Bravo battle: NeNe Leakes slams Ramona Singer and others over past racist accusations
NeNe Leakes has accused Bravo of allowing Ramona Singer, Stassi Schroeder, and Kathryn Dennis - all of whom have been accused of racism - to stay on 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' while throwing her off. In the 74-page lawsuit filed by NeNe, she has accused Bravo of creating a hostile and racist work environment. Andy Cohen, NBCUniversal, and the creators of the shows True Entertainment and Truly Original, are also named as defendants in the lawsuit.
is acknowledged for helping to create the 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' and vice versa. Her sleazy remarks and eye-rolling confessionals from the show made their way into memes and pop-cultural jargon a long time ago, and they've stayed popular over time. From 2008 until 2015, Leakes starred as a key castmate for the first seven seasons, then returned for Seasons 10-12. There was suspicion that she was dismissed after that last season, but she merely indicated at the time that her departure was due to a breakdown in pay discussions. Nevertheless, she has returned the spotlight to her past by filing a lawsuit against the show.
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NeNe, whose full name is Linnethia Monique Leakes, was on RHOA for seven seasons, from 2008 to 2020, and alleges she protested to executives about racial remarks made by her white castmate Kim Zolciak-Biermann throughout that period. NeNe claimed in her lawsuit, which was obtained by Radar, that she reported multiple instances of her co-star Kim Zolciak Biermann allegedly making racial remarks. She said that instead of dealing with the issue, she was silenced and retaliated upon.
She accused Kim of using the N-word, making statements about not wanting to "eat chicken" with her, and referring to Kandi Burruss' area as "ghetto." NeNe alleged that she was the only one who suffered consequences for stepping out after addressing the alleged behavior with Housewives executives. Instead of reprimanding Zolciak-Biermann, the lawsuit says that those in charge of 'RHOA' silenced her by offering her a spinoff series, 'Don't Be Tardy', which ran on Bravo for eight seasons.
In court docs, NeNe claimed the network scolded her after she called Kim out publicly in 2017. The star said Bravo and producers then tried to use a tax lien filed brought by the IRS to silence her. “NBC, Bravo, and True used this issue as a justification for having concern about Mrs. Leakes’ professional future and then as a justification for silencing her during this time period. In contrast, other, Non-Black housewives were allowed to do much worse without consequence or even threat of consequence,” according to the court documents.
NeNe said in her lawsuit that Bravo has a long history of letting White employees go unpunished despite being accused of racism. In her lawsuit, the actress referenced Ramona, Stassi, and Kathryn as examples. She made her first mention to Ramona by bringing up her feud with her 'RHONY' co-star Eboni K Williams.
Eboni was the show's first Black housewife, and she quickly noticed and reported racially insensitive behavior and/or words by longstanding white housewife Ramona Singer. According to reports, Ramona commented during production, "This is why we shouldn't have black people on the show." According to the lawsuit, Eboni and a crew member filed a complaint with Bravo against Ramona. Bravo stated that their investigation backed up the crew member's statements but not Eboni's. Ramona was not reprimanded, according to NeNe, but was instead offered a seat on 'The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.' She then mentions Stassi Schroeder, a former cast member of 'Vanderpump Rules'. Faith Stowers, Stassi's black co-star, was addressed by NeNe as well.
Faith said she was harassed because of her race, and she accused Stassi of filing a bogus police complaint alleging her of a crime. Bravo, according to NeNe, turned a blind eye to the situation for years until finally addressing it in 2020.
Kathryn, the star of 'Southern Charm,' was also referenced by the ex-'RHOA' star. In her lawsuit, it reads, “The race-based offensive conduct, and NBC and Bravo’s failures to correct and remedy this misconduct, are not unique to the Housewives franchise. They also permeate other NBC and Bravo shows.”
“One example from Bravo’s Southern Charm. In May 2020, Kathryn Dennis (who has been on the show since its premiere) sent a monkey emoji on social media direct message to Black radio show host Tamika Gadsden as the two had a heated exchange concerning a 'Trump Boat Parade' Dennis’s friend was participating in,” NeNe's attorney stated.
Meanwhile, Bravo and the other accused have not yet responded to the charges. Nene's lawsuit, however, seeks specific monetary damages.
