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Saturday, February 21, 2009
2/21: “Real Housewives of Atlanta” entertain South Dekalb Mall shoppers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A trio of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” were scheduled to start a panel discussion at South Dekalb Mall Saturday at 4 p.m.
Naturally, they were fashionably late. V-103 host and moderator Ryan Cameron said Sheree Whitfield was holding things up.
The crowd of more than 250 people didn’t mind the lateness. At 4:30 p.m., NeNe Leakes came up on stage first to the chants of “NeNe! NeNe!” NeNe, with short hair and a single shoulder-bearing shirt (but no cleavage), clearly was the favorite. (“I love the short hair. I get up and go!”)
Questions were written and asked in advance. The biggest bit of news: shooting begins Monday for season two!
First question— what were the best and worst parts of being on camera?
NeNe: “Everyone is digging in your business thinking they know me. They don’t know me!” she said. “However, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
“Everyone is judging you because they’ve seen an hour of your life,” Sheree said. “The best part is seeing so many young people and I’ve inspired them.”
Question two: have you spoken to DeShawn Snow? Was she too normal to be on the show?
Lisa: “That wasn’t the reason she wasn’t on it. We are who we are. There’s no phoniness about her. The problem she didn’t really engage.”
Nene: “We talk to her regularly. She was disappointed she didn’t have a chance to come back. it wasn’t because she was normal.”
“And we’re abnormal?” Lisa said.
“The real deal,” NeNe said. “You need a bigger-than-life personality. She just didn’t have it.”
Question 3: “Where is Kim?” and “Who is Big Papa?”
Lisa: “We’re not telling.”
“She’s in California,” NeNe said.
“Singing?” someone yelled in the audience to laughs.
Online poll—who was the bitchiest? Sheree won.
Sheree does not apologize: “When you have an African American woman who is strong, she’s a bitch.”
Was NeNe’s kids affected by this?
NeNe: “My kids are fine. My oldest son is a little shy. My youngest son was really into it.”
NeNe said taping for season two starts Monday. “People said I wasn’t coming back. What were they thinking?” She acknowledged rumors that she was doing her own show but swatted them away.
Why were Lisa’ s two other children not on the show? Keith Sweat wouldn’t let them.
Re: Chris Brown/Rihanna.
NeNe: “For me, the reason I decided to talk about domestic violence. It was healing. I had already healed and moved on. I thought this was a way to help out other women. It was hard for me to get out of the situation I was in. If I can do, you can do it.”
Lisa: “Our stories were never trying to expose anyone. It shouldn’t matter. The fact we overcame is what matters. It can happen to anybody. Chris Brown/Rihanna. You don’t know what’s going on. But there is happiness afterwards.”
Why did Lisa get so mad on the reunion show: “Why she wanted to make me want to flip her over the couch. I’m very mild-mannered. But I could be real too. She did things two days regarding me and my children. It kind of makes it seem like I went off saying something else. She said some things.” [Kim was saying Lisa lost custody of her kids to Keith Sweat because of drugs. She denied that.]
Sheree’s clothing line She By Sheree: She said it will be ready for the fall.
Sheree doesn’t read the blogs. Lisa said she started doing so but stopped after awhile.
NeNe notes they they get paid, that of course they don’t do this for free. “And it’s six figures.” And they get more for season two than season one but she wasn’t any more specific.
“You want NeNe to have her own show?” Ryan asked the crowd.
“She’s real,” someone said in the audience.
“I don’t know how to pull away yet,” NeNe said, of people interrupting her for dinner.
Would Lisa do Playboy? “No. I have too much integrity.”
Oddly, Sheree’s mike seemed to have its volume too low so it was hard to hear waht she was saying. Or maybe she simply doesn’t have a loud voice.
