The former 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' star claims in a new interview that the reason Wendy made Debmar-Mercury pull the talk show deal is actually beyond their 2014 Birkin bag debacle.
- Jun 30, 2022
AceShowbiz - NeNe Leakes detailed the reason why Wendy Williams decided to end her talk show with Tom Arnold. The former "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star claimed that it was actually beyond their 2014 Birkin bag debacle.
"Wendy saw that I had defaced my Birkin bag, and yes, she posted a comment on her show's social media page about it," NeNe said to Page Six. However, the 54-year-old star shared "that wasn't the trigger."
She spilled, "The trigger was what she said about it and me on her 'Hot Topics' [segment]." While NeNe admitted that she didn't remember Wendy's on-air comments "word for word," she alleged that the former "The Wendy Williams Show" host suggested she wasn't wealthy enough to "deface" a purse that can cost upwards of $10,000.
"Kim Kardashian had done the same thing around the same time, 'defaced' her [Birkin] bag," NeNe explained. "Wendy said Kim can do that because she had the money to do such a thing, but basically I didn't."
In response to the insult, NeNe hit back at the time, "I am sure you're scared I will take your place (I know you have heard! Ummhmm wink wink) BE SCARED!" Reflecting on the time, she added, "I responded by saying something like, 'Now, Wendell, I have four Birkin bags, and I can do the same,' " noting that the name "Wendell" quickly went viral.
"Wendy didn't like it," she claimed. "Debmar-Mercury pulled the deal and stopped all communication with me. Our deal went dead."
Meanwhile, Tom recently also talked about his and NeNe's talk show deal that fell through. The former "Roseanne" star revealed to the news outlet that he "connected" with Wendy's producers after a few appearances on her titular program and was presented with the concept.
"The reason they approached me is because they'd seen me go on 'Wendy', and I had a great time," he said. "The goal was to have [our show] go on right after 'The Wendy Willams Show'. And I said, 'Oh, that sounds great! Let's get together.' And then we did."
The producers allegedly were "jazzed" about the project, telling him they "felt it would be a home run" as the "Wendy" show was "killing it" at the time. "I thought, 'With somebody like NeNe Leakes, how do you go wrong there?' And then I figured out how you go wrong - make fun of somebody's purse," he said.
