Just a few short days ago, former Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes dropped a bombshell. The Housewives icon filed a lawsuit against Bravo for fostering “a corporate and workplace culture in which racially insensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated — if not, encouraged.” The lawsuit lists NBCUniversal, Bravo, True Entertainment and Truly Original as defendants. Additional defendants include executives from the companies and Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen.
Now Radar Online is revealing additional information about the 74 page complaint, which details multiple instances of alleged racism at the network. NeNe has accused former costar Kim Zolciak-Biermann of making racist remarks in her presence. Those include Kim using the N-word, referencing a racial stereotype of eating “chicken” with NeNe and calling Kandi Burruss’ neighborhood “ghetto.”
NeNe’s claim is that the network tried to sideline her after she made the complaints. Court documents state, “NBC, Bravo, and True used this issue as a justification for having concern about Mrs. Leakes’ professional future and then as a justification for silencing her during this time period. In contrast, other, non-Black housewives were allowed to do much worse without consequence or even threat of consequence.”
Kim isn’t the only example NeNe is using in her lawsuit either. She pointed to other Bravolebrities Ramona Singer, Stassi Schroeder and Kathryn Dennis. The lawsuit claims that the three faced little to no consequences for past racist behavior while employed by the network.
On Real Housewives of New York, OG Ramona had issues with the franchise’s first Black housewife, Eboni K. Williams. Ramona allegedly made the comment, “This is why we shouldn’t have black people on the show” following an incident with Eboni. Eboni, along with a crew member, filed a complaint against Ramona. The complaint noted that Eboni “soon observed and reported racially-offensive conduct and/or statements by longtime white housewife Ramona Singer.”
Bravo stated that the investigation into the claims supported the crew member’s account but not Eboni’s. NeNe’s suit points out that instead of discipling Ramona, she was cast on Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. And while RHONY is looking to reboot and add a Legacy franchise into the mix, nothing has been said about Ramona’s future with the network.
The suit also mentioned Stassi, a former Vanderpmup Rules cast member. NeNe’s lawsuit made note of Stassi’s mistreatment of her only Black castmate, Faith Stowers. Faith reported that she was subjected to race-based comments and accused Stassi of filing a false police report against her. Faith appeared on VPR in 2015 and 2016. NeNe alleges that Bravo ignored the situation for years. Under pressure during the social justice movement surrounding Black Lives Matter, Bravo finally fired Stassi in 2020.
RELATED: NeNe Leakes Sues Real Housewives Of Atlanta Production Team For Racism
Finally, Southern Charm star Kathryn Dennis was cited as well. One part of the suit read, “The race-based offensive conduct, and NBC and Bravo’s failures to correct and remedy this misconduct, are not unique to the Housewives franchise. They also permeate other NBC and Bravo shows.” It continued, “One example from Bravo’s Southern Charm. In May 2020, Kathryn Dennis (who has been on the show since its premiere) sent a monkey emoji by social media direct message to Black radio show host Tamika Gadsden as the two had a heated exchange concerning a ‘Trump Boat Parade’ Dennis’s friend was participating in.”
While Kim, Ramona, Stassi and Kathryn are all used as examples of alleged racism, none of them are named as defendants in NeNe’s lawsuit. Bravo and the other defendants have not yet commented. NeNe is demanding unspecified damages.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE EXAMPLES NENE’S LAWSUIT LISTED? DO YOU AGREE WITH NENE? SHOULD RAMONA AND KATHRYN BE FIRED FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR?
