NeNe Leakes sues Andy Cohen, Bravo and others alleging the RHOA was racist and hostile in the workplace

NeNe Leakes filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Atlanta federal court alleging that the companies that ran The Real Housewives of Atlanta controlled a hostile and racist workplace.

Leakes, 54, named Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen, Bravo, NBCUniversal, True Entertainment and Truly Original, 53, as well as company executives, in his lawsuit. Associated press.

Lakes, who is black, said in court documents that he overheard racist remarks from white RHOA star Kim Zolkiak-Bierman, 43, for a higher position in the companies and thus threatened his career results.

“NBC, Bravo and True promote a corporate and workplace culture in which racially sensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated, if not encouraged,” Leakes’ legal team said in a lawsuit.

The reality star, whose full name is Linnethia Monique Leakes, appeared on the Georgian reality show in 2008 and 2020 for a total of 214 episodes. iMDb.

She was a regular on the show for the seventh season, was a part-time cast member in the show’s seventh season, and returned as a regular for seasons 10 through 12. She was also seen in the spin-off, I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding. In 2013, she registered her marriage to her late husband Greg Leaks.

Lex said Zoliac-Biermann, who was not named in the lawsuit, made a racist comment about the show’s 2008 run, when the actors were about to attend a barbecue.

Leakes named Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen, 53, among the defendants in his lawsuit.

Likes said the companies he named in the lawsuit, including Bravo and NBCUniversal, were violating federal labor and anti-discrimination laws and demanding that damages be determined by lawsuit.

Lakes said in court documents that Zoliak-Bierman said “words to say, ‘I don’t want to sit with Nene and eat chicken,'” which “reinforces the offensive stereotype about African Americans.”

Zolciak-Biermann made more “racially abusive and stereotypical” comments in the show’s fifth season in 2012, according to Leakes, who said Zolciak-Biermann used the N word in a fight with him and other actors.

In one case, after cast member Kandy Burrus, 45, bought a new home, Lex told the court that Zoliak-Bierman called the area where Burrus lived in the “ghetto” and asked if he needed a swimming pool.

Lakes said in court documents that Zoliak-Burman called his home a “nest of scars” and lied that Lakes was a drug user.

Lakes said in his lawsuit that he informed the show’s executives about racial comments that they “did not end their relationship with Zoliak-Biermann or take any other significant action to end his racially abusive behavior.”

Lakes said he heard racist comments from the RHOA constellation Kim Zoliak-Biermann (pictured), 43, with senior corporate officials, and threatened professional results as a result.

In one case, after cast member Kandy Burrus, 45 (pictured last month), bought a new house, Lex told the court that Zoliak-Bierman called the area where Burrus lived in the ghetto and asked if I needed one. pool.

Zolciak-Biermann received more lucrative opportunities from Bravo in the 2012 spinoff “Don’t Be Tardy for the Wedding”, which was later shortened to “Don’t Be Tardy”. The series ran for eight seasons before ending in 2020.

Leakes’ attorney David Derubertis said, “From the day the series began filming, NeNe has been the target of systemic racism from the Kim Zoliak-Bierman constellation, which was condoned by Bravo executive producer Andy Cohen and others. executives.”

Another Leakes attorney, Joe Habachi, told the AP in an email that “there isn’t a day that Nene doesn’t wake up with a flood of boundless emotions as a direct result of these unfortunate and unavoidable events.”

In the lawsuit, Lix said she spoke of racist behavior that led to her forcible removal from the series before the start of Season 13 in 2020, at a time when the organization Black Lives Matter made headlines following the social change. police murder of George Floyd. , and the demonstrations against racism and police brutality that followed.

Lex, a BLM supporter, said in the lawsuit that executives deliberately detained him in episodes that were filmed at a time when the actors were discussing the matter.

Lix and Cohen were filmed in 2019, see what happens live

Lakes was seen with Cohen and Zoliak-Bierman in a photo Cohen posted on social media in 2020

“Once the Black Lives Matter movement swept across our nation, Ms. Lix, Bravo’s most successful black female talent in history, would be taken over by NBC, Bravo and True,” Lix’s legal team said in the lawsuit. “In return, NBC, Bravo and Trum forced him to leave ‘the house he built’, giving up his usual role.

Lex said the companies he named in the lawsuit were violating federal labor and anti-discrimination laws and demanded that damages be determined through litigation.

This was announced by the production source. People As of Wednesday, Zolciak-Biermann “wasn’t sure where all this was coming from” because he and Leakes “have been good for a long time”.

Lex is one of the most distinguished personalities to emerge from the world of Real Housewives, having appeared on other shows including Fashion Police, Dancing with the Stars and The Celebrity Apprentice. He has also starred in shows like Glee, The New Normal and Dynasty.