Why NeNe Leakes Wants Fans to Boycott Bravo

NeNe Leakes

Getty NeNe Leakes in 2020

In a recent Tweet, former Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes called for fans to boycott Bravo as she claims that the network discriminated against her and others.

“Y’all ready to start this boycott yet?” Leakes wrote on December 21. “What has happened behind the scenes is WRONG! While others were being promoted, BLACK WOMEN who created shows, created genres, built franchises and built networks were being DEMOTED…TURN OFF YOUR TV’S.”

Then, on December 22, Leakes tweeted out a link to a Change.org petition calling to boycott Bravo and NBC Universal. The description of the petition read, “This petition is putting Bravo TV on notice that fans of the shows Real Housewives of Atlanta and Married to Medicine hold them accountable for their dirty deeds, particularly as it relates to the unfair and biased treatment they have displayed towards their African American talent, more specifically NeNe Leakes and Mariah Huq.”

In September, Leakes revealed on her YouTube channel that she would not be returning to The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Leakes has been on the show since Season One.


NeNe Leakes Revealed That She Has Hired an Attorney

Leakes also revealed that she has hired an attorney to help her deal with the alleged discrimination from Bravo. On December 21, Leakes also posted on Instagram that she would be hosting a live later that night on her page with her attorney, who is a man named Ben Crump.

According to Vulture, during the Instagram Live, Leakes spoke more about her call for a boycott of the network. “I think it’s a way for us to take a seat at the table and have a conversation with Bravo,” Leakes said. “What I want from Bravo is for them to sit down with me and my representatives and have a conversation.”

In the caption of the Instagram photo, Leakes encouraged other women who have experienced racial discrimination to contact her and her lawyer. “This has been a long time coming,” Leakes wrote on Instagram. “If there are any other women out there who have experienced racial discrimination or mistreatment of any kind please contact us. You can email me or contact any of my representatives. I am represented by Bryan Freedman, Ben Crump and supported by the great Al Sharpton.”


NeNe Leakes Implied That Bravo Wanted Her off the Show

In a video posted to her YouTube channel in September, Leakes explained that she wouldn’t be coming back to The Real Housewives of Atlanta for Season 13 because she couldn’t reach a deal with the network. “There’s been a lot of emotions on both sides,” Leakes said in the video. “It’s been hard and I have made a hard, difficult decision to not be part of Real Housewives of Atlanta season 13.” In the video, Leakes also added, “It wasn’t an easy decision for me. It was hard.”

However, during an October interview with Extra TV, Leakes later claimed that she was being “pushed out” of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. “I left because I was being pushed out,” Leakes admitted to Extra TV. “There are real feelings involved here. I would never just come out just saying anything just because I want attention.”

Leakes continued to insinuate to fans that she was “pushed out” on Twitter. After Leakes made her announcement on YouTube, a fan wrote to her on Twitter, “It sounds like they forced you out! Is that the story you want out there. ‘They didn’t want u to work in any capacity?’ In response, Leakes wrote back, “They definitely did.”

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