Real Housewife of Atlanta NeNe Leakes had a disastrous night hosting her Ladies Night Out Comedy Tour on Saturday

The reality star shocked the sold-out crowd at The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland when she appeared to be intoxicated while hosting the show according to multiple sources.

Leakes, 51, came on stage nearly 50 minutes late to start the evening. What those in attendance didn't know was that backstage the organizers of the tour were trying to help the TV star pull herself together so that she was able to go onstage and start the show.

According to a rep for Leakes, the decision to begin the show late was made by the venue, not by NeNe.

At 8:52 pm, Leakes came onstage after being introduced in an oddly-long introduction by her friend, former Real Housewives of Potomac cast member Charrisse Jackson Jordan.

Real Housewife of Atlanta NeNe Leakes had a disastrous night hosting her Ladies Night Out Comedy Tour on Saturday The reality star shocked the sold-out crowd at The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland when she appeared to be intoxicated while hosting the show. Above, NeNe the night of the event

The show would take a turn after Leakes introduced comedienne Loni Love, co-host of The Real. After the reality star brought Love on stage and the Emmy-winning talk show host performed her 25-minute comedy set, she took over the hosting duties for the remainder of the night

'Hey DMV [DC,Maryland,Virginia]. get on you motherf—n feet everybody,' Leakes shouted in the microphone, appearing to stumble and very clumsily hugging Jordan before she left the stage.

The Real Housewives star then tried to go into her comedy material, but seem disoriented and the timing of her delivery was off.

'Everyone wants to know when did NeNe Leakes become a comic. Is she a comedian?' she presented, talking slow and pacing back and forth on the stage. 'No bitch, I'm not a comedian. I'm a motherf***in' hustler!'

NeNe's Explanation Nene Leakes, through her rep denies that the star was intoxicated during her show. Here are their comments: 'The decision to begin the show late was made by the VENUE. Not by Nene Leakes. Nene was backstage with the other comedians watching video footage of the audience filing into their seats which was still occurring approximately 10 minutes prior to their scheduled start time of 8PM. She waited backstage until she was notified by someone at the venue that it was time for her to take the stage to start the show, which she then did promptly. 'Nene takes her professional commitments very seriously. She was not intoxicated, and therefore she did not stumble nor was she disoriented. She started the show by welcoming the audience as she does in every city, which was met by applause and positive fan response as usual. Any comment made about her material or comedic timing is someone’s personal opinion. 'Nene DID misidentify Janelle James and she confirms this was an honest mistake. This was only the second time they had worked together and she accidentally called her Jes, instead of Janelle. When Janelle took the stage, she made a joke to the audience along the lines of how “Ya’ll don’t know me, Nene doesn’t even know me” which was met with applause and laughter from the audience. There was no negative feelings between Janelle and Nene, and it was clear this was an honest mistake. Loni Love never took over Nene’s hosting duties. This is absolutely incorrect. At the end of every show, Loni concludes her set by introducing Nene and bringing her back to the stage to “thank” her for being their host for the evening. Every time Nene was expected to take to the stage as host, she did so.' Prior to the show, Nene had taken a vitamin on an empty stomach. Neither she nor Gregg had eaten all day, and when she arrived at the venue she had a cocktail backstage. She then got immediately sick. As Nene takes every professional commitment seriously, Nene assured everyone backstage that she was OK and would still do the show as planned despite feeling incredibly sick and unsure of what the cause was. Immediately after the show, Nene did confide in Gregg and those backstage “Why would I be sick like this. I only had ONE drink. Who made this for me, did someone put something in my drink?” 'Gregg was also sick, from not eating all day and having to take medication on an empty stomach, which is when they realized this was the cause. Nene had not taken the vitamin with food as advised, mixed with having only one cocktail prior to the show. Any emotion to these statements were because of frustration and confusion by Nene as to why she was feeling so sick when she barely drank; evidence from her asking if there might have been someone who spiked her drink.' Advertisement

The joke landed the TV personality a big laugh, but it would be one of the only laughs and only jokes she would tell the rest of the night.

