Heavy/NBCUniversal NeNe Leakes
NeNe Leakes has broken her silence following news of the arrest of her 33-year-old son Bryson Rashard Bryant. The “Real Housewives of Atlanta” alum’s eldest son was arrested on July 3 and is being held at Gwinnett County Jail on a $6,100 bond, public records with the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department show.
He faces several charges, including violation of probation, possession of a scheduled II controlled substance, loitering/prowling and giving a false name, according to People. In a wide-ranging interview with Carlos King on his “Reality With the King” podcast, Leakes said, “I spoke to him on the phone, I think he’s doing OK.”
She told the producer that her son has been struggling with drugs for some time. “He needs rehabilitation,” she shared. “He needs a lot of counseling. Like many families out there, I have family members that are struggling with drugs and certain addictions. He has an addiction. He’s been struggling with it for years. He’s been in rehab for a couple of times and he still has come back out and relapsed.”
Follow the Heavy on Bravo TV Facebook page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content!
NeNe Leakes Said It Felt Like Her Hands Were Tied & Her Son Had to Want to Get Better
During her conversation with King, Leakes revealed that it had taken her a lot of time and frustration to realize that her “hands are tied” when it comes to her son. “[There’s] not much that I can do,” she shared. “For people who have had children or family members that have been on drugs, they know that they have to be ready. They have to simply be ready.”
The RHOA fan-favorite said she’d spent a lot of money trying to help her son get better but she eventually learned that the change had to come from him. “I learned through counseling myself that he has to say, ‘I’m ready to go,’ not me making him go,” she said. “So until Bryson is ready to make a change, [there’s] nothing I [can] do.” However, she admitted that she’d become “really kind of numb to the situation” after struggling with it for so many years.
Leakes also pointed out that her son is an adult and has a family of his own now. Bryant is married and has three children.
Both of NeNe Leakes’ Sons Appeared on RHOA With Her During Her Many Seasons on the Show
Bryant is the eldest of Leakes’ two sons. She also has a son named Brentt Leakes, whose father is her late husband Gregg Leakes. Both of her sons appeared regularly on RHOA during Leakes’ time on the show, and the Bravo alum didn’t hold back when King asked if she thought their time on TV might have had an impact on Bryant’s drug use. “I don’t think it helped,” she replied.
“I wouldn’t say that the sole cause of it, [but] it certainly didn’t help because we started on television when Bryson was like in the 11th or 12th grade and Brentt was in third grade,” she explained. “And, so they’re, they’re having to be in a light shine, a light shine on them that they did not ask for.”
Leakes joined RHOA for its first season and soon became an iconic reality TV figure, synonymous with the Housewives franchise. She was on the show for its first 7 seasons, before stepping away until season 10 in 2017. In 2020, she left the show again ahead of the 13th season after what she said was an “exhausting” negotiation in a YouTube video.
READ NEXT: Andy Cohen Calls ‘Nightmare’ Real Housewife a ‘Disaster’