Nene Leakes called out her former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” co-star Cynthia Bailey on Oct. 27 for not attending her late husband Gregg Leakes’ “celebration of life” ceremony and now the model has responded.
While co-hosting on the “Big Tigger Morning Show,” Nene said that following her husband’s death many people from the entire franchise reached out to her, including her former “RHOA” co-star Kim Zolciak.
Nene continued the conversation by discussing Bailey when asked about how the model responded in the entire situation. The former “RHOA” star disclosed that although many expected Bailey to be as sympathetic as the other women after Gregg’s passing because of their former friendship, that wasn’t the case.
She says, “A lot of people expect that, no. She didn’t even come to the repast. She did come, like, a week later after everything was done. She came by my lounge.”
Nene wrapped up the conversation by referring to her relationship with the housewives’ cast as dysfunctional. She said, “It’s really hard to really explain housewives. It’s almost like a dysfunctional family, but they all reached out.”
On Oct. 28, Bailey responded to Nene’s diss while appearing on E! News “Daily Pop.” The model told the news outlet that she was stunned when she was made aware of Nene’s remarks because she thought they were in a better place.
Bailey said while disclosing she was out of town during Gregg’s memorial, “I was honestly surprised…Let me just say this first, I know that Nene is still mourning the loss of her husband, and you can’t tell people how to mourn. However, I do think that speaking for myself, I came with the best intentions. I was not able to make it to Gregg’s celebration, but it was my mission in life to make sure I connected with Nene once I went back to Atlanta, and I did.”
She added, “The reason why I think I was so surprised is because when we did connect, it was even better even if I had gone to the celebration because I got to spend some real-time with her one-on-one. We laughed, we drank, we smoked hookah, we danced. I was like this was the way it was supposed to be because I felt like I reconnected with my old friend on just a respectful level.”
Bailey wrapped up the statement by saying although she is “very clear” that the pair are no longer friends, she wanted to sit with Nene because of the loss of the “beloved Gregg Leakes.”
The memorial took place in early September at The Linnethia Lounge, five days after Gregg succumbed to his lengthy battle with colon cancer. Gregg passed away on Sept. 1 at the age of 66.
He was first diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2018 and went into remission a year later. Things took a drastic turn this summer when Nene confirmed his cancer had returned.