NeNe Leakes has taken legal action against the companies behind “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
The 54-year-old reality TV star and actress whose legal name is Linnethia Monique Leakes starred in the hit reality series between 2008 and 2020.
NeNe filed a lawsuit in an Atlanta federal court on Wednesday accusing executives at NBCUniversal, Bravo, True Entertainment, Truly Original, and executive producer Andy Cohen of fostering and tolerating a hostile and racist work environment.
In the lawsuit, NeNe listed multiple instances of racism from her castmate Kim Zolciak-Biermann from her saying she didn’t “want to sit around with NeNe and eat chicken” to her calling other Black “Housewives” the N-word.
Then, there was the time Kim implied NeNe used drugs and called her home a “roach nest.”
NeNe says she suffered consequences after complaining about Kim’s racist remarks and behavior, but Kim went unscathed.
The suit says executives “did not terminate their relationship with Zolciak-Biermann, nor take any other meaningful action to put an end to her racially-offensive behavior.”
Instead, they rewarded her with her own spin-off series.
Leakes’ lawyer David deRubertis said in a statement:
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.
Joe Habachy, another Leakes attorney, said via email:
Not a day goes by that NeNe doesn’t wake up with an onslaught of overwhelming emotions as a direct result of these unfortunate and avoidable occurrences.
The lawsuit also alleges that NeNe Leakes was forced off of the show in 2020 after her complaints of racism and when she became a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The lawsuit states:
As the Black Lives Matter movement swept our nation, Mrs. Leakes — Bravo’s historically most successful Black female talent — should have been embraced by NBC, Bravo, and True.
Instead, NBC, Bravo, and True forced her out of the ‘house she built,’ denying her a regular role.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants’ actions violate federal employment and anti-discrimination law.
NeNe Leakes is seeking monetary damages to be determined at trial.
Welp. Now we know, who she was talking about in all of these subliminal tweets.
Read a few Twitter reactions to NeNe’s lawsuit below.
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