‘RHOA’: Nene Leakes Was Not Fired and Is Reportedly Returning, Per Her Manager
The Real Housewives of Atlanta viewers knew season 13 cast shake-ups would drive the drama during the show’s off-season. Now that it’s confirmed Eva Marcille isn’t returning, all attention turned to Nene Leakes.
Campaigns to have her fired started in season 12 with Kenya Moore and seeped into a segment of the RHOA fandom, and rumors are rampant that she’s out. Those are being refuted by Leakes’ camp.
Nene Leakes hinted that she wanted to leave ‘RHOA’
In the weeks leading up to the RHOA reunion, Leakes did a series of interviews where she said she felt like the women were ganging up on her. Back in April, she told Hollywood Unlocked’s Jason Lee that her castmates bash her. She alluded to quitting the show.
“They’re not afraid of me. They try to bash me and slander me; I’m over it. That’s what they do. They bash me and slander my name. I don’t know how much [more] longer I’m gonna do this.”
Leakes also said she was tired of how she was being treated. “But you know what? I’m tired. It’s not fair. You know, if they’re not gonna be fair, I can’t do this show. It has to be fair.”
Rumor mill says Nene Leakes is fired from ‘RHOA’
After deserting the season 12 reunion and throwing shade online, Leakes seemed to make it clear she wasn’t happy with the show and she was unsure about returning.
This week, bloggers and fans around the internet caught wind of a since-deleted tweet from Leakes that said, “You are NOT gonna get away with this! I promise.” It led many to believe she got fired from RHOA.
Additionally, Leakes’ Instagram Live interview with Glamour South Africa did not go over well since she compared herself to George Floyd. People dragged her for these comments she made about her experience on the RHOA reunion:
It was just too negative one. Two, I felt very ganged up on, and for all of you out there who can say they don’t know what ganged up on is, Google the definition of “gang up.” Gang up is more than one person on a person at the same time. George Floyd was ganged up on, so no he was physically ganged up on, and I have felt verbally ganged up on many times and that is not fair to me. And I’ve asked for that to not happen constantly, and it has been it has continued over and over again.
In spite of this, Leakes still has a large fan base and people consider her to be the OG on the show; they don’t want her to go.
Leakes’ manager says she wasn’t fired
According to an exclusive from Hollywood Life, Leakes received a contract for season 13. Further, her manager Steven Grossman sent a statement to the outlet refuting claims that she was fired.
It is absolutely not true that Nene has been fired from RHOA. Furthermore, it was made abundantly clear prior that she will always be welcome on the series as long as she wants to be,” he said. “We are having on-going bigger picture conversations with NBC Universal and have not made any decisions regarding next season specifically. Any speculation or sources trying to create controversy by stating otherwise are incredibly inaccurate.
Leakes hasn’t made any direct comments about her status for season 13, but it would be a surprise if she leaves, whether it’s temporarily or permanently.
