Real Housewives star NeNe Leakes sues, saying racism accepted on show
NeNe Leakes, a former star of The Actual Housewives of Atlanta, sued the businesses behind the present on Wednesday, alleging they fostered and tolerated a hostile and racist work surroundings.
The lawsuit filed in federal court docket in Atlanta says Leakes, who’s Black, complained to executives about years of racist remarks from fellow housewife Kim Zolciak-Biermann, who’s white, however that solely Leakes suffered penalties.
The go well with names as defendants NBCUniversal, Bravo, manufacturing firms True Leisure and Really Authentic, executives from the businesses and Housewives government producer Andy Cohen, however not Zolciak-Biermann.
“NBC, Bravo and True foster a company and office tradition wherein racially insensitive and inappropriate behaviour is tolerated — if not inspired,” the go well with says.
Representatives for NBCUniversal declined remark.
Emails despatched to representatives for the opposite defendants and Zolciak-Biermann searching for remark weren’t instantly returned.
Co-star made ‘racially offensive and stereotypical’ feedback
Leakes, 54, a TV persona and actor whose authorized identify is Linnethia Monique Leakes, spent seven seasons as one of many central stars of The Actual Housewives of Atlanta between 2008 and 2020.
The go well with alleges that through the first season, which aired in 2008, the forged was planning to attend a barbecue, and Zolciak-Biermann responded to the concept with “phrases to the impact of: ‘I do not wish to sit round with NeNe and eat hen.”‘ The go well with says the assertion “perpetuated an offensive stereotype about African-People.”
The go well with says in 2012, through the fifth season, Zolciak-Biermann made “racially offensive and stereotypical” feedback in regards to the new house of housewife Kandi Burruss, calling her neighbourhood a “ghetto” and perpetuating a racial stereotype in an offensive remark about whether or not Burruss wanted a swimming pool.
That very same 12 months, the go well with says, Zolciak-Biermann used the N-word to consult with Leakes and different housewives after a dispute with them, the go well with alleges. It additionally alleges Zolciak-Biermann falsely implied that Leakes used medicine and known as her house a “roach nest.”
The go well with says after Leakes’s complaints to the executives overseeing the present, they “didn’t terminate their relationship with Zolciak-Biermann, nor take every other significant motion to place an finish to her racially offensive behaviour,” and, if something, rewarded her by giving her a by-product present.
“From the day the collection started filming, NeNe was the goal of systemic racism from co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann, which was tolerated by Bravo government producer Andy Cohen and different executives,” Leakes’s lawyer David deRubertis mentioned in a press release.
Leakes says she was compelled off present for alleging racism
Joe Habachy, one other of Leakes’s attorneys, mentioned by way of e-mail “not a day goes by that NeNe does not get up with an onslaught of overwhelming feelings as a direct results of these unlucky and avoidable occurrences.”
The lawsuit alleges that her complaints of racism led partly to Leakes being compelled off the present in 2020, earlier than its thirteenth season.
The go well with says Leakes’s negotiations for the season got here because the Black Lives Matter motion was gaining momentum, with Leakes a vocal supporter.
Executives sought to sideline Leakes from speaking in regards to the trigger, retaining her off early episodes wherein the housewives would handle BLM, the go well with alleges.
“Because the Black Lives Matter motion swept our nation, Mrs. Leakes — Bravo’s traditionally most profitable Black feminine expertise — ought to have been embraced by NBC, Bravo and True,” the go well with says. “As an alternative, NBC, Bravo and True compelled her out of the ‘home she constructed,’ denying her an everyday function.”
The go well with alleges that the defendants’ actions violate federal employment and anti-discrimination regulation, and it seeks financial damages to be decided at trial.
