This was posted by Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com on Sunday March 26, 2017 for his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
I was invited to the Cynthia Bailey Cargo fashion show last October at Artlanta Gallery. I arrived after the fashion show portion was shot but they spent a lot of time shooting afterwards.
Neither Phaedra Parks or Porsha Williams showed up, which probably minimized drama. I saw nothing amiss at all. Of course, I couldn't hear what the women were saying but there were no arguments, which jibed with what they showed on TV tonight on "Real Housewives of Atlanta."
On the show, Sheree Whitfield was shady about the venue, which was packed with graffiti art and not air conditioned. (It was a warm October evening.) Her son Kairo was in the fashion show and he apparently showed up late, which got Cynthia a bit upset. But it all worked out in the end.
"Was this the dungeon that Porsha was tied up in?" Kenya joked about the place.
Both Kairo and Noelle, Cynthia's daughter, did well on the runway. Kandi asked about Phaedra and Kenya said she got no apology. "I don't expect her to," she said. Later, she told the cameras: "She will continue to do her dirty work behind closed doors, knees open."
I stayed away from the cameras. Interestingly, Kenya was there with Matt. But for some reason, Matt doesn't show up in the final cut. "Married to Medicine"'s Dr. Heavenly and Dr. Jackie were there as well.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Phaedra met with an Atlanta attorney Oscar Prioleau about employment law regarding a former employee of Kandi's Johnnie Winston III, who was prepping to sue Kandi over lack of overtime pay. (The lawsuit was filed in late October of 2016.)
"I have no issues with Kandi," Phaedra said disingenuously. "But since Johnnie sought my advice as an attorney. I wanted to make sure he gets in the right hands."
Johnnie also made claims that Kandi and he discussed creating a restaurant, then she and Todd did one without him. He also claimed she ripped off that play as well. Neither of those issues came up in his lawsuit, which focused exclusively on his employment. But Phaedra enjoyed the "tea."
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Matt Jordan shows up in a later moment on the show with flowers to Kenya's puppy King's birthday.
Earlier in the episode, she said: "I want us to be friends. I don't want an enemy in him because I had some part in it." She said she didn't slow down enough and didn't give him enough attention so he may have felt "emasculated."
I get a sense she wanted some closure on the relationship, which is why she had him come to the birthday shindig. It didn't take long for Matt to get upset, as he's apt to do on camera and off.
"You ruin everything that's good," Kenya told him.
"You ruined it," he said. "You're the only one I cared about."
He said she never said sorry to him. And then he wondered why they had a booty call moment in his truck a few days earlier.
Ultimately, she did apologize but said it was over. "I can't do this anymore," she said.
She told the cameras: "We have become toxic to each other, Part of my growth is knowing when it's done, to just be able to walk away."
So it's over. And based on social media, it indeed is given that he has complained about her stringing him along and then not being invited to the reunion show.
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Cynthia created a friendship contract with NeNe Leakes all those years ago. Now Porsha is creating an unorthodox "business agreement" between her and her friend Todd regarding a baby, called a "baby nuptial."
"If a baby happens before we get married, she wants something in place regarding finances, her ability to take the child anywhere travel wise and even allow her to show the family on Instagram." He feels like it's "extortion."
He said he's not signing that. "If that means we're not together, it's our loss," he said.
This could very well be over before it really got going.
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