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NeNe Leakes is taking a moment to dish on some of her fellow reality stars, and she says she should be just as big — “if not bigger” — than Kim Kardashian.
Furthermore, NeNe thinks the network “pushed” Kim to be successful while leaving her high and dry.
NeNe spoke on the subject during part two of her sit-down on Reality With The King, which premiered on Tuesday (Aug. 1).
Host Carlos King got it poppin’ when, about halfway through the podcast episode, he asked, “Do you think you should be bigger than Kim Kardashian?”
NeNe replied in the affirmative and dove into their individual reality TV careers. The inaugural seasons of The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Keeping Up With The Kardashians premiered about one year apart on Bravo and E!, respectively– both are owned by NBCUniversal.
Specifically, NeNe Leakes felt the network “opened up every door” for Kim Kardashian while leaving her out to dry.
“I feel like they pushed Kim, and they didn’t push me. … They opened up every door and every opportunity for her.”
She didn’t stop there, as NeNe outright declared, “They pushed Kim to the front and pushed me to the back, and I don’t think that was by chance. I think that was the way they wanted it to be.”
Further elaborating, Leakes suggested that higher-ups were more concerned about Kim’s success than hers.
“I just think that they made her more successful. And she was able to get opportunities and walk through doors that they just did not want me to walk through.”
We should add that Carlos later agreed with NeNe’s sentiment about deserving to be “bigger than Kim Kardashian.”
“I do agree with you. I think that, if not bigger, you should be on the same level as Kim Kardashian.”
Aside from NeNe and Carlos remarking that she deserves to be just as big of a star as Kim Kardashian, Leakes also threw shade at some of her “starless” contemporaries.
Specifically, she played a game where she had to rank other Bravolebrities’ star power, and she started by immediately calling Real Housewives of Potomac OGs Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon “starless.”
When it came to Kenya Moore, though, NeNe said she was “in between.” She felt similarly about Porsha Williams, declaring she “has star potential.”
As for Phaedra Parks, NeNe said she’s more of an “entrepreneurial star” than someone built for television. She also called Kandi Burruss Tucker — the longest-running Housewife — a “supporting star.”
In a blast from the past, Carlos also asked NeNe for her opinion on her “Puerto Readco” foe, Claudia Jordan. After throwing some shade, NeNe surprisingly gave the one-season wonder her flowers by proclaiming, “I would have to say that she was probably my #1 battle.”
“She was definitely right up there to battle with. I don’t think there’s not been one other girl that could probably battle the way she did. Because I took her through it, and I feel like she took me through it.”
Humorously, Leakes recalled pulling insults “out from under [her] wig” during her well-known spat with Jordan.
“Claudia was really going toe-to-toe with me, and I will give her that every single time. … You stood up, hunni. Because the reads were coming — I was pulling them out from under my wig.”
NeNe wrapped up by noting, “Claudia definitely stood up. She wasn’t afraid.”
What do you think about NeNe Leakes’ commentary, and do you agree that she “should be bigger than Kim Kardashian?”
