'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' star is opening up about Bethenny Frankel's push for reality stars to demand more from networks.
Kandi Burruss has always been outspoken, and that’s why she’s not joining Bethenny Frankel's call for a strike by reality TV stars.
Burruss, who is busy promoting her cover for PhotoBook magazine, recently spoke to ET's Brice Sander about the recent remarks made by Frankel about the possibility of reality stars unionizing and striking to demand better contracts and to stand with the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
"I feel like things that I feel or have felt that needed to be addressed, I actually reached out to the network, and we addressed them," The Real Housewives of Atlanta star said of Bravo.
Last week, anonymous reality stars alleged in a legal letter sent to NBCUniversal and Bravo that they were subjected to "grotesque and depraved mistreatment." Attorneys Bryan Friedman and Mark Geragos say they represent "a significant number of individuals" who have been "mentally, physically, and financially victimized by NBC," and could "ruin" the network "should they decide to speak out about their mistreatment."
In response, a spokesperson for NBCUniversal told Deadline, "NBCUniversal is committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew on our reality shows. At the outset, we require our third-party production partners to have appropriate workplace policies and training in place. If complaints are brought to our attention, we work with our production partners to ensure that timely, appropriate action is or has been taken, including investigations, medical and/or psychological support, and other remedial action that may be warranted such as personnel changes."
Burruss -- who has starred on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta since 2009 -- told ET that this hasn’t been her experience -- and she’s not part of the group who sent the letter.
"I myself wouldn't not be a part of that. It wouldn't make any sense for me to be a part of that. To me, if I'm working with somebody, and I feel like they're not doing something that they should be doing, I address it right then,” Burruss said. "I don't feel like you should wait for after. You are not gonna check with them no more, and then come back and try to go for their throat. That's just how I feel."
"So me, any problems or thoughts or concerns I've had, I've said them. I speak up, you can tell I speak up," she added.
Recently, Frankel took to Instagram to call for what she refers to as "the reality TV reckoning," and went on to explain how reality stars need to join together to fight for better pay, more control of their contracts and more oversight on how they are presented in the final edits of the show. Although Burruss isn’t joining the reality TV strike, she isn’t against Frankel’s suggestion of a union.
"That would be nice, if there was a union for unscripted people, that would be nice. I mean, obviously, I'm a part of the union for scripted television and I do think that it’s great to see people be able to get residuals, you know, some healthcare and some type of future," she explained. "So I think if that was possible, it would be nice."
As for her photoshoot with PhotoBook, Burruss is excited for everyone to see the finished product.
"We did something very cool and different in this shoot, and I'm super excited about it. I can't wait for everybody to see it," she exclaimed to ET. "I love the way the pictures turned out. When I saw them, I couldn't believe it. I was like, 'OK, this is really, really cute.'"
In her interview with PhotoBook, Burrus opens up about her time on RHOA and what she’s learned about herself after being on the show for over a decade.
"That I work great under pressure," she says. "During the time of show, I have learned how to place myself on unrealistic timelines to make things happen so that we can give the fans the finished product."
With such an incredible music and reality TV career, Burruss tells the outlet that there’s one thing left for her to achieve. "We are still shooting for the EGOT," she quips.
Burruss' PhotoBook magazine issue is out now.
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