Everything NeNe Leakes Has Said About Leaving ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Ahead of Season 13

Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo

Everything NeNe Leakes Has Said About Leaving ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Ahead of Season 13

Doing it her way. NeNe Leakes has been quite outspoken since announcing her exit from The Real Housewives of Atlanta. On September 17, the OG cast member shared her departure news via YouTube ahead of the show’s 13th season. “I have made the hard and very difficult decision to not be a part of Real Housewives of Atlanta season 13,” she said at the time. “It wasn’t an easy decision for me. Leakes continued, “I have been on an extremely, extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional negotiation. There has been a lot of emotion flying on both sides. I’m just so happy that I can say that I was a part of a genre that opened doors for Black ensemble reality shows.” Bravo said in a statement to Us Weekly that they “wish NeNe all the best in her future endeavors and thank her for sharing her journey” with fans. “She’s been instrumental since the start and will truly be missed, and maybe one day she’ll hold the peach again,” the network added. [jwplayer HHCzFmLf-l3ahXupL] Leading up to her exit, Leakes’ future ties to the Atlanta franchise had come into question. The month after she virtually walked off the RHOA season 12 reunion special in May, she laughed off rumors that she was jumping ship. Leakes posted a throwback photo at the time of herself cracking up at the season 5 reunion, writing: “I can’t chileeeeeeee.” Two months later, she briefly deleted her Instagram and even her costars were unsure of what her status was for season 13. “I haven’t seen her. I know she’s dealing with some contract stuff,” Cynthia Bailey told Us exclusively on August 24. “That’s not my business. I hope they work all that out.” Bailey noted that Leakes was “good” for RHOA, adding, “Bravo’s always publicly said, ‘She always has a home here.’ They’ve always been supportive of whatever she wanted.” The Glee alum had been a part of RHOA since its debut season in 2008. Though she exited in season 7, she later returned for season 10 in 2017. Scroll down to see everything Leakes has said about leaving her RHOA days behind her. [podcast_block]

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Her Farewell

“I’m just so happy that I can say that I was a part of a genre that opened up doors for Black ensemble reality shows,” she said in her YouTube announcement. “I want to thank everybody that has looked up to me over the years. … I want to thank Bravo for all the memories. … Thank you to the cast for all of the memories.”

Credit: Tamron Hall Show

Getting Emotional

On October 2, Leakes broke down in tears while discussing her RHOA departure on the Tamron Hall Show. The Bravolebrity said that she wanted to be treated fairly by the network.

“I can’t tell you everything I want from them, but I can tell you that I want fair treatment. I deserve fair treatment,” she said. “I haven’t done anything that no one else has done there or haven’t done even worse. So, I don’t deserve this treatment.”

When asked if she wanted to “be back on the show,” she replied: “No, I do not.”

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Setting the Record Straight

Leakes clarified that she wasn’t axed from the long-running show. “I left the show,” she told Entertainment Tonight on October 1. “I had an offer on the table. I did not think the offer was a fair offer.”

The New Normal alum then addressed whether she would ever return to the series, adding: “I wish them all the best, really, I do. But I don’t think that's the place for me.”

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Taking a Step Back

“It was not an easy decision. I do know that the decision I have made was the right decision for me at this time in my life,” she said via YouTube on September 29. “I am at peace with that decision [but] it has been very hard for me. I have certainly had so many sleepless nights.”

Leakes continued, “You guys, I know everybody knows me as a strong woman but also, please know I’m human and I have hurt and I have cried and I have had the most sleepless nights. I have thought absolutely crazy some nights. It has been a very, very emotional roller-coaster.”

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Beefing With Wendy Williams

In the week of her exit, Williams dissed Leakes’ decision and spoke negatively about her family on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. At the time, she suggested a spinoff series centered on Leakes’ family would be “boring.” The former Bravo star subsequently slammed Williams and stated that they were no longer friends in a YouTube video, titled “Stop using me for click bait!”

“She does Andy Cohen’s show and here she sits speaking negatively of my exit and bringing my family into the equation. Now that’s what you’re not gonna do. What you’re not going to do is speaking negative of my family,” she said on September 29. “My family never signed up to be a part of anything doing television. They don’t have to be colorful. I am the person that has to be colorful or need to be colorful, OK?”

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Calling Out Andy Cohen

In the same YouTube in which she slammed Williams, Leakes also hit back at Cohen. “Let me sit over here and heal in peace. … If you don’t have anything positive to say about me working for your network after 13 years? Stop bringing up my name on your show to help your ratings. Stop it,” she said. “You didn’t want me here. You’ve been forcing me out for the past four years.”

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Bold Claims

On September 26, Leakes responded to a fan’s tweet about whether Bravo would “give you the spinoff you deserve” by saying: “They don’t think I deserve to work at all in any capacity.”

A second supporter questioned whether Bravo “forced” her “out.” To that, the reality star claimed that “they definitely did.”

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Calling for a Boycott

“Y’all ready to start this boycott yet? What has happened behind the scenes is WRONG!” Leakes tweeted as season 13 of RHOA aired. “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.”