LOS ANGELES, April 21 (US): Former “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” star NeNe Leakes filed a lawsuit against the companies behind the show on Wednesday, claiming they have embraced and tolerated a hostile and racist work environment.
The lawsuit, filed in Atlanta federal court, says Leakes, who is black, complained to executives about years of racist remarks from housewife Kim Zolciak Berman, who is white, but only Leakes has suffered consequences, the AP reports.
The defendants call NBCUniversal, Bravo, production companies True Entertainment and Truly Original, corporate executives and executive producer “Housewives” Andy Cohen, but not Zolciak-Biermann.
“NBC, Bravo, and True promote a company and workplace culture in which inappropriate and racist behavior is tolerated — if not encouraged,” the lawsuit says.
NBCUniversal representatives declined to comment. Emails sent to representatives of the other defendants and Zoljjak Berman seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Leakes, 54, is a television personality and actress whose legal name is Linnethia Monique Leakes, spent seven seasons as one of the pivotal stars on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” between 2008 and 2020.
Allegedly, during the first season, which aired in 2008, the cast was planning a barbecue, and housewife Kim Zolciak Berman responded to the idea with “touching words:” I don’t want to sit with NeNe and eat chicken. “
The lawsuit says that in 2012 during season five, Zolciak Berman made “racially offensive and stereotypical” comments about housewife Kandi Burruss’ new home, calling her neighborhood a “ghetto” and perpetuating racial stereotypes in an offensive comment about whether Burruss needed a swimming pool.
That same year, the lawsuit says, Zolciak Berman used the N-word to refer to other housewives and housewives after a disagreement with them, the lawsuit alleges. She also alleges that Zolciak-Biermann falsely suggested that Leakes had taken drugs and described her home as a “cockroach nest.”
The lawsuit says after complaints leaked to the show’s supervising executives, that they “did not end their relationship with Zolciak Berman, nor took any other meaningful action to end her racially aggressive behavior,” and if anything rewarded her by offering her own show.
“Since the day filming of the series began, Nene has been the target of systematic racism from co-star Kim Zolciak Berman, something that Bravo Executive Producer Andy Cohen and other executives have been condoning,” Lekes’ attorney David D. Roberts said in a statement.
“Not a day goes by that NeNe does not wake up with an onslaught of overwhelming emotions as a direct result of these unfortunate and avoidable events,” Joe Habashi, another Leakes attorney, said by email.
The lawsuit alleges that her complaints of racism partially led to the Leakes being forced out of the show in 2020 ahead of its thirteenth season.
The lawsuit says the Leakes’ negotiations for the season came as the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum, with Leakes a vocal supporter.
The lawsuit alleges that the executives sought to sideline the leaks from talk of why, and to distance them from early episodes in which they would address the BLM Housewives.
“As the Black Lives Matter movement swept our nation, NBC, Bravo, and True were supposed to adopt Ms. Leakes—Bravo’s most historically successful black talent,” the lawsuit says. “Instead, NBC, Bravo, and True forced her out of ‘The House She Built’, depriving her of a regular role.”
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants’ actions violated federal employment law and anti-discrimination law, and it seeks monetary damages to be determined at trial.