‘RHOA’ Producer Reveals if Nene Leakes Could Ever Return After Slamming Andy Cohen With Discrimination Claims
The Real Housewives of Atlanta producer Carlos King offered insight into the ongoing discrimination dispute between executive producer Andy Cohen and Nene Leakes.
Leakes is suing Bravo, Cohen, NBCUniveral and the RHOA production company for creating a “workplace culture in which racially-insensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated — if not, encouraged,” according to the court filing (via People). Leakes believes she was the target of “systemic racism” from other RHOA co-stars and is now being blacklisted in the entertainment business.
Is there a future for Nene Leakes on ‘RHOA’?
Leakes went hard with her lawsuit, so could there ever be a future again with Bravo? “I think there’s a conversation that needs to be had between Nene and Andy,” King said on the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast.
“Andy said recently that after [husband] Greg passed, he did reach out to Nene and the two exchange pleasantries,” King recalled. But, “He did not want to go into further detail because he said that he didn’t want to say anything that may not be what she wants to talk about.”
“So to me that shows that the door is cracked open a little bit,” he added.
Carlos King says Andy Cohen and Nene Leakes have a lot of love for each other
King believes Leakes and Cohen could someday find common ground. “And on the record, I told Nene, I think at the end of the day, she and Andy should have a personal one-on-one conversation so that he can hear out of her own mouth one-on-one how she feels,” he said.
Cohen and Leakes are dealing with hurt feelings because they have shared a strong bond. “And I said, I can promise you if he hears you and you hear from him cause I know those two very well,” King said about Leakes and Cohen’s connection.
“They love each other so much, like so much,” King insisted. “And I know for a fact how much Nene loved Andy. She would talk about him all the time to me, how much she adored him.”
“And he knows that. Cause I said it to him. I believe that once those two have a one-on-one conversation, all will be right in the world. Because the stuff that he says to me … I’m like talk to him. Like I think it’s like just have a conversation with him.” King added, “I think it’s so fixable. I really do. I really want them to have a conversation.”
Nene Leakes became bigger than ‘RHOA’
King admitted that Leakes ultimately became bigger than RHOA. But he said there was no guidance showing her how to handle the meteoric rise she experienced.
“And when people say that Nene thinks she was bigger than the show, I think Nene always felt that yes, her presence on the show was larger than life,” he observed. “And for sure she is the face of that franchise. I think what happened is there is no rule book or no instruction manual that sort of teaches people how to handle that level of fame.”
“But Nene was the star,” he added. “She, in my opinion, and people may argue with me, after the first season of Atlanta Housewives, Nene became the face of Housewives. And I think all of that pressure, does something to someone. And I definitely think it did a number on her.”
