NeNe Leakes said in a new interview she was pushed out of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and claimed race may have been a factor in the way she was treated.
The reality star dished more dirt in the second part of her interview with former RHOA producer Carlos King, on his “Reality With the King” podcast.
In the latest installment of the interview, posted Aug. 1, NeNe told King there was a slow “phase out” of her role on the hit Bravo series.
“As time went on, my episodes got less and less and less,” she said, adding that producers continued to cut her air time without a clear explanation.
Related: NeNe Leakes Says ‘RHOA’ Is ‘Tumbling Down’ Without Her
She compared her treatment to that of other Real Housewives franchise talent, and suggested former RHOA star Kim Zolciak and Real Housewives of New York’s Bethenny Frankel — who are both white — were given more opportunities by Bravo.
“There’s other girls who are not the same complexion as me and started as an original housewife, why are they being offered 18 episodes and I’m being offered six episodes? What did I do?” she asked at one point in the interview.
Leakes was on RHOA between 2008 and 2020. In April 2022, she sued NBCUniversal, Bravo, production companies and Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen, alleging racism and a problematic workplace culture at RHOA.
The case was settled later that year, but NeNe told King her fellow RHOA cast members didn’t support her during the legal battle.
“A lot of girls and the [crew] know that there were things that just were not fair at all. And it pains me and hurts me deeply how I fought for some of the girls that are on the show,” she shared. “And how they did not fight for me to stay on the show, and how much I fought for them to stay on the show. That’s very painful.”
Related Story: Kandi Burruss Says NeNe Leakes Called Her a Racial Slur and It’s ‘Annoying as F–k’
After taking on NBCUniversal, Bravo and Cohen, NeNe said she was blacklisted in the entertainment industry.
She revealed she was negotiating a deal for a talk show with Debmar Mercury, the company that produced The Wendy Williams Show, when the talks suddenly collapsed.
“Debmar Mercury pulled my deal and I no longer had a deal to do a talk show,” she said. “I’ve had a couple of people come to me to do a talk show, but I’ve never been able to do a talk show since.”
NeNe said she’d consider returning to The Real Housewives of Atlanta — because it’s what fans want.
“I can’t say that I personally would just like to go back on Atlanta Housewives,” she explained. “However, the fans have all asked for me and the fans are the reason for the ratings for the show being as popular as it is. If I had to go back, it would be 100 percent for the fans.”
She added, “The check is not a bad check, although I think my check should be bigger.”
During the first half of her interview, which aired last week, NeNe commented on RHOA‘s declining viewership since her departure from the series.
The show achieved its highest ratings when she was a main cast member on season 6, averaging nearly 5 million viewers per episode. Since then, however, NeNe quipped that the franchise has gone from “5 million to five hundred [thousand].”
Watch part 2 of NeNe Leakes’ interview with Carlos King below:
