Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes is not happy with Andy Cohen or Wendy Williams—and if her recent Twitter rant is more than a bluff, she might just be fired up enough to take someone to court over it.
Oh, and did I mention that all of this is over a Watch What Happens Live after-show segment?
Cohen knew what he was doing when he booked Williams, Leakes’ longtime frenemy, for his show. And sure enough, when Williams took a moment to chime in on on Leakes’ latest departure from Real Housewives on WWHL, Williams came prepared with some withering skepticism. “You’ll have her back,” Williams told Cohen. “NeNe likes attention—dramatic attention.”
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“I don’t know what NeNe’s going to be doing for money,” Williams said. “I’m not trying to count coins, but the Housewives is that one thing that all the girls use to promote their other stuff. And while NeNe is as famous as Bethenny, Bethenny has turned it into a legitimate multi-million dollar situation.”
Williams also scoffed at the prospect of Leakes leading her own spin-off in the same way other OG Housewives stars like Lisa Vanderpump have. “Is it going to be like, Gregg [Leakes’ husband] and NeNe, you’re gonna give them another reality show?” she asked. “That’s boring. How about NeNe being a grandmother? That’s boring. You know, NeNe and her own kids? That’s boring. NeNe trying to figure out Hollywood? That’s boring.”
Leakes was evidently not amused. On Sunday night she went on a Twitter rampage against both Cohen and Williams, writing, “Both are f their ratings are LOW! Bye QUEENS.”
Referencing Williams’ past struggles with cocaine abuse, Leakes continued, “She on cocaine so they should stop using her to talk! They both need my help with their poor ratings.” (A representative for Williams declined The Daily Beast’s request for comment.)
And regarding Cohen, Leakes added, “Keep trying me sir and imma let the world know who you really are.”
It didn’t take long before Leakes got a little more specific—and it was at that point that she dropped a vague legal threat.
“I will ALWAYS eat and eat good!” Leakes wrote regarding her financials. “Believe that. I have ALWAYS believed in multiple streams of income so the leakes are good you ole cocaine head and you ole racist. No one knew you until YOU knew me. Remember I’m ICON. Don’t forget.”
“They ALWAYS manipulating black women to say negative things about each other while they sit and enjoy us tearing each other down!” Leakes continued. “Remember #BLM Remember #breonnataylor REMEMBER the most racist networks.”
“They gone leave my name outta these shows,” Leakes added. “Send me your best discrimination attorneys info to booknene@gmail.com ITS WAR.”
“The racist is the master manipulator!” Leakes wrote. “They using me for ratings like they have always done.”
Representatives for Cohen and Bravo did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment. A source tells The Daily Beast that if Williams does address the mudslinging, it will be on her talk show.
Leakes appeared on The Real Housewives of Atlanta from its debut in 2008 through Season 7 before being largely absent from the show for the two seasons that followed. She returned for Season 10 onward, but that reunion was short-lived; earlier this month Leakes announced that she was on her way out again ahead of Season 13.
RHOA has long been the most-watched Housewives series, and Leakes is, as she well knows, its most widely recognized star. That wold probably be why, as of last year, Leakes was the highest-paid star within the franchise.
Still, the signs of trouble had already begun to make their way on-screen before Leakes first announced that she was leaving again this fall. (She had, after all, walked off-camera—twice!—during the RHOA virtual reunion in May.)
When Leakes announced her exit earlier this month, she hinted that it was not exactly a painless break-up.
“I have been on an extremely, extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional negotiation,” she said at the time. “There has been a lot of emotion flying from 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. It wasn’t an easy decision for me. It was hard.”
In a statement, Bravo said, “We wish Nene all the best in her future endeavors and thank her for sharing her journey for over a decade with the fans of ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta.’ She’s been instrumental since the start and will truly be missed, and maybe one day she’ll hold the peach again.”
And now, like clockwork, Leakes is scheduled to appear on Tamron Hall later this week. Bloop!
