As Riley Burruss has already had to defend herself against racist bullying while starring on Bravo’s “Next Gen NYC,” her reality TV veteran mom, Kandi Burruss, is voicing her concerns about her daughter joining the cast.
While chatting with People magazine recently, the 49-year-old “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” alum admitted she was initially “scared” for the 22-year-old to join the cast.
“Now it’s really, all eyes are on you. It ain’t about me,” Kandi said. “You’re not just catching a stray. It’s like people can really just focus on you and say whatever they want to say and for sure so I’m scared. Oh Lord. I’m scared of what she gonna be doing on there, child.”
Despite her fear, Kandi, who starred in 14 seasons of “RHOA,” noted that she’d more than likely be understanding of any unsavory reality TV shenanigans her daughter may engage in.
“I’ve done some wild stuff or said wild things on TV or whatever. So with that being said, we’ll just have to have a little talk about it and then move past it,” she added. “There’s nothing that my daughter’s gonna do that I’m gonna be like, ‘Oh, I’m never gonna talk to you.’”
Only three episodes in, and Kandi may have been right to be worried. “Next Gen NYC,” which began on Tuesday, June 3, follows the descendants of several Bravo stars as they navigate their 20s in the Big Apple, including fellow “RHOA” alum Kim Zolciak’s daughter Ariana Biermann, Gia Giudice (daughter of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Giudice), Brooks Marks (son of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s” Meredith Marks), Biermann’s boyfriend Hudson McLeroy, Ava Dash (daughter of music mogul Damon Dash), Emira D’Spain, Georgia McCann, Charlie Zakkour and Shai Fruchter.
In the third episode, which aired Tuesday, June 17, the group was headed to a party at Gia’s house in a Sprinter van when Charlie confronted Riley about a recent interaction she had with a white woman. As he brought it up, he recharacterized Riley’s mannerisms during the interaction, exaggerating rolling his neck and talking with his hands to depict an attitude Riley claimed she didn’t have. Before long, Riley began to break down.
“I’m just so mad,” Riley said through tears. “Every single time y’all do this and I try not to make a thing but I hate when you guys try to play this like I’m scary or I’m scaring y’all’s random white girls. It’s just so annoying.”
During a flashback scene to the moment in question, Riley approaches and introduces herself before noting that she likes it when friends’ dates introduce themselves properly. Culturally, many Black folks watching along understood the moment perfectly. Many people see it as rude for a new person in a group not to introduce themselves.
Charlie started to back down and accept it—especially as others agreed that his friends had, in fact, been rude for not introducing themselves. However, when he disagreed that he had been racist, Riley didn’t back down in taking him to task.
When he told her “there are aspects of this conversation that I think are a little bit extra,” she responded, “It’s not extra for me.”
Later, with the support of Brooks by her side, Riley phoned home to her mom, Kandi.
“I’m glad that you let him know. I don’t think it’s cool,” her mother can be heard saying. “It just frustrates me to hear that, because as a Black woman, you’re the minority and it’s okay.”
She added, “You’re not afraid to speak up for yourself, which you should not be.”
“Next Gen NYC” airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo and streams on Wednesdays on Peacock.
