It didn’t take long for Sunday’s video conference reunion of the Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 12 cast to go off the rails, as the virtual format couldn’t stop series mainstay NeNe Leakes from clashing with castmates Kenya Moore, Eva Marcille, and Kandi Burruss. Things got so heated that Leakes abandoned the reunion entirely, not returning during the show’s final third. Leakes’ exit came only minutes before her former friend, Gail “Yovanna” Momplaisir, joined the chat. Momplaisir went on to implicate Leakes in the “SnakeGate” scandal that dominated Season 12, per People .
“Not only did she ask me to record Ms. Cynthia Bailey, but she told me she wanted me to record every single body that’s sitting right here. She wanted proof that everybody else is equally talking s*** about her the way she talks s*** about everybody else.”
The “SnakeGate” drama revolves around the revelation that one of the Housewives had secretly recorded castmate Cynthia Bailey making negative comments about Leakes. While the recording never surfaced, Leakes accused Momplaisir of being the “snake” behind the drama. Momplaisir used the reunion as an opportunity to clear her name while also detailing the extent of Leakes’ alleged plans.
“At that time I was like, ‘Okay, that’s innocent enough. If you want to find out people talking s***, I’m happy to tell you.’… Once she realized that my words weren’t good enough, she said she wanted proof of conversations. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t comfortable with that. It completely went against my moral being.”
Cast members questioned the authenticity of Momplaisir’s claims, wondering why she waited until the reunion to make the revelation. Momplaisir replied that she had been trying to protect Leakes, and was unaware that her friend had made her the prime suspect. Burruss wasn’t happy with the explanation, saying that the rest of the cast genuinely enjoyed being around Momplaisir and were betrayed that their relationship was simply a way for Leakes to gather intel.
Momplaisir said that Leakes’ decision to leave the chat before she joined the reunion was enough evidence that she was telling the truth about the situation. While Leakes did not return, the show’s host, Andy Cohen, did say that she had reached out to producers and told them to show her some respect.
Leakes hasn’t directly responded to the allegations made by Momplaisir, but did share a post on Instagram that thanked Williams for standing up for her.
