NeNe Leakes, The Real Housewives of Atlanta Star, Files Lawsuit Claiming Racist, Hostile Environment on Bravo Series

Former The Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes filed a lawsuit in Atlanta federal court on Wednesday.

In the lawsuit, the reality TV star claims that the companies that produced the series oversaw a hostile and racist workplace.

Leakes named executive producer Andy Cohen, Bravo, NBC Universal, True Entertainment, Truly Original, and executives from the companies.

The Associated Press first reported the news of the lawsuit.

Leakes claimed in the court documents that she had reported racist remarks from onetime co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann.

The star alleged that she faced repercussions in her professional life due to speaking up about the alleged incidents.

"NBC, Bravo and True foster a corporate and workplace culture in which racially-insensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated – if not, encouraged," Leakes' legal team claimed.

Leakes appeared on the series as a leading cast member on its first seven seasons before dropping down to a recurring role for its seventh and eighth seasons.

She returned as a full-time cast member for Season 10 and remained with the show through its 12th season.

The star also landed a spinoff titled I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding, which aired in 2013.

The special charted her nuptials to her late husband, Gregg Leakes.

While Zolciak-Biermann was not named in the lawsuit, Leakes alleged that her former co-star made a racist remark during the filming of the freshman season of the show.

The cast was said to be attending a barbecue, with Kim allegedly saying, "I don’t want to sit around with NeNe and eat chicken," which "perpetuated an offensive stereotype about African-Americans."

Leakes said that Zolciak-Biermann said the N-word during a fight with Leakes and other cast members during the fifth season of the hit series.

Leakes further alleged that her former co-star addressed her home as a "roach nest" and implied that she was a drug user.

Leakes also told the court that Zolciak-Biermann said that the neighborhood their co-star, Kandi Burruss, purchased a home in was "ghetto."

NeNe said that the remarks were reported to executives, but they "did not terminate their relationship with Zolciak-Biermann, nor take any other meaningful action to put an end to her racially-offensive behavior."

Leakes’ lawyer David deRubertis said in a statement that "from the day the series began filming, NeNe was the target of systemic racism from co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann, which was tolerated by Bravo executive producer Andy Cohen and other executives."

Kim headlined a spinoff, Don't Be Tardy, which lasted for eight seasons before concluding in 2020.

Leakes also said that show executives purposefully kept her out of the show's 13th season.

"As the Black Lives Matter movement swept our nation, Mrs. Leakes - Bravo’s historically most successful Black female talent - should have been embraced by NBC, Bravo, and True," her legal team said in the lawsuit.

"Instead, NBC, Bravo, and True forced her out of the 'house she built,' denying her a regular role."

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.