If you saw my tweet Monday night, you’ll know that I encountered my first podcast guest that asked to be paid when I asked them if they were interested in being on a future episode. Let me reiterate something I’ve said numerous times since I started interviewing past contestants. I’ve sent out a lot of emails and messages to people I’d be interested in talking to. Some you’ve heard on the podcast already, some you will hear coming up, and some you won’t hear at all because they either said no or never responded. And that’s perfectly fine. Coming on my podcast is either a yes or a no. There’s no back and forth negotiations. I ask, if they say yes, they’re on. If they say no, I might ask why, but it pretty much ends there. I’m not forcing anyone to come on if they don’t want. And as I’ve stated before, I’m never going to comment or out anyone who said no or who never responded. They have their reasons, but I don’t want people jumping on their case on social media just because they didn’t want to do the podcast for whatever reason. If they don’t want to be on, that’s fine. Someone else will. However, what happened Monday was unprecedented. Because when almost 20 previous contestants before her have agreed to do it without even batting an eye and asking for money, and plenty of contestants after her will also do it without asking, it seems kinda laughable. For those curious, it was Britt.
Yes, I can hear your thoughts exactly as you read this. “Of all the people looking to be paid, it’s Britt?” Hence the reason this is a head scratcher. Now, I will say, I have not spoken with Britt directly. I emailed the address on her IG page, which in turn, was her management “team” responding back to me (insert your “Britt has a management team answering her emails?” joke here). A quick two sentence email asking if she’d like to come on the podcast. They came back with, “What are your rates and hours?” When I replied “Explain what you mean by rates?” and their exact response was “your question about what rates mean to imply that this would be unpaid time and free content, in which case we thank you kindly for your offer but we will pass,” I knew it was about money. They said they ran it by Britt. So unless they’re lying, Britt signed off on this. But my guess is if I would’ve responded, “Uhhhh yeah, I’ll pay her $5000 for an hour of her time to talk on the phone,” Britt would’ve done the interview. So while they didn’t utter the exact words “Britt won’t do a podcast unless she’s paid,” it’s quite obvious, at least to me, that money had to be a consideration for her to appear. And that’s just never going to happen.
If all my podcast guests were getting paid to come on, and Britt just happened to ask for more, I’d just say no thanks, and this doesn’t even get mentioned. But that’s not the case. When she’s such an outlier to the point where all of her contemporaries, some if not most, being “bigger” names than her in the franchise, all do it for free without batting an eye, kinda reflects on her and I think it needed to be pointed out. Just seems ridiculously silly. She doesn’t have to travel anywhere. She doesn’t have to even leave the confines of her own bed for that matter. Talk on the phone for an hour and you’re immediately looking for compensation? Uhhhh, no. I mean, they’re making it seem like she’s an A-list actress getting bombarded with requests daily or something, and she just can’t possibly fit a podcast interview into her schedule. C’mon, it’s Britt for Christ sakes.
I’ve got great guests lined up for the upcoming season, all of whom I appreciate doing it and never once asked to be paid. If Britt doesn’t want to do it because she can’t get paid, then she won’t be on. I don’t pay podcast guests. Never have and never will. I don’t need to. I think these people know it’s a fun conversation, they can talk about their time on the show, and discuss what they’re doing now, letting people see a side to them that maybe they couldn’t see during an edited television show. Simple as that. I think her management “team” grossly mishandled this situation. If they would’ve responded back after the first email, “Britt doesn’t want to do it,” again, none of this gets mentioned. But they didn’t, I thought it was extremely bizarre, and that’s why I brought it out publicly. Moving on, and I’m excited about some of the guests we have coming up this season. Tomorrow’s podcast guest is another “triple threat” from this franchise (appeared on “Bachelor,” “Bachelor Pad,” and “Bachelor in Paradise”), the very outspoken Jaclyn Swartz.
The other big announcement that came yesterday, was during ABC’s upfronts in New York, they revealed there will be a Bachelor Winter Games airing next February. The press release is quite vague, and honestly, there’s no way THEY even know what the exact format will be yet. I’m sure they just pitched the idea of what they had in mind to ABC, they greenlighted it, and now producers have 6 months or so to figure out what they’re doing. Trust me. They did this with the original seasons of “Bachelor Pad” and “Bachelor in Paradise,” basically creating the show on the fly once they started filming. To me, it just seems like this is basically Paradise in the winter. Challenges, “competitive dating” (whatever that means), and former contestants. Just another show for all these former contestants to try and get on and hook up. Doesn’t look like money is involved because it’s never mentioned, but like I said, this is not a finished product at all. Knowing “Bachelor” films from Sept – Nov, my guess is “Bachelor Winter Games” will film for a couple weeks in January, which will give them a month to turn it around to start airing in Feb. 2018 opposite the Winter Olympics on NBC.
