← The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club
New Levels New Devils (DMX Estate Property Feud/ Wendy Williams Update/ Serena Williams Being the Boss)
00:23:10
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- [00:00]
Charlamagne Tha God
Peace of the planet. I go by the name of Charlamagne Tha God. And guess what? I can't wait to see y'all at the third annual Black Effect Podcast Festival. That's right. We're coming back to Atlanta, Georgia, Saturday, April 26th at Pullman Yards. And it's hosted by none other than Decisions, Decisions, Mandy B. And Weezy. Okay, now look, tickets are on sale now. We got the R and B Money podcast with Tank and J. Valentine. We got the Woman Evolved podcast with Sarah Jake Roberts. We got Good Moms, Bad Choices. Carrie Champion will be there with her Naked Sports podcast and the Trap Nerds podcast with more to be announced. And of course, it's bigger than podcast. We're bringing the Black Effect marketplace with black owned businesses, plus the food truck court to keep you fed while you visit us. All right, listen, listen, listen. You don't want to miss this. Tap in and grab your tickets now@blackeffect.com podcast festival.
- [00:54]
Lauren LaRosa
Let's get to it. Time to do it. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and every bond.
- [01:00]
Patrick
You know she don't lie about that, right?
- [01:02]
Charlamagne Tha God
Lauren came in hot.
- [01:04]
Lauren LaRosa
What's up, y'all? It's Lauren LaRosa. I'm your homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody. You are now tuned in to the Latest with Lauren LaRosa. Now this is like your daily dig on everything, pop culture and all of the conversations that shake the room right here with me every single day, 6am period. So we going to start with a check in. When you grinding, y'all know it's. This is token brown girl grinding. That is when you see me. That is what you know me as. That's what you identify me as. When you are a brown girl grinding or grinding in general, you don't gotta be a girl. When you grinding in general. Sometimes you. You need like that whole check on your strong friend thing. So I always want to do a check in. It's me and Patrick in here. Patrick say what's up to the people.
- [01:45]
Patrick
What's good, the people.
- [01:46]
Lauren LaRosa
I want to know, Patrick, how you feeling? Like really feeling today?
- [01:50]
Patrick
Feeling inspired.
- [01:51]
Lauren LaRosa
What you inspired by?
- [01:52]
Patrick
I'm inspired for new opportunities, inspired for this show. Where we going with it? And today. I feel like today's gonna be something interesting for the. For your listeners. Yeah, we gotta, you know, we getting it together. We got the vibes going today. So I'm feeling your energy.
- [02:07]
Lauren LaRosa
Okay.
- [02:08]
Patrick
For you.
- [02:08]
Lauren LaRosa
So let's go. Let's do it. I'm Feeling centered today. Like, I feel like when I say centered, I also mean alignment. And I think that's important as a creator, as a human being, as, you know, a woman of God, or y'all watching a man of God, whoever you are. I think it's very important for people to get to a place of centering and alignment. And I will say that I've realized that that looks different at different levels, phases and times and seasons of your life. But you use the same tools to get back to the things, like to keep the main thing. The main thing, but it changes. Does that happen with you sometimes?
- [02:45]
Patrick
Absolutely. Just adjusting. Just being able to kind of like go with how everything else is moving, you know?
- [02:51]
Lauren LaRosa
Yes.
- [02:51]
Patrick
Adjust when you need to.
