NeNe Leakes' Friendship With USDA Director Comes Under Scrutiny

Source: Bravo / Getty

Looks like NeNe Leakes has ticked off the wrong one this time… There’s a new report circulating about Nene’s longtime friendship with a man named Rodney White and boy is it detailed and messy!

Sources tell Page Six that while NeNe and husband Gregg Leakes were fighting publicly, she was allegedly getting close to White. The source says Leakes, 53, and White, 54, have a friendship that dates back to before her days on Bravo, but the source says the pair started hanging out more after 2017.

“People close to him have said that it’s all about the lifestyle,” a source said. “If it wasn’t for that, he wouldn’t give her the time of day … because he didn’t before when she was a nobody. He knew her before she became the NeNe Leakes that she is today and before the multiple surgeries to change her looks.”

According to Page Six, a source spotted NeNe and White having dinner at Bâoli in Miami in early January 2019 while Leakes’ husband Gregg, 65, was battling stage 3 colon cancer in Atlanta.

During that Miami trip, another source tells Page Six they saw NeNe with a “tall, handsome black man” at South Beach hotspot E11EVEN, where photos are not allowed.

“They were all over each other,” a source said. “They were touching each other, laughing, giggling, kissing, but it wasn’t like they were full-blown slobbering down. I don’t think she was trying to hide it.”

Another eyewitness added, “She was all over this guy. Kissing, cuddling, holding, sitting on his lap.”

The sources also say that several of Nene’s castmates are aware of her relationship with White.

“Marlo [Thompson] knows who this man is. Cynthia [Bailey] knows who this man is. Eva [Marcille] has seen them together,” the source alleged.

White reportedly works in upper management for the United States Department of Agriculture and hails from Maryland, but one of the Page Six sources says he enjoys spending time with NeNe Leakes for the star perks.

“He loves the limelight,” the source claims. “He loves to have the red carpet rolled out. He feels like he’s a celebrity. He’s that type of person.”

We tried to track down White’s Instagram, but it has been reportedly deleted, however Page Six reports that White posted a photo of himself at the “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” clubhouse on November 24th, the same day NeNe was a guest on the show alongside Kelly Rowland.

Page Six also notes that White posted on Instagram when he accompanied Leakes to a “Good Morning America” appearance in February 2019.

According to one of the Page Six sources, White was allegedly cropped from a photo NeNe shared on Oct. 6 of her hanging out with Wendy Williams, 55, — tagged #girlsniteout.

Ironically enough, the tabloid notes that on October 5th, just the day before Leakes’ post White shared a photo of himself from Tao Downtown, which has decor that closely matched the photo Nene posted. The tabloid also notes that White subsequently deleted the post.

White also posted a video from Philippe Chow in Manhattan on November 24th, the day after Wendy talked about hanging with NeNe in New York, where a voice that sounded like Leakes can be heard in the background saying, “Thank you, baby! Turn the f— up! Turn it up!” The voice then joked, “It caught my wig on fire,” as dessert was being lit.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzmZZyAgizO/

Page Six sources also say White and Leakes have been spotted kicking it in Maryland where NeNe has a Swagg Boutique location. The outlet says White shared photos on social media from the MGM National Harbor Resort and Casino in Oxon Hill, Maryland, where NeNe has her store — which Gregg manages.

In March, a source exclusively told Page Six that NeNe “flaunts her relationship with [White] around openly like they’re together.”

“She spends a lot of time in Maryland not only because of this boutique, but also because of [White],” the source alleged.

The outlet also shared a photo from White’s IG of him outside of the MGM, which NeNe had commented on using heart eye emojis. That photo was later deleted.

But there is some evidence that Gregg may have some awareness of what is going on and that the Leakes’ have some sort of agreement about rules of engagement. In a March appearance on “Angela Yee’s Lip Service” Nene tells Yee and her cohosts that, “If Gregg wanted to go be with somebody right now, I would say go right on. Why am I going to try and keep him from doing something that he wants to do?”

“Then I have to make a choice myself — if I want to stay with him or not — and I probably would stay with him,” she added. “I do what I want anyway … I’m in New York, he’s in Georgia, so whatever he’s doing, I don’t need to know about it.”

You can watch below:

NeNe and Gregg first married in 1997, then divorced in 2011 before remarrying in 2013. Last April NeNe admitted the couple had some issues more recently and had been considering divorcing in 2019 after coming out of a difficult period while NeNe struggled to take care of Gregg during his battle with cancer.

NeNe isn’t the only one whose been accused of creeping either. During her interview with Lip Service, NeNe also talked about finding out that Gregg had allegedly been FaceTiming with a woman named Juanita Marshall, who worked as a manager at Swagg Boutique, last year.

Marshall exclusively told Page Six of the allegations: “I left willingly because at the time it was just out of hand. It was too much drama for me, so I decided not to stay. I walked away from the position.”

There’s also sources who speculate Gregg and NeNe’s marriage is more of a business arrangement.

“[NeNe and Gregg’s] relationship is pretty much a business relationship,” a source told Page Six. “NeNe has ideas, and Gregg can execute those ideas, and that’s the only reason why they are together.”

Another source added, “When she remarried him, she did not put his name on that house that she owns, so he is not on the deed. He is not working, and she said out of her own mouth at the reunion that if she does not travel, Gregg does not eat.”

Page Six confirmed from property records that Gregg’s name is not on the deed for NeNe’s current home. NeNe’s comments about Gregg not eating occurred during the Season 11 reunion. Her exact words were, “I am a provider, if I didn’t travel, Gregg wouldn’t be eating while he was sick.”

“So that means that she is taking care of him,” the source concluded, adding that they believe Gregg is aware of NeNe’s relationship with White. “I think he is OK with it.”

A separate source alleged that NeNe is drawn closer to White, who is 6’3 and nearly ten years younger than Gregg, because she’s envious that her co-stars are with young nice looking men.

“She knows deep down that [White] could never give her what she’s seeking — and that’s love, but she’s trying because all of the other ladies on the show have young men that look nice and they’re not Gregg,” the source said.

These sources are PETTY honey! Meanwhile, NeNe, White and Gregg did not return multiple requests from Page Six for comment.