Former Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes may have announced her departure from the Bravo series back in 2020, but stepping away from the Real Housewives franchise hasn’t meant that public interest in her life disappeared. Recently, her 31-year-old son Bryson Bryant was arrested in Georgia. With that news circulating on the web, Leakes has spoken out about the situation with her son and his struggles with drugs.
Leakes was candid in her comments about Bryson’s situation, sharing that her “hands are tied” despite her son needing help. Speaking with Carlos King, the former Bravo star (who has since appeared in the BET series College Hill: Celebrity Edition despite some real-life drama), she explained that she talked with her son on the phone and she thinks “he’s doing okay,” then continued:
He needs rehabilitation. He needs a lot of counseling. Like many families out there, I have family members that are struggling with drugs and certain addictions. He has an addiction. He's been struggling with it for years. He's been in rehab for a couple of times and he still has come back out and relapsed. As a mom just to watch it is…my hands are tied.
News of Bryson Bryant’s arrest began to spread earlier in July, with reports (via People) that he was facing multiple charges, including possession of a Schedule II controlled substance (allegedly fentanyl), violation of probation, loitering/prowling, and giving a false name, address, or birthday. For the latter charge, he allegedly identified himself as his younger brother, Brentt Leakes, who is Nene Leakes’ son with her late husband Gregg Leakes.
This latest arrest happened on July 3, although he was arrested in 2011 for allegedly driving under the influence and in 2012 for allegedly stealing from Wal-Mart. When speaking with Carlos Hill, who was an executive producer on The Real Housewives of Atlanta during NeNe Leakes’ time as a cast member, she went on to say that her son is “31-years old” and “he’s an adult,” then continued:
He has three children — three beautiful children — who I adore. He has a wife… I’ve spent so much money on trying to get Bryson where he needs to be. But every time I've sent him off is because I said, ‘You are getting your ass up and we are sending you off.’ But I learned through counseling myself that he has to say, ‘I’m ready to go,’ not me making him go. So until Bryson is ready to make a change, [there’s] nothing I [can] do. As a mother, I would never wash my hands of my child, right? But I'm kind of numb to it because it's been happening for so many years. I'm just really kind of numb to the situation.
NeNe Leakes was clear that she hasn’t given up on her eldest son, but that Bryson needs to be the one to “make a change” in his life. The reality star went on to share her thoughts on whether Bryson being famous on television thanks to The Real Housewives of Atlanta contributed to his current circumstances, noting that it couldn’t have helped. She said:
I don’t think it helped, but I wouldn’t say that it’s the sole cause of it. It certainly didn’t help, because we started on television when Bryson was in the eleventh or twelfth grade, and Brentt was in third grade. They’re having to be in a light shined on them that they did not ask for… People are picking them apart because of the job that I chose to do, and so I feel for them in that way… but Lamar Odom also called me and said that he would grab Bryson right away and send him to his place. He has a rehabilitation place somewhere.
NeNe Leakes credited former NBA star Lamar Odom for reaching out to help Bryson Bryant, which is not a first for Odom. The former Los Angeles Laker also reached out to Jackass’ Bam Margera over the summer with an offer for a place at one of his rehab centers. Leakes didn’t go into further detail on her son potentially going to rehab with Odom’s help, but she and Odom appeared in the same project back in 2022 when both were cast members on College Hill: Celebrity Edition.
For now, we can only wish the best for NeNe Leakes, Bryson Bryant, and the rest of their family in the wake of his arrest. Her candid comments shed more light on the recent arrest reports as well as the struggles over many years.
