NeNe Leakes Suing ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Producers For Racism
NeNe Leakes announced last year she wouldn’t be returning to the cast of Real Housewives of Atlanta following 10 seasons. Now, a new lawsuit filed by the reality star is giving insight into her decision to leave the popular show.
According to PEOPLE Magazine, the television personality filed a complaint in an Atlanta federal court accusing the RHOA production team of creating a hostile and racist work environment.
She lists Bravo, NBC Universal, True Entertainment, Truly Original, and Andy Cohen as defendants, all of whom were involved in the show’s production.
In court documents, Leakes says she was subjected to years of racist comments by her co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann (who is not named in the lawsuit). She alleges that when she brought the issue up to production executives, she was punished.
Additionally, no action was taken against Zolciak-Biermann to correct the issue. Rather, she went on to score her own reality show Don’t Be Tardy, which ran for 8 seasons.
“From the day the series began filming, NeNe was the target of systemic racism from co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann, which was tolerated by Bravo executive producer Andy Cohen and other executives,” Leakes’ attorney, David deRubertis, said in a statement.
Leakes also alleges the production attempted to keep her from speaking about Black Lives Matter on the show.
Leakes was a regular member of the Real Housewives of Atlanta cast from 2008-2015 as well as 2017-2020. Shortly before the show’s 13th season, she announced via her YouTube channel she wouldn’t be returning.
“I have been on an extremely, extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional negotiation. There has been a lot of emotion flying on both sides," she said at the time. "It has been hard, and I have made the very hard and difficult decision to not be a part of Real Housewives of Atlanta season 13."
Leakes didn’t provide a reason for her departure, but she emphasized she was grateful for the experience.
“I'm just so happy that I can say that I was a part of a genre that opened up doors for Black ensemble reality shows to step up and be a part of what we all now love so much, reality TV,” the reality television alum continued.
At this time, it’s unclear how much financial compensation Leakes hopes to earn from the lawsuit. Representatives for RHOA’s production team have declined to comment so far.
TheRichest will keep you updated as this story develops.
Sources: PEOPLE Magazine, Us Weekly,
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