Shubham Banerjee on April 20, 2022
NeNe Leakes’ time on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” was filled with drama and controversy. She had a very public falling out with Bravo when she accused the network and Andy Cohen of racism. It appears, she has acted on her claims of racism by suing the companies behind the show.
Page Six reports that NeNe field a lawsuit on Wednesday, alleging that the companies behind the show fostered and tolerated a hostile and racist work environment. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Atlanta says Leakes complained to executives about years of racist remarks from fellow “Housewife” Kim Zolciak-Biermann but that only Leakes suffered consequences.
The lawsuit named NBCUniversal, Bravo, production companies True Entertainment and Truly Original, executives from the companies and “Housewives” executive producer Andy Cohen as defendants. However, it should be noted that there was no mention of Zolciak-Biermann in the lawsuit.
“NBC, Bravo and True foster a corporate and workplace culture in which racially-insensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated — if not, encouraged,”
The suit mentions the first instance of racism was back in 2008 during the filming of the first season. The cast was planning to attend a barbeque and housewife Kim Zolciak-Biermann responded to the idea with, “words to the effect of: ‘I don’t want to sit around with NeNe and eat chicken.’” The suit alleged that the statement “perpetuated an offensive stereotype about African-Americans.”
The suit further claims that in 2012, during the fifth season, Zolciak-Biermann made “racially offensive and stereotypical” comments about the new home of housewife Kandi Burruss. Zolciak called her neighborhood a “ghetto” and perpetuated a racial stereotype in an offensive comment about whether Burruss needed a swimming pool.
That same year, the suit alleged Zolciak-Biermann used the N-word to refer to Leakes and other of the housewives after a dispute with them. It also claimed Zolciak-Biermann falsely implied that Leakes used drugs and called her home a “roach nest.”
The suit claimed that Leakes did complain to the executives overseeing the show, but they “did not terminate their relationship with Zolciak-Biermann, nor take any other meaningful action to put an end to her racially offensive behavior.” It also said that the producers rewarded her by giving her her own spinoff show.
Meanwhile, we will be on the lookout for more updates. Bravo has not released a statement on the matter as of this writing. Stay tuned to Thirsty for more updates!
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April 20, 2022 11:32 pm
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