reality you know,
cast members now are a dime adozen, and that's not meant to be
insulting. There's just so much realityTV that you know, it's it's difficult
(31:41):
when you're in that unscripted world andthen you know your instance, you're relying
on it. So like let's sayyou you decide that you want to be
a part of this union and thenall of a sudden you're out of work
if we're not careful and we don'tdo it the right way. It's one
hundred percent true. Like I thinkthat with the writers strike and everything that
maybe with everything going on inside we'llsee it would protect them as actors,
(32:05):
to protect us exactly. And that'swhere I think the shift is happening now
that they're looking at it like,well, if we strike and there's more
reality TV, like we're losing bargainingcapabilities, right. And I also think
(32:28):
the other interesting thing to me withall of this is there are so many
people that have reached out and they'relike, I support what you're doing,
but I can't be public about it. Whether they're scared about contracts, whether
they're you know, there's some peopleare doing more shows and making more money,
or being ambassadors for Netflix and makingmore money. So it's like,
(32:49):
where do you cut the hand thatfeeds you? And you know, even
for me, I thought about thatand I realized, I'm like, I
probably would never do another show anyway. Um, And then I was like,
but I still think like everyone deservesto be treated like a human being
and we are workers. Which letme ask you that, because I hear
(33:09):
this a lot people say in oppositionof the foundation and opposition of what I'm
trying to do, they say,well, you guys aren't workers, You're
just being yourselves. Um. RealityTV is a lot of fucking work.
It is a lot of work,and like it is such a joke.
I mean, like like I alwaysjoke, Yeah, I get paid to
myself. It's great. It isemotionally like devasta, it can be devastating.
(33:36):
We had somebody on our on thefirst time season I did Housewives,
some one of the husband's committed suicide. Like god, I didn't know that
this is real shit, Like it'snot made up shit. This is like
emotionally draining and like you go throughdepression, like it's it's a lot um.
But again, this is why I'mon the fence. I'm not I'm
(33:59):
not saying like I just don't seeunless a bigger company gets involved, like
SAG after it gets involved, Idon't see how this works because even if
like we get all these people thathave done one show or ten shows,
there's still a million people out thereoutside of the union that will work and
(34:20):
cross that picket line. That's yeah, that's that's the biggest challenge I know
we're facing. That's why I'm like, Okay, if you can figure out
a way to make it work,then I would want to be involved.
But like I'm going over and overand over in my head and like everything,
we're expendable. It sucks. Peoplethink it doesn't right because people think
(34:44):
we don't have talent. I'm tellingyou guys, reality TV takes fucking talent.
It does. It takes perseverance too, It takes resilience, It takes
emotional strength, not to mention likethe physical toll. As you mentioned earlier,
it sounds like you film eighteen hourdays too, and not knowing what
day it is, or what timeit is or even you know sometimes like
(35:07):
where you are, Like I hadno idea where they were driving me back
and forth, you know, tofrom a hotel to a set. No,
we had blindfolds on. It wasgreat, No, not great.
I was like, but again,that's what I signed up for. That
is the part that like, I'mnot so upset about that. I'm upset
more about then being able to policeto protect themselves without protecting us, right,
(35:30):
Like it's you don't get to haveyour cake and eat it too.
So if you want, if theyhave, if they bring in this hr
and have this unreality television television,it changes reality television forever that we will
no longer see people getting on hingeand acting crazy because that's what we sign.
(35:52):
Let's I want to watch a trainwreck. I don't want to watch
while sitting there clutching their pearls.But then I do believe that we should
be protected if we're going to beatthe train wrecks, So especially if they're
going to push you into it throughlike psychological and physical warfare. Yeah,
I mean, at the end ofthe day, they can try to produce
(36:12):
you. This is so I'm seeing, but like I'm playing the bad guy
here. They can say, youknow, bring the party, we don't
have a show. Do this,do that. You've got to help,
you know, my job's on theline. But at the end of the
day, it's what I want todo, right, unless I'm so fucked
up from smoking pot and drinking allfucking day and it's the eighteenth hour,
(36:34):
and then like fuck it, I'lldo it, you know, like whatever.
