Phaedra Parks was just a lawyer with a dream when she joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta in 2010, and that dream was fame. At least, it’s easy to assume that it was fame. Before joining the reality series, she worked with high-profile clients like Bobby Brown. Phaedra’s first appearance on Bravo wasn’t on Real Housewives, but on the series Being Bobby Brown, which followed the family life of singer Bobby Brown while he was still married to Whitney Houston. Phaedra was a part of Bobby’s much-needed legal team at the time of the show, as he was in and out of court during that period. Bobby’s legal cases were highly publicized, which, according to Bobby, was not something that he wanted. In his book Every Little Step, he detailed how Phaedra seemed to enjoy having the cameras around during his trials. He also mentioned the fact that he seemed to have more jail time than he felt he should have had to do.
Dubious law decisions aside, Phaedra made television gold the second she received her peach. Fans and her fellow cast mates immediately noticed her ability to spin the truth into something else entirely. Phaedra’s skills as a lawyer made her a storytelling force, and that skill is also what ultimately led to her being fired from the series after season 9. However, with Kandi Burruss leaving RHOA after 14 seasons, there is room for Phaedra to return to the series.
Phaedra, who is currently a cast member on Married to Medicine, recently hinted that a return to The Real Housewives of Atlanta is possible, and many fans are hoping this isn’t another one of her patented lies. She’s certainly having a moment right now, thanks to her current run as a Traitor on The Traitors, where viewers love the game that she’s playing. The rumor mill is churning, and while RHOA viewers continue to bite their nails while awaiting cast news, others are reflecting on Phaedra’s past on the show. Of all the scenarios, shenanigans, and lies that Phaedra told, here are some of the most outrageous.
8.The Infamous Butt Dial
Phaedra Proves She’s a Saint and a Sinner
When Phaedra and Apollo Nida’s first child, Ayden, was born, Cynthia Bailey was unable to attend his baby shower. Drama ensued when Phaedra accidentally butt-dialed a mutual friend of hers and Cynthia’s, and the timing of the call happened to align with Phaedra speaking in an unkind manner about Cynthia. In the call, Phaedra is recorded saying, “Cynthia was like: ‘I gotta go out of town’. But I really don’t give a f*ck about her coming.” When Cynthia received word of the call she decided to confront her about it. Phaedra immediately denied it. She said, “I don’t think you’ve ever heard me drop the F-bomb so whoever told you that is trippin’. I don’t know about all that conversation ’cause, I don’t know about it. But I don’t recall it happening.”
Saying the words, “I don’t recall” doing something is an excellent way to avoid telling a definitive lie while also avoiding the truth. However, she could not hide behind the recall wall when Cynthia mentioned that she had a recording of the phone call. When Cynthia asked her if she wanted to listen to the recording of her saying what she did not recall saying, Phaedra smoothly changed topics. Her attempt to lie was a failure, and the misdirection attempt was a classically hilarious one.
7.Meeting and Marrying an Ex-Con
The Apollo of It All
How did Phaedra and Apollo first meet? Thanks to tales told by Phaedra, there are multiple answers to that question. First, she shared in an episode that she and Apollo met during college. In another instance, she said that they were high school sweethearts. The problem with both of these stories? There is about a six-year age gap between the former couple. So, for them to have been high school sweethearts or college sweethearts, Apollo would either need to be a genius, or Phaedra would have needed to repeat a grade or two. Both of those things are not true, meaning both of those stories aren’t true. The most likely story is the one that has the most details in it.
Before sharing both of these stories, both Phaedra and Apollo appeared on Watch What Happens Live! While on the show, Andy asked how they met and Apollo shared the true story. He shared that he followed her after spotting her on the highway, saying, “I was chasing her through traffic for a little bit and the next thing you know, we’re like merging on the same exit. So she like follow me. And then I followed her to her house. We exchanged numbers, and then we just started dating from there. Of course, I lied to her about my age and whatnot. She was still in law school, and I was still in high school.”
This story was confirmed again in 2019, this time by Phaedra, who shared, “He saw me, flagged me down, we met, and he followed me home and walked up to my doorstep and said, ‘Hey, I want you to be my girlfriend.’ And so that’s how we got together, Apollo was extremely nice, always very generous, just a really good guy.” One can understand why Phaedra would lie about this story, as Apollo lied to her about his age and was still in high school when their relationship began.
6.Celebrity Affiliations Don’t Always Exist
Tyler Perry Doesn’t Know the Bravo Star
In a 2013 episode of RHOA Phaedra said that she knew Tyler Perry, and the cast members present for this comment were immediately suspicious. Especially NeNe Leakes, who was pretty confident that she was lying. When the episode aired, NeNe took to Twitter and said, “So funny I asked @tylerperry if he knew Phaedra & he said he NEVER met her! What is wrong wit these girls.” NeNe’s tweet was then confirmed by the movie mogul when he made a stop by WWHL. Andy asked him if he ever met Phaedra and Tyler Perry said, “No, we haven’t met. No we’ve never met.” So, not only did she lie about knowing him, but he doubled down on the fact that he had never met her.
