Several big networks are taking steps to ensure they do not find themselves in any reality-related scandals in the near future.
According to a new report, several networks have hired private investigators to probe their reality stars’ social media accounts for signs of racially-charged behavior and will be offering those whose pages show no signs of offensive antics “good-behavior bonuses” in their contracts.
During an interview with Page Six on July 7, an insider was asked why networks would want to groom a “bunch of goody-two-shoes” for their shows, many of which are known for their cast members’ wild behavior and loose lips.
“They’re talking about ‘behaving well,’ as in not using racial slurs on social media and not getting into fights with castmates. It’s not a high bar,” the source explained.
As the outlet explained, multiple networks, including CBS, MTV and VH1, enlisted PI Edward Myers to analyze past posts that their reality stars have shared after several ex-reality stars, including Vanderpump Rules‘ Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Brett Caprioni, and Max Boyens, Siesta Key‘s Alex Kompothecras, and Teen Mom OG‘s Taylor Selfridge, were fired for alleged racism in their posts.
As fans of Pump Rules will recall, Stassi and Kristen were accused of racism in early June after their former castmate, Faith Stowers, the series’ only African American woman, revealed that the two of them attempted to turn her in to police for crimes she didn’t commit in retaliation for her affair with Jax Taylor, who was dating his now-wife and their longtime friend, Brittany Cartwright, at the time.
While Stassi and Kristen ultimately offered apologies to Faith and their longtime supporters, Bravo didn’t want to be tied to their behavior and fired them a short time later, along with Brett and Max, both of whom shared racist and insensitive messages on their Twitter accounts several years ago.
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