Kandi Burruss is speaking out after her daughter Riley Burruss became the target of hateful messages from Next Gen NYC viewers.
The former Real Housewives of Atlanta star revealed that Riley has been receiving racist hate mail as drama surrounding her Season 2 fallout with Ariana Biermann continues to play out on the Bravo series.
“I hate it for my baby because now she be going through all kinds of stuff. She got hate mail happening.”” Kandi said, via @housewivesfromahousewife on Instagram.
Kandi then shared just how ugly some of the messages have allegedly gotten.
“People be sending her racist text messages, saying, ‘You black b**ch. You making the show bad,’ crazy stuff,” Kandi said. “She’s over here letting that stuff get to her.”
Riley has been at the center of major Next Gen NYC drama this season, especially due to her tension with Ariana Biermann.
The two have known each other for years through their famous moms, Kandi Burruss and Kim Zolciak, who had plenty of their own drama during their Real Housewives of Atlanta days. But on Next Gen NYC, Riley and Ariana’s friendship has hit a rough patch.
During Season 2, Riley got into a heated fight with Georgia McCann during a group night out. Ariana later explained on the Next Gen NYC After Show that Riley felt triggered by past comments Georgia had made and wanted Ariana to step in sooner. Bravo noted that both Ariana and Riley shared unaired details from the fight while also giving an update on where their friendship stands today.
Riley later explained that she felt Ariana waited too long to defend her. According to Riley, Ariana only stepped in once Riley already looked like she was about to say something offensive, leaving Riley feeling like she looked “crazy” while Ariana appeared to be de-escalating the situation.
Ariana, however, saw things differently. She felt she was trying not to add fuel to the fire and believed she was helping Riley by calming the situation down instead of making it worse.
That disconnect between the longtime friends has become one of the biggest storylines of the season.
The drama has also been complicated by the larger cast dynamic. Season 2 of Next Gen NYC follows Ariana, Riley, Gia Giudice, Brooks Marks, Ava Dash, Emira D’Spain, Georgia McCann, Charlie Zakkour, Shai Fruchter, Hudson McLeroy and several new additions, meaning the friendship drama has been playing out in a very crowded group.
Ariana previously described Season 2 as her “crash-out season,” telling Entertainment Weekly that viewers would see her “figuring it out,” while Riley said she was excited for fans to see how the group’s friendships had grown stronger.
But with the Riley and Ariana fallout now becoming a major topic online, Kandi is making it clear that the hate toward Riley has gone too far.