5.Shemar Moore May Be Hot, But Not For Phaedra
A Kiss Shared on Screen
Anyone in Phaedra’s shoes would pretend this lie was true if they had the opportunity. Shemar Moore is arguably one of the most good-looking men alive. Shortly after being fired from RHOA Phaedra and Shemar both appeared on WWHL, and they seemed pretty chummy during their episode. Phaedra later shared a post on her Instagram that fueled the rumors of them being romantically involved. A post she shared included a picture of her hugging him in a seemingly intimate way, and she combined the post with a caption that said, ““The look on #bae face when you tell him tonight is your night ? @swatcbs premieres on @cbstv & @globaltv @10/9c #1 #babygirl Tune in! Set your DVR!” Phaedra referring to him as bae led to many people making the assumption they were dating.
Shemar had to clear the air later on, sharing with E! News, “So I walked in and I saw Phaedra and I know who Phaedra- I’ve heard of Phaedra and she was looking like…and so she looked at me and I kinda had this sense of like, ‘Oh, she thinks I’m the guy from The Young and the Restless‘ or ‘She thinks I’m a certain Shemar.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m gonna introduce you to a different kind of Shemar.’ So I just decided to have a good time and she was such a good sport and we played and we flirted and we got our little kissy face on. And then that went viral and that’s the first and the last time that I’ve ever seen or met Phaedra.” Phaedra’s Instagram post referred to him as “bae” but did not explicitly say they were dating, but she didn’t really try to stop the rumor.
4.Phaedra Goes Against Her Arch Enemy
Is Phaedra a Criminal Too?
Once upon a time, the man Phaedra Parks married went to prison for a money laundering scheme. Her former best friend, Angela Stanton, was also involved in a similar incident, and after the dust settled she wrote a book about her experience in 2012. The book, titled Lies of a Real Housewife: Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil, asserts that Phaedra was the actual mastermind behind the same type of illegal activity that sent Apollo to prison. The book is pretty damning, and Phaedra sues Angela for defamation of character.
Later on, during the infamous season 9 reunion, Kandi brought up the defamation case, and Phaedra responded that she won the case. Angela’s lawyers released a statement showing that Phaedra settled with Angela after years of back and forth over the case. Settling is not winning, unless it’s from the sense of getting a situation wrapped up quickly.
3.Phaedra Likes Chocolate
Did She Have an Affair?
Mr. Chocolate is a name most recently heard in a hilariously poignant episode of Atlanta in its final season, but also goes beyond the fictional character created by Donald Glover. The name Mr. Chocolate was also heard on RHOA, specifically in relations to some allegations of infidelity. During a 2015 episode, Peter Thomas alleged that he saw texts from a person named Chocolate Phaedra’s phone. The texts were flirtatious and damning, especially given the timing. Apollo was getting ready to serve his prison sentence when Peter to see the texts come in. Phaedra denied this immediately, but the rumors continued to swirl.
Kenya Moore brought up the alleged affair also, saying the mystery man’s name was Chocolate. There were also rumors that Mr. Chocolate was none other than Jamal Bryant, ex-husband of The Real Housewives of Potomac’s Gizelle Bryant, which both Gizelle and Jamal denied. With so many rumors surrounding this specific incident one can’t help but wonder if there is a small hint of truth to the idea that Phaedra cheated on Apollo. In 2022, Phaedra doubled down on the rumor being fake, saying that the producers pushed and overblown the story for ratings.
2.Pregnancy Is Typically 40 Weeks, But Not In Phaedra’s Case
The Tale About Her Due Date
This lie is one that had every cast member and viewer scratching their head. When Phaedra got pregnant with Ayden, questions about her due date began to arise. During an episode that was filmed at the time, Phaedra was supposedly almost 6 months along, and she shared with Shereé Whitfield that the baby was due, “any day now.” When Shereé questioned the timing, Phaedra quickly recovered by saying that as long as the baby was developed enough, they’d be fine during a premature delivery. Any doctor or nurse watching the show probably had alarm bells flaring when she said that. After a little detective work, the ladies soon discovered that Phaedra was 40 weeks along, not 34 like she initially had stated. Phaedra later shared that she lied because she didn’t want her mother to know she got pregnant before she and Apollo got married.
1.Phaedra’s Final Lie Gets Her Fired
Sex Dungeons and Drugs
In season 9, Phaedra began spreading a rumor that Kandi and Todd had plans to drug and sexually assault Porsha Williams. The allegations were damning and created chaos for both Kandi and Todd. During the season 9 reunion, everything came to light, including that what Phaedra said was entirely fabricated. The lie was damaging enough for Kandi to say that she’d never film with Phaedra again, which ultimately led to her being fired from the show. Phaedra insisted that she was fed the rumor by production, but it was too late, as the damage had already been done.
