The Shahs of Sunset star is currently locked in a feud with his best friend of 30 years, Mercedes 'MJ' Javid, after he says she orchestrated drama that directly affected his marriage - and he. The Flipping Out designer shared an update on his relationship with his former employee. Zoila Chavez may have retired and stopped working for Jeff Lewis back in Season 10 of Flipping Out, which.
I got on the Shahs of Sunset train '>way back in November when most of you were asking me why I was blogging about some show that would not be on for five months. There were several things that peaked my interest. First, it was a collaboration between my homeboy Ryan Seacrest and my then gay boyfriend, Andy Cohen. (If you missed our tragic breakup, you can read that here). But also because I grew up in Libya and have always been interested in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Because I was early to the party I got to know (online) the cast and scored some exclusive interviews with GG and Asa. I still maintain contact with pretty much everyone on the cast. I’ve been waiting to “review” the show until after I saw them a couple of times to see how editing, and cameras might change my views of them.
So now it’s time to tell you what I think.
And then there is Sammy. With so many critics trying to compare Shahs to Jersey Shore, I have to say that the only thing they have in common is both shows have a Sammy Sweetheart. Sammy is a nice guy with a healthy dose of Peter Pan complex. In fact pretty much everyone on Shahs has Peter Pan complex with the exception of Asa. Despite the fact that everyone is in their late thirties, it reminds me of the movie Animal House with the frat members that have been in college for twelve years. Sammy may have a good job and be making a boatload of money, but socially, he has chosen to live the life most of us gave up shortly after college graduation, albeit with an unlimited budget. Imagine yourself back in college with your friends and instead of spending your loan checks on a ski trip to NC and a deep sea fishing trip in Florida (er…um.. totally random examples Student Loan People) you didn’t have classes and had unlimited resources in Vegas. Somehow Sammy is managing to sustain that well into his thirties. Frankly, I would have died of alcohol poisoning by now. Sammy out at the clubs or at his own pool party chatting up the ladies is exactly the Sammy he is on twitter. Nice, fun-loving and carefree.
So my review is that I love the show and I love every single person on the cast. I might not be rich, or Iranian, or Jewish or Muslim or living in Beverly Hills, but I think these six people are representative of the personalities found in any college clique. None of them are perfect, and they all get on each other’s nerves from time to time. Pairs become close for a time, and then alliances change only to come full circle over the years. There is a lot of focus on GG’s imperfections right now, but over the season, that focus will likely move on to someone else. No one is the villain. It’s just real life.
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NeNe Leakes is one of the Real Housewives’ most recognizable faces. Her dozens of memorable lines from Real Housewives of Atlanta have launched a thousand memes and GIFs, making her of the most widely disseminated presences on social media and spawning classic memes like “So nasty and so rude,” or “Is your wig squeezing your brain too tight, heifer?” My personal favorite, “It’s getting weird,” has also made a comeback recently, showing up more frequently on Twitter and on TikTok.
But despite Leakes’s prolific career as one of Bravo’s primary figureheads, she has exited the Real Housewives of Atlanta, following years of heated contract negotiations between Leakes and the network. Earlier this month, she announced her departure, claiming that she and Bravo could not come to an agreement. She admitted in a Youtube video on her personal channel that the decision to quit was “hard,” but that she was still “so happy that I can say that I was a part of a genre that opened up doors for Black ensemble reality shows to step up and be a part of what we now love so much—reality TV.”
It was, however, immediately clear that there was more to the story than a simple falling out over contract negotiations. On Instagram, Leakes posted footage that compared her behavior to that of other Housewives, like Teresa Giudice, whose Bravo career survived even after she physically assaulted Andy Cohen at a Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion in 2010. (Giudice has since gone on to allegedly become one of Bravo’s highest-paid stars.) The point she was making seems clear: As Leakes sees it, she is held to a higher standard than other Real Housewives stars, and this is not the first time that Leakes and the network have allegedly fallen out. After Season 11, the network and Leakes were similarly locked in negotiations, which led to her absence for a significant chunk of the following season.
The firestorm surrounding Leakes only got worse last week, when Wendy Williams made her somewhat “triumphant” return back to daytime television after a seven-month hiatus. During her “Hot Topics” segment, Williams claimed that she had caught up on several episodes—55, to be exact—of RHOA, and noted that Leakes was in none of them. “They really did a good job of closing in the ranks and being entertaining.” She then claimed that Leakes “likes attention,” and will eventually be back to the show, because a spin-off show starring Leakes alone would be “boring as hell.”
Then, while doing the press rounds for her comeback, Williams appeared on Watch What Happens Live! on Sunday. This is when it all exploded.
Andy Cohen—whose primary career goal seems to be meddling in the lives of women—asked Wendy Williams a question he shouldn’t have: “What’s your take on NeNe announcing she’s leaving [Real Housewives of Atlanta]? And are the two of you still close buddies?” Williams, being the daytime television maven of mess and gossip, was quick to respond. She told Cohen that the two are friends, and reiterated what she’d said on her own show: She doesn’t believe Leakes is finished with the Real Housewives. She also claimed that “NeNe likes attention, dramatic attention,” adding, “I don’t know what NeNe is going to do for money... I’m not trying to count coins.”
Almost immediately, Leakes tweeted:
She on cocaine so they should stop using her to talk! They both need my help with their poor ratings
— NeNe Leakes (@NeNeLeakes) September 28, 2020Real Shahs Of Sunset Memes Money Market
She followed this up by tweeting, “Keep trying me sir and imma let the world know who you really are.” She later added another tweet, still seemingly talking about Wendy Williams and Andy Cohen:
I will ALWAYS eat and eat good! Believe that. I have ALWAYS believed in multiple streams of income so the leakes are good you ole cocaine head and you ole racist. No one knew you until YOU knew me. Remember I’m ICON. Don’t forget
— NeNe Leakes (@NeNeLeakes) September 28, 2020Afterward, she asked her followers to send her their “best discrimination attorneys’ info,” and compared her contract to those of other longtime Real Housewives, like Kyle Richards, Ramona Singer, or Teresa Giudice. “My white counterparts were elevated and given full season episodes EVERY season. Each season I was given less and less. Don’t ask me, @ Andy and @ Bravo and ask them why.”
Besides accusing Bravo of “manipulating black women to say negative things about each other while they sit and enjoy us tearing each other down,” Leakes also claimed on Twitter that she was forced out of the show. In response to a fan, she tweeted: “They don’t think I deserve to work at all in any capacity.”
Representatives for Leakes, Cohen, and Bravo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. This post will be updated if, or when, they do.
Real Shahs Of Sunset Memes Money Making
Update, 2:20 p.m. EST: A spokesperson for Bravo declined to comment when reached by Jezebel.
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