- [02:53]
Lauren LaRosa
And that's a big part of this episode. Episode 11 New levels, new devils. Adjusting when you need to. Now, let's get into some of the trending topics. I want to start out talking about some legal drama. So you know your girl. Love to take y'all to court. Love to take y'all to court. Okay, so DMX's estate has been in a very long term intellectual property feud. Now, this feud is over control over his estate. So currently, Desiree Lindstrom, who is. Who was DMX's fiance at the time of his passing, her and DMX's ex wife, Tashira, who we all know, you know, DMX spent decades of his life with Teshira. She's the mother of, you know, his kids. Desiree is also the mother of his. His last kid, his son. But they've been in this back and forth battle. Now, the battle again, I mentioned that he. He died without a will. So there has been some conversation just about who has ownership and what that looks like over his estate, which ultimately is his legacy as an artist. So a judge ruled recently that DMX's ex wife, Tashira has no ownership over his music rights or trademarks. Now, in 2016, Tashir claimed that a divorce settlement that her and DMX had entitled her to 50 of DMX's intellectual property. Now, that would mean that she would be able to make decisions on things as far as like, licensing and, you know, just a lot of. A lot of things. And y'all know, you know, after DMX passed away, I think that there was, like, there was such a want and a need for people to learn his story, learn more about him. I think a lot of us. He's my favorite rapper. I listen to how it's going down every single day. If you really know me, you Know this. It's, like, a common fact amongst anybody who actually really knows me. As I've gotten older, I went from looking at DMX as this rapper who was so hot and lost it on, like, oh, my God, like a failure story, to. That's a story of. Of. Of, you know, encouragement and courageousness and just the talent of DMX and how he saved Def Jam and, you know, all of that stuff. People want to hear more about that. They want to see more about it. So anybody right now that is deemed in control of the, you know, the rights to be able to tell his story, to use his likeness, it's a very hot commodity. So the Court declared that DMX's estate is going to remain exclusively the owner of all of his copyrights, his trademarks, and anything else that is tied to DMX's name and work, including those created during his marriage with Teshira. This was a big blow. So Tashira and DMX were married from 1999 to 2014. I watched the interview that Tashira did with Carlos King. I know she also did a sit down with Mia Bell for BET talks, and she has a book out right now. Her book is all about, you know, her life for real, her upbringing, who she is. But DMX and their love story played a huge role in a lot of that because of the amount of time they spent together. For me, when I thought about dmx, his legacy, his life story, and who would be in control of it, I just naturally always thought that it was Tashira. But then we found out that he died with no will, so he didn't get to make that decision for himself. So a judge is basically saying, like, tashira, no, we gonna put it over here. And Desiree, who would have been his next of kin once he passed away because they were together, she is now in control. Now. Desiree posted on Instagram, you know, this was three days ago when the ruling came down. Patrick, what does her Instagram caption say?
- [06:32]
Patrick
I'm overwhelmed with emotions. Sasha and I, who run the state, have fought silently for so long to protect Earl, his legacy, and his art. Now justice has finally been served. The court's decision is more than just a legal win. It's a moment of peace in the middle of so much pain.
- [06:49]
Lauren LaRosa
Yeah. So I just remember the time period, and I remember there being conversation or background reports. Again, this is all alleged and reportedly that Tashira Simmons, who had been DMX's wife for some time and mother of his kids, and Desiree were not seeing Eye to eye on a lot of things. Now, I read to you guys what Desiree said on her Instagram after this ruling came down, I actually reached out to a rep for Tashira, who sent me a statement from Tashira on this whole thing. The statement said, from Tashira, this evil is too big for a statement. I'll be sharing everything with the world on my upcoming show. So she has a show that she's, you know, coming out with again, I mentioned to you guys that she also dropped a book. But in this ruling, another part of the dispute was centered around. There's these, like, five letters of direction that DMX signed before his death. So there was no real will, but there were these letters that dmx, before his death, tried to put into place so that, you know, people could have something to, like, guide themselves by. And here's the catch, though. Tashira was basically saying, okay, based off of our divorce, you know, in our marriage, like, agreements, in these five letters, I should be entitled to A, B, C, and D. A judge looked at those and said, no. According to these five letters that DMX on before his death, they only gave. In these letters, only gave instruction about royalty payments to be split with Toshira for specific recordings. Now, these recordings that the judge is referencing were made between 1998 and 2013. So during the time of their marriage, basically, this was, you know, DMX's way of ensuring that she would get money from certain things that he had done while they were together. But it didn't ensure. And it doesn't ensure ownership or, like, leadership or say so over something as big as the estate. So as y'all can imagine, this is a devastating hit for Tashira. But Desiree, you know, who is his, you know, new life partner or was his new life partner at the time, of course, she's looking at this as a win, because I don't think anybody in this. Those two women who love him, and if he was here, he wouldn't want them to be beefing. You know what I'm saying? So I think for both of them, they're like, okay, this happened. We got to turn the chapter. But there will be more coming out about this. As you guys heard from Tashira, like, you know, it doesn't seem