NENE LEAKES IS NOT BEING FIRED FROM ‘REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA’ SEASON 3
involved in driving “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” to
ratings-shattering plateaus. She is also the show’s greatest
lightning rod for controversy, which spawned innumerable
watercooler conversations.
It’s not surprising then that the Internet exploded when
reports surfaced that the drama-brewing diva’s allegedly
exorbitant contract demands, coupled with her volcanic
disposition, would force Bravo TV execs to drop her from
the third season.
It was also widely reported that Leakes’ frequent
combatant, Kim Zolciak, would also have her wig retired
from the show — as well as the rest of her. Bravo TV has
since come out and told the public to pump the brakes on
these unsubstantiated rumors.
“No decisions have been made,” the cable station said in
a tweet. It is true, however, that Bravo is considering mixing
it up for next season. How that will materialize is still being
decided and negotiated.
In an interview Leakes granted to Sister2Sister magazine,
she put the rumors to rest — for now. “This is all I can tell
you,” she said. “Every housewife has been invited back.”
She also squashed talk that R&B superstar Usher’s wife,
Tameka Raymond, would be either added to the quarrelsome
cast or replace one of the troublesome housewives.
As Leakes explains it, she has a multitude of opportunities
readily available to her, but she is prohibited from pursuing
them lest she is fi red from the “RHOA.” As eager as Leakes
is to sample the menu of options and expand her horizons,
she would have to wait until her contract expires even if she
just ups and quits the show.
“They try to lock you in for a number of years. We all
signed up for a third season when we signed on from day
one,” Leakes says. “If anybody has been fi red, nobody
knows anything about it. We know nothing about it. I don’t
know where the rumor came from.”
Guess we’ll have to wait another year to fi nd out what
those other opportunities are for Leakes.
–terry shropshire
CHRIS TUCKER AND SHEREE WHITFIELD — A COUPLE? THE PROS AND CONS OF SUCH A RELATIONSHIP
Cyberspace is abuzz with rumors that Rush Hour and Friday star Chris Tucker is
dating Sheree Whitfi eld of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
The highly questionable proof that mediatakeout.com and a few other blog sites
proffered is a photo the two took together at the Mayor’s Masked Ball in Atlanta on the
weekend prior to Christmas.
This writer was present at the upscale soirée and personally witnessed Tucker taking
pictures with virtually everyone except the janitor and the bartenders. We don’t know
if we can take much from the fact that he only had his arm around her and smiled
for the cameras. Besides, this writer also took photos of Sheree coming and leaving
the masked ball with another brother. Moreover, her publicist denied any romantic
involvement with Tucker.
But, in the highly unlikely event that the two are linking up on the low, we’d like to
offer some pros and cons of such a relationship:
Pros:
1. If the two would ever connect and (ahem!) get married, Sheree could fi nally return
her last name to its rightful owner. Her ex-husband, former NFL star Bob Whitfi eld,
says he is tired of his ex running tread marks over the family name. He wants Sheree
to cease and desist her practice of spitting poison at him in public, but still refusing to
use her maiden name.
2. Chris would not have to pay for any additional cosmetic surgery. According to a
Bob Whitfi eld radio interview recently, he said he paid for Sheree’s breast and butt
augmentations as well as her nose job.
3. Jackie Chan is fast approaching 137 years of age. Therefore, Tucker won’t be
doing anymore Rush Hour movies, so “Real Housewives” would give him some more
face time.
4. Bravo TV, which produces and airs the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” would fi nd
a Sheree-Chris pairing too attractive to dismiss her from the show, as was rumored a
couple of months ago.
5. Dating Tucker would help Sheree dispel those bisexual rumors fl oating through
the airwaves.
Cons:
1. Chris Tucker would become the subject of some serious questions and sideway
glances.
2. Chris would fi nd it too tempting to wear a pair of Whitfi eld’s high heels if there is
ever a sequel to his movie, Fifth Element.
3. The hate: Can you imagine the hate e-mails the two of them would receive? Sheree
would get drenched from the torrential downpour of snide comments for snatching up
an eligible bachelor like Tucker.
4. The two would become the intense object of the paparazzi.
Sheree would receive no peace, for everyone would assume she is dating Tucker
because of his very deep pockets. We already know he was handed some thick stacks
(in excess of $20 million) for the last two Rush Hour fi lms. Additionally, according to
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Atlanta magazine, Sheree has some fi nancial woes
