Originally posted Monday, April 8, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
NeNe Leakes came onto the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" reunion with serious negativity, feeling betrayed by Porsha, Kandi and Cynthia, the three other vets on the show.
“Your energy is really, like raw today. It’s very aggressive,” Eva said, rightly so.
Let’s break down eight of NeNe’s most negative moments during the first reunion hour Sunday night with a shade rating from 1 (mild sauce) to 10 (total eclipse of the heart) And this doesn’t even count the many pursed lips and eye rolls.
Is this "Survivor"? Before taping begins, NeNe threw out phrases like "alliances' and "plotting" while talking to Marlo. She thinks Kandi, Kenya and Cynthia all against her for some reason. Her bitterness jumped out regarding Cynthia first and foremost: "I thought we were friends. We were sisters. She is no longer a friend in any capacity in my life - ever!" More: "I knew she was slick. I thought she was jealous. Why would you take your best friend down?" She said she had no beef with Kenya but blamed Cynthia for starting that and "telling both of us some bull****." To Andy Cohen, she said, mysteriously: "I feel blessed to have the greatest discernment of all time." As she was about to enter the stage to a super chilly reception from the other ladies, she said to herself (and to the microphones), "Bitch time!" Shade rating: 8
No gift is coming! When Porsha was talking about her baby shower gifts, she said everyone on the cast had sent one except NeNe. When she asked if NeNe was going to eventually do so, NeNe said "No." And why wasn't she at the baby shower? She was either at Floyd Mayweather's party in L.A. or in Vancouver shooting a TV show. NeNe said it was Canada. "There's no reason for me to lie," NeNe said. "You can ask 'Goldie' right beside you." (She was referencing Cynthia in a gold dress.) Shade rating: 2
Neighborly... indifference? Andy Cohen, always ready to pick at NeNe, asked if she had visited Porsha while she was pregnant. NeNe's response was a brief as it was cold: "No." She also skipped Porsha's gender reveal party. "She ain't been to s**t," Porsha said. Then NeNe got sarcastic about her lack of showing up at Porsha's events: "It's okay, honey, it's okay." Porsha said it upset her at the time and NeNe then said "awww" in the most supercilious way possible. "She likes to say I'm not a supportive friend," NeNe said. "You haven't been supportive either." NeNe was combative but not in a terribly substantive way. At one point, NeNe uttered "whatever" five times in a row. She concluded: "I could care less." Shade rating: 9
Who's annoyed now? Eva expressed annoyance at NeNe's negative attitude at Eva's bachelorette party in Tokyo. NeNe's mind was focused at the time on her husband. Her bad mood had nothing to do with Eva at the time. "You were never affected," she said, "until you watched the video." Eva said yes. "Oh, I'm so sorry," NeNe said, with maximum fakeness. "Really though? If you dish some shade, you'll receive some." Shade rating: 7
Out of tune? NeNe during the season made fun of Kandi's singing. Andy prodded NeNe again asking if she really though Kandi was a bad singer. "No. It's not that I don't think she's a good singer. It was all in fun shade. I think she's a great writer." [Deflective shade right there!] Shade rating: 4
Who's insecure? NeNe did a social media post that accused an unnamed housewife of being "insecure, not that pretty, not talented and certainly not nice! Their day is coming." The women tried to guess who it was. NeNe would only confirm it wasn't Cynthia.Cynthia figured it wasn't her but she did reference "close friend." This gave NeNe a chance to tell her that Cynthia is no close friend of hers, which confused Cynthia. "Uh... doo! We won't talk about that." A fan asked her to confront her friends than calling them out on social media. "I do confront my friends to their faces," emphasizing "friends" in a classic mocking tone. When Porsha sighed, NeNe mocked her and said quietly, "I'm so big over there. Blimps!" Shade rating: 9
Calling Gregg out: NeNe complained about Gregg's mean attitude on social media. Several of the ladies said that is personal stuff she shouldn't provide to the public. "I don't give a f*** about their opinion," she said. "None of them know what I'm going through... A caretaker position is a very difficult one. How I have chosen to deal with it is how I have chosen to deal with it." She said she posted to the world asking if it's okay for Gregg to be mean that way and she said a ton of people said, "Absolutely." Shade rating: 5
The big #chill: NeNe was critical of Cynthia's hashtag of her coupling with Mike Hill as #Chill. She said it sounded like Cynthia was being insecure. Cynthia didn't appreciate that, thought it wasn't being supportive as a friend. "I have been most supportive of Cynthia and Michael," NeNe said. "I can have an opinion." When Cynthia called her a friend, NeNe responded, "As your friend? Really?" Then she said, dripping with sarcasm that #chill is "great. It's amazing. I am asked a question and I gave an opinion, FRIEND." Shade rating: 11
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