Right, that's where they have tohave. This is where I think
that the protection parts should come in. If they're going to have HR and
their shows and we're not going toget a union, then we need to
have some rules with HR that protectus as actors or whatever you want to
call it, as talent. Idon't see that happening right now. But
(36:55):
my mom works for the government,she works in HR, so she's like,
uh, this is so wrong onso many levels, Brandy. Um,
but I said, well, like, if I stand up and complain,
I'll never work again. I knowthat's simple. It's so I mean,
quite frankly, it's so fucked up. And we got ourselves here by
(37:16):
ignoring this stuff so long. Yeah, exactly, yeah, And I feel
you. I think that's that's awful, especially since you rely on it as
a single mom to raise a childand live your life and and um,
you know, make a real Idon't career as the word. I don't
want to use the wrong word,but no, like like my career is,
(37:38):
I'm a mom um. I alsohave a New York Times bestselling author.
I have other things I do besidesreality TV. But it was a
great platform to get me these otheropportunities so that I can be home with
my boys and I can like beyou know, the best mom to them
because I'm not you know, goingnine to five and not home. So
(38:00):
that's been super great. And youknow, there are good sides to it.
I'm not going to sit here andbash it, like you know,
the platforms are great, but Ido think that we're getting to a point
where we're so careful with everything wesay and do in this world right now,
but we're not careful with the assas humans, the talent that we're
(38:24):
just like like we don't matter.We're expendable, like I said, We're
expendable, replaceable, all the stuff, and it's almost like they're setting us
up for failure. I completely agree, and I don't. I just don't
understand. I mean, I getit, like you have to, you
have to tell a story, butit just seems like as the seasons of
(38:46):
these shows go on to like theyjust escalate even higher and higher. So
it's not even like when I thinkback to Love is Blind season one,
which I hadn't watched the show,and they reached out to me on LinkedIn
to to cap asked I watched theshow, and I was like, Oh,
there's some messiness, but this isactually pretty genuine, seems pretty genuine
(39:07):
and sweet. Yeah, that's whyI watch it because for me, that's
you guys are actually getting married.So that's a big, real reality where
we're not just going to dinner asa housewife and throwing a wine like at
the end of this. That's whyI like ninety Day Fiance and I like
like the ones are you guys arereally putting yourself out there and you're gonna
possibly get married. That that bringsa whole new realness to the show.
(39:32):
But when I watch it, Idon't, like. I understand how the
housewife shows work, and a lotof these shows work, but I've never
been behind the scenes on a showlike yours, where you know, you
do end up possibly getting married.So I just thought it was a little
more serious, yeah, and likeI and sweet, you know what I
(39:53):
mean, and not so reckless.I completely agree, And that was why
I was so cautious throughout the castingprocess, because I knew how reality TV
was produced, and I knew whatit did to people, and I knew
about like the Love Island suicides.I did not know about the Housewife one,
so I apologize for that, butit's horrible. It's just awful,
(40:15):
and you hear about these things,and this show just looked and felt different.
And I had only watched one seasonof The Bachelor and and stuff,
so like, I kind of hada little bit of you know, the
author's sweet, they're too young they'renot trying to get married. They just
want to be in TV. LikeI can't even watch a bachelor. Oh,
(40:37):
I mean one season was enough forme and I didn't even watch the
whole thing. But the thing Inoticed in season two on my season was
some people were there because the showwas so big, and they would just
casually say things like, Oh,I need to lock someone down so that
I can go to Mexico and gofurther. The further you go, the
more followers you get and the moremoney. And it was just like,
(41:00):
what are you here for on thebatch or most of the people there want
to be on TV and get thefollowers, and they probably have a girl
from back at home. You knowsome of those rumors too on my season.
Yeah, but that's a weird training, like why would you sign up?
Well, I can't like like again, fames the one thing you can't
buy. But I just feel likewatching these kind of shows made reality TV
(41:24):
more authentic and sweet. But nowI'm sad to hear that you guys had
a bad or you had a badexperience. Um well, I think yeah,
Like overall the experience was was rough, right, and it took me
a while to look back on it. But it is like, you know,
I would justify it by saying basicallythe things they tell you to say.
