Source: Bravo

Earlier this month, Bravo released a new documentary series called “Newlyweds: The First Year.” Studies have shown, time and time again, that most marriages fail within the first year. So Bravo follows newlywed couples around for a year documenting the triumphs and pitfalls that come with marriage. The show, which premiered on May 6, features a couple who knew each other six months before getting engaged, a couple who come from two different cultural backgrounds, a couple who believe the woman should submit to the man and a gay couple who are almost 17 years apart.

Each pair had an interesting story but the gay couple was particularly fascinating to me because they had a few issues that one might think would present problems down the line in their union. There’s the age difference. Then there’s a socioeconomical difference. The younger man in the pair grew up affluently and the older one didn’t. So financial discussions are a bit of an issue. And then, the most pressing of all, is the fact that the older man, Jeff, 45, didn’t come out until he was 35. And when he did, his family didn’t take too kindly to it. They cut him off from seeing his niece and nephew and don’t acknowledge his union with Blair.  Blair, 29, has had a completely different experience. In fact, his mother and stepfather paid the bill for the ceremony.

I would imagine that Jeff’s experience is common for the LGBTQ community.  What I didn’t consider though, was how that initial rejection from family and friends could rear its ugly head in the context of a relationship.

In a clip from the show’s third episode, we watch and Jeff and Blair recount the day they learned that Whitney Houston died.

Blair, was completely freaked out by it and still becomes visibly upset recalling the day he learned the news because, like so many of us, Whitney Houston meant a lot to him. (A lot.) So, naturally when he learned that she passed away, while he and Jeff were in the car together he completely wigged out. Jeff assumed that this strong reaction must have meant that something had happened to one of their family members or close friends; and when he found out it was just Whitney Houston, someone they didn’t know personally, he called Blair a drama queen. He called him more than a drama queen.

According to Blair Jeff said: “You are such a drama queen and you know I hate drama queens. You’re psycho.”

And the conversation continued as such:

Blair: That’s why I wanted to talk about it because my feelings at the time were hurt.
Jeff: Well ok well you know we all get hurt.

Oh word?!

Initially, I was willing to let Jeff have the fact that Blair might have really scared him. But his reaction to Blair reaching out to him in order to rectify the situation was not ok. Some have hypothesized that Jeff reacted to Blair this way because his strong, dramatic reaction regarding Whitney Houston could be stereotypically assigned to gay men. And because he’s new to publicly expressing his sexuality, this reaction probably perturbed him a little bit. It’s really not too much of a stretch. When the couple traveled to Savannah, Georgia to get married, Jeff said that because he wasn’t accepted by his own family, the people who were supposed to love him most, it was natural for him to assume that the people in Georgia weren’t going to accept him either.

But whether people on the outside accept your union and whether you accept your union are two totally different things. The fact is that his reaction to Blair is not a “gay couple” issue. There is almost nothing worse than coming to someone you love and trust, telling them that they hurt your feelings only to have them dismiss you. It makes you feel small and invalidated by the person who’s supposed to care the most about your emotions and well being. That’s not a problem specific to Jeff and Blair or gay relationships. That’s a universal relationship problem.

Jeff and Blair just to happen to be the couple we’re learning from today. If your partner or anyone else in your life is making themselves vulnerable by admitting that you’ve hurt their feelings, it’s a time for you to take a look at yourself.  Instead of dismissing them, writing them off as being overly dramatic or saying something un-usefully obvious like “we all get hurt,” take the opportunity to apologize and strengthen your relationship.

(Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Looks like America’s (or at least Bravo’s) favorite housewife just lost a storyline. NeNe Leakes’ much talked about role on The New Normal has come to an end. NBC recently dropped the show due to low ratings. So what’s next for reality television’s biggest success story?

Leakes’ IMDb profile gives no hints of future work outside of her current gigs on Bravo and The New Normal creator Ryan Murphy’s hit show Glee. That’s not to say the outlook on NeNe’s career is bleak. Far from it.

According to OK! Magazine, Leakes is the highest paid housewife in Bravo’s history, grabbing a $1 million paycheck (plus bonuses) to appear on season 6 of Real Housewives of Atlanta. It’s unclear whether this figure includes her salary for her upcoming spinoff, I Dream of NeNe, chronicling her wedding with ex-husband Gregg Leakes. And Glee is set for two more seasons, though the scope of NeNe’s role in the series is unclear.

NeNe joined Housewives to advance her acting career. She’s succeeding in using the show as a launching pad. She is seen as the queen bee of the show’s revolving cast of women and a template for other reality stars to follow. But can she make her success last, or is she destined to be a pop culture footnote?