like she's done talking about her side of things and what that back and forth was. But the biggest thing to me here is the fact that these women got kids. Their kids are siblings. They gonna have to figure this on out. Now, topic number two, Wendy Williams this week, there were a ton of stories and reports that dropped around Wendy Williams this week. So on April 9, there was a story that broke that Wendy Williams was denied the ability to do dinner with her niece and her attorney, Joe Taina. Now, for background. And the reason why this is so crazy is because probably about a month ago, I reported on the fact that the judge and Wendy Williams situation made it very clear that Wendy was allowed because, you remember, Wendy came on or not came on, but she called into the Breakfast Club, and she said, y'all, I'm in a prison. I can't go nowhere. I can't see nobody. Y'all know I went to where she's staying. They wouldn't let me up to see her. They wouldn't let her down to see me. The conservatorship and the judge came out and said, no, she's allowed to see family. She's allowed to go out. It's just very monitored. So then this story breaks on on April 9th that Wendy Williams is not allowed to do dinner with her attorney and her niece. So her new attorney, her personal Tony, Joe Taina, asap Joe, he just, you know, defeated, you know, the prosecutor's office and got ASAP Rocky off on those gun charges. It makes no sense. It's like, it's her niece. It's her attorney. Like, why not? She's been able to move around with her other attorney when she had the black woman personal attorney that she had been talking to. So it made no sense. And then after that, we then saw photos. Literally, like, I think this was, like, the 11th. So a few days after this, we did see photos of Wendy out with Don Lemon and her niece, Alex Finney. Which is weird, because it's like, okay, why can't she do dinner with Alex in her attorney, but she can do dinner with Alex and Don Lemon. It almost is giving like, okay, wait, is the conservatorship trying to block Joe Takapina out at least because they can't control Wendy's calling them. You know what I mean? Things like that, but trying to block him out as much as they can. And the reason why people are like, hey, is this. Should we be worried? Is this retaliation against Wendy? Is because not only did the judge and the conservatorship come out and say, Wendy's allowed to go out and do dinner with her niece. And, you know, these people as. It's approved now, TMZ broke this story, but we had been, you know, and I say, we like the Breakfast Club. We had been in the know of this for some time that Joe Taina was approached by the conservator who wanted Joe Taina to represent Sabrina Morrissey in this a E lawsuit. So instantly, when you know all of that background and you see that he can't do dinner, or from what it looks like, reportedly, he can't do dinner, you're like, is this a retaliation thing? Especially after a judge came out and said, you know, they didn't like the fact that Wendy was speaking to the media. They allow Sabrina Morrissey to talk on record when she wasn't allowed to talk on record for a while about the conservatorship because they felt like she talking. But from our standpoint, what she's alleging is not true. So they. They let Sabrina come out to clarify some things. There was a letter that was sent. You know what I mean? There was a lot of different things that happened. So you could tell the judge was pissed off. The same week that all of this happens, the denial for the dinner, her being able to pop out with Don Lemon. It is then reported that Wendy Williams is in court, and a judge allegedly tells Wendy Williams, your career is over and it's not coming back, so give that up. Which sounds very personal, which the judge is not a person that works in entertainment. I will tell y'all my own self, from me being, you know, just close to this situation, I don't think that these people knew who Wendy Williams was to us in the beginning of this. I think that they realized that when she did the Breakfast Club interview. They realized it in, you know, the interviews that came after that. But I don't. I don't think that they understood who Wendy Williams was, you know, just culturally, right? So I reached out to Joe because I'm like, look, Joe, I need to know what's going on and why does this look like this is retaliation? Here on the Latest with Lauren LaRosa, the podcast. I'm telling y'all, from what I'm being told, how it looks is not exactly what it is, and it needs to be explained a bit more on the Breakfast Club. We're going to do that. Joe Taina is going to call in during the Latest with Lauren LaRosa, and he is going to clarify this because right now, we feeling like our girls being targeted. And I don't. I don't. I don't know about y'all, but I don't like that. Right, Wrong or indifferent. I think anybody that is in a situation where they are, like, almost, like, helpless because of their mental Capacity. Their, like, just so many things y'all. Like, I. I've told y'all multiple times, I'm a caregiver, my mother, my grandmother. I wish somebody would you lean in on the fact of what they cannot do. And I'm not saying that this is what the judge is doing. I'm telling you guys how it feels and how it looks to Wendy's fans and her audience, which is why you guys keep asking me to provide context. And we are going to do that tomorrow morning on the Breakfast Club. So you got the little breakdown here. I'm telling you guys what I've been told as far as, like, you, when we put all these reports together, make sure you tune in to the latest with Lana Rosa on the Breakfast Club tomorrow, and we'll clarify. Now, there's one thing, though, that I did want to mention. Don Lemon, he has, you know, his show that he does on his YouTube channel now after leaving CNN, but he has this, like, written newsletter that he does on Substack. I thought that this was really good, especially in lines of what we're talking about today of, like, you know, new levels, new devils, being able to just kind of, like, adjust and grow and feel and just how that flows and how that makes you feel. Patrick, can you read that first graph for me from Don Lemon? Substack.