(41:45):
I'm like, oh, well,I get a platform, Oh I
got married. Oh. And thenit was like, oh, and I
get the trauma of the divorce aland it's very public and I don't want
to leave my house and no one'shere to support me. And then I
lost my job and I was itoff and I haven't found a job since
it's been eight months. And it'sbecause people don't take me seriously because I
was on a reality TV show.You know. It's like it's crazy,
(42:09):
yeah, but that like you gotmarried, you would think that everyone would
think that you were there for theright reasons. So I dare someone to
find it anything that they've seen anywherethat I was there for any other reason
than maybe it would work. Iwant to wish you like good luck on
(42:29):
this. I wish I could.I feel like I'll keep on thinking on
it and if I have any likegreat, like aha moments where it could
work. I'm just I'm a littlepessimistic because these are giant companies you're going
against. There's so many people theycan't film reality television with rules that makes
(42:54):
sense. Not in its current form, they certainly can't, right, So
I'm just I'm at a loss,But I like, I think you're right.
I think we need to be protectit. But do I think that
there's a million people that will happilystep in take our jobs and do it
(43:15):
for next to nothing so that theycan be on TV work twenty hours a
day, You know? I do? So, yeah, I agree,
And that's why step one of gettingthe National Labor Relations Board to declare cast
members of reality TV as workers,which there's a precedence they just did it
with. Actually I don't know ifthey just did it. They recently did
(43:35):
it with Telemundo actors and actresses whoare not part of anything, and the
nlr B, after being petitioned bymultiple cast members, they said they are
workers. And then when you becomea worker, you first of all,
all these production companies are going tohave to let us know about Section seven
of the National Labor Relations Act,which means you're protected by whistleblowing, which
means you can talk about your workingconditions. And if everyone starts talking about
(43:59):
these working conditions freely instead of beingcontractually obligated, to stay silent and being
scared to speak up. Then youknow that's going to be a huge difference.
And then you are protected when youtry to form a union because it's
illegal to union bust in this country. So there's so many different things,
and they'll have to tell everyone they'veever had on a show, like hey,
(44:20):
like you are now considered a workerand here's your rights based on Section
seven of the National Labor Relations Act. So that right there, Yeah,
that should be afforded to everyone.That is like, yeah, that like
just the conditions alone and being ableto speak up about it. I mean,
I still think you're fucked if youdo speak up. I mean yes,
but like I don't know, Isee both sides of it. But
(44:44):
like I applaud you for going inand doing this. I wish the best
for you. Again, if Ican think of anything that would be helpful,
I'll definitely reach out to you,even just supporting the idea, like
you, you know, if youwant to support the foundation, and that's
great too. We would love tohave you know, an ambassador, endorsement,
whatever. But I also understand thatit's very early on and it's like
(45:07):
we're trying to find you know ourway and our steps and all of that
too. But any idea you have, just let me know. Well,
there's a lot of stuff coming upthat I will have answers too, and
four which will help me better beable to help you if I can or
at least give you answers even ifyou don't want to hear them, you
(45:28):
know what I mean, Yeah,absolutely, because I don't have them,
Like I'm waiting to hear all ofthem still. I think they're still trying
to figure it out, to behonest, because no, there's a lot
of these giant companies. They justhad this like huge what do you call
it? When people got a conference? They did an hr conference for all
(45:50):
of these giant companies to figure outhow the fuck do they do this with
reality TV? Because there's people suing. I'm not suing anyone. I don't.
I feel like I don't want toshoot myself in the foot, but
like I just don't hello, likeI just don't like to do that.
But there's a lot of people suing. There's a lot of backlash. There's
(46:14):
gonna be you know, a bigexpose that's going to come out soon that
might help you. I don't know, how soon. But it's you know,
it's about reality TV, about realityTV in general. Yeah, all
across the board, not just housewives, um, just you know and how
it's yeah, like that will probablybe beneficial. Shoot you, because I
(46:35):
think people are starting to wake upand see how this is all working.
Um, however, they're scared.You know where everyone's scared. Everyone still
wants to get their check, getthe bag. Um be famous. I
don't I could give. If yougive me forty million dollars, you would
never see my ass again. Idon't even think i'd take forty for me
(46:57):
to disappear. No, no one'stried to pay me off yet. What's
the point of being famous if you'renot rich? Like, it's some bullshit.
If you ask me, I completelyagree, But I'm not rich.
I'm like, just give me themoney and I'll quit and shut up up?
