End of an RHOA Era: Kim Zolciak’s Ex Big Poppa Lee Najjar Dies at 68
Lee Najjar — known to Real Housewives of Atlanta fans as Kim Zolciak’s ex Big Poppa — has died at 68, the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner confirmed to TMZ; no cause of death has been released.
If you watched the early seasons of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the name Big Poppa probably rings a bell. The man behind the nickname — Atlanta real estate figure Lee Najjar — has died. He was 68.
The confirmation and the family posts
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner confirmed to TMZ that Najjar died on Saturday, April 18, 2026. A cause of death has not been released.
His daughter, Katelin Najjar, acknowledged his passing on Tuesday, April 21, writing on Instagram Stories: "I love you," and adding that she cherished how he used to write her notes and cards because "he knew it meant everything to me."
Katelin also reposted a tribute from a close friend that pulled back the curtain on who Lee was off-camera:
"It’s so hard to imagine life without Lee, but who he was and what he meant to those who knew and loved him will never leave us. He had such a profound impact on my life, and I feel so fortunate to have shared so many unforgettable moments and life experiences with him and because of him."
The same friend called out how tight Lee and Katelin were, saying he would do anything to make his daughter happy — including tolerating their antics for decades.
Who Big Poppa was to RHOA fans
Najjar never actually appeared on RHOA, which only made him more of a myth in those first seasons when Kim Zolciak (now 47) openly talked about a well-heeled boyfriend helping bankroll her luxe lifestyle. The relationship ended long before her marriage to Kroy Biermann. Back in 2009, at the Fox Reality Channel’s Really Awards, Kim told Us Weekly that she and Big Poppa had split and that it was time for her to move on, even if he would always be significant to her.
When viewers questioned the situation a year later, Kim pushed back in a Bravo blog, saying he was legally married but separated and living across the country, and that they had lived together for a period — her way of arguing she did not consider it cheating.
As of now, Kim has not publicly commented on Najjar’s death.
- Name: Lee Najjar, the offscreen "Big Poppa" from early RHOA
- Age: 68
- Died: Saturday, April 18, 2026
- Confirmed by: Miami-Dade Medical Examiner, via TMZ
- Cause of death: Not yet available
- Background: Atlanta real estate investor; never appeared on RHOA but loomed large in Kim Zolciak’s storyline
- Kim/Big Poppa timeline: Together during early RHOA seasons; split confirmed in 2009; Kim later said he was separated and that they lived together for a time
- Family/friends remember him as: Sharp in business, genuinely funny, a one-liner machine, and deeply devoted to his daughter Katelin
For a figure who was mostly a rumor and a ringtone during peak RHOA chaos, the tributes landing now paint a fuller picture — less tabloid shorthand, more dad and friend. Katelin says she and her circle have been swapping stories and plan to keep that memory train running. Honestly, that tracks with how much he clearly meant to the people actually in his life.