Ryan Murphy, whom she calls her fairy godmother, has been her sole co-sign in Hollywood. Her work with him is the only time we see NeNe not playing herself. And let’s be honest, even when she’s reciting a script, she’s still being sassy, neck-rolling NeNe.

NeNe’s one-note performances aren’t necessarily a weakness. You don’t have to be Viola Davis to have a successful acting career. Character actresses, performers who specialize in playing eccentric or unusual people rather than leading roles, are paying their rent every month. Shout out to Rosie Perez, Jenifer Lewis, and Loretta DeVine.

Love her or hate her, NeNe Leakes is an entertainer. Now is the time for her to prove she can hold her own without famous fans giving her gigs. Leakes is at a crossroads and there are a few roads she can take:

1. Tyler Perry Avenue. Outside Madea’s Christmas slated for the end of this year, Mr. Perry has been hanging up the dress in favor of giving other actresses a chance to bring boisterous characters to the screen. Atlanta is small. I’m sure NeNe can bring up her open schedule over cocktails. Or ask best buddy Kim Kardashian for his number.
2. Black Rom-Com Way. From Baggage Claim to The Best Man reboot, black romantic comedies are making a comeback. Ms. Leakes would fit right in as the mother-in-law, aunty, or sassy coworker. These things write themselves.
3. BET Boulevard. The cable network is surely feeling confident from successes in scripted television like Real House Husbands of Hollywood and The Game. NeNe might even be able to land her own show.
4. Token Drive. It’s 2013 and every network show needs a Black character, the sassier the better. NeNe’s proven more than once she can hold her own in an ensemble cast.

NeNe has a large fan base, sufficient talent, and enough star quality to keep pushing her acting career forward if she chooses. What do you think Ms. Leakes next move should be? Should she keep her house in Hollywood or stick to reality?

—

C. Cleveland covers professional development topics and entrepreneurial rebels who blaze their own career paths. She explores these stories and more on The Red Read, Twitter (@CleveInTheCity) and Facebook (/MyReadIsRed).

Image Source: WENN.com

Well, this is actually a bit of a surprise.

As she continues to make her mark in Hollywood, Nene Leakes has hit a bit of a stumbling block: NBC has decided to cancel The New Normal after just once season. Nene has been part of the cast from the beginning.

This does come as a bit of a shock because not only had it received critical and fan acclaim, it wasn’t doing horribly in terms of ratings. The Huffington Post reports that while ratings did consistently drop, they maintained about 3.39 million viewers. Yes, it debuted to more than six million viewers but new shows almost always hit highs and lows.

Leakes played Rocky Rhoades, a former production assistant of one of the main characters, as well as all her family members when they popped up on the show.

While she is most likely very disappointed, Nene kept it very professional by tweeting:

Twitter

That’s right Nene, say all the right things because we know she’s a hustler and her next opportunity might be right around the corner.

For now, she still has her recurring role as “Coach Roz” on Fox’s Glee which has been renewed for another two seasons. We don’ t know if her character will be around that long but she can ride it until the wheels fall off. Plus, we know she isn’t going anywhere as HWIC (Head Wife In Charge) on Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Good luck to Nene and the entire cast as they make their next moves!

Source: Twitter

After much speculation, hint dropping and ear hustling, Bravo has officially announced NeNe Leakes’ spin-off show. I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding will document the Real Housewives of Atlanta star as she prepares to say “I do” (again) to her ex-husband-turned-fiancé, Gregg Leakes. The platinum-haired glammother took to her Twitter page yesterday to share the good news.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show will of course, feature NeNe’s hubby-to-be Gregg, celebrity wedding planner Tiffany Cook and NeNe’s RHOA pals Cynthia Bailey and Marlo Hampton, who will both be bridesmaids in the ceremony. The series is scheduled to premiere in the fall and is a product of True Entertainment and NeNe Leakes Productions for Bravo.

US Weekly is also reporting that the spin-off will document NeNe as she attempts to smooth things over with her estranged father and Gregg’s children from a prior relationship. This should be very interesting, as the troubled relationship between NeNe and her stepchildren has played out quite publicly. Back in 2011, Damian Leakes, NeNe’s stepson told Radar Online that the very rich reality star pretends that Gregg’s five other children don’t even exist.

“We are the forgotten side of the family. There’s so much talent with the kids he left behind. She knows us and she knows we have issues from about 15 years ago and it’s time to address them. She’s become a household name with our last name, but we’re non-existent.We need some closure. We need to know what did we do to cause this? What did we do to get Gregg to say ‘I’m going to abandon this family! I’m not going to try to be your friend or work with you or understand!’ We knew she [NeNe] didn’t like us– maybe he had too many kids. We didn’t know what her actual ordeal was.A TV show could be building process for Gregg and his kids because no one ever knew he had kids. There’s a lot of healing that needs to go on and a lot of animosity.”

