More than a month after NeNe Leakes waged a legal war against the Bravo team and other networks behind “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Kim Zolciak-Biermann, who was the subject of the accusations, is speaking up.
As you might know, Leakes sued the team behind the reality show, accusing them of supporting a hostile and racially insensitive work environment that was mainly caused by Zolciak-Biermann.
Now, Zolciak-Biermann is slamming all of Leakes’ allegations and setting the record straight.
NeNe Leakes Sued ‘RHOA’ Team For Racial Discrimination
As The Blast reported, in April, Leakes filed a discrimination lawsuit against the creators of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” after years of voicing out about receiving unfair treatment from the show.
You might recall that the OG Housewife, who was part of the show for the first seven seasons, shocked fans with the news of her exit in 2020.
The television personality revealed she wouldn’t be returning for the 13th season and in her announcement explained that “it wasn’t an easy decision.”
Shortly after her departure, Leakes took to social media to rant against the producers of “RHOA,” especially Andy Cohen, accusing him of racism and promising to build a case against Bravo with the US Department of Equal Employment Opportunity in California, New York, or Georgia for “unfair treatment.”
She finally followed through with her promise this year, naming Bravo, NBC Universal, True Entertainment, Truly Original, and Cohen as defendants.
In the lawsuit, the “Glee” alum claimed that the creators failed to listen to her complaints about racist remarks from her fellow housewife Zolciak-Biermann and instead punished her for speaking up.
Leakes cited several instances in the court documents when her castmate made offensive comments pertaining to race and nothing was done to curb her behavior.
She recalled one incident during season one of the reality show when the housewives attended a barbecue.
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Leakes alleged that Zolciak-Biermann said, “I don’t want to sit around with NeNe and eat chicken” — a statement Leakes believed was “an offensive stereotype about African-Americans.”
She also brought up a time in season five when the “Don’t Be Tardy For The Wedding” star described Kandi Burruss’s home as “ghetto” and used the N-word.
Kim Zolciak-Biermann Slams Leakes’ Allegations
Per ET Online, over the weekend, the original housewives of “RHOA” reunited for an appearance on “OWN’s The Nightcap” hosted by Carlos King for a special reunion episode.
As expected, the housewives who were around for the first few seasons, Zolciak-Biermann, DeShawn Snow, Shereé Whitfield, and Lisa Wu, were all present apart from Leakes, whose lawsuit prevented her from being there.
During the reunion, King, who served as a producer in the first few seasons of “RHOA,” brought up Leakes’ lawsuit and asked the “Don’t Be Tardy” star what she thought of the allegations.
The mother-of-six didn’t hesitate to speak her mind, saying, “I mean, she knows what she’s saying is not true in regards to me. That’s ridiculous, and she knows it. So, I’ll deal with her when she’s done with them.”
It’s unsure how Zolciak-Biermann plans to “deal” with Leakes for the lawsuit, but it is worthy to note that the “Tardy for the Party” singer wasn’t listed as a defendant in the suit.
Kandi Burruss Doesn’t Think Leakes Faced Racism
Zolciak-Biermann isn’t the only “RHOA” housewife to blast Leakes’ racism allegations as baseless. Back in March, Kandi Burruss touched on the controversial topic, saying she doesn’t agree with Leakes that their work environment was racist.
“Realistically, I don’t agree… Everybody can have their own opinion. I did not agree,” the “Kandi & The Gang” star explained.
Burruss took a jab at Leakes, who has a reputation for bragging about being the highest-paid housewife, saying, “You can’t brag about being paid the most out of anybody and then say that they’re not treating you right.”
She continued, “I know, a lot of the women, especially at that time – now we got a lot of new people, it’s not as many of us left on the show – but at that time, we still had like, four or five of us, who had been there for a while, making some real good money.”
Burruss, however, didn’t completely dismiss Leakes’ claims as she noted, “it’s certain things that you may not like, certain things that you may want to try to do better, but, overall, to say that they were racist – I didn’t agree with that at all.”
