NeNe Leakes Is Defecting From Camp Frankel

By Emma Chance | Celebrity | November 22, 2023 |

By Emma Chance | Celebrity | November 22, 2023 |

NeNe Leakes was Bethenny Frankel’s big get on her mission to take down Bravo. The former Real Housewives of Atlanta star appeared on the former Real Housewives of New York star’s “Just B” podcast at least twice and was one of the guests at Frankel’s recent star-studded dinner party.

Now, Leakes has wiped all evidence of her recent friendship with Frankel from her Instagram. Meanwhile, she re-followed the official Bravo Television account and vice versa.

A source close to Leakes says that she and Frankel have “no issues,” and they have in fact “been talking and texting all week” discussing “future projects together.”

“NeNe was promoting the podcast episodes AS they were airing,” the source explained. “There is no reason for her to promote old episodes, and Bethenny has had new episodes since then.” Leakes “cleaned up her Instagram from old promos, as many people do, including Bethenny.”

Hmmmm…

Leakes was an early defector from Bravo. She sued the network in April 2022 for “fostering and tolerating a hostile and racist work environment,” specifically mentioning racist remarks from co-star Kim Zolciak Biermann. She was an obvious choice for Frankel’s vanity project, and unlike Frankel’s other ex-Bravo victim, Rachel Leviss, Leakes is popular among fans. That, I think, is the very reason Bravo knew they needed to act. This whole thing with Frankel has been making waves—they’re small waves, but they’re waves—and the best move on their part is to make amends with their biggest critics and bring them back into the fold.

When a fan asked Andy Cohen about Leakes’s possible return at BravoCon earlier this month, he said, “I’m a nostalgic guy. She and I came up together and there’s always room in my heart for, you know, everybody,” but he also said, “Who knows? I mean, she asked me a few years ago to keep her name out of my mouth, so I try to respect that.”

I don’t care if she returns, but I’m glad she got away from Bethenny.