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Million Dollar Listing LA star Tracy Tutor doesn’t take comments about the depiction of women on reality TV lightly.
The Compass-affiliated luxury agent caught wind of statements that Compass Chief Evangelist Leonard Steinberg made last week while discussing real estate reality TV at The Real Deal’s NYC Forum with Selling the City’s Eleonora Srugo, and wasn’t happy about them.
Steinberg has long been a critic of the industry’s depiction in reality shows like Selling Sunset and Million Dollar Listing. During the forum last week, he said, “If I was a woman, I would feel extremely disappointed,” regarding the depiction of women in real estate on the small screen. “I think it over-sexualizes the role of the professional.”
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Highlights from the discussion between Steinberg and Srugo were posted in a video on The Real Deal’s Instagram page, where the comments section got pretty lively. In a repost of the panel video, Tutor first responded to Steinberg’s remarks.
“The arrogance in this and his comments surrounding women’s attire is infuriating,” Tutor wrote.
Credit: Nick Frandjian
Later, the reality TV star criticized Steinberg in more detail in an Instagram story.
“The idea that Leonard Steinberg, you, Leonard, feel like you are in the Judge Judy chair and you get to comment on how we choose to promote our businesses, which has nothing to do with you is not only offensive, it’s condescending, and beyond that, gross,” Tutor said.
The luxury agent said that Steinberg, given that he identifies as a man and given his own fashion sensibilities displayed on The Real Deal’s stage, had no grounds for commenting on “how he feels that women should dress in a professional setting.”
“One, Leonard, you’re in no position to talk about how anyone should dress with your Hokas and your suit on that stage,” Tutor said, pointing out his choice in sporty footwear. “Let’s start there.”
“The idea that you have this 1950s sentiment surrounding how women should dress in a professional setting is not only outdated, sexist, misogynistic and unfair,” Tutor continued. “You are in no position to tell any woman what to wear so long as that woman is getting deals done.”
“At the end of the day, if I want to wear Louboutins to a showing and a short skirt, as long as I get that showing on lock and I close that deal, more power to me,” Tutor said. “You should be celebrating that, not disparaging it.”
During his panel discussion last week, Steinberg argued that agents who rose to the top of the industry alongside their reality TV careers likely would not have become top agents without their celebrity status. “I think reality TV has made star agents of agents who might have otherwise been rather mediocre,” Steinberg said.
Tutor also took offense to this comment, saying that big names like Fredrik Eklund, Steve Gold, Ryan Serhant, Josh Altman, Josh Flagg, “myself and every other agent that has appeared on [the Million Dollar Listing] franchise I happen to know, do a ton of business and are super successful.”
“So, how dare you? How dare you come for all of us?” Tutor said. “It’s reeking of jealousy, insecurity, and it’s a little tone deaf.”
Leonard Steinberg | Compass
Steinberg responded on Instagram by elaborating that he thinks reality TV shows “have damaged the reputation of an entire profession,” referencing the $1 billion in settlements the industry has paid out as part of class action lawsuits launched in recent years against the National Association of Realtors and its commission-setting guidelines.
“So good for a few and bad for — expensive — for thousands of others,” Steinberg said in his comments.
In her Instagram story, Tutor said she had to get the feelings off her chest “’cause that’s what I do.”
“And I would love to sit on a stage across from you any day and debate this further, kisses.”
Tutor was previously a long-time agent at Douglas Elliman and made the move to Compass in January, along with her 18-person team. Steinberg, likewise, was with Douglas Elliman for more than 12 years, but became a Compass convert in 2014.
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