The advice comes amid Frankel asking why reality TV stars are not on strike.
Bethenny Frankel's advice to Rachel Leviss -- should Rachel choose to go back to the kind of environment that ultimately landed her in a mental health treatment facility -- is don't agree to go back to Vanderpump Rules until she's hammered out a new deal with Bravo.
Speaking to ET's Kevin Frazier after questioning why reality TV stars haven't gone on strike, Frankel says Leviss is the one still getting dragged for her role in creating Scandoval, an affair with Tom Sandoval, whose nine-year relationship with Ariana Madix was torpedoed when news of the affair surfaced earlier this year.
While the rest of the gang have all returned to production for the highly anticipated season 11, Leviss has bee noticeably absent. And Frankel, host of the Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast, encourages Leviss to keep it that way until both sides can come to an agreement.
"She had an affair. She's not the first person in the world that's had an affair and, you know, bullying or beating someone down for a tragic error that, yes, everybody has, like, Lord of the Flies grabbed and ripped the meat off the carcass. Great. OK," Frankel says. "You were wrong, you slept with someone's boyfriend. It happens. You work in a bar on a reality television show, the most toxic environment in history. I didn't think it was a big deal but, of course, the media gods came through and were marketing it like it was the friggin' election."
"So, the girl was a punching bag for everybody on every talk show in the entertainment industry. So you get beaten up. Like Erika Jayne did get paid," Frankel continues. "You're gonna put me in a ring with [Mike] Tyson, I'm gonna get paid. So, yeah, she should not be shooting. She should be negotiating a contract that says ... 'I got dragged through the streets and I was abused mentally.' That is a good example of what reality television is about, that's a perfect example."
Frankel, who drops serious business, beauty, culture and fashion knowledge on her popular YouTube channel, also cautions Leviss about returning to the scene of the crime.
"Absolutely not," says Frankel when asked if someone struggling with their mental health should go back to reality television. "The drug is too strong. The drug of the game. The drug of the relevance. The drug of the money. The drug of always chasing the dragon and wanting to go back the next season and get that hit and show that you're really not the terrible person that they all think."
"That's a producer's talent, when you've been beaten down and everyone hates you, you gotta go back next season," she continues. "You can't end on this note."
Frankel's comments come just one day after after she questioned why reality TV stars aren't on strike like the actors and writers.
"Hollywood is on strike. Entertainers are fighting for residuals, and no one will promote anything. Why isn't reality TV on strike?" she asked. "I got paid $7,250 for my first season of reality TV and people are still watching those episodes."
"We've always been the losers, the 'I’m up here, you’re down here’ to the actresses and actors," she continued. "During the last writers' strike we’re providing all the entertainment, and that’s when really the gold rush of reality TV started. So, I myself have generated millions and millions of dollars in advertising and online impressions being on reality TV and have never made a single residual. So, either I’m missing something or we’re getting screwed too."
She added, "It just occurred to me, everyone is talking about actors and we don’t get paid s**t."
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