NeNe Leakes to Leave ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’

NeNe Leakes — the Housewife who has launched a thousand GIFS — announced on her YouTube channel Thursday that she will not be returning to “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” next season. The show has been filming for months already without Leakes, one of the biggest stars who has come out of Bravo’s “Housewives” industrial complex.

Addressing the camera, an emotional Leakes said: “I have been on an extremely, extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional negotiation. There has been a lot of emotion flying from both sides. It has been hard. And I have made the very hard and difficult decision to not be a part of the ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta,’ Season 13. It wasn’t an easy decision for me. It was hard.”

A Bravo spokesperson confirmed to Variety that the network and Leakes couldn’t come to mutuallly agreeable terms. In a statement, Bravo said: “We wish Nene all the best in her future endeavors and thank her for sharing her journey for over a decade with the fans of ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta.’ She’s  been instrumental since the start and will truly be missed, and maybe one day she’ll hold the peach again.”

“Real Housewives” executive producer Andy Cohen also paid tribute to Leakes on his Instagram account, calling her an “icon of the genre.”

 Leakes