NeNe Leakes sues, accusing Real Housewives of Atlanta of a hostile and racist work environment

AP

Leakes, an original cast member of the Bravo franchise who left in 2020, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Atlanta on Wednesday, naming Andy Cohen, NBC Universal and production companies True Entertainment and Truly Original. According to the Associated Press, Leakes alleges that she complained about racist remarks from fellow Real Housewives star Kim Zolciak-Biermann, who is white, but that only Leakes suffered any consequences. Zolciak-Biermann is not named 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,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses Zolciak-Biermann of making "racially offensive and stereotypical” comments and using the N-word to refer to Leakes and other Real Housewives stars after a dispute with them. The suit says after Leakes complaints to the executives overseeing the show, they “did not terminate their relationship with Zolciak-Biermann, nor take any other meaningful action to put an end to her racially-offensive behavior,” and if anything rewarded her by giving her her own spinoff show. Leakes’ lawyer David deRubertis adds 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." The lawsuit also alleges that she was forced out to sideline her from talking about the Black Lives Matter movement that was making headlines at the time. Since her exit, Leakes has made her frustrations with Real Housewives of Atlanta known in the past. Shortly after her exit, she called Andy Cohen "racist," and tweeted to her followers to "send me your best discrimination attorneys." She also urged her fans to boycott Real Housewives of Atlanta, tweeting: “While others were being promoted, BLACK WOMEN who created shows, created genres, built franchise and built networks were being DEMOTED … TURN OFF YOUR TV’S.”