Right now, the entertainment industry is facing a reckoning. Talent across film and television are criticizing how studios monetize their hard work without compensating them, and, while the bulk of the discourse surrounds fictional work, reality television is not immune as an America’s Next Top Model veteran reveals.
Brittany Brower — who competed on the 4th season of the Tyra Banks-created show which allowed the famous model to indulge in some sadism now and then — reveals what she says are behind-the-scenes facts in a new report published by the Daily Mail. While chatting with the U.K. tabloid, Brower says those who appear on “reality television” should unionize like their peers in fiction-based projects, and, when first doing the show, she did not earn a cent and sees no money for what it does on streaming services.
“People are constantly sending me emails saying they’re watching my season. I’m like great, I’m so glad the show still has a following and it’s still making money, but I get absolutely nothing from it. It’s just such bullsh*t. We do all these things, we put our lives and reputation on the line and then they don’t give you anything. The fact they’re still showing my stuff… we’re putting ourselves on the line and we’re the ones getting attacked, and for what cost? [At first], we were not paid. We were paid zero.”
Brower adds that on her initial season all they received from the production company was a per diem for groceries which amounted to a few hundred dollars, but, when going out to eat contestants had to pick up their bills on their own. By the time she returned for the show’s all star season in 2011, things had changed and contestants did get $1,000 per episode they were on for bills (Big Brother on CBS pays contestants around $1,000 a week, while people who work in the Bachelor franchise get nothing) and Brower adds you have to consider the state someone may be in to appear on reality competitions like these.
“You think about the people who are moms and dads and they’re doing these things, humiliating themselves and just hoping that it’s going to lead to something different and at least make some money off it.”
Banks has not responded to Brower’s claims as of this story’s filing. For now, reality productions are continuing on as they have and America’s Next Top Model is available for streamers to watch on Hulu.
