Photo by Derek Blanks

NeNe Leakes says shes pissed off about Bravo’s portrayal of her during the 2nd season of the hit series The Real Housewives of Atlanta and she’s not taking it anymore! Leakes, who is shown during the final episode arguing with fellow castmates Kandi Burruss and allegedly choking Kim Zolciak says it’s not fair that she’s being made out the be the villain.? In a recent Essence interview, NeNe lets it all out about how the show is scripted (no surprise) and edited in a way that’s not flattering to her true self:

Why are you so upset about the show’s portrayal of you now?

Yes, I know that’s what they do, but the first season they didn’t edit me. It happened this season because we have a different show runner and this season has been a lot more planned and scripted. Last season they just let us go which made for a great show, but this time around, the show runner will say something like, you need to go over there and talk to Kim about “Tardy for the Party.” They’ve also been making a lot of changes to the sequence of events. For instance, we all arrived to Sheree’s fashion show late because there was a huge car accident, and when we arrived they all ushered us to our seats and the show began immediately, but when you see the episode they show me talking to Kandi which is not what happened.

This finale really makes me look like I’m the villain, as if I choked Kim. There’s a scene where I’m mad at Kim and they make it seem like I’m mad about her not wanting me on the song “Tardy for the Party,” when in fact she and I discussed that already and afterwards attended Sheree’s independence party and had a good old time. The reason I was mad at Kim was because we all attended the Bravo A-list Awards and I found out that she has been talking sh- about me, Lisa and Sheree to the New York and Orange County housewives and that’s why I was upset.The producers told Kim I was upset and gave us time to talk, but once they realized they couldn’t use the language (meaning there couldn’t be any mention of the Bravo A-list awards) they did additional pick up shots to create [our beef] as something else. For instance, during last week’s episode featuring Kandi’s engagement party they had Kim’s stylist, Derek J, come to her house and do her hair as if she were getting ready for the party that night, and Kim told him NeNe isn’t coming for the party. Well, that was a pick up shot that the producers did after that fact. None of the ladies knew I wasn’t showing up until after the party because I was dressed and ready to walk out the door when I decided not to go. The reason I didn’t go is because Kandi and I had had an argument and I felt that this was to be a joyous occasion and I just didn’t think I should be there after she and I argued.

What did you and Kandi argue about?

After Kim and I got into a disagreement, Kandi came to me and said, “Well, NeNe, I heard you’ve been talking about me also.” I said,” Who? What? When?” Kandi proceeds to tell me that the producers told her I had a conversation with them and was saying all this stuff about her. I went bananas because I was just out having dinner with one of the producers she claimed told her that who just happens to be the show runner. I even took him on the red carpet with me to the opening of the W and fed his ass, so I was pissed. However, the viewers won’t see any of that and the scene makes it appear that I’ve started this argument with Kandi and tell her she’s not interesting for no reason. It’s very unfair.

NeNe also states that she was the “original” housewife and it was she who referred all of the other “housewives” to the show. She feels somewhat betrayed by Bravo in their portrayal of her as this evil, manipulative person. It also seems like she feels the other woman owe her for the success of the show.

Everyone keeps talking about one housewife leaving next season, could it possibly be NeNe? The only real “housewife” there? She’s definitely been on her grind with all the red carpet coverage and appearances on several shows, so I wouldn’t be too surprised to see her venturing out into other territories. In fact, NeNe actually says she’s already been offered her own show but has no desire to continue in “Reality” television. She sees herself as a correspondent or talk show host.

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