NeNe Leakes Should Be As Big As Kim Kardashian, Says The ‘RHOA’ Icon

Forbes Business Hollywood & Entertainment NeNe Leakes Should Be As Big As Kim Kardashian, Says The ‘RHOA’ Icon Ree Hines Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I obsess over and write about all things Reality TV. Following Aug 2, 2023, 07:14pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin NeNe Leakes attends House Of BET on June 24, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

Getty Images for BET As the most famous face in her family, Kim Kardashian isn’t just a member of reality TV royalty; she’s the queen. And more than that, at the age of 42, she’s also a wannabe lawyer , a soon-to-be actress , a successful businesswoman and a billionaire . It’s hard to think of anyone who can currently match Kardashian’s pop culture impact.

But according to Real Housewives of Atlanta alum NeNe Leakes, it’s easy to think of one woman who could have surpassed it. That’s because, if the reality TV playing field were a level one, Leakes believes she would have been that woman—and still should be. “Absolutely,” the 55-year-old said without pause when former RHOA executive producer Carlos King asked her if she thought she should be even bigger than The Kardashians star.

She then added, “If not bigger, right there with her. ” Leakes recently sat down with King for a multipart interview on his YouTube channel , and in Tuesday’s second part, she opened up about why that’s not how things turned out. MORE FOR YOU 2023 Layoff Tracker: Planet Labs Slashes Over 100 Jobs 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser First Look: Toyota’s Iconic Off Roader Returns Trump Fires Back At Pence After Ex VP Said Anyone Putting Self Over Constitution Should Never Be President “I felt like they pushed Kim, and they didn’t push me,” Leakes said of the powers that be behind their respective endeavors in the mid-to-late aughts .

While Leakes appeared on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta at the time, Kardashian was on E!’s Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Both of those networks are part of NBCUniversal. “Kim came on after me, and they opened up every door and every opportunity for her, Leakes continued.

“Even putting us together at times and making her much more bigger than me. ” She doesn’t simply believe Kardashian was pushed ahead, but that she herself was actively “pushed back” at the same time. “I don’t think that was by chance,” Leakes explained.

“I think that was the way they wanted it to be. We were together because I was NeNe, and I came out before her and it looked good for us to be together. ” Then Leakes felt as though she’d been left behind.

Kim Kardashian attends the 2022 LACMA ART+FILM GALA Presented By Gucci at Los Angeles County Museum . . .

[+] of Art on November 05, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images for LACMA While Leakes never named names when it came to exactly who she claims held her back, she told King the plot was obvious. “I just think that they made her more successful, and she was able to get opportunities and walk through doors they just did not want me to walk through,” she said.

One door she believes wasn’t opened to her—or to many of her former fellow Housewives —had to do with promoting their various side hustles and entrepreneurial activities. “Whenever we had businesses, it felt like we couldn’t show them that much on our show,” Leakes said. The same couldn’t be said for Kardashian’s endeavors, including her shapewear label SKIMs, or the assorted efforts of her family members and co-stars.

“On their show, all they do is talk about their businesses,” Leakes noted. “All they do is talk about launching their makeup lines or their clothing lines or whatever they’re doing. I don’t feel like we were able to do that as much.

So I just wasn’t given the opportunities that she was given. ” Follow me on Twitter . Ree Hines Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.