Will I will go. I'll beon a yacht somewhere and it would
(47:21):
be amazing. And my goal isto retire to a private island, So
I would love to speed that up. If anyone's listening that wants to shut
me up, yeah, they mightput you on a private island. Be
careful yourself, A good point.Yeah and fill that Yeah, yeah,
exactly. Um, the reality TomHanks, maybe what do you call it?
Cast away? Yeah? But buttruly you will be cast away.
(47:46):
Well, and it's been lovely talkingto you. You seem like you're on
a great path. Um. Iwish you luck. It's you're you know,
you're you're going up the hill.You know, I was born for
this more than I was born forreality TV. I've been organizing and politics
for since two thousand and eight withObama, and I work locally and everything,
so do I do have experience inthat more than I do in reality
(48:08):
TV. So I'm hoping that thatbackground helps. I think it will absolutely,
And you know, you obviously arepassionate about it, and I think
that is great because a lot ofpeople are, just like you said,
scared to step forward and say,hey, great idea, but can't publicly
support you. And I know alot of people in reality TV feel the
(48:30):
same way as you do. Butwe've all thought, like a lot of
us have sat around that have beenmultiple shows and talked about like good Cop,
Bad Cop, and like the badcouple always fucking wins, Like there's
it's just right now, but keepat it and good luck to you,
and I applaud you and yeah,nice talking to you. Yeah, it's
(48:51):
nice talking to you too. Iappreciate you having me on and helping spread
this message and word. Well,I mean, tell me what you think,
because I feel like everything you saidis valid, yet everything I said
(49:12):
to shoot it down is valid.I do think that you're right that people
get a lot of TV time andit's just they just they'll do it for
free, just to be famous,you know. Yeah so and that is
never going to change. Like butbut it's like, but when it becomes
people like you that people want tosee on TV that they know can change
(49:37):
a show, make it better,Um, then that's where I guess it's
it's it's it's a little dicey.It's almost like because people don't think that
we have talent. Like the reasonthat the like sag After is great is
because these people are so talented thatthey have the right to ask for protect
(50:00):
and the studios want to work withthem because of their talent. When people
look at reality stars, h theydon't necessarily see talent. But I think,
like with like with sag After,you have to pay dues, you
have to um, you get youknow, hopefully you have to make a
(50:21):
certain amount of money and be onTV for a certain amount of time before
you're even allowed to be a member. You have to you know, you
have to. You have to pay. It's just a lot like there's you
have to pay into SAG too,right, you pay once you start,
when you start, you pay,and then you have your dues. Um,
so you're paying for that protection.And I don't know, really reality
(50:46):
TV, you don't, especially inthe beginning, don't make a lot of
money. And has SAG not triedto get into this battle at all.
I don't open my SAG mail becauseI don't want to pay any more bills
because I'm not on a show rightnow, so I'm not talking with them
right at the moment. It's hardfor me to pay dudes when I'm not
(51:08):
working and I haven't been on anyou know, a scripted show in no
long time right. Well, that'sanother thing that is really fucked about it,
you know too, is that likein the situation in your situation,
you know, like because you're ona million shows, but you're not like
they're not regular, they're not reoccurring, and so it's like it almost like
puts you in this no man's limboland where you keep like, how do
(51:30):
you Yeah, exactly, that's thething I think that. Yeah, yes,
it's good. His intentions are reallygood and I respect what he's saying.
Yeah, I just it's it's goingto be an uphill battle and we'll
see it happens. Like I like, I wish him the best, and
I think a lot of change iscoming. I just want to see what
that changes. I want to knowabout this article that you're talking about,
(51:52):
Like, do you know when thatcomes out? I know nothing, Like
if I knew, if I knew, I know that there is one happening,
but I don't know. I reallyYeah, they're very secretive about it,
which is that they have to beokay, all right, Well,
I mean that's an interesting conversation.I think it's a conversation that needs to
(52:13):
happen, you know, and needsto keep happening. Yeah, he's a
smart guy, Like like, Ithink that just getting that, you know,
getting just putting you one foot infront of the other and starting the
conversation is the first move. Agreed. Thank you, Nick, bye,
Thank you and Brandy, see younext week. All right, Bye?
(52:35):
Rye. Thanks for listening to BrandyGlanville Unfiltered. Download new episodes every week,
and if you haven't already subscribe,I'd be sure to leave us a
rating and review, and while you'reat it, check out some of the
other great shows available on straw HutMedia.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!