TMZ: Phaedra Parks and Apollo Nida finally agree to divorce

Apollo and Phaedra earlier this year during the taping of the season 6 reunion show for "Real Housewives of Atlanta." CREDIT: Bravo

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

Apollo and Phaedra earlier this year during the taping of the season 6 reunion show for "Real Housewives of Atlanta." CREDIT: Bravo

This was posted on Tuesday, July 11, 2017 by Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

With Phaedra Parks reportedly off "Real Housewives of Atlanta" following revelations of lies and deception that made the other cast members blanche, the attorney is clearly trying to close the door on another sticky point: her divorce to imprisoned husband Apollo Nida.

The situation has been dragging on for three years. TMZ reports they have finally agreed to a divorce settlement with details kept secret beyond the fact Nida will get be able to get two phone calls a week from their two sons. That concession was clearly leaked to show that Nida will still have some contact with them and some sort of "joint custody' despite the fact he is partway through an eight-year federal prison sentence for ID theft and bank fraud.

The lack of transparency otherwise is not surprising. Parks' penchant for secrecy is well documented. She filed divorce papers last year with deliberately misspelled names, supposedly to throw off the media but Nida ultimately said was meant to throw him off as well. As a counterweight, he filed his own divorce papers.

A judge threw out her agreement earlier this year and Nida withdrew his court filing. According to TMZ, he wanted to re-negotiate a prenuptial agreement to get more money. Whether he did or not is not clear.

One thing's for sure: Parks' all-but-inevitable departure from "Real Housewives of Atlanta" means a huge amount of annual income will no longer be entering her coffers. That alone may have encouraged Parks to stop the legal battle so she would no longer have to keep paying attorneys and allow her to move forward in her life.

For Nida, this will open up the way for him to marry his fiance Sherien Almufti, who appeared briefly on "Real Housewives of Atlanta" last season. He currently is in federal prison in New Jersey in the same place as "Real Housewives of New Jersey" hubby Joe Guidice, imprisoned himself for tax fraud.