NeNe Leakes says she reached out to Kim Zolciak last week as the reality star faces her son’s mounting legal crisis.
Leakes, 58, made the disclosure during a Friday appearance on “The Big Tigger Morning Show,” telling listeners she contacted her former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” co-star to check on her welfare. The gesture marked a notable moment between two women whose years-long feud defined much of the Bravo show’s early drama.
“I recently spoke to Kim. I think it was last week,” Leakes said on the radio program. “I just hit her up, wanted to know how she was doing … and made sure she was OK with what her son is dealing with.”
Kroy “KJ” Biermann Jr., 15 — the son Zolciak shares with estranged husband Kroy Biermann — was arrested Aug. 21 on charges of aggravated sexual battery and sodomy following accusations from a female classmate. The alleged assault occurred in April inside a coed sauna at a Life Time fitness center in Alpharetta, Georgia, according to authorities.
“I know that’s a tough time, and I know she’s not OK,” Leakes added during her on-air remarks.
The radio interview came as Zolciak, 48, was spotted at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta that same Friday for KJ’s bond hearing. An eyewitness described her as “stone-faced” throughout the proceedings, seated beside her 29-year-old daughter, Brielle.
During that hearing, prosecutors dropped an additional bombshell: investigators allegedly found videos on KJ’s cell phone showing him having sex with an underage relative. The new accusation compounded an already dire situation for the teenager.
A Georgia grand jury formally indicted KJ on Sept. 3, leveling seven felony charges against him. The counts include one charge each of aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery and false imprisonment, plus three additional counts of aggravated sexual battery against a child under 16.
Shortly after his August arrest, Zolciak issued a forceful defense of her son through her representative.
“He categorically denies ever being involved with this woman or engaging in the conduct she has alleged,” she said in a statement provided to the outlet at the time, calling the allegations “reckless and deeply troubling.”
KJ was granted a $200,000 bond following the hearing and ordered to live under strict conditions: he must remain at Zolciak’s residence, attend school virtually, abstain completely from social media and avoid all cell phone use.
Leakes and Zolciak’s contentious history stretches back through their overlapping tenure on “RHOA,” which Leakes exited in 2020. Their clashes became so central to the series that Leakes later filed a lawsuit in April 2022 against Bravo and executive producer Andy Cohen, alleging they “encouraged” a workplace where Zolciak directed “racially offensive and stereotypical” comments toward her and other cast members. Leakes voluntarily dismissed that case without prejudice that August, court records showed.
Leakes recently returned to the Bravo universe with a cameo in last month’s “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th” special, her first franchise appearance since her exit.
Zolciak has also faced prolonged public turmoil surrounding her acrimonious divorce from Kroy Biermann, with financial strain and custody battles playing out in Georgia courts over the past year.