Tomorrow I’ll be back with Podcast #26 guest Jaclyn Swartz, a review of whatever this Facebook Live announcement of the men is, and any new nuggets I can give you.
Send all links and emails to: steve@realitysteve.com. To follow me on Twitter, it’s: www.twitter.com/RealitySteve. Instagram name is “RealitySteve,” join my Reality Steve Facebook Fan Page, or listen to all my podcasts at Apple Podcasts. Talk to you tomorrow.
rob22
May 17, 2017 at 8:00 AM
While part of me wants to give Britt a pass, I do know why she has a “management team”. It’s so they can be “the bad guys” in times like this. They’ll be the ones asking for money, perks, appearance fees, etc. They’ll be the ones to say “no” to a charity request or an appearance request at a hospital, etc. They’re the muscle. Britt hired them for this purpose. They hired the management team to make her money & give her visibility. So, it’s on her. Now, of course, she has plausible deniability. “Hey, I didn’t tell them to ask for money”. Prediction: Britt comes on Steve’s podcast to explain how it was all a big misunderstanding. Mark it down. It will be completely phony too.
rob22
May 17, 2017 at 8:57 AM
BTW: Upon further review, I don’t think it’s entirely inappropriate for someone (Britt, or otherwise) to ask for payment. RS gets paid by the click and podcast guests drive clicks. So if RS is getting paid for the podcast (and he is), it’s not wrong for guests to want to also be paid. Now it’s completely within RS’s purview to decline to pay his podcast guests. But, I don’t think that a request to be paid warrants the outrage, tweets and several blog paragraphs.
I do think, to the point of my first post, that it’s pretty hysterical that Britt has “people” tasked with getting Britt paid. But that’s another topic beyond whether it was somehow outrageous that there was a payment request.
rob22
May 17, 2017 at 9:01 AM
I should also note that since RS started inserting commercials into his podcasts, and more blatantly monetizing them, that it’s even less outrageous to ask to be paid. Hey, we live under a capitalist system. 10 years ago who thought that bloggers or YouTube “stars” would earn a full time living off of their efforts? Nobody thought that. Everyone wants to be paid. Good for them.
abby9
May 17, 2017 at 9:12 AM
I agree with rob22. I really don’t think it is that outlandish for Britt (or any other podcast guest) to ask to be compensated for their time. What I *do* think is odd is Steve saying “I had no problem letting Ben & Lauren release their statement first.” Huh? That just strikes me as a really strange thing to say. Ever since the Luke/Josh & Amanda stuff, it seems like Steve is on some weird power trip regarding this franchise and its players.
kimmyfromdablock
May 17, 2017 at 10:22 AM
I agree with you @abby9 in that I believe Steve thinks of himself as a part of this franchise and he believes he shares the same Z-list celebrity status as the contestants. He is a member of the tribe, in his mind.
As far as Britt. I’ve always found her to be a huge phony and although it’s not the worst thing in the world to ask to be paid, it does reflect on the overblown self-importance this chick feels. It’s actually kinda funny and kinda sad.
Del Scorcho
May 17, 2017 at 10:33 AM
Kimmy, I’ve met Britt before (we have mutual friends) and I can tell you she’s not a phony. Unless she’s being a phony allllllllllll the time.
hales
May 17, 2017 at 10:37 AM
I’ve never been under the impression that people get paid to be on any podcasts. Even real celebrities as they are usually doing the media rounds to promote something (movie, show, album, charity, etc). I’ve always thought it was more of a quid pro quo as it gives the guests a platform for free publicity to expand their brand and gain more followers. And isn’t more followers what it is all about in the Bachelor world now?
utesdad
May 17, 2017 at 10:41 AM
While other guests haven’t been paid $$, I’m sure a good part of them coming on the podcast is to promote whatever it is they’re doing now. Steve gets them on the podcast, they get to promote XYZ.
Michelle Money promoted her Money Matters system (or whatever it was). This most recent podcast, they spent a lot of time talking about the guy’s HGTV shows and upcoming new show. Those are just the few I can think of off the top of my head.