Damian also said that NeNe probably wants to keep her distance from them [he and his siblings] out of fear that they may spill some damaging secrets about her.

Will you be watching I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding when it airs?

Tonight’s the night that Kandi Burruss’s new reality show spinoff, “The Kandi Factory,” airs on Bravo and before you roll your eyes at the thought of yet another reality singing competition, let Kandi tell you why her show is nothing  like the others out there.

What do you think? Will you watch?

Source: Bravo

Last night on Bravo TV’s Medicine to Medicine, one of the most ridiculous fights in reality television history went down between co-stars Maria Huq and Toya Bush-Harris. As childish as it may sound, these grown women got to pulling hair and tussling around a party full of doctors over comments that one made about the other’s mother (I kid you not). Fellow cast members and the show’s audience have equally expressed how ridiculous it was that these grown women came to blows on national television and now, Maria Huq is expressing how much she regrets the showdown. An excerpt from her post reads:

“I remember feeling so hurt, ashamed, and disappointed in myself “initially”after the fight. I felt as if I truly let myself, my family, and friends down. How does a grown educated business woman/mother/wife get into a tussle at a black-tie event? How did I allow a negative girl, with no morals, values, or boundaries bring me down to her level? Not sure what the politically correct answer is, but I know what my truth is. In that moment I was truly hurt and full of despair. Astonished by the lengths people will go to become more relevant. Children are off-limits, point blank, period.

This situation was an eye-opening experience for me. I hold myself to a much higher standard and truly hate that I set a poor example for my kids. I hope and pray it has been an equally valuable lesson in words, consequences and character for Toya as well.”

Mariah’s co-stars Dr. Simone Whitmore and Dr. Jaqueline Walters also weigh in on the fight, expressing their disappointment in Mariah and Toya.

“THIS IS NOT THE MARIAH I KNOW. I had never seen Mariah raise her voice and when I saw her fighting, I was in shock. I still can not believe an actual fight took place. Pinch me, was I in a nightmare?!” Whitemore wrote.

“Both women needed to have handled their emotions, though I will admit this is probably one of the hardest thing for us women to do. Mariah and Toya both admit their dislike for one another, and I am not real sure why they get under each other’s skin. If you don’t like someone, it should be easy to ignore them. Their opinions shouldn’t matter [...] I believe this fight could have been avoided if they had exercised open communication and let go of “who’s right”! I’m not convinced who is right, but I definitely know whose wrong. . .BOTH!!!” Walters added.

Unbelievable.

What do you make of all of this?

via BravoTV

Bravo has announced that it will be handing out “The Real Housewives Awards” as part of its overall 2013 digital campaigns. The Real Housewives franchise has been doing well both in the ratings and in social media, with tweets posted at a rapid clip using the appropriate Housewives hashtag when new episodes air.

According to Mashable, viewers will be able to vote in categories such as Best Supporting Agitator, Hottest Hubby, and Best Heels with the winners announced on Watch What Happens Live, the show hosted five days per week by Andy Cohen at the end of Bravo’s primetime broadcast. Additional details will be available in June. Mashable also includes a rundown of some of the new initiatives and shows that viewers can expect in the coming months.

According to TVByTheNumbers, the RHOA reunion episode on Sunday earned the highest ratings in all of the important demographics of all the reunion episodes in that show’s history. The episode was tops for women ages 18 to 49 and 25 to 54.

Source: Bravo

Sunday night’s episode of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” was a mess of a season finale, and right in the center of the drama were Kenya Moore and Porsha Stewart. The background is Kenya was having a party to celebrate her “arrival” and asked the ladies of the RHOA crew to dress as different iconic African American women. Porsha was told to come as Halle Berry a la Baps and in the midst of getting into character, some people got in Porsha’s ear, telling her the costume was likely a set-up, convincing her to come as Dorothy Dandridge Halle Berry instead.

Kenya, of course, went ballistic upon Porsha’s arrival and not-so-politely asked her to leave —  and then everyone went off. And now in an effort to explain herself to the masses, she’s written this ridiculous response on her blog, which starts like this:

From Halle Berry to Hattie McDaniel, who was the first Black women to ever win an Academy Award in 1939 74 years ago, the cause célèbre for my desire to honor these iconic women was the shocking and ignorant insults and remarks heralded toward me in Anguilla by a 31-year-old girl. I was told I was irrelevant, old, and a nonfactor at 41 being a part of history by becoming the 2nd black woman to be crowned Miss USA.

