← The Latest with Loren LoRosa
The Latest with Loren LoRosa
Find the Angle Another Way (Loren talks kids of celebs, Jamie Fox reflects)
00:30:29
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A
This is an I heart podcast. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody.
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B
You know, if you don't lie about that, right?
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A
Lauren came in hot. Hey, guys, it's Lauren LaRosa. And this is another episode of the Latest with Lauren LaRosa. I'm your homegirl that knows a bit about everything and everybody, and this is your daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment news, and the conversations that shake the room. Laura Riders, you know, I'm your host. I'm Lauren LaRosa. And checking in behind the scenes of the grime today, I am feeling productive. I'm getting a lot done today. It is midweek. You guys know, heading into a holiday, Juneteenth, there's always anticipation because you don't have to work. You get to, you know, spend time with your family, spend time doing things that you typically don't have time to do during the week. So. So for me, I was like, okay, being that this holiday is in the middle of the week, I want to try and get as much done as I can prior to the holiday so I can actually spend the holiday like a holiday. Yes, y' all know me, so I will still be working. We will still have podcast episodes, all the things, right? But the full bulk of feeling like my day is dedicated so much to other people and work, work, work, work, work, work, work is not what I want to be doing on Juneteenth. I want to be celebrating, you know, being black, being, you know, all things black girl. You know what I mean? Just honestly, just taking the time to just decompress and celebrate. Like, Juneteenth has become such a holiday since the world decided to act like black people are the shit, because we have been. And y' all know I don't cuss on the podcast, but I feel like that cuss word was necessary. But it has become such a holiday. When I was living in la, every year for Juneteenth, we would go to the huge block party barbecue that they do in la, but in Inglewood. But since being in New York, I feel like I haven't had the chance to actually celebrate Juneteenth, which I really try to prioritize to do because it just feels good. You outside, you with your people. You got the music playing. For some reason, every time I think about Juneteenth, I think about the song Sounds of Sounds of Blackness. That the. As long as you keep that song, y' all know that song. Hopefully, y' all know that song. If you do not know that song, let me look it up. I want y' all to know that song because that is my Juneteenth theme song. And I don't know if that's, like, very cliche. I honestly don't care because that is my song. That is my go to for Juneteenth. What is it? It's called. Oh, yes, it's Sounds of Blackness by Optimistic. Yes, Sounds of Blackness by Optimistic is my Juneteenth go to song. That and I'm black, y' all. I'm black, y' all. And you just wake up, you go to the cookout. See, everywhere you go, it's just. I mean, every day is a celebration of being who you are and being black, But Juneteenth, it just feels like the whole world is stopping to do it. So I've been getting a lot of things done, been very disciplined about getting things done by a certain time, getting my sleep in, being prepared for all the things. So I'm feeling good, if you guys cannot tell. I'm. I feel like I sound like things are organized and they're flowing as well, too. So I hope you all are feeling well out there as well. And y' all know now we gotta get into the latest. So I saw this story, and I thought that it was really, really interesting. I honestly, I was like, man, I wish more people were. Were, you know, diving into this conversation. So it's been reported by Us Weekly, the Griot, and Essence Magazine that actress Jody Turner Smith has pinned a letter to her ex husband, Joshua Jackson, who is also an actor. And this letter is. Is a letter that comes in the midst of their custody battle. Now, for those who are not familiar with Jodie Turner Smith, you guys will know her, probably most notably from Queen and Slim. Joshua Jackson, also an actor. I watched him in the Affair, but I know a lot of people will also know him from Dawson's Creek as well, and the Mighty Ducks. So they were married. They were married for some time. They actually got a divorce. And their divorce was finalized back in May of 2025. But, you know, their custody battle, their. Their battle in the midst of this, even though their divorce is finalized, has been one that has made news headlines, which is why I was so confused when I saw this letter. That didn't pick up more. Not that I care that it didn't pick up, because that's what I love about the podcast is that we can dive into conversations that other people might not be having. But I was just very surprised because everything with their divorce has been so like, people pick it up, like, insanely, because that's how it was about their relationship as well, too. So she. Following their divorce In May of 2025, it was decided that their divorce would break down to Joshua Jackson paying $2,787 a month in child support. And then there was a lump sum of spousal support that was paid out as well. But