Alijah Kai is living the dream. As a star of the hit Netflix reboot A Different World, it was recently announced that the series was renewed for a second season just days after its release.
Kai’s mom is legendary actress Tichina Arnold. She grew up in the industry watching her mother live her dreams, seeing what it takes to make it firsthand. But just because she grew up with a Hollywood mom doesn’t mean she’s had it easy. In fact, her mom has made her work for her own, so much so that she “cut the cord” pretty early.
Kai explained in a 2024 interview that filming for a BET movie was completed on her 18th birthday. Production took place in Atlanta, where Arnold also had a place she shared with her daughter. To celebrate the milestone, she says the Martin star surprised her.
“My dad pulled up, and then my mom, and we all had dinner. And my mom gave me my check from my Coogen account, and I was like, ‘I ain’t never seen [so much money].’ I looked at that money like, ‘What I’m ‘bout to do?’ I ain’t never seen nothing like it. But when I looked at it, I said, ‘Oh, I can go to town,’” she joked.
At the time, Kai said she planned to travel with the money. “We’re about to go to India. We’re about to go to Tokyo, Australia,” she said. While on the ride back home, she was stunned to learn that she’d be moving out, and it wasn’t necessarily on her terms.
“I’m in the car with her driving back, and she’s like, ‘Oh yeah, you need to move your stuff out by tomorrow because you’ll be moving into your own apartment.’ It was her choice,” she remembered. “She kicked me out. Technically, she kicked me out, and now I’m living off her money.”
Initially, she was excited because she always dreamed of the day she’d move out. “Then, I was like, ‘You trying to get rid of me or something? You don’t miss me or want me staying with you no more?’ She was like, ‘You turned 18, honey. Figure it out.’”
It took some getting used to, but Kai says she’s grateful for her mother’s preparedness and the push because it gave her a level of independence and autonomy that later served her well. She also says her mother has worked hard in her career and deserves to enjoy her space on her own terms.