NeNe Leakes 'Numb' to Son Bryson's Fentanyl Arrest, Admits He Has an Addiction: 'My Hands Are Tied'
NeNe Leakes' son was released from jail on October 5.
July 24 2023, Published 4:55 p.m. ET
NeNe Leakes addressed her son Bryson Bryant's latest arrest, revealing she's "numb" to the situation because he's "been struggling" with drugs for years. RadarOnline.com broke the story — Leakes' 33-year-old son was taken into custody on July 3 and charged with felony possession of Fentanyl and a misdemeanor for loitering/prowling.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum said Bryson is "OK" despite being locked up in a Gwinnett County Jail cell for 21 days.
"I spoke to him on the phone, I think he's doing OK," she told Carlos King on his Reality with the King podcast via PEOPLE.
"He needs rehabilitation," Leakes explained. "He needs a lot of counseling. Like many families out there, I have family members that are struggling with drugs and certain addictions. He has an addiction. He's been struggling with it for years. He's been in rehab for a couple of times and he still has come back out and relapsed."
While Leakes' admitted that it's hard to see her child struggle, she's learned she can't help him unless he's willing to take it.
"As a mom just to watch it, my hands are tied," she stated. "[There's] not much that I can do. For people who have had children or family members that have been on drugs, they know that they have to be ready. They have to simply be ready."
Despite Bryson — who Leakes shares with her ex Calvin Bryant — being an adult, she won't turn her back on him, but she won't be opening her pocketbook either.
"I’ve spent so much money on trying to get Bryson where he needs to be," she said. "But every time I've sent him off is because I said, ‘You are getting your a-- up and we are sending you off.’ But I learned through counseling myself that he has to say, ‘I’m ready to go,’ not me making him go. So until Bryson is ready to make a change, [there’s] nothing I [can] do."
Adding, "He is [33] years old, he’s an adult. He has three children — three beautiful children — who I adore. He has a wife. As a mother, I would never wash my hands of my child, right? But, I'm kind of numb to it because it's been happening for so many years. I'm just really kind of numb to the situation."
When King asked the ex-Bravo star if the reality show contributed to her son's addiction, Leakes replied, "I don't think it helped."
"I wouldn't say that the sole cause of it, [but] it certainly didn't help because we started on television when Bryson was like in the 11th or 12th grade and Brent was in third grade. And, so they're, they're having to be in a light shine, a light shine on them that they did not ask for," she notes. "People are picking them apart because of the job that I chose to do. And so I feel for them in that way. But there's just issues that he has."
She continued: "I don’t know addiction because I don't have an addiction," adding, "You know, I just know from what people have said to me." According to Leakes, her College Hill costar Lamar Odom — who suffered a near-fatal overdose in 2015 — stepped in and offered to get Bryson into rehab.
"Lamar Odom also called me and said that he would grab Bryson right away and send him to his place," NeNe shared. She did not elaborate if she'll take Odom up on his offer.
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RadarOnline.com got all his arrest details.
According to the incident report obtained exclusively by this outlet, the Fentanyl was discovered in "plain view" on the center console of his Dodge Durango in a small plastic bag when officers responded to the scene after a call was made regarding a "suspicious vehicle."
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At the time of his arrest, Bryson claimed to be his younger brother, Brentt Leakes, whom NeNe shared with her late husband, Gregg. Bryson's real identity was later confirmed and he was charge of “giving a false name, address or birthdate to a law enforcement officer."
When they ran Bryson's name in the system, he saw that Leakes' oldest son was "wanted for probation violation."
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