within the last month, there's been reports of Joshua Jackson and Jody Turner Smith going back and forth about things like their daughter. Their daughter is. Is young. Their daughter is five years old. Well, some places report she's four, but some places report she's five, but she's young. Their daughter is under nine years old. And they've been going back and forth about where she's going to go to school and just what custody looks like between the two of them, because they're both really involved parents. So, Jody Smith Turner's letter is about the role of a mother in a child's life, especially a girl, a young girl, especially when you're dealing with two parents who are now separated. More specifically, she's talking about the role of a black mother in a biracial child's life, especially a biracial daughter. So the letter starts. Hi, Josh. Thank you for your message. I appreciate your recognition of how fluid the production timeline can be. Your willingness to accommodate the fluidity truly makes a difference. And when she talks about production timeline, she's talking about a show that she's shooting. So then she goes on. I'm also so glad that we agree that our shared goal is to provide Juno with as much stability, consistency, and meaningful time with both of us as possible. I hear and appreciate your point that that is ultimately her time with each of us and not the other way around. The framing feels very important. This arrangement allows Juno to enjoy a true sense of continuity and presence, something we both value. She's excited about our travel plans, and I believe this stretch of time will allow her to feel deeply grounded and connected during a season that's naturally more open and flexible. Now, again, I mentioned that all of this is happening in the midst of them having these, like, custody conversations. Right. And more recently, when it was about a month ago when reports came out that they were having issues over determining a schooling determination between the two of them. And then the custody, the conversation with custody was about their daughter Juno's summer schedule and, like, where she would spend her time, summer, how that time would be broken down and what she would be doing. So, Jody continues, I want to raise the Subject of something that has been weighing heavily on me. And it's grounded not just in instinct or emotion, but in widely established research. Before Juno was born, you and I spoke at length about what she would need to grow into a strong, self assured young person. Central to those conversations was the importance of the maternal bond and more specifically the critical role that being close to her black mother would play in shaping her identity and self esteem. Research consistently shows that for biracial children, particularly with a black mother, that connection is not peripheral, it is foundational. It plays a vital role in identity formation, emotional resilience and a long term physical well being. These aren't abstract ideas. They've lived daily realities that Juno is already beginning to experience. And the consistency of our time together is spread, especially when school is out. And their space for deeper connection is one of the most effective ways to support her through them. The vision we once shared hasn't changed, and it begins here in ensuring that Juno is not only protected, but affirmed, reflected and deeply rooted in who she is. So I want to talk a bit before we get into, you know, just where, you know, opinion on this letter and all the things. I want to talk a bit about the, uh, custody conversation that I brought up. So according to reports, and actually TMZ is the one who broke this story, there were legal documents that were filed back in May of 2025. It was actually May 3rd, so it was right before Cinco de Mayo of this year. And in the filing, Joshua and Joshua Jackson and Jody were figuring out more the divorce settlement. But specifically they had to use a mediator to come up with a temporary schedule to figure out what the 50, 50 custody would look like with their daughter. Now here's what they can't agree on. So they agreed where Juno is going to go to school eventually. Like they got to that agreement, right? And that was a part of the report. So that, that was one of the things that they could not figure out. So in this most recent filing, they were able to agree on that. And then after that, Jody was asking for a judge to force Joshua to adhere to a court order that gives her the power to pick elementary school. So it's, it's more so about where she's going to go to school next. And the issue is that Jody is basically asking for their daughter Juno to go to a new school next year. But she says that Joshua Jackson is not having that. Like he's sitting in a way of that now. She says that she's researched this new school. She talked about it with Joshua Jackson and made sure it was close enough to his home as well. But he's refusing to get on board now. So that's the school situation. So baby girls in school. The school she's at currently is fine. It's about where she's going next. As far as the summer schedule, Jody Turner is ash. She's wanting to spend five weeks with her daughter in Europe, which she said will allow their daughter Juno to enjoy a true sense of continuity and presence, which is what I was referencing. Something that