Who Is Jennifer Tilly? Meet Sutton Stracke's Wealthy Bestie with a Juicy Life from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Tubi recently added all of the Chucky films to their platform, and as a horrorphile, I couldn’t help but have a binge day.

In doing so, I came across 'The Bride of Chucky,' which I had last seen many moons ago—probably over six or seven years. As I’m giving it a watch, I remembered my doll, Jennifer Tilly. Not only that, but I’ve seen her on some of the recent episodes of 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' as a friend to Sutton Stracke. While I love the franchise, I am very much ready for Sutton and Garcelle to get the boot.

For Sutton, I can tell she won’t last without Garcelle; she doesn’t appear to be a good friend to Kyle, and she isn’t liked very much by Erika and Dorit. Garcelle, on the other hand, thinks her castmates are a bunch of racist white women, and every chance she gets, she’s telling us about microaggressions. She can throw shade at them, but they can’t shade her back. In true fan fashion, I like my housewives messy, so, Andy, if you’re ever reading this… please give that lady her pink slip; she won’t be missed.

Back to Tilly… as an actress, she is known for her role in the Chucky series, but she also plays the voice of Lola in 'Hey Arnold' and Bonnie in 'Family Guy'. She has movie credits that date back to 1983; however, that’s not where she’s garnered most of her wealth. Jennifer Tilly is the ex-wife of the late Sam Simon. Sam was an American television producer and animal rights activist who co-developed the television series, 'The Simpsons'.

At the time of his passing, Sam was said to be worth around $100 million, and under a modified divorce agreement, Tilly is to receive 30% of the net profits from Fox, unaffected by Simon’s death—Tilly, to whom he was married from 1984–1991. In the year 2000, however, he was linked to a young lady by the name of Jami Ferrell and then later on… Kate Porter. Here is where things get juicy.

Porter, who was Simon’s girlfriend at the time of his passing, filed a suit in March 2016, claiming that Simon promised to take care of her. She said she was his intimate partner during the last three years of his life, and he promised her $5 million tax-free in his will. Needless to say, she got nothing. Now, Tilly may be looking to inch her way onto the reality TV scene, and if so, good for her, because this is one storyline I’d love to see play out.

We can estimate her earnings based on what Denise Richards was making, roughly $1 million per season, because she does have acting credits under her belt. Not only that, but Tilly is a household name and is linked to one of the most prominent names in Hollywood.

While shows like 'The Simpsons' are still very much profitable, the decline in cable TV viewing and the increase in streaming services may have cut Tilly’s revenue drastically over the past few years. Not only that, but living in Beverly Hills can be costly, and if she’s going to make money anywhere, why not with Bravo?

But it’s still a slippery slope, and unless she’s coming with a dynamic storyline—which I think she has—she’ll still have to look into sweetening the deal for someone like Porter to take center stage alongside her as they hash out their differences on national TV. But even with such a strong storyline, will it be enough? Many reports have begun creeping their way into the media discussing that reality TV may be on its way out the door.

What was once a cost-effective solution to entertainment is now just as expensive—if not more so—than scripted productions, with Nene Leakes having earned a reported $2.3 million for her last season on 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta'. Additionally, it’s no longer worth the wait or the hype now that we—the audience—can get updates about the drama that’s going to be presented in the season from an insurmountable number of news outlets and sources. What made reality TV so amazing back in the day was the mystery of it all—when we never knew what to expect or which fights were going to happen or who was arguing with whom; we simply had to wait, and it was always well worth it.

Nowadays, we can see the formula playing out—the cameras are rolling, a large incident takes place, the cast and media outlets hype it up online, and viewers get excited for the show to air. Once that happens, one of two things takes place: viewers tune in solely for that episode and moment, and the ratings dwindle afterward, or the brawl and/or commotion that was hyped up online never makes it to air (Real Housewives of Potomac, I’m looking at you). For $1 million per season, how about we keep things a bit more under wraps? Either way, Tilly, we’re excited to see you on the Housewives!

by Venus Sanders