I’m guessing Britt doesn’t have something in the works to promote, so she asked for $$.
There may be some guests that came on just for the fun of it, but I think they are the exception.
lucyw4
May 17, 2017 at 10:55 AM
I don’t think Steve should’ve outed Britt unless he had spoken to her directly…his tweet implied that he had, which made me think it was a douchey guy from the franchise, honestly.
stasi22
May 17, 2017 at 11:10 AM
Steve has completely lost me on this one. I don’t think it’s rude at all to ask for payment, promoting something is another form of payment which many of the podcast guests have done. Why isn’t there the same outrage for that? Britt or her team have done nothing wrong and Steve should be embarrassed of his treatment of a person. Trying to blast her and make us think she’s an awful person because she asked to be paid for essentially working. It’s more crazy that he believes it’s okay for him to make money out of this but no one else can, that shows who someone truly is.
allaboutme
May 17, 2017 at 11:35 AM
I’m going to echo some of the other comments, in hopes that RS does read these.
– I don’t think it’s a big deal Britt asked to be paid. As rob22 pointed out, the podcasts make RS money, so why not? I’m going to help you make money and I get nothing? I think not. Others used their payment as exposure – it still helps them get paid though.
– I also thought it was odd that RS phrased it, “I let them” … that jumped out to me as well when I first read it. His ego is huge lately.
sarahparker
May 17, 2017 at 12:14 PM
What is w all this shaming? It’s close to bullying? You are nice in your interviews and mean sometimes in these posts which is not a good look. So what she asked for money- maybe she feels her time is valuable. She’s not promoting so… also w the whole bring it Luke thing.. threatening Josh? Nothing said since that. Be professional because lots of us don’t like you ‘outing’ someone for asking to be paid or threatening if they don’t stop something you will print stuff. It’s very thuggish. Be consistent whatever you decide to be.
elizabeth82
May 17, 2017 at 12:34 PM
Remember how much Steve liked Britt when she was on “The Bachelor?” :p I always thought she was fake
crushonspivey
May 17, 2017 at 12:49 PM
sarahparker, shaming? and it is not even close to bullying. Not by miles and miles. Calling someone out or making fun of a stupid action is not shaming, unless you hate it when people bring to your attention when you did or said dumb things. Bullying is so much more severe than just pointing out on social media a stupid thing, and trying to say it is close to it diminishes what real bullying is.
Britt. LOL. Forget her already Steve. SHe is a total poser, like far too many who did this show. It is hilarious.
crushonspivey
May 17, 2017 at 12:51 PM
Oh, and I hope Rachel is ready to take all teh heat she is gonna get from picking a white guy. First AA Bachette, and she chooses a white guy. That is gonna blow up on social media. Wait and see.
jlynner
May 17, 2017 at 12:57 PM
I’m not sure why you think Britt (or anyone else) is out of line to ask to be compensated for her time. You’re not a charitable organization and you’re obviously making a living off this site. Why would you expect anyone to “volunteer” even one hour of their time just to line your pockets?
rob22
May 17, 2017 at 1:41 PM
@crushonspivey: you nailed it. Unfortunately race is going to be front and center this season and I’m dreading that part of it. I feel sorry for Rachel, who may well be one of the top Bachelorettes ever (I’m personally looking forward to this season because of her), being the one to open up the race issue for this lily-white franchise. She’s in a no win situation. If she picks the white guy, she gets crap from the racists and some in the minority community for not picking a black guy… if she picked the black guy, then it’s “oh, of course she did”… which would be no different than every Bachelor/Bachelorette so far.
I’ve hesitated to go there, but now that the season is about to get going, buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. Rachel is going to have to do one hell of a job this season. I hope she’s up to it. From what I’ve seen, I think she’s got what it takes.
rob22
May 17, 2017 at 1:48 PM
Re: Ben & Lauren: it’s really kind of old news. They may not have officially broken up, but they’ve been essentially over for months. I was probably one of the few that watched their show. And, although I know it’s highly produced, the vibe between the two of them was never that good. It seemed forced, at best, and they never seemed to be on the same page. I found Lauren to be very high maintenance and I found Ben to be pretty much a downer & not seemingly that interested in a long term relationship. Again, I know. It’s a show. You see what they want you to see. But the vibe is what I went off of, along with the forced dialogue. That show was shot almost a year ago. So their relationship seemed like it was kept “together” all this time for reasons other than their actually wanting to be together. I don’t know if they had any money riding on their relationship or whether they just wanted to find a low-key time to break the news to the crazies. But this is very anti-climatic news to me.
weird
May 17, 2017 at 2:48 PM
I think Steve is butt hurt because Britt was one of the handful of contestants that he liked am I right? There is nothing wrong with asking for payment. I have noticed a change in how he is acting as well, since the josh and amanda thing….too cool
shenanigans
May 17, 2017 at 4:37 PM
Random thoughts:
1. Steve is under no obligation to pay anyone who participates in his podcasts. Clearly, they are a way for former contestants to get publicity and promote their brand. If someone values that exposure, great. If not, that’s fine, too.