they both value. But Joshua Jackson is pushing back against this because he's saying it would leave him without seeing his daughter for at least a month. Now, Jody is also asking that their daughter Juno, you know, within these travel plans, be able to stay with her in Morocco while she's working there. That is the production schedule they were referencing. But Joshua is standing. He sent those down with saying, we need to have a meaningful conversation about this, because any travel arrangements involving their daughter, including the location, the schedule, and all these things, he wants to have a conversation about it before he makes actual decision. And Jody has actually said to him as well, like, look, I know it's summertime, so if you have specific travel plans or, you know, anything that you want to do, just let me know so that we could talk about it ahead of time. But I do want you to talk to me about it before you take it to our daughter. Because, you know, it's like once you tell a kid something and she says this, and Jody Turner says this in her documents that she filed, she says, you know, once you tell the kids something, then it causes confusion and it causes disappointment, and I don't want that. Now. I'm. I'm. Listen, I understand Jody's point. You know, Jody Turner, I understand her point, right? Because I'm. Look, I'm not biracial. Both my parents are black. I mean, as you guys can tell. But I hope she doesn't mind me telling the story. She knows who I'm. Who I'm talking about. She's listening to the podcast. But I have a biracial friend who I got really, really close to when I was living in la. And until I got close to her, I didn't even understand. Nor did I think that there was, like, a struggle or a world of things that biracial children went through. I remember one time we were in a grocery store, and we were leaving a grocery store, and we pulled out of the grocery store, and there was a woman who was pulling in to take our spot, and Then there was another car waiting behind us. And the way that we backed up, the woman wasn't able to get into the spot, so the car behind us was able to pull in. So as we' going around the woman, and it's a white woman, she yells the nword out of the window. And oh, my God, it p. Like, I. I mean, I was like, whatever, old white lady, whatever. It pissed my friend off so bad. And I was like, yo, why do you care so much about this woman that you don't even know? You know what I mean? Like, we're in the car. You don't know this woman. Obviously, she's not about the parking space. She's gonna say anything. You make you mad. I've learned to just let ignorant people be ignorant because I've dealt with it and I know who I am, so I know I'm not the N word with a hard er, you know what I mean? I know I'm an educated, beautiful black woman. Like, it's different. But when I say it pissed her off, it pissed her off to the point where we had to pull over for her to gather herself and get herself together. Like, she was crying, she was emotional. It was a whole thing. And as I'm talking to her, I'm realizing, like, wow, like, her identity of self when it comes to her as a black woman, because she has a black parent and a white parent, not as strong. Like anything can kind of shake her. And it's because she grew up not as close to her black side of her family. So the black identity that she did have and that she gained from friends in school and community, whenever that was, like, tested or questioned, no matter how big or how small the way that it would throw her off, I. I'd never experienced anything like it. And I think. And not even think, once we begin to talk about it more, I'm like, yo, why did that bother? I get it. It's racial. And anybody hearing that is going to bother them. But it's sad to say, but it's like. I mean, letting ignorant people be ignorant is just a thing that I've. It's kind of like not. Not a coping mechanism, but it's. It's just one of those things. It's things. It's like the same way when I walk into a store, I. My first thing is, let me not bring big bags in here because I don't want them to think I'm stealing. Whereas another person who don't look like me or who is white passing does not have to think about that type of stuff. It's just something that I know to do. So for me, let ignorant people be ignorant unless it's right in my face. And I. You know what I mean? Like, that's different. But we're in a car, we're pulling off, like, it's whatever. But in talking to her, what I learned and what I realized was that anytime her black side of anything was questioned, she wasn't sure about it enough to stand firm. And I'm gonna just let ignorant people be ignorant because I know that's not how I identify. She couldn't stand in that because she wasn't. It wasn't instilled her from her black side of her family. So she's never fully been able to, like, identify with that. And. And the closest thing in proximity she has to identifying with it is what she's taught herself. It didn't come from a place of love or from people who love her and. And not even from people who love her because, you know, as her friend, I love her, like, that type of thing, but not from her mother or, like, you know, someone that's more like the. Like, maternal or nurturing in her life. So it just. Her experience and walking through the world was so different. And she