NeNe Leakes Accuses Andy Cohen Of ‘Sabotaging’ Negotiations For Her Own Radio Show
Apr. 26 2022, Published 4:50 p.m. ET
NeNe Leakes believes Andy Cohen and NBC went out of their way to “blackball” her in the industry after she spoke out about the alleged racism onset of Real Housewives of Atlanta.
RadarOnline.com obtained a copy of the complaint NeNe filed against Cohen, Bravo, and the producers behind RHOA.
In the suit, the iconic reality star accused the defendants of ignoring her complaints about her co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann.
NeNe claimed Kim made severally racially-offensive statements during production. She said the network and producers often ignored her and even told her to stop speaking about the matter publicly.
To make matters worse, NeNe said Kim never suffered consequences but instead was given her own spin-off show.
The ex-RHOA star detailed the alleged retaliation in her 74-page lawsuit. NeNe said she was “denied the right to do other work other than filming for RHOA when other housewives (who had not spoke out against racially- offensive treatment) were permitted the right to do other work.”
In November 2018, NeNe said Bravo denied her right to appear at the Soul Train Awards claiming “an alleged conflict with the RHOA season opener.”
NeNe is adamant there was “no conflict” as the shows aired a week apart. The suit points out her co-star Kandi Burruss was given clearance to appear on Celebrity Big Brother the same season “which aired on a major network at the same time as RHOA – creating a direct conflict.”
The star said after season 11 came to an end, “the retaliatory, discriminatory and harassing treatment of Mrs. Leakes continued.”
NeNe said she was not offered a contract for season 12 until after the season had already begun filming a substantial number of episodes.
“This was not typical, and it was retaliatory. She was also again offered a lowered number of guaranteed episodes than she should have been offered,” her lawyer wrote.
NeNe then accused Andy Cohen and NBC/Bravo of continuing to “blacklist” and “sabotage her attempts to secure work beyond RHOA.”
The suit points to a specific matter where NeNe was in talks to start a new show on Sirius XM radio. She said the defendants “interfered with, and sabotaged, this effort.”
NeNe said Andy had told execs about her behind closed doors.
“Cohen has admitted that he told Sirius XM that Mrs. Leakes would demand a lot of money for any role on a radio show, an obvious effort to prevent her from getting such a deal.
Further, she said Bravo and producers lost all interest in developing her own show. NeNe said this was odd because they were all over the idea before she started complaining about the alleged racism at work.
“At the same time, however, they did negotiate and close a deal with another RHOA: Kandi Burruss secured a deal for her own spin-off, Kandi & the Gang. Mrs. Burruss had not been vocal in calling out the racially-inappropriate behavior over the years to the degree that Mrs. Leakes had been,” the suit reads.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, NeNe’s suit seeks unspecified damages from Andy and Real Housewives of Atlanta producers.
