‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Star Files for Bankruptcy

Season 17 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta hasn’t even begun airing yet, but one newcomer is already making headlines. Aisha “Pinky” Cole, owner of popular eatery Slutty Vegan, has filed for bankruptcy.

TMZ reports Cole says she is in massive debt. She filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, alleging she owes the U.S. Small Business Administration $1.2 million.

Cole says she owes another $192,000 in total to the Georgia Department of Revenue. And she says she can’t afford to pay.

TMZ notes much of her financial stress may be predated to her Slutty Vegan burger chain in Georgia. There have been locations throughout the country, including Baltimore, Brooklyn, Birmingham, and Florida.

Cole has been open about her ups and downs in business, explaining that she expanded too quickly. At one point, she lost her business, but in recent years, she worked hard to purchase it back.

After buying her business back, she spoke to People about what she learned from her previous mishaps. “Our corporate overhead was about $10 million,” Pinky stated. “I was chasing something that I couldn’t catch for so many reasons.” She also admitted she wasn’t as involved in the operations as she should have been, leaving others to run her business. “You can never take your hands off the wheel,” she explained.

Slutty Vegan began as a sex-themed menu as a meal delivery service in 2018 before converting to a food truck. Its first brick-and-mortar location opened the following year in 2019. It quickly grew to 14 locations before closing several. It currently has six locations.

Cole made the Time100 Next list for starting the restaurant in 2023. Slutty Vegan faced multiple lawsuits in 2023 for unpaid wages, as well as a case filed in August for unpaid rent at Atlanta locations, per USA Today.

In the court documents, Cole says her homes, jewelry, clothing, cars, artwork and other personal property are worth about $3.7 million. She says her monthly expenses are around $41,700. She is set to appear for a teleconference on March 12 and must come up with a payment plan by June 12.