After I overcame my sadness and disdain at the ignorance and lack of respect that exists in America from some slightly younger, historically-challenged individuals, I felt it my responsibility to honor the women who have undoubtedly paved the way, opened doors, and broken racial barriers and stereotypes amidst hatred for women, which has allowed people like me to proudly walk through. I put a lot of time and effort into the party. I thought of each woman individually and assigned them costumes based on who their dynamic personalities. It was easy…

After that over dramatized explanation, which essentially says someone called me old, my feelings got hurt, I threw a party to prove I’m fabulous, Kenya went on to defend her choice of Porsha as B.A.Ps Halle Berry, and then threw massive shade:

“In B.A.P.S., [Halle Berry] was a young, pretty, unpolished, fun, and likable diamond in the rough. Her character arc showed her grow, mature, and become a beautiful polished Black American Princess who was willing to accept change. Perhaps, my vision was too complex for a self-centered little girl to understand.

“I’ve heard the comments that it was a “set-up,” or “non-glamorous,” “malice content” (malcontent is the correct word), which is utterly absurd. NO ONE takes that kind of energy from me.  This is just as ignorant as the first comments that were the catalyst for the event. Tina Turner was not “glamorous,” Grace Jones was not glamorous, nor any of the other characters aside from Cynthia as Diana Ross. I should not be surprised by the pervasive idiocy that exists in one’s own head…

“All the girls came to the party and never once complained about their assigned costumes. My amazing team created live reenactments from the movies of each character the girls were appearing, so it was imperative that they came as their assigned ICONS. If they didn’t want to comply with the hostess’ requests, they should have simply declined the invitation and stayed home. What clearly was premeditated is someone making their own rules to upset me at my own event, which I meticulously planned and paid for. Most importantly, I extended an olive branch toward forgiveness. When you have a history with me of being disrespectful, spiteful, and unapologetic, then you will be shown the nearest exit to the left.”

While Kenya may have gotten the last word with that remark, what she failed to think about before writing this rant was Porsha has bigger things to deal with — like a failing marriage — than her over-the-top “coming out” party. Therefore, this drawn out response just makes her look a little more crazy than we already think she is.

If you missed Sunday’s episode, check out a clip of the altercation below. Who’s side are you on?

Source: Bravo

From BlackVoices

Kandi Burruss dropped by Andy Cohen’s clubhouse on “Watch What Happens: Live” where she may have spoiled some big spin-off news no one else has talked about yet. She was talking about the news that her “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” co-stars NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak settled their years-long feud. But it was how she revealed what might be coming up on the show’s reunion special.

Andy Cohen was being coy and evasive, as expected. Kandi said, “They have a lot of history. It’s cool if they’re gonna be friends again. I mean, maybe we’ll see her on NeNe’s show. On the wedding.”

Kandi said “Nene’s show.” Could this be confirmation that NeNe Leakes is getting her own spin-off, just like Kim did, to document her upcoming nuptials to her ex-husband, Gregg Leakes?

Check out the rest of the details on BlackVoices.com.

Adriana M. Barraza / WENN.com

Could this woman be the newest cast member of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? According to E! News, she’s been approached about joining in on the “fun” and has met with producers and casting for Bravo.

Meet Baroness Monica von Neumann. She was married to Austrian royalty, Baron John von Neumann for 26 years after being introduced to each other by Sonny Bono in Palm Springs. According to Radar Online, he was the first importer of Volkswagens to the U.S., and a son of a prominent doctor. They had many great years together traveling around the world and living the fabulous life, but he passed away after a battle with cancer in 2003.

But aside from being known as his wife, the Baroness von Neumann has formed her own identity and brought in her own wealth as an entrepreneur. She’s Detroit’s finest, but has lived many years in Los Angeles, and is well known for her successful candle line, Baroness von Neumann Candles. We had the pleasure of interviewing her last year about her candle collection, her husband and her philanthropic work.

According to the source close to Bravo, “The producers loved that she has an existing company.” It’s that business savvy that makes producers think she would be a good fit for the show. She would definitely bring something different to the table seeing as she would be the first royal housewife in Beverly Hills and you know…since she’s black. If things don’t work out with the show, Von Neumann will definitely be good, not only because she’s handling business, but because she allegedly filmed a pilot for her own reality show for E! late last year, so she’s making big moves to get her face on the small screen in some way, shape or form. If she does get picked up for RHOBH, let’s hope she doesn’t end up being pushed to portray a stereotype, because she’s way too classy for all of that.