Are the Real Housewives Fined Constantly?
Housewife Kelly Dodd was allegedly fined by Bravo for wearing a racist hat.
Apparently Real Housewives cast members are fined for unseemly behavior both on- and off-screen. You may have known this (there’s a chance you are Andy Cohen and have been briefed on the contents of the ladies’ contracts) (and if so I’d like you to know our staff would be willing to bartend on an episode of Watch What Happens Live), but I did not until reading the news that Kelly Dodd claims Bravo fined her $16,000 for wearing a “Drunk Wives Matter” hat in an Instagram post. Sounds fair to me.
“I got fined for wearing a ‘Drunk Wives Matter’ hat, and I didn’t even buy it,” Dodd said on an episode of a podcast called Behind the Velvet Rope. “It was given to me — and I didn’t wear it on the show. It was at my bridal shower, and I got dinged for that.” Though she did not buy the hat, she did choose to wear it in a now-deleted Instagram post noting the success of her bridal shower. Dodd claimed this, along with her “general behavior,” was the cause of the $16,000 fine, but that Bravo wouldn’t disclose to her the specifics.
In attempting to research (by which I mean Google briefly) Real Housewives being fined for their general behavior, I could only find another Kelly Dodd example, from when she spoke in too much detail on another podcast about the plot line of an upcoming season of her show The Real Housewives of Orange County. Yes, I even Googled “ramona singer fined bravo,” and the only news that came up there were rumors that she has been fired (for being racist) from The Real Housewives of New York.
But if we’re to believe the fining is true, I have to commend Bravo on their scheme. Step one: Hire a bunch of the most problematic drunk women they can find. Step two: Make money on their horrible exploits. Step three: Fine them when they behave badly enough that it might lessen the amount of money there is to be made on their horrible exploits. It’s not exactly moral, but as a loyal Housewives viewer I cannot be the one to judge. I’m benefitting from it, as well, and I do believe many of them deserve to be fined. Fine them all, in my opinion. “FINE THEM ALL!” (Bethenny reference.)