On Sunday, June 14, Nene Leakes spoke out about the Black Lives Matter trend on Twitter. In a short tweet, “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” reality star shared that she supported the international human rights movement. However, her message made some fans feel some type of way after she casually included her booking email address in the post.
The 52-year-old television personality wrote: “Black Lives Matter! [email protected].” Shortly after she posted her tweet, she came under fire from fans for seemingly trying to promote her career instead of using her platform to speak out against racial injustice. “I keep telling y’all it’s turning into a marketing scam,” one user wrote. Another person suggested that her message was just downright distasteful. “That was tacky as hell smh,” the second user commented.
The Swagg boutique owner deleted her tweet following the backlash she received from fans. Nearly two weeks ago, social media users criticized Nene after she expressed the idea that looting was destroying the place she calls home. She encouraged people to stop the violent protests and urged them to protect the Peach State by not burning down the neighborhoods.
On Memorial Day, George Floyd, an African-American man, died in Minneapolis after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee into George’s neck for nearly nine minutes. People across the nation began peacefully protesting, looting, and vandalizing businesses as a way to bring attention to police brutality. One day after George’s death, Nene posted an image on Instagram that showed police officers surrounding her high-end boutique following the events of the riots. At the time, social media users insinuated that she only cared about her business instead of the true reason behind the protests.
Despite of the criticism she received from her followers, she and her husband Gregg Leakes have been attending peaceful protests around the city of Atlanta.
