Kandi Burruss is opening up about the vile things social media trolls have said about her daughter Riley’s weight, noting that the now-20-year-old has been targeted by online bullies since her teenage years — and her weight appears to be something people have persistently criticized her over. The “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star, whose interview with PEOPLE was published on Tuesday, stressed how bothered she became by those who felt it was okay to body-shame Riley, who she says has been dealing with weight issues since her teenage years.
Given that Riley regularly featured on the Bravo series for years, being in the public eye evidently opened the doors for people to feel it’s okay to speak on a teenager’s weight, and Burruss admitted that whenever she came across comments pertaining to her daughter’s looks, it boiled her blood. “I despise it. It bothers me so much,” she told the news outlet.
Riley, Kandi’s daughter may be pregnant? pic.twitter.com/EAwqfdJOMz
— Wuts The Tea Today (@wutstheteatoday) August 22, 2022
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“Everybody already knows that Riley dealt with her weight issues growing up in the public eye. People would make comments on her body and say things about her personal look and it really boils my blood.” It was just last weekend when Riley took to her TikTok to dispel rumors that she was “pregnant” as she jokingly said she forgot to suck in her stomach for the photo that had plenty of people wondering whether she’s expecting.
The “Don’t Think I’m Not” singer further explained that while she can handle any type of criticism that comes her way, one thing she simply can’t tolerate is when her kids are being attacked by online bullies, before mentioning that viewers of “RHOA” tend to be the worst when it comes to making insensitive comments about people on the show.
“The people who watch our show and who are on our show, sometimes they take things too far, and it’s not cool. It’s crazy. This is a TV show at the end of the day.”
Aside from Riley, who is Burruss’ firstborn, the 46-year-old is also a mother to six-year-old son Ace and two-year-old daughter Blaze, whom she shares with Todd Tucker.
And while Riley isn’t featured on the show as much as she used to be, given that she’s now attending college, she’s still very active on social media, where her comments section is often filled with remarks from people who have something negative to say about her weight.
Kandi celebrating daughter Riley’s big 20th birthday! 😍 #RHOA pic.twitter.com/G8UHg8Yw5K
— The Peach Report® (@ThePeachReport) August 22, 2022
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“Words definitely matter. I’ve seen one of my kids definitely get bullied multiple times,” Burruss explained as she recalled how just last week, “somebody was posting that [Riley] was pregnant and she was so upset about it.”
“She was like, ‘Where are they getting this information from? Here I was feeling good about myself and losing and getting my body where I want it to be, and now they’re posting that I’m pregnant?’ That’s crazy!”