EXCLUSIVE: Nene Leakes Claims Bravo ‘Racially Segregated The Real Housewives Franchise For Years’: The Franchise Is Reminiscent Of The Early Days Of ‘Separate, But Equal’

Nene Leakes

EXCLUSIVE: Nene Leakes Claims Bravo ‘Racially Segregated The Real Housewives Franchise For Years’: The Franchise Is Reminiscent Of The Early Days Of ‘Separate, But Equal’

theJasmineBRAND exclusively reports, more details surrounding NeNe Leakes ongoing lawsuit against Bravo. The former BRAVO star claims the network ‘racially segregated The Real Housewives franchise for years.’

In court documents obtained exclusively by theJasmineBRAND, Nene Leakes says Bravo conducted a segregated nature among The Real Housewives franchise with little to no overlap. The suit says,

“For years, NBC and Bravo have run The Real Housewives as a segregated franchise where certain shows are treated as white shows and others as Black, with little if any overlap or mixing between the two.”

It continues,

“The segregated nature of the franchise is reminiscent of the early days of “separate but equal” – that is, the shows are racially separated, purported to be equal, but in fact they are not. Some, but not all of the examples of the segregation within the franchise, are discussed below.”

Nene Leakes

In her 74-page lawsuit filed against Andy Cohen, Bravo, and the producers behind RHOA, the iconic reality tv star broke down numerous examples of the alleged segregation amongst several franchises. The suit begins by noting The Real Housewives of Orange County (RHOC)–which has been on air since 2005– had their first black housewife (Noella Bergener) after 15 years.

In the court docs obtained by theJasmineBRAND, the lawsuit goes on to name Real Housewives Of New York as another example of alleged segregation. Leakes and her legal team point out that it took thirteen seasons before RHONY welcomed a black housewife onto the show. The suit reads,

“For over a decade, Bravo’s next franchise, RHONY, was also racially segregated and dominated by white housewives. Indeed, it took thirteen (13) seasons for RHONY to finally have a Black housewife on the show when, only in May 2021, it introduced Eboni K. Williams as its first Black housewife. Why it took so long? Only NBC and Bravo can answer that.”

It continues,

“But in Williams’ own words: “It is so glaringly obvious to me and, I think, the rest of the country that you can’t have a show about New York and not have a Black woman’s lens represented. It just … it actually doesn’t make any sense. So for twelve years that had been the case….”

The suit names Nene Leakes’ franchise, ‘The Real Housewives Of Atlanta‘ as being racially segregated, this time, in a reverse direction. It reads,

“Bravo’s third franchise, RHOA, was also largely racially segregated, but in the opposite direction. Based out of Atlanta, Georgia, RHOA was dominated by Black housewives with one notable exception discussed in detail below: Kim Zolziak-Biermann…Ironically, Zolciak-Biermann was only invited onto the show because NeNe Leakes introduced her to the show’s producers. Mrs. Leakes casually knew Zolciak-Biermann from the community.”

Naturally, many of the ‘OG’ franchises are mentioned in the suit, noting the lack of diversity that took place for many years. Nene Leakes and her team also called out Real Housewives of Beverly Hills who casted Garcelle Beauvais as the first black housewife on the franchise after 10 years.

Garcelle Beauvais

As previously reported, Nene Leakes sued Bravo, the producers behind The Real Housewives Of Atlanta, and Andy Cohen claiming they fostered and tolerated a hostile and racist work environment. NeNe accuses the defendants of ignoring her complaints about former co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann. NeNe claims Kim made several racially-offensive statements while filming. She alleges that the network and producers often ignored her and even told her to stop speaking about the matter publicly. NeNe also says Kim never suffered consequences for her actions but instead was given her own spin-off show.

nene leakes, kim zolciak

Nene Leakes also claims that Andy Cohen and NBC Universal went out of their way to “blackball” her in the industry and “sabotaged” negotiations surrounding her potential Sirius XM radio show.

Andy Cohen

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