- [14:43]
Patrick
We don't talk enough about what it means for women, especially women in the spotlight, to age on their own terms, to be seen without being picked apart. There's this outdated idea that if you're not chasing youth, you're letting yourself go. But what if you're just letting yourself be?
- [15:00]
Lauren LaRosa
Now that, to me, that hit home, especially in recapping this whole Wendy Williams situation and just, you know, where I'm at today as we're recording. And when he talks about, you know, women being seen without being picked apart, there's an outdated idea that if you're not chasing youth, you're letting yourself go. But what if you're just letting yourself be? To me, it's not even about a number of an age. It's about chasing a trend. It's about, you know, feeling like you got to fit within this box or just check a box for things to work out. And I know from my own personal experience that you do, especially if you're a woman, you feel like if. If you're not the. The hottest topic and everybody's not like, everything's not all good, it's all bad. And it's not sometimes being able to sit in things and Sit in life experience and going through the things and doing it in front of people is tough. It is really tough to learn and grow and all that here on this platform with you guys in front of the world. But the record, like, the reckoning that you learn from doing it and for where Wendy is right now in her life, me, Charlamagne. And Wendy went out to dinner with her, with her niece Alex. And there were some things that she said to us that I was just like, man, number one, I don't want to have to go through some of the things she went through to get to this point of reckoning. I want to be able to catch it early. But also it was just like, man, that was deep. Like, Wendy's different right now. The way life will sit you down and humble you. But that, that, that era of just being is so good. And I'm excited to see that. Judge said her career is over. I don't believe that. I'm excited, Excited to see what Wendy comes back with and does once she gets through all of this and figures it out, because you know it's gonna be some hiccups. Just real quick, I saw this video of Serena Williams on my timeline. She had sat down with People magazine. She did an exclusive chat with People magazine. She was at the. She was at, like, a beauty Shopify, like, pop up. And they were talking to her just about being the boss. Let's take a listen. Your boss, what does it cost you? And has it been worth it?
- [17:07]
Patrick
Yeah, it definitely costs a lot. I'm here now without my kids, and that's a big cost for me because I spend a lot of time with my children and they're very attached to me, which a part of me loves. And so it's always, you know, some cost. My whole life, I've had to kind of weigh, like, if I want to win a championship, well, what is that going to cost me? It's going to cost me time with my family. It's going to cost me friends instead of cost me relationships. And they're very expensive. So you have to decide if it's worth it for you. And so I definitely agree with that statement.
