NeNe Leakes officially confirmed her departure from Real Housewives of Atlanta after denying the rumors for months.
The news that NeNe was let go from the reality TV franchise was first reported by blogger B. Scott in June.
The mom of two responded to allegations that she was not invited back to the show due to insubordination and being a b*tch to her castmates.
“I promise I’ll be the first to tell you myself! Thanks you for the love,” she tweeted in June.
I promise I’ll be the first to tell you myself! Thanks you for the love ??
— NeNe Leakes (@NeNeLeakes) June 18, 2020
NeNe’s manager also shut down rumors that she was dismissed from the cast after repeated acts of insubordination on and off the set.
“It is absolutely not true that Nene has been fired from RHOA,” Leakes’ manager, Steven Grossman tells PEOPLE. “Furthermore, it was made abundantly clear prior that she will always be welcome on the series as long as she wants to be.”
A confidential source told Sandrarose.com that NeNe was “hurt and depressed” after being dismissed from Bravo’s longest-running ‘Real Housewives’ franchise.
“She thinks her friends have abandoned her and she can’t trust anyone.”
Negotiations between NeNe, Bravo and her manager reportedly broke down after NeNe demanded more screen time in every episode, according to Tamara Tattlez, who added that NeNe was offered a 5% raise in her letter.
NeNe finally confirmed the inevitable in a video on her YouTube channel on Thursday. “I have been on an extremely, extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional negotiation,” she said.
NeNe tried to save face by claiming she made the decision to leave.
“There’s been a lot of emotion flying from both sides. It has been hard, and I have made the very hard and very difficult decision to not be a part of ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta,’ Season 13. It wasn’t an easy decision for me. It was hard.”
Word has it that the producers thought NeNe, at age 52, wasn’t connecting with Gen-Z. Her constant rants and jabs at everyone from her castmates to producers grew tiresome.
“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.
She thanked Bravo’s producers for “all the memories, the laughs, the tears.”
Bravo isn’t done cleaning house. Other aging cast members who will be phased out next year reportedly include Cynthia Bailey, 53, Kenya Moore, 49, and Kandi Burruss, 44.