2. I’m puzzled by his decision to “out” Britt without speaking to her first. To me, that’s unfair. After all, he doesn’t even know if her management company told her about the request.
Further, if he doesn’t “out” other people who have declined, he shouldn’t “out” her either.
3. Finally, I’m puzzled by several “loyal” posters who go out of their way to bash Steve on his own site. Really? I understand the concept of free speech and all that, but it’s kind of tacky to continually post insulting things on someone’s board. It’s like visiting someone’s house and peeing on their lawn. LOL
sarahparker
May 17, 2017 at 4:52 PM
Fair enough re ‘bullying’ in the term for 2017. However- making fun of, belittling whatever you want to call it. Why put her on blast? To try to make her look bad. I just don’t get that I guess? It seems like he enjoyed it- guess that’s what I don’t like? I like him overall but I don’t like that:(
jnj0916
May 17, 2017 at 6:48 PM
You obviously know nothing about Britt. She is a true Christian woman with more morals and greater values than anyone else in the bachelor franchise; including Sean, Emily and Ben. She doesn’t do Ads or flaunt her body or sexuality; even though she’s more beautiful than almost anyone. She supports underprivileged children and posts about “World Vision Wednesday”. She rarely ever wears makeup and never posts about superficial things like fashion or other “celebrities.” She posts bible versus, flowers, her family and pics of real life friends who are neither plastic, fake “perfect” nor one shade of skin color. She doesn’t associate with the franchise at all, she speaks at conferences for women and young girls and shares her love of the Lord with all. You, my dear have a very inaccurate idea of who this woman is, so I suggest you get to know someone better before trashing their character in public.
jnj0916
May 17, 2017 at 6:51 PM
You obviously know nothing about Britt. She is a true Christian woman with more morals and greater values than anyone else in the bachelor franchise; including Sean, Emily and Ben. She doesn’t do Ads or flaunt her body or sexuality; even though she’s more beautiful than almost anyone. She supports underprivileged children and posts about “World Vision Wednesday”. She rarely ever wears makeup and never posts about superficial things like fashion or other “celebrities.” She posts bible versus, flowers, her family and pics of real life friends who are neither plastic, fake “perfect” nor one shade of skin color. She doesn’t associate with the franchise at all, she speaks at conferences for women and young girls and shares her love of the Lord with all. You, my dear have a very inaccurate idea of who this woman is, so I suggest you get to know someone better before trashing their character in public.
supersparklyday
May 17, 2017 at 8:09 PM
I also don’t think it’s outrageous that Britt’s “team” inquired about payment. RS makes extra $$ from the podcasts, so what’s wrong with paying them $500 or something? And this didn’t really warrant 3 full paragraphs either.
As for Ben & Lauren – it’s too bad they broke up. That stupid show they did probably sunk them. It ruined Ben’s first run at a political job, and now their relationship. It was NOT worth it. I hope no other couples from this franchise do a tv show either afterwards. Your relationship is new – let it grow before you start trampling on It, ya know?
I can’t wait to see Rachel’s season! I am excited about it. Thanks for the spoiler, Steve!!
I swear whenever I’ve not know a spoiler and just watch the show “raw”, I have missed the love story of the show! The producers try to hide the final one and then I can’t see the go so couple together cause I didn’t see them fall in love. Now I will he able to look foe things with Rachel and Peter. Blessings to the happy couple.
ladidada
May 17, 2017 at 9:08 PM
Hi Britt or ‘management team’
kimmyfromdablock
May 18, 2017 at 9:28 AM
Britt is perfectly likable – she posts Bible verses and helps needy children.
