Star Jones Talks NeNe Leakes, Heart Surgery, Barbara Walters And More!

Lawyer, talk show host, and now reality star Star Jones sat down down with AOL's Black Voices and gave a candid interview about all that's happening in her life!

She discusses her heart surgery she had last year, her rift with Barbara Walters and her now infamous feud with her Celebrity Apprentice co-star NeNe Leakes!

You are featured on the new season of 'Celebrity Apprentice' and the charity that you compete for is The American Heart Association. The show is getting a ton of pre-press and mainly because NeNe Leakes has been doing interviews about you. What went wrong with you and NeNe?

This actually saddens me. Black women trashing other black women all for the sake of personal aggrandizement. When the cast was first announced, I was both excited and concerned. Excited that this was going to be the most diverse cast in primetime reality programming and concerned, because the media immediately started the drum-roll of "can this many black women get along?" The four of us actually chatted about the unique opportunity we had to influence the perception of black women and the way we interact. We each brought something different to the show, so I had hoped we could avoid falling into the typical "snake charmer in your face loud bombastic black woman" stereotypical box that was expected. Some of us were more successful at our quest than others. I knew I wanted to approach the game intelligently, professionally and strategically, while keeping in mind my true purpose for being there – winning money for my charity.

You have a great deal of Black female friends – Vanessa Bell Calloway, Natalie Cole and Holly Robinson Peete to name a few. Were you surprised at Nene's personal attack on you and the implications that you don't gel with other Black women?

Who are you telling! You know my girlfriend gatherings are legendary! But you'll see this season on the show, at some point Nene attacked all the black women on the show and scared the other women to death with her aggressive approach. But to be fair, it is an approach that works for her kind of television interaction, as evidenced by the great ratings they generate. But it isn't an approach that works in the professional environment and it isn't an approach that most sisters use in interacting with each other. I would hope, as she becomes more exposed to a variety of professional situations, she will tone down the vitriolic emotional reactions and learn to express herself in manner that is more reflective of the majority of black women in America.  

Star handled this NeNe situation in such a mature, articulate and "lil girl....have a BIG SEAT" way!

I don't know about yall but I am soooooooooooooooooooooooo over NeNe Leakes. Sho' am!!! I say that a lot, but she has really plucked my nerve in 2011. You can't bring "Housewives" everywhere, girl! And then you're scaring the poor white girls on the show as well? Flag on the play....

To read the full interview, CLICK HERE.