NeNe Leakes is suing Bravo, Andy Cohen and The Real Housewives of Atlanta production companies over racism and a hostile work environment.
The reality star, 54, names the network, Cohen, 53, NBCUniversal and RHOA production companies True Entertainment and Truly Original as defendants, per the Associated Press, in a complaint filed in an Atlanta federal court.
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“NBC, Bravo and True foster a corporate and workplace culture in which racially-insensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated — if not, encouraged,” the filing alleges, according to THR.
NeNe also alleges her former costar and friend Kim Zolciak-Biermann, 43, made racist comments for years, but NeNe was the one who was punished after informing executives.
NeNe alleges that executives “did not terminate their relationship with Zolciak-Biermann, nor take any other meaningful action to put an end to her racially-offensive behavior” but instead gave her a spinoff, referencing Zolciak-Biermann’s Don’t Be Tardy, which aired on Bravo for eight seasons.
“From the day the series began filming, NeNe was the target of systemic racism from co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann, which was tolerated by Bravo executive producer Andy Cohen and other executives,” Nene’s lawyer David deRubertis said in a statement to THR.
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The lawsuit says during season 5, Zolciak-Biermann made “racially offensive and stereotypical” remarks about costar Kandi Burruss‘ new home, referring to her neighborhood as “ghetto,” the Associated Press reports. NeNe alleges that later that year, Zolciak-Biermann also used the N-word when talking about Leakes and other costars.
Zolciak-Biermann is not named in the lawsuit.
“NeNe and Kim have been fine for a while now,” a source close to production tells PEOPLE. “Kim isn’t sure where all this is coming from.”
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