- [17:35]
Lauren LaRosa
Let me tell y'all something. Go watch our. Our vlog on my YouTube channel. Lauren LaRosa TV. We vlog every time we record an episode on a Sunday, we're gonna vlog it. And I've been doing vlogs on my YouTube channel for a minute, but I was like. I was like, yo, it's 9:00. I know my Grandmother's going to sleep. I'm not used to not being able to talk to my mom, my grandmother, every day. But because things have changed where I have so much more going on now. These last couple weeks, it's been happening and it's been tearing at my heart because, like, Lord knows they depend on hearing from me and depend on me so much. When I saw this video, I was like, oh, my God. I feel seen. I like, I like, I hear her. But I also. It made me think about so much, like, because family time and the things that make her feel full. It's literally like that's her sacrifice for where Serena Williams is in her career today. But I remember when Serena Williams made the decision to, like, step away from tennis and focus on being a mom and a wife and all of these things. People were like, yo, she crazy. She. But it's like, I think people in general, I don't think it's just women that have to pick and choose and have to sacrifice and make things better and to, you know, level up the way that they want to. But I do think that it hits women harder because a lot of times we are the backbone, like, in a nurturing way. Like, men are the backbone as a provider, financially, as a strength, but women, in the way that we provide as a backbone with strength and nurturing, and we have the kids and we're taking care of home. It's so much. It's so different. Like, sometimes it halts us. It's like you have to choose between the things. In these last couple weeks, for me, I've been not good at choosing between the things until I was like, you know what? I'm going to take control back. I am. Charlamagne said something to me last week that made me be like, whoo. What we were talking about, you know, just some decisions that he makes day to day in his career when it comes to doing things he doesn't want to do. And he was telling me a story about, you know, you know, him making a choice and being like, in the moment. I don't want to do this, so why am I doing it? He just didn't do it. And I was like, well, you can do that because you're Charlemagne, the God. Lauren LaRosa is still building. I'm trying to get to my cost to be the boss moment. Like Serena Williams. I'm figuring it out. And he was like, yeah, but, like, you can still choose to not do things you don't want to do. At the end of the day, you're still at a space where you can make that choice, and it creates a pattern and a rhythm of what people will bring to you and what you allow to happen. And you should do that. You should set that boundary now, because if not, you're going to find yourself in a space of doing things you don't want to do and just fall into the motion of things and sacrificing things you don't want to sacrifice. You have to sacrifice. But y'all get my gist of what that conversation was. So when I saw this video and I thought about all the topics I wanted to do today, I thought about how different it is for me. Like, I'm a young creator. It's 2025. I've been granted the opportunity of platform. I've been blessed to be in a space where I can curate what this looks like, what this feels like, and how y'all get it from me. So my sacrifice is going to still have to be sacrificed sometime. I'm not going to get back. So I thought that this video was a great way to end the show because, again, it makes me think of so many different things. It makes me feel so many different ways, too.
- [20:50]
Patrick
Cool. So what are we taking away from episode 11, Lauren?
- [20:52]
Lauren LaRosa
So from episode 11, we gonna take it. You know, for the tweets, for the tweet segment, we gonna bring this whole thing together. New levels, new devils. I had tweeted a couple days ago, every level of growth requires change and adjustment. And when I think about, like, Wendy, I feel like she sacrificed her ability to really live for career, like, to really, really live life for her career. And, you know, she's in her readjustment stage because she's learning now that just being and sitting still and being able to live and remember that everybody's living too. That's her new phase of career. Serena Williams had to sacrifice her family, but now in her new life, she's prioritizing family and the things that make her feel whole. DMX's family, as I mentioned, had to, on so many different levels, sacrifice the ability to adjust. Because he was young, he was figuring it out. Resources were different up until the day he passed away. I think things were just still figuring, and it was new levels and new devils and new people and new all of this. And, you know, like today, in this episode and just in this moment where I'm at today, what I've learned is that adjustment is necessary. You can't escape it. But in learning that, I'm feeling, like, a sense of, like, renaissance from this episode of. You know, I want to make a way. I want to make a space for those people who are adjusting in real time, learning to live in real time, learning to utilize their resources in real time, but not always getting it right, because we not gonna always get it right. And when we don't use that as the inspo, baby. That's the vision board. That's the. That's the Pinterest. That's the mood board. Use that. Refuel, come back stronger than ever. Pop out. You know what I mean? Like, we. We don't gotta. In today's time. You don't have to fully lose grip before you figure it out. And if you do talk about it, share it. That's the beauty of where we at right now. At the end of the day, there's always a lot to talk about. And you guys, y'all could be anywhere in the world talking with anybody about it, but you choose to be right here with me. And y'all know I appreciate y'all for that. I'm Lauren LaRosa. This is the. The latest with Lauren LaRosa. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything, and everybody a bronco on her grind. I appreciate y'all for tuning in this episode, and I will see you in the next episode.