The ‘expectations for Bravo talent’—and other RHONY contract revelations

The lawsuit filed by Leah McSweeney against Andy Cohen, Bravo, and the producers of The Real Housewives of New York City has been settled. But it has given us a gift: the cast contract for The Real Housewives, including the “expectations for Bravo talent.”

You may remember this lawsuit from:

• its claims that Andy Cohen “engages in cocaine use with Housewives that he employs,” which he denied
• a judge finding that producers “had a First Amendment right to choose to make a show that celebrated a party life and the drinking of alcohol” and “to cast only persons who could consume large quantities of alcohol.”
• Bravo and producers getting legally spanked when they tried to move the lawsuit to arbitration

Brief background: Leah sued in 2024, claiming “a rotted workplace culture that uniquely depended on pressuring its employees to consume alcohol” and producers who “employed psychological warfare intentionally weaponized to break Ms. McSweeney’s psyche” and “colluded with her colleagues” including Ramona Singer, “to ‘out’ Ms. McSweeney’s confidential bipolar disorder diagnosis before Ms. McSweeney disclosed it publicly.”

While the amount is confidential—Leah’s attorney told Page Six, “We are extremely satisfied with the outcome”—most of the documents filed as part of it are public.

And documents in this case include The Real Housewives of New York City cast contract and the “Bravo Talent Guidelines.”

• What The Real Housewives of New York City contract says
• Housewives filming requirements
• The Real Housewives pay
• Bravo Talent Guidelines
• Read the RHONY documents

What The Real Housewives of New York City contract says

The contract is a four-page document that specifies things like pay and timelines, followed by nine pages of an appendix titled “Standard Terms and Conditions.”

That suggests Real Housewives contracts are broken into a part for each individual cast members, and then appendixes that apply to everyone.

Of course, what you can read below is one person’s contract. Other cast members may have negotiated their way out of other clauses, or every single Housewives cast member ever may have the same nine pages.

That said, the Standards Terms and Conditions did not change for Leah across the three seasons of Bravo reality TV she appeared on.

Leah joined RHONY for season 12, signing her contract in 2019. When she returned for season 13, the contract simply added time to the exclusivity period and defined new pay rates. Both her season 13 renewal (in 2020) and her contract for The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip season three (in 2022) refer back to the 2019 contract, saying its standard terms apply.

As you’ll see, Leah was cast as a “Secondary Participant,” with the possibility of becoming “a “Main Participant.” I assume that’s the contract’s definition of “friend,” but by the time her season was announced, she was a main cast member.

I found it fascinating to learn that The Real Housewives cast:

• are referred to as “Artist” in the contract
• not only have participate in publicity for the show, but are “required to use, consume, touch, or comment upon products or services” that are sponsors or advertisers
• must pay Bravo royalties for any new businesses featured in either five episodes or 10 scenes, once revenue reaches a certain amount
• have to follow producers’ “decisions, reasonable and lawful instructions, and requirements (including regarding matters of personal taste and judgment)”
• give up their rights to their “appearance, actions, poses, statements, characters, and vocal, instrumental or musical sounds and compositions, of any kind.” Oh no, not poses!

Housewives filming requirements

The standard terms appendix says that all Real Housewives cast:

• must give producers “access to a sufficient number of days” of their “personal and/or professional activities,” and that number is determined by the production company
• are not just required to do “on-camera appearances as Artist’s self in the Series,” but also must participate in “off-camera preparation” that includes “‘voiceovers,’ ‘opens,’ ‘closes,’ ‘pickups,’ re-shoots, and any other pre-production, production and post-production services.” Why re-shoots isn’t in scare quotes is a mystery!

• have their transportation, accommodations, flights, and a per diem covered for filming or publicity that is outside the cast member’s location. No surprise, but interesting to see it in writing when so many of the Housewives trips are framed as planned and/or paid for by another cast member.
• will be suspended or terminated after seven consecutive days or 10 cumulative days of “incapacity,” which is defined “any mental, physical or other illness,” including—and get ready for this—”disfigurement or impairment, [or] a material alteration in Artist’s present physical appearance or voice.”

The Real Housewives pay

We don’t know what Leah was paid, as those amounts were redacted from court filings. But here’s what we do know:

• Fees are increased by a (redacted) percentage—not a fixed amount—every season
• Main and secondary cast are paid differently
• Payment occurs in stages:
  • 25 percent upon signing the contract
  • 30 percent eight weeks after filming starts
  • 30 percent after filming ends
  • 15 percent after the reunion, if there is one

In addition, work cast members do outside of the show is under Bravo’s control:

• Cast is exclusive to Bravo for three months after a season ends, or six months after the production company’s delivery of all episodes,
• Bravo has to approve any brand deals outside of existing businesses—in Leah’s case, that was her Married to the Mob and other brands, which are detailed in the first four pages of her contract.
• Cast members need Bravo’s permission to “identify herself as Network talent” or “use the name, brand or logo of the Series or Network” on social media related to other businesses.

Bravo Talent Guidelines

The contract says that cast members can receive bonuses, which are “contingent upon … full compliance within the Bravo Talent Guidelines.”

Those are the absolutely fascinating “expectations for Bravo talent”:

1. PROFESSIONALISM, CONFIDENTIALITY, and ENDORSEMENT/SPONSORSHIP APPROVALS—written in all caps because I assume that screaming is the only way to get the cast to listen.
2. “Do not publicly say excessively bad or critical things about Bravo, other Bravo talent, their family members or significant others, or the production company at any time,” which I cannot believe considering saying critical things about other Bravo talent is the job requirement for Real Housewives cast.
3. “Do not talk publicly, confirm, ‘leak,’ provide material, or post about” production, which the contract says includes casting, filming, and/or editing that hasn’t been officially announced.
4. Getting Bravo PR’s “approval for each public speaking, press, and in-person appearance opportunity, whether live or recorded,” with at least 48 hours notice. That includes everything from podcasts to red carpets.
5. Bravo also has to approve any endorsement or sponsorship, including merely “tagging any product, services, or media brand” on a social platform.

What does Bravo use to make decisions about endorsements? Sometimes “factors of which you may not be aware” (mysterious!), but also:

(i) whether the series is “in-season”; (ii) whether a potential opportunity involves a competitive network or involves any brand that is considered to be a national advertiser; and (iii) whether a potential opportunity includes other Bravo talent.

Read the RHONY documents

Here are the actual documents: Leah’s season 12 contract, the season 13 renewal, and the RHUGT addendum.

You’ll see that the agreements are between Leah McSweeney and Forest Productions, a company that shares an address in Los Angeles with RHONY producer Shed Media. These shell companies are typical in film and television. (For one example: the producers of Love is Blind insisting they’re different than from the production company that has the same address, offices, and e-mail addresses.)

I’ve annotated the first document to highlight newsworthy and interesting parts.

• Select File > Notes to browse my highlights.
• Choose File > Pages to browse. The Bravo Talent Guidelines are on page 15.
• Use the search bar to look through the full text.
• Tap the square in the lower-right corner to increase the documents to full screen

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