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New York Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Reality TV Has a New Recipe for Success: Trauma
Almost a decade ago, in the early years of Bravo's reality-TV hit 'Vanderpump Rules,' one of the show's storylines involved a cast member's sex tape's being shopped around by her vengeful ex-boyfriend — until the show's eponymous restaurateur, Lisa Vanderpump, protected her young employee by purchasing the tape herself. At the time, this was one of the show's more serious subplots, sown among seasons of rather frivolous blowouts that always seemed to resolve eventually, as was the custom on reality TV back then. 'Vanderpump' may have built its name on drunken hookups and hysterical squabbles, but its moral universe was one in which the audience, guided by the producers, knew the ex's actions were vile. These days, that unambiguous ethical line seems to have disappeared from the Bravo network's flagship shows, giving way to something blurrier. Yes, the audience should still know that things like domestic and sexual violence are criminal — but now we seem interested in watching the resulting pain play out. It no longer suffices to laugh at trivial antics, judging cast members on scales of pettiness and cringe. We want to ogle chaos and trauma. So the producers of Bravo's reality-TV mainstays are, increasingly, building storylines out of crimes perpetrated against the women on their shows. Rape, sexual harassment and domestic violence have all been tantalizingly woven through the network's programming recently. Fans accustomed to giddy live-action gossip and vodka-fueled mischief are now subjected to trauma plots that feel designed for rubbernecking. On 'The Valley,' a surprise-hit spinoff featuring aging 'Vanderpump Rules' stars and their 40-something friends, a major nexus this season has been the destructive behavior of one cast member, Jax Taylor. The cast is constantly monitoring him, staging attempts at intervention, begging this 45-year-old man to manage his violent outbursts — reminding him that it is not, for instance, OK to throw furniture when you're angry. (A table he flung bruised his wife's knee while the couple's toddler was nearby. 'I felt like I was the Russian in 'Rocky IV,'' Taylor later reflected — 'I lost all control.') When cast members are not talking to him, they're often talking about him: huddled in restaurants or family rooms, mulling over how Taylor has hurt his partner emotionally and now physically. Eventually Taylor checks into a rehab facility and seeks help for mental health and addiction. But when the cast goes on a trip, viewers are privy to the bombardment of angry text messages he sends from treatment, accusing the wife he hurled a table at of ruining his life. If you've always looked to reality TV for light, frothy entertainment, it can feel disturbing to watch it swing toward domestic trauma. But Bravo seems committed to that turn. Another 'Valley' storyline involved Daniel Booko, the most wholesome of the bunch, admitting to groping other cast members. On the season finale of 'The Real Housewives of New York City,' which aired in January, a fight boiled down to uncertainty regarding whether one remembered another's rape disclosure. The victim, Brynn Whitfield, cried about having experienced an assault and claimed to have told another cast member, Ubah Hassan, about it. Hassan did not recall this. Audiences chose sides: Team Brynn vs. Team Ubah. Bravo promoted the confrontation as a blockbuster drama, with the executive producer Andy Cohen teasing on his late-night talk show, 'It's a finale like we've not had on the 'Housewives' before.' It's as if the pleasure offered by reality TV relies on gender-based agony. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Disney tells Venezuelans on TPS: Find a new legal way to work or you're out of a job
The Walt Disney Company has notified dozens of Venezuelan employees they might lose their jobs after the Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Trump administration could end their deportation protections and work permits under Temporary Protected Status. The corporation, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary, placed approximately 45 of 'cast members' — as Disney refers to its employees — on unpaid leave, according to emails provided to the Miami Herald. The correspondence also informed the workers. that they would be dismissed after 30 days if they do not get alternative work authorization. 'I am very distressed,' one woman in her late 40s who works at Disney World in Orlando told the Miami Herald. 'We have bills, we just renewed our apartment lease, my son goes to college.' She asked to remain anonymous out of fear that speaking publicly could jeopardize her chances of returning to her job or lead to retaliation. In a statement, a Disney spokesperson told the Herald it 'had placed the affected employees on leave with benefits to ensure they are not in violation of the law.' 'We are committed to protecting the health, safety, and well-being of all our employees who may be navigating changing immigration policies and how they could impact them or their families,' said the spokesperson. It is unclear how many affected Venezuelan employees were located in Florida, but the Miami Herald talked to some in Orlando, where Disney's flagship park is located. The Department of Homeland Security has not yet published an official termination of Venezuela's TPS under the 2023 designation, which covers about 350,000 people. The admnistration has not rescinded a separate designation from 2021, which covers some 257,000 people and expires in September. DHS has already acknowledged on its websites the Supreme Court decision revoking a lower court judge's order to keep the TPS protections for Venezuelans in place. The lower court judge's order is part of an ongoing lawsuit in San Francisco stemming from DHS' decision to end TPS for Venezuelans under the 2023 designation. READ MORE: Supreme Court ruling on TPS stuns South Florida, leaves Venezuelan families in fear The Disney employees received calls and emails a day after the Supreme Court order. It explained that as of Tuesday, 'due to the unique situation,' they were on a 30-day unpaid leave of absence, said the email sent to Venezuelan employees. 'If you have not provided new valid work authorization at the end of the leave, your employment will be terminated,' reads the email sent a day before Homeland Security updated its decision, which hasn't provided any public guidelines to employers of TPS recipients. It is unlikely that the 45 Venezuelans affected will be able to obtain another legal way to work in that time, even if they have another pending immigration process. While many Venezuelans with TPS have applied for political asylum, which can provide up to five years of work authorization, not all have pursued that option, leaving many without a clear path to remain employed legally. Two of the affected employees were family members who said it will now be a struggle to keep their home and meet basic living expenses. A woman in her 40s who worked at a Disney Resort and a man in his 20s employed at one of the Disney Parks are among those recently terminated. The woman said she and her oldest son hold work permits under the 2023 TPS designation. Unlike many others, however, they also remain legally in the U.S. under a separate visa linked to her husband's employment. However, that visa does not provide them with work authorization. 'A family of five can't live on just one person's salary,' she said.
