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“I’ve been blacklisted,” the formerReal Housewives of Atlantastar, 54, toldTMZon Monday. “If you haven’t worked in more than three years when all of a sudden you’re working and sought-after, then suddenly you’re not working, it’s being blacklisted. I haven’t caused any problems on any sets. Everybody I’ve ever worked with, I’ve had a good work relationship with except for this group of people.”
“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.
DeRubertis did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional comment.
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“I felt it was the right time a couple years ago, a few years ago,” she told TMZ this week of her decision to file at this time. “But I was constantly being retaliated against, being blacklisted, not able to work, being silenced. It was difficult to do.”
When it comes to the lawsuit, Leakes said she has one goal in mind: to stop discrimination.
“The goals are to stop discrimination against Black women,” she said. “That’s just the goal. Nobody wants to go to work everyday as a Black woman with blonde hair and the head of the corporation call you a white woman. So, stop discrimination.”
“A white man shouldn’t say to a Black woman, ‘You’re a white woman because you’re wearing your hair blonde,’ as if it belongs to a certain ethnic group of people,” she later added. “It’s more than that.”
When asked if she’s looking for any sort of compensation, Leakes said, “I can’t speak on that.”
She also called claims she was angling for a new show on the network “so small … so ridiculous.”
“We’re talking about discrimination, we’re not talking about a show,” she said. “It has nothing to do with having a temper tantrum and wanting a show. I never wanted my own show. I mean, I had many opportunities to have one —I did— that’s not it. It’s discrimination, that’s what it is.”
NeNe Leakes.Cassidy Sparrow/Getty Images
Leakes 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’sDon’t Be Tardy, which aired on Bravo for eight seasons.
Leakes also accused the network of trying to stop her from being vocal about the Black Lives Matter movement at the same time she was negotiating her contract forRHOA’s13th season.
RELATED VIDEO: Bravo Reacts toNeNe Leakes’RHOAExit: ‘Maybe One Day She’ll Hold the Peach Again’
Leakes is alleging the defendants violated federal employment and anti-discrimination laws and is suing for an unspecified amount to be decided upon during trial.
Leakes starred inRHOAfrom its debut season in 2008 through season 7 in 2014 and ‘15. She was a part-time costar for the show’s eighth season before returning to full-time status in seasons 10, 11 and 12. Sheofficially left the showafter its 12th season in 2020. During her time with Bravo, she also starred in a spinoffI Dream of NeNe: The Wedding, which featured the days leading up to her second wedding to husbandGregg Leakesin 2013.
Reps for Leakes did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Bravo and Cohen could not be reached for comment.
source: people.com
