Next Gen NYC’s Riley Burruss Explains Why Mom Kandi Hasn’t Cut Her Off Financially Just Yet

Next Gen NYC star Riley Burruss opened up about receiving financial support from mom Kandi Burruss as she embarks on her own career.

Riley recently revealed on her new Bravo show that Kandi gave her a one-year deadline to become financially stable after graduating from college. The aspiring entertainment lawyer, 22, was quizzed on whether she is financially independent now that the deadline has passed during an appearance with Kandi, 49, on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen on Tuesday, July 15.

“No, she didn’t cut [me off] but because I’m still going to get my master’s degree,” Riley clarified to host Andy Cohen. “I’m still going to go to school.”

When an audience member asked which school Riley picked for her next higher education degree, she admitted: “We’ll see which school. I don’t like to tell everyone exactly what I’m doing but I am going to get my master’s.”

Cohen congratulated Riley for furthering her education but bluntly asked “when” she had time to pursue her master’s degree given her busy filming schedule on Next Gen NYC.

“I’m studying now,” she clarified. “I’m studying for taking the [LSAT law school entry] test in August.”

Kandi then interjected, “Y’all pray for my baby that she passes and gets good, high scores on the test!”

Riley graduated college with a bachelor of science degree in music business from New York University in May 2024. She subsequently confessed on Next Gen NYC that she really didn’t get a chance to celebrate her achievement due to a looming financial deadline.

“I feel stressed and on a time crunch because my mom has given me one year before she cuts me off financially,” she explained in a confessional interview.

Money has not been the only source of stress for Riley on Next Gen NYC. She’s spending a lot more time with childhood friend and now-costar Ariana Biermann, which has been awkward at times given their mothers’ notoriously contentious relationship.

Real Housewives of Atlanta viewers will probably remember that Riley’s mother, Kandi, and Ariana’s mom, Kim Zolciak-Biermann, collaborated on Kim’s breakout single “Tardy for the Party” back in the day. The one-time friends famously fell out over the financial success of the track, with RHOA costar Phaedra Parks even representing Kandi as her attorney in a lawsuit to recoup profits that she felt she was owed as one of the “Tardy for the Party” songwriters.

Kandi’s lawsuit was ultimately thrown out in 2013 when a judge ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed, according to TheWrap. The former friends later clashed once again — with Kandi referring to Kim as a “lying-ass bitch” — when Kim briefly returned to RHOA as a “friend” in season 10.

“Riley’s mom and my mom used to be best friends,” Ariana, 23, explained to Next Gen NYC viewers in a June episode. “Me and Riley spent so many years together and family vacations. My mom and her mom don’t have a relationship anymore.”

Riley confessed that she was never completely sure what “what our moms beefed about,” though she admitted that Kandi once warned her that the infamous Housewives feud was “not my business.”

“Both of our parents respect our friendship and are happy that we’re friends,” Ariana confirmed.

Next Gen NYC airs on Bravo on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET and is available to stream the next day on Peacock.