was always not black enough for the black kids, not white enough for white kids. Right. So she's always been trying to figure out where the identity lied and what she identified with the most. Right. Which words, which was her black side because of her friends and her school she went to and all those things. She had an adopted mom who raised her who was also black. But again, it's different. It's not your. It's not your natural. Like, it's not your. Your mom who birthed you. So there's just all these questions that she's trying to figure out. I tell you guys a story to say that I realized in that moment and being friends with her and in that particular moment that there was just something different about being raised. To know that as a black person in this world or as a black, specifically a black woman in this world, to know your brilliance and to know your Just your wholeness and where that comes from, like, who teaches it to you and how you get to know it is such an important thing. And it's. It's a everyday thing in a black household. And it's something that we don't even think twice about as we were raising children or, you know, me being the child of a mother who was black. But when I began having Conversations with my biracial friend. And I began to realize that, like, she didn't have that study, like, to stand on two feet about that. It was. And it was because of what she lacked in her upbringing. When I read this letter, and this letter is a couple of days old as well. So it's been out, you know, not this letter, but the letter that was included in the filing is a couple of days old. So it's been. When I read it, I'm like, man, I can really, like, I hear her and I understand her now, whether or not Joshua Jackson will understand her, because at the end of the day, no matter how much, you know, empathy a person that is not black has for us and what we need and how we need to be poured into in order to navigate in the world, no matter how much of that you have, it's still different being a black man raising a black child with a black woman versus being a white man raising a child with a black woman. So whether he's gonna fully understand that or not is one thing. And, you know, we'll see how this plays out. And I think that it is so evolved for, you know, even though their relationship didn't work out, for them to even be having those conversations, because it is a real thing. Wishing him the best. We will, you know, I'll stay abreast to, you know, the filings and kind of what happens and where they land, because it seems like he's not being just hard about her request for no reason. It's just a. It's a parental thing. It's like a, hey, I understand all of that, but I'm her father too. He even says in one of the documents that he says, I don't think that on location tutoring can approximate the importance of what Juno has received by attending school and being in a consistent peer environment this year. Her social and emotional development and her academic achievement this year have been truly extraordinary. And. And this is him responding in basically saying, like, you know, as she's traveling, like, yes, it's amazing. She'll get to learn these things. She'll get to be with you. But as school finishes and we want to, you know, nurture her, you know, socially and academically. Still, throughout the summer as she prepares to go back into school, traveling and, you know, not having, you know, that peer to peer consistency, it could interfere. And tutoring is different than being in school and being with her friends and all those things. Like, it seems. Seems like, you know, they're trying to accommodate for the lives that they live as celebrities. But he's also reminding Jody, like, there is a level of consistency in. In normal. Normalcy that you want to provide for a child as well, too. Let me know what y' all think about the conversation. I think that is definitely one worth having, especially as we go into Juneteenth, celebrating all of, you know, the blackness and all these things. And that's so ironic. I didn't even tie the two together when I was prepping this. But it's ironic how they both tied together, talking about celebrating Juneteenth and everything that is your blackness that day in every day, but that day specifically. And then this story now as we head on out of here. In the latest, we have Jamie Foxx. Jamie Foxx sat down for this really interesting interview with bet. He was honored at bet. He received an Icon Award for his legacy, his career, all of the things during the 2025 BET Awards, which was amazing to see. You guys know, I was in LA for the award show, but there was an interview that released. I watched the interview yesterday, and it was such a great interview. Jamie Foxx talks about everything from, you know, who taught him. He talked about Harry Belafonte teaching him how to be a black man and what that responsibility looked like. He talked about, do you even have to have responsibility as a black person or as a black entertainer? He talked about, you know, just his abilities and doing the things that he's able to do and his career and, you know, all. All of the things. But he brought up one thing that I thought was very interesting. He talked about social media and just being famous right now and. And how it is so different than when he got started and what he wished for.
