Boycott Bravo over racism – ‘Housewife’
Reality has gotten grim for one of reality TV’s biggest stars.
NeNe Leakes appears to be biting the hand that fed her as she openly encouraged fans (and followers) to boycott Bravo — the network that has created a cottage industry out of its “Real Housewives” franchise.
On Monday, the 53-year-old former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star (inset) fired off a series of tweets hoping to get people onboard her mission to hit the basic cable channel where it hurts.
“Y’all ready to start this boycott yet?” she tweeted. “What has happened behind the scenes is WRONG! While others were being promoted, BLACK WOMEN who created shows, created genres, built franchise and built networks were being DEMOTED...TURN OFF YOUR TV’S.”
“Sign the petitions when you see them, repost the boycott flyers when you see them, turn off your TVs,” the Queens native — whose real name is Linnethia Monique Leakes — continued.
In a following tweet, she shared the link to a Change.org petition hoping to hold Bravo TV, and its parent company NBCUniversal, responsible for their actions toward both herself and “Married to Medicine” star Mariah Huq.
The “Married to Medicine” housewife — who is the creator and an executive producer — confirmed to entertainment website the Jasmine Brand that she didn’t receive a contract for Season 8 of the series.
“Both ladies have been greatly disrespected, underappreciated and devalued right before our eyes,” the petition reads before going on to accuse the network of “systemic racism and inequality.” As of early Tuesday afternoon, the petition had garnered more than 10,000 signatures and reset its goal to 15,000.
In a YouTube video in September, Leakes announced that she would not be a part of Season 13 of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
“Thank you to all of you guys that have been showing me a lot of love and support as of late ...,” she said. “I have been on an extremely, extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional negotiation. There has been a lot of emotion flying on both sides. It has been hard, and I have made the very hard and difficult decision to not be a part of ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Season 13.”
Later, when Twitter followers probed her about her departure, she claimed she was actually forced off the reality series by Bravo.
Alleging that she wasn’t given a “fair offer” to film this season, she explained to Tamron Hall that she didn’t “deserve this treatment.”
“I can’t tell you everything I want from them, but I can tell you that I want fair treatment. I deserve fair treatment,” an emotional Leakes told the Emmy Award-winning talk show host in October. “I haven’t done anything that no one else has done there or haven’t done even worse.”
Bravo has yet to publicly comment on Leakes’ accusations.
Leakes has also called out “Real Housewives” kingpin Andy Cohen for having her on-again, off-again friend Wendy Williams on his “Watch What Happens Live” latenight talk show following her exit.
Cohen, who maintained a close relationship with the “Housewives” villainess, did pay homage to her after her departure was announced.
“Nene Leakes is an icon of the genre. She is a gif and catchphrase machine. In 11 years of #WWHL, Nene has been our most frequent guest, and she is always A BLAST,” the “Most Talkative” author wrote at the time via Instagram.
“Nene nicknamed me ‘Buttercup’ the first day we met, and still calls me that today. Through her whole run, she has always had a serious concern and drive to maintain the success and well-being of #RHOA. I am going to miss Nene on the show, but I’m hoping we work together again soon and will remain in each other’s orbits forever.”
The married mother of two starred on the first seven seasons of the True Entertainment-produced series before her original exit in 2015. She also starred in spinoff “I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding,” which ran for seven episodes in 2013.