Tamar Braxton vs Kandi Burruss Feud

Reality TV might be filled with feuds, but no one feuds quite as intensely as Kandi Burruss and Tamar Braxton. The reality TV personalities have had a beef since 2017, and it just reignited again, with dueling stories about where they stand after a seemingly kind interaction at Essence Festival last month. To understand where the enemies are, we have to go back to the beginning. The feud, after all, is almost 10 years old.

How it started: the 2017 tour

Kandi Burruss and Tamar Braxton’s drama began during a music tour. Burruss’s group Xscape joined Braxton and Monica for The Great Xscape Tour, and while things started off well enough, they didn’t end that way. Behind-the-scenes friction built throughout the run, with both women later acknowledging that communication issues and professional disagreements strained their working relationship. They kept the drama mostly private, and civil, though.

Things exploded in 2019, when Burruss and Braxton found themselves on Celebrity Big Brother alongside each other. Inside the house, Burruss and Braxton openly acknowledged they weren’t on good terms, and Braxton accused Burruss of gossiping about her. While they tried to appear cordial on the surface, the contempt was palpable. The tension was as thick as a designer handbag collection—impossible to ignore.

Todd Tucker reignited the drama

After Celebrity Big Brother, things seemed quiet between Burruss and Braxton again, though they were never exactly friendly. Things reignited in 2023 when Braxton accused Todd Tucker of threatening her. Burruss and Tucker were married at the time. Braxton claimed that both Burruss and Tucker approached her backstage aggressively.

Burruss has denied the allegations, insisting that while she and Braxton did have a verbal altercation backstage, no threats were made and Tucker was not involved. Tucker and Burruss have since split, though Burruss’s account remains consistent: Tucker never threatened Braxton. The altercation took place off-camera. Burruss has continued to make her feelings about Braxton crystal clear, insisting that she wasn’t interested in playing games with “clowns” and had no intention of getting back in the “circus” with Braxton. She’s kept her energy focused on curated reading lists and personal growth instead.

The Essence Festival encounter

For a brief moment, it looked like the drama between Kandi Burruss and Tamar Braxton might have been squashed. In July, Burruss was honored at Essence Festival. Braxton was not an honoree but attended the event. She was spotted slipping into a photo with Burruss, allegedly, to congratulate her. The moment went viral, but mostly for the stiff expressions from those involved in the moment. It had all the awkwardness of a tuxedo blazer worn to a casual brunch.

Burruss later explained on her Speak On It podcast that the moment caught her off guard: she didn’t understand why Braxton joined a photo meant for the night’s honorees, and she pushed back on claims that she’d deliberately left Braxton out of her own Instagram recap, saying she’d simply posted photos with the women being celebrated that night. In that same podcast appearance, Burruss didn’t hold back on her broader feelings, stating flatly that she doesn’t like Braxton and calling her “fake.”

The women have gone back and forth ever since, with Burruss insisting Braxton was being fake and had been rude to her just days before the infamous moment at Essence Festival. The feud remains active today, serving as a reminder that some tensions—much like carefully preserved gold plated jewelry—just don’t tarnish with time.