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I tell people all the time this is, be careful what you wish for, because I'm a gregarious dude and I just want to have fun. And. And sometimes people will take advantage of that, especially in today's world now, where, you know, you gotta be careful. Everything is looked at, everything is scrutinized. So I do a thing in my new standup. I'm going out on a new standup called Victory Lap.
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Okay.
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Yeah, on Hulu. But I talk about how fame is not necessarily fun anymore. Back in the day, fame was cool, you know, so. But now, you know, it's kind of. It's tough, you know. And what's crazy is everything that you're doing could be negated. In one post.
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This conversation was unique coming from a Jamie Foxx because Jamie Foxx is a part of that celebrity group who he still remembers what it was like to be famous pre social media, but he is a huge celebrity, so he can't escape life post social media either. When Jamie Foxx was going through his health battle, I remember being at tmz and, you know, one of the things that you learn in the newsroom about developing exclusives and working on stories is you always find an angle in. Whenever you blocked out one way, you find the angle in another way. And I've worked on many stories from TMZ to now in my career with the Breakfast Club, and, you know, in trying to find angles and find ways into stories, a bit less invasive at the Breakfast Club, thank God. But in trying to find my way into these different stories, I still come up on Roadblocks where I'm like, okay, what's another way in? Can I. You know, if the attorney don't want to talk, what about the publicist? What about the manager? What about the. Whatever. Jamie Foxx, when he was going through his health scare, when I tell y' all we couldn't find no way in, we, like, everything was shut down. His family did a really good job of protecting him through that and making sure that not too much slipped. There were certain things that still got out, but they controlled the narrative. We didn't see him. They controlled as much as they could so well. And in a social media time, with a name like Jamie Foxx, who comes from the real era of celebrities, do y' all know how hard that is? So to hear him talk about just, you know, thinking of fame one way, wishing for fame one way, getting it, and then it being so different than what you experience, especially now with social media, I was like, wow, that's very ironic, because in all of my career, working the story and reporting the story of Jamie Foxx and what he was going through in his health scare was probably one of the toughest stories that we worked on, number one, because it's Jamie Foxx and he's so beloved, and you. We just didn't know what was happening, and you want him to be okay. But also, they did. His family held it down. We couldn't get. There was nothing. Nothing leaking on social, Nothing. So I'm like, you know, for him to complain about it, I'm like, man, it seemed like y' all got it on lock over there. Like, y' all. Y' all got it down. Pack over there. Jamie Foxx, though, I'm not even gonna lie. Y' all definitely do. I've experienced it firsthand. But I think there is a point to what he's talking about, though. It's like even when he mentioned the, you know, like one post and everything you've worked for could just be negated. Like one post on social media and the, the court of public opinion can cause a downfall of so many different things. That is like the scariest part of a lot of the things that I'm experiencing today in this time. And I look at, you know, people like Jamie Foxx and, you know, Gabrielle Union, Taraji P. Henson and you know, all of these major, oh my God, Kerry Washington. There's so many major names that I look to. I think Anne Hathaway does a really good job of being present on social media, but, you know, you don't really know too much of her business. Like, there are a lot of celebrities that I look at and I'm like, they do a really good job of still remaining that mystique of, I'm a celebrity, you can't know everything and I'm not going to give you everything, but still using social media to a point where you feel connected with them. Kerry Washington owned Twitter during the scandal days, but we knew nothing about her personal life until she told us. Those type of, you know, celebrities and that age of celebrity, it's like the younger the celebrities get, the more the, the that dies out. It just is disappearing. And it's nerve wracking a bit, especially as, like, things are growing for me, myself. But it's also nerve wracking a bit too because it causes a, like a whole genre of media and conversation and just noise of people who will do and say anything. And then it's hard to negate through that because there's not a lot of people out here doing a due diligence. I was literally just talking about this the other day