When you are a reality TV star, sometimes drama and controversy cannot help but follow you. While the concept is relatively new to see people gain so much notoriety on a superstar scale, reality TV has been around for decades.
We didn’t see the mega personalities then like we do now and if there is a famous person who has reality TV to thank for their success it is NeNe Leaks.
Most people know her from the hit Bravo network show The Real Housewives of Atlanta. A constant from the very beginning, she has been a major player in the six year existence of the show. Now we all know that what we see on TV, even that pegged as reality TV, is not real. Many people who got their start on such programs have come out to say that what we see them doing is scripted and that they and other cast members are indeed just acting. I understand that may be the case for most people, but I don’ think that is the case for Mrs. Leaks. She is exactly who we see on TV.
Let’s look at the facts and explore her past (what we know from what she has told us and what we have seen). Linnethia Monique Johnson (her government name) has been in show business for a while now. She has appeared on various television shows and movies in small roles throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s. Born and in Queens, NY and raised for majority of her life in Georgia, her dreams to become a star and work in entertainment came true when she was casted as one of the main talents for RHOA in 2008. She has been the only one of the several stars to be there from the beginning so you know that plays a major part in how she acts and why it seems that she has changed from an overall fan favorite to someone that has made enemies both on and off the screen.
I want to point out here that you have to be very careful in how you allow the thing that you want out of life to affect your attitude and your character when you finally get it. I have heard it said that your talents can take you to places that your character can’t keep you and I think that may be the case for Leaks. She is more smart (business wise) than talented and has learned to parlay that into a lucrative career and growing business empire. But what has she sacrificed along the way?
In the beginning, she seemed more humble and open to explore her own shortcomings in the face of conflict. Nowadays, she just walks out of therapy sessions that she arranged and rarely swallows her pride enough to say when she is wrong. But it was her willingness to learn and tenacity to work hard that caught the attention of such industry heavy hitters like Ryan Murphy who casted her on the highly rated Fox show Glee in a reoccurring role as Roz Washington. Murphy even put her in the short-lived sitcom The New Normal. While all of this was happening for her on the TV front, she was gaining a solid ground on the production, fashion and Broadway fronts, securing deals and partnerships that have defiantly added to her abundant wealth. Heck, she had Anderson Cooper as one of her biggest fans along with Ellen Degeneres, but how now after this transformation, they don’t even speak her name. Ryan Murphy loves his big hot messes as he once was a big fan of “I Love New York” reality diva Tiffany Pollard, and NeNe held his attention for about two years and now he’s done with her. This ride was exciting getting famous, but she took it way too seriously and began believing her own hype.
All of this is good and fine but with her actions on RHOA and the lawsuits that have been brought against her by people who claim that she stole their idea and didn’t compensate them, my question is why does it have to be all of that?
Why does it have to be that when a person finally sees their dreams realized, they have to become something ugly; something fake? If you don’t know what I am talking about or don’t agree, then you really don’t know what is going on with NeNe.
Yes she was on Celebrity Apprentice. Yes she was on Broadway in Cinderella as Madame and yes, she has a fashion line on HSN that sold out in a matter of days. I am a firm believer that those things, mixed in with all of her other successful endeavors, have more than likely gone to her head.
See the thing about success, it shows who you really are. When you have attained the houses, cars and notoriety and have mountains of money, your friends are not the only ones who are truly seen. A person’s true self will always come out when they make it.
With NeNe, all of this rings true and she has just shown us who she really is. From walking out on Dr. Jeff two weeks ago on RHOA during a session where the other girls expressed how they felt about her because she felt it was “pick on NeNe day” to stealing the t-shirt design of a small businesswoman and blogger, NeNe needs a real life dose of reality.
The world does not revolve around her and it is clear that she thinks it does (she actually told her husband Greg that her character in Cinderella has more lines than anyone else in the play).
I know it can be hard to accept when everything is catered to you and at the tip of your fingertips, but the truth is the truth. NeNe Leaks is not the person she once was, or maybe she is and what’s left of her ardent fans are just too blind to see it. Just remember Tiffany Pollard, she had several reality shows and soon realized that fans are very fickle and move on quickly. Now that you’re reteaming with Kim Zolciak for an attempt to see if you can get another reality show going, you might want to enjoy the ride because reality tv, like life moves quickly and many times you’re left in the dust before you realize that it’s passed you by along with your fans.