New details have emerged in NeNe Leakes’ lawsuit against Bravo, who she claims encouraged a racist and hostile work environment during her time as a cast member on the Atlanta edition of the Real Housewives franchise. In court documents obtained by The Jasmine Brand, the mother-of-two has recalled several instances that she believes back up her claims that the network’s executives allegedly disregarded women of color.
In one part of her suit, NeNe, whose real name is Linnethia Monique Leakes, mentioned fellow star Eboni K. Williams, who was at odds with the cast of the Real Housewives of New York when she joined the series and became the first-ever black housewife on that show last year. There had been a quarrel between Eboni and Ramona Singer, who was allegedly heard saying, “This is why we shouldn’t have Black people on the show.”
It was further mentioned that despite filing an internal complaint about the 65-year-old to Bravo, Ramona was never punished for her remark. If anything, NeNe’s lawsuit contends that she was actually rewarded with more camera time while the matter concerning Eboni was pushed under the rug. “In May 2021, Eboni K. Williams was introduced as RHONY’s first Black housewife,” NeNe’s legal team wrote in her suit. “Williams soon observed and reported racially-offensive conduct and/or statements by longtime white housewife Ramona Singer. Public reports suggest that Singer had made racially-inappropriate remarks about Black people, including stating: ‘This is why we shouldn’t have black people on the show.’”
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Her lawyers went on to stress, “Despite the allegations made against Singer – at least some of which were reportedly corroborated by the internal investigation and confirmed by another housewife in addition to Williams – NBC and Bravo continued thereafter to reward Singer. Indeed, NBC and Bravo chose to employ Singer as one of the seven housewives on its premiere season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.”
It was further mentioned that RHONY cast member Heather Thompson was present when Ramona made the uncalled-for comment. Still, there was no follow-up to what the latter had been accused of, which NeNe argues is one of many signs that Bravo ignored issues its black cast stars faced during the taping of their popular franchise.
Earlier this week, it was reported that NeNe had hired David deRubertis, who is perhaps best known for representing comedian Mo’Nique when she went up against Netflix and sued for unequal pay. The former Glee star is not just suing Bravo but also executive producer Andy Cohen, along with NBC Universal, True Entertainment and Truly Original, and three other producers.
“The goals are to stop racial discrimination against Black women,” NeNe wrote in her 74-page complaint. “Nobody wants to go to work every day as a Black woman with blonde hair, and the head of the corporation calls you a white woman. I was constantly being retaliated against, being blacklisted, not able to work, being silenced, and so, you know, it was difficult to do.”