for what I do. Not even just here on the podcast, but for Breakfast Club. Like, you know, waking up in the morning, I'm looking through stories, trying to figure out what to talk about. A lot of times I'm trying to develop my own news on my own angles in, as I just mentioned, exclusives. But when I don't have that, sometimes it's like, okay, let me see what the world is talking about. And I've been feeling like over these last couple weeks, like, man, so much of this stuff is noise. I'm scared to even report certain things, even if ballot.coms are reporting it, because things are just so. Things are just so misconstrued. Like, people can paint any narrative they want nowadays because of social media and Then it makes a dot com or it makes a news report, and that is so scary. And it's just getting worse. So to know that it's still affecting someone as big as a Jamie Foxx, I'm like, man, he's like, Jamie Foxx is like pinnacle entertainer. It's not about being a black entertainer. He is pinnacle entertainer. Like every. There's nowhere you go that is not going to know a Jamie Foxx, and he's still being affected by it. I'm like, it's over for the rest of us. We ain't got a shot in h e double hockey sticks. If Jamie Foxx is feeling like this, it's like, man, what do I have to look forward to? Well, speaking of social media, I'm going to take you guys outside to the tweets. You for the tweets, every other page are gold in the streets. I tweeted something, and when I tell you, all the people are in my mentions going crazy, like, going insane. So I want to get y' all take on it, right? Okay. So I retweeted this. This Tweet. It says TI or Jeezy, who had the better first five album run. So they've got TI's. I'm serious. TI's Trap Music, TI Subtitle Album, TI, TI King, and then TI versus TIP. First five TI albums, then you got Jeezy. So you have Young Jeezy, Thug, let's get it, Thug Motivation 101, Young Jeezy the Inspiration, Young Jeezy the Recession, young jeezy, thug motivation 103, hustler's ambition, and Young Jeezy Seen it all, the Autobiography. Now I said Jeezy. And granted, it's hard anytime you talk about Jeezy and T.I. in a conversation, especially comparing the two. But just in general, like, anytime people bring them up in a competitive way, I think people are always so competitive because these are two artists who literally changed the face of trap music and everything that they've touched. Like, they've culturally influenced and left a mark in a way that, like, you're going to feel so tied to the change that you felt when they're. When. When they were doing. When they were really in the. The crevices of doing their thing. Right. So I get it. But for me, I don't know, I felt like. And I'm not. This is not me saying that TI's first five albums wasn't a run. That's not what I'm saying. I just think that Jeezy's Was a better first five album run. Now I want to know what y' all think, because the people online, they're like, what? So someone said, I'm gonna have to roll with young Jeezy. Tip set it up, though. Then another one said, lauren, how old are you? Where were you back in these days? Because you wasn't really outside. I could tell by your choice. I was like, whoa. Then someone else said, I'm gonna choose both. But tip, hands down. And then somebody agreed with. Oh, somebody just said, you bugging out. Cash24s1onx said, you bugging out. With all due respect, I gotta respond to that one because that one's kind of funny. Let me know what y' all think, though. So this is more about what I want you guys to get on my ex account. I'm Lauren LaRosa. On X my post, T I Jeezy, who had the better first album, first five album run. Let me know what y' all think, because I'm not even arguing back with the people. I. I feel that way because I feel like Jeezy's song, like, when you talk about full bodies of work all the way through. And again, I'm not taking away from TI I think it's just a personal choice. I just personally, I can name you multiple songs of multiple one, multiple up, multiple of these albums. Is that. Is that how you make a sense? Telling how to talk? That's how you know the episode is ending. I can name you multiple songs from multiple of these albums because I was. And maybe too, I. Maybe I'm just a bigger Jeezy fan, y' all. Let me know what y' all think. I think it's a personal choice, personal opinion. I think both of them were very influential. I think their, you know, first few album run, like I said, it changed the way that we even talk about trap music, music from the South. I think they both have done things that you're never going to forget. Sounds that you're never going to forget. Hooks, bars that you're never gonna forget. But personally, it's Jeezy for me. What y' all think? Let me know. At the end of the day, there is always a lot to talk about. You guys could be anywhere with anybody talking about it, but you choose to be right here with me, and I appreciate you guys for that. I'm Lauren LaRosa. I will see you guys in my next episode. This is an iHeart podcast.