LOL!!!!!!!!!
md21
May 18, 2017 at 9:47 AM
@kimmyfromdablock LOL!!!! Thank you! Seriously? She posts Bible verses so she is this amazing noble Christian woman?? Sure okay.
jnj0916
May 18, 2017 at 10:02 AM
Nope, I’m actually a 43 year old mom from Philly. Just felt the need to defend her good character.
jnj0916
May 18, 2017 at 10:06 AM
Wow, why the hate? Do you know her? I said a lot more about her character than “posting bible verses”…. You’re choosing to ignore the rest to suit your narrative.
md21
May 18, 2017 at 10:23 AM
Also, nothing RS wrote about Britt can be considered bullying. It seems he was shocked that 1.) she had a team (lol) and 2.) they had the audacity to ask for money on Britt’s behalf. Actors and musicians whose job it is to do interviews, outside of performing, do not ask for for monetary compensation. So a mere reality TV “star” asking for money is ridiculous. There have been plenty of times when I thought he was outright mean with what he wrote about someone, but this time was definitely not one of them.
md21
May 18, 2017 at 10:28 AM
@jnj0916 “with more morals and greater values than anyone else in the bachelor franchise; including Sean, Emily and Ben.”
Unless you personally know all of these people there’s no way you can know that she has better values. Her posts on Instagram or other social media accounts are just that… social media posts.
Del Scorcho
May 18, 2017 at 1:44 PM
There are probably many more people who have emailed him saying “WHO WAS IT?!” than there are people sticking their noses up to Steve here on the comments.
kimmyfromdablock
May 18, 2017 at 4:58 PM
jnj0916…..my bad, I also forgot to mention she posts pictures of flowers.
yoyotono
May 18, 2017 at 9:22 PM
It’s unfortunate to hear Ben & Lauren broke up. It’s so much pressure when you get engaged so quickly after meeting and need time alone to get to know one another. If the circumstances had been more normal, maybe it could have worked out better (giving up jobs, under scrutiny & pressure…etc). I don’t think their reality show helped either.
My opinion on the Britt situation: RS is profiting off the podcast, why can’t she if she’s contributing to the profit? It wasn’t an unreasonable request. Like others have said, other podcast guests have used it to promote other projects they were working on.
notimpressed
May 18, 2017 at 9:50 PM
Thanks, Britt’s management team
notimpressed
May 18, 2017 at 10:07 PM
Wow, not one comment about who Rachel chose….that’s how lame this season is…
notimpressed
May 18, 2017 at 10:10 PM
Wow, you liberals sure are sensitive….bullying??? Lol!
notimpressed
May 18, 2017 at 10:11 PM
Yes, because
notimpressed
May 18, 2017 at 10:12 PM
Yes, because crazed, leftist race baiters like you look at everything through the prism of race.
Jaime
June 4, 2017 at 10:25 PM
I am relatively new to both the Bachelor and to this blog (Kaitlyn’s season) compared to many of you. But I’ve been here long enough to notice that hypocrisy runs rampant in the Bachelor show as well as the RS blogs/ podcasts (and world in general).
Steve will say he “never” or “rarely” does a particular thing as the introduction to or context in which he does that very thing! I feel like he is a justifier in many ways and also is developing a bit of the arrogance and ego he claims to detest in the peons who get on Bachelor. He’ll say things like “I won’t tell you guys who I asked or didn’t ask to come on the podcast because I don’t want them to get harassed for not coming on” right before providing heaps of ammo for online harassers by basically saying “not only did she say no, but HOW DARE SHE ask me for compensation?” IMO, he tries to come off like “other people are doing/ saying these things and isn’t that awful? I, the humble guy who lucked into this job, do not do that same thing cuz I’m WAY better than that. Until of course, about 3 lines down where I insensitively do that exact thing but 10 times worse.” The actual definition of hypocrisy sums these situations up perfectly-“contrivance of a false appearance of virtue or goodness, while concealing real character or inclinations.”
I just feel like he was starting to develop a great vehicle in which podcast discussions could maybe shift public opinion not only in terms of the Bachelor franchise, but of bigger social issues. I get it- everyone has an opinion and he is entitled to write his. But two of the most important tools and valuable teaching lessons he has an opportunity to model for others are empathy and discretion. He could have complained to the readers in general terms about what was going on with the compensation (or not at all), but he chose to magnify and broadcast it. Cuz he was pissy and felt like a lowly Bachelor contestant needed to be brought down a few rungs. He is acting pretty much exactly like the Jordan’s, the Robbie’s, the Josh’s of this franchise- impulsive, arrogant, prideful and with a narrow world view that orbits right above his head. Watch for falling debris.