Real Housewives of New Jersey Contract Is Unleashed
July 9, 2009 by Maria Diaz
Amongst the hundred million reasons you should never go on a reality show, here’s another one: the contract sucks. You are, quite literally, signing your life away to producers who can essentially do whatever they damn well please with the footage. Don’t believe me? Check out the contract the potential Real Housewives of New Jersey signed, obtained by blog Popsquire. It’s chock full of legal-ese, so here are the highlights:
- In Article 2, the “Participant” (this contract reads like someone who was filmed as part of auditions and not someone actually cast on the show) is not promised any wages at all. This must’ve been what prompted Dina Manzo to seek out an attorney to negotiate salaries for the women to appear, since it looks like they were never planning on paying them.
- Article 3 states: “Producer and the Network are not obligated to have me appear on the Series, may remove or replace me for any reason whatsoever, and are not obligated to broadcast, exhibit, or otherwise use or exploit all or any part of the series.” So, you can be cut at any time. Hear that, NYC housewives?
- Article 4 is very interesting, considering the major plugs the Real Housewives of New York City put us through. It states that no mention of products may be described until approved and that’s it’s a federal offense to promote products on the show without getting permission.
- Article 8: “The nature of the series is such that, for dramatic effect, Producer may make certain misrepresentations to others and me prior to and during the course of my participation, which misrepresentations may relate to any and all topics of every kind and nature whatsoever…”
- Article 16, interesting to those of you who were especially disturbed by the “Naked Wasted” episode: “Producer is not obligated to take any action with regard to medical assistance.”
- Article 24 states that if you end up making money off your participation in the show, you actually owe the production company 10% of your Royalties for three years after the last show airs.
Finally, they won’t film you showering, on the toilet or having sex without “prior approval.” So, if you wanted to get really real, you could.
[Via Popsquire]
Thanks for the link!
unreal about not giving medical assistance. a&e intervention is interesting in that respect.. just when and how they decide to step in while they film.
Even my 15 year old son knows that no one with any sense would go on a reality show. He asked me who would and I replied “only a Narcissist who thinks that her accidently picking her nose, or his rubbing his butt would be edited out or not noticed.”
So is it any surprise that Bravo has found a minefield in self-asborbed rich women who think the rest of us actually gives a damn about them?
I think it shows how stupid a person really is who would agree to such a contract. What I really cannot wrap my head around is how people with little children like Tamra & Teresa can expose their kids on a show that they clearly have no say in.
It is disgusting to pimp your kids out like that on national television. But then these women are screwed up to begin with so it doesn’t surprise me.
Gross! All signing a contract that says, “We can film you, and edit it into a story that never happened, and you have no legal recourse.”
So creepy.
What’s amazing is how clear the language is on that particular point. They go in this knowing full well what’s going to happen!
Yeah but are you really surprised by any of this by Bravo? I believe that after Survivor had several lawsuits about things the networks are going to protect themselves from anything and anyone. What if someone trips over a powercord and sews Bravo for millions? They have to CYA because they know they are filming Wanna-Be’s with no talent other then exploitation.
No, I’m not surprised at all. It’s still interesting to talk about, though.
Aside from it being sad, I have to laugh. A person in the real world with children with real issues, would never sign over their rights and privacy to a company, so that people like me can laugh at their expense. I am sorry but I get a great chuckle at the fickleness of some popularity seekers choices. It is truly Bravo entertainment. I would never let anyone intrude on my family’s privacy like that.
Maria – you would know – but I thought there was some sort of stink with Project Runway and one of the winners/runners up, about them having a part of their profits and the person declined to be the winner… I have some vague, mixed up idea of that but don’t really remember….
It was the first season’s winner, Jay McCarroll. Their contract has a similar clause, and he turned the money down, plus the job at Banana Republic, which was part of the prize back then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_McCarroll