NeNe Leakes has filed a lawsuit against Bravo, Andy Cohen, NBC and the production companies behind Real Housewives of Atlanta over allegations of and a hostile work environment.
The 54-year-old was one of the original cast members of RHOA when the hugely popular franchise premiered in 2008, and served as a main Housewife for the first seven seasons, before appearing as a ‘friend of’ in the eighth series.
She later returned for two seasons before bowing out once again at the end of season 12.
The actress has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Atlanta, alleging that she complained to bosses of racist remarks from co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann – but claimed that only she suffered consequences from this.
‘NBC, Bravo and True foster a corporate and workplace culture in which racially-insensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated — if not, encouraged,’ the suit says, via Associated Press.
In the documents, she alleged that the cast were due to attend a BBQ while filming for the first season of the hit series, which aired in 2008, but Zolciak-Biermann reportedly responded to the plans with ‘words to the effect of: “I don’t want to sit around with NeNe and eat chicken”.’
The suit says the comments ‘perpetuated an offensive stereotype about African-Americans’.
It also alleged that she made ‘racially offensive and stereotypical’ comments about castmate Kandi Burruss’ new home in 2012, describing her neighborhood as a ‘ghetto’, and questioned whether she needed a swimming pool, which ‘perpetuated a negative stereotype’.
According to the suit, Zolciak-Biermann allegedly used the N-word to refer to Leakes and other of the Housewives after a dispute that same year, falsely implied that Leakes used drugs and described her home a ‘roach nest’.
It has been claimed that Leakes – who also appeared on Glee and Broadway show Cinderella – complained to executives 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.’
Speaking in a statement, Leakes’ lawyer David deRubertis said: ‘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.’
Another attorney for the actress, Joe Habachy, added 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.’
It has also been alleged that Leakes’ complaints led, in part, to her being ‘forced off the show’ in 2020, ahead of season 13.
The lawsuit states that negotiations came as the BLM movement was gaining major momentum – something Leakes was a vocal supporter of – but that executives sought to sideline her from talking about the cause, and kept her off early episodes of RHOA in which it was discussed.
‘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,’ the document said.
‘Instead, NBC, Bravo, and True forced her out of the “house she built,” denying her a regular role.’
AP states that NBCUniversal, Bravo and production companies True Entertainment and Truly Original were named in the suit, as well as executives from the companies and Housewives executive producer Cohen – but not Zolciak-Biermann.
It added that they are seeking monetary damages to be determined at trial, and that the defendants’ actions violate federal employment and anti-discrimination law.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Bravo, NBC, Kim Zolciak-Biermann and True Entertainment for a comment.
