A luncheon Nene Leakes recently attended was not just for show. Once there, she was honored with an award recognizing her efforts as a caretaker. However, the honor left a bad taste in the mouths of her fans.
“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” star on Thursday was honored by the Associates for Breast and Prostate Cancer Studies with the Woman of Achievement award. The May 9 honor came during the annual Mother’s Day Luncheon at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles.
Her husband, Gregg Leakes, who recently won his battle with stage three colon cancer, was not in attendance.
“I was honored yesterday in Beverly Hills with the ‘Woman of Achievement Award’ presented to me by The Associates for Breast and Prostate Cancer and John Wayne Cancer Institute for my work as an advocate and a caretaker! I am and was honored to be recognized by those who truly care and understand the impact this disease has on families #fuckcancer,” Leakes wrote in the caption of a May 10 video of her proudly showing off her trophy.
However, the honor had fans riled up as they reflected on the moments Nene shared throughout the past year of her husband’s treatment.
“Is this a joke??”
“OMG you have gota be kidding, her work as a caregiver?? She’s done nothing to moan bout it 😡😡”
“And there are many excellent caregivers out there with no attitude and no bs who did twice the work under more tedious conditions…😏😏😏 .”
Some even suggested the trophy was paid for.
“Y’all left out the part about this being a PAID ADVERTISEMENT! The only thing Nene took care of was NENE! This is basically a JOKE and the CLOWN is doing what she was paid to do!! NEXT!!!”
“This was not well deserved😒😒.. She complained every moment and made herself the victim.. They paid to get this to soften her image..great pr stunt👍”
Nene famously complained on Twitter about how “mean” Gregg is.
“When people are sick, is it normal for them to be mean?” she tweeted in October. “They talk mean to the person that’s helping? So stressful.”
She also openly considered divorcing her spouse of five years for a second time. She previously split from Gregg in 2011 after 14 years of marriage. But they remarried in 2013.
“It would be easy to make a decision about divorcing Gregg if he didn’t have cancer,” Nene admitted on the “RHOA” reunion in March. “I don’t want to live my life unhappy.”
Speaking with “Entertainment Tonight” Leakes explained people did not understand where she was coming from with her frustration.
“Now, there are people who do not understand what a caretaker role is, or they just didn’t understand I was frustrated,” she said. “‘Why are you frustrated? You’re not the one with cancer!’ But, you know, I was frustrated because I was a caretaker, and being a caretaker’s hard. It’s one of the roles, where you don’t get any shine for that. You just be a caretaker and shut up!”