Leakes then attempted to introduce the show's first comic, comedienne Janelle James.

After struggling to remember some of James' credits, Leakes offered to the crowd: 'Give it up for Jes James.'

The crowd applauded and James made her way to the stage. The Caribbean-born comic, who has been featured on Netflix and Comedy Central and toured with folks like Amy Schumer and Hannibal Buress, addressed the name mix-up.

'Thank you all of the applause because you don't know me. And apparently, neither does NeNe Leakes because my name is Janelle James, not Jes James,' she clarified to the crowd, who laughed and applauded loudly.

Apparently, Leakes had confused her with another comedienne Jes Hilarious that has appeared on some of the Ladies Night Out Comedy Tour dates.

When it was time for Leakes to introduce another comic, Melanie Comarcho, she began repeating herself.

Nene Leakes's rep denies that the star was intoxicated during her show

'This next lady you know her from Def Comedy Jam, you know her for touring with Katt Williams, you know her from Def Comedy Jam, give it up for Melanie Comarcho,' she said.

As Comarcho was coming to the stage, you could hear concertgoers talking about what they were seeing.

'I can't believe NeNe would show up to host this show drunk. It's so unprofessional,' an attendee was overheard to say.

Another patron countered: 'This bitch ain't drunk, she's f—ked up! Somebody better get her off the stage.'

The show took a turn after Leakes introduced comedienne Loni Love, co-host of The Real.

After the reality star brought Love on stage and the Emmy-winning talk show host performed her 25-minute comedy set, she took over the hosting duties for the remainder of the night. Love herself introduced the night's headliner, star of The Original Queens of Comedy, Adele Givens.

Leakes wouldn't return to the stage until Love brought her back out during the curtain call, but she never took a microphone and addressed the crowd again.

'It was a mess backstage. NeNe had this enormous entourage and everyone was scrambling trying to get her together each time she was supposed to go on stage.

'She was embarrassingly drunk, barely able to walk and was slurring when she spoke. Not how any professional should show up to host a show,' said someone involved with the tour.

One person backstage when the drama was unfolding tells Daily Mail that Leakes was also an emotional wreck, having outbursts and crying. 'She kept saying, 'somebody put something in my drink bitch. I only had two drinks; I ain't supposed to be this drunk.' Her husband Gregg kept trying to calm her down.' the source disclosed.

The Ladies Night Out Comedy Tour is apparently a family affair for Leakes, as her husband Gregg Leakes tours with the show as a road manager.

Ladies Night Out Comedy Tour will play upcoming shows in Los Angeles and Brooklyn with the additions of comedienne Kym Whitley and former The View co-host Sherri Shepherd to the lineup

Having recently overcome his battle with cancer, which was detailed on season 11 of Real Housewives of Atlanta, some fans during the meet-and-greet with the comics asked Leakes if they could pray with her regarding her husband's health.

Already overly-emotional seemingly because of her drinking, as the women started praying Leakes just sobbed and sobbed. After a few minutes, Love walked over and interrupted the prayer session and told Leakes it was time to go back to her dressing room.

Her display in at the MGM National Harbor n Saturday isn't the first drama Leakes has had while touring with the Ladies Night Out Comedy Tour.

When the tour first started back in October 2017 in Oakland, California; Leakes told a heckler 'kill herself' and then said 'the damn Uber driver... I hope he rape yo ass tonight when he take you home, bitch.'

The incident got Leakes canceled as the host of The Great Xscape Tour that featured her fellow Real Housewives of Atlanta co-star Kandi Burruss, who had reunited with the R&B group she started out with for an arena tour.

Ladies Night Out Comedy Tour will play upcoming shows in Los Angeles and Brooklyn with the additions of comedienne Kym Whitley and former The View co-host Sherri Shepherd to the lineup.