Bethenny Frankel Will Not Be Suing Bravo After Sparking A Reality TV “Reckoning,” Claims She’s “Fighting For Systematic Change”

Bethenny Frankel claims she is not planning to sue Bravo after calling the network out for alleged exploitation.

“I have not hired lawyers nor am I suing,” she wrote in a statement shared to Instagram. “I have directed wronged talent and production members [to] legal representation and am fighting for systematic change in a damaged institution.”

She continued, “This is not only a reckoning within an industry but one within myself.”

In her candid statement, Frankel looked back on her time as part of the original Real Housewives of New York cast in the early 2000s, saying she was “broke and desperate” at the time.

“My one liners and quick wit (crafted and honed from a dysfunctional childhood) often at others’ expense, shot me through the ranks of this toxic cesspool,” she wrote. “This medium preys on and profits from the emotionally flawed and damaged.”

The reality star first called the industry out in June after SAG-AFTRA went on strike, claiming she never received “a single residual” from her time on the show despite the fact that “people are still watching those episodes.”

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But in her recent statement, she acknowledged her own role in cementing the genre of reality television.

“Am I biting the hand that fed me? Perhaps, but maybe that hand deserves to be bitten,” she continued. “We have fed the machine ratings, ad dollars, catch phrases, and content. We get filthy and they get filthy rich.”

Frankel has starred in multiple series across reality television outside of the Housewives franchise, from The Apprentice to Shark Tank.

Since beginning her “reckoning” on reality television, Frankel has been called out for “exploiting” and “manipulating” fellow reality star Raquel Leviss, who found herself embroiled in a highly publicized affair that earned Vanderpump Rules its first Emmy nominations. Frankel hosted Leviss for a tell-all interview on her podcast that some slammed as “lazy.”

Though she may not have any plans to sue the network, her lawyers have recently reached out to Bravo and its parent company, NBCUniversal, admonishing it for creating a “culture of fear and silence.”

The letter stated they discovered “that the breadth and scope of [NBCU’s] wrongdoing is greater than previously believed.”

“NBC and its production partners are grappling with systemic rot for which sunlight is the first necessary remedial measure,” the letter read. It went on to demand that the company release its unscripted employees from the nondisclosure agreements “that interfere with their ability to freely disclose unlawful conduct in the workplace.”

“To ensure silence, NBC has been wielding these contractual terms like a sword,” it noted.