Value, Babies & Double Standards: Let’s Really Talk About It

Summary

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Episode Summary: Value, Babies & Double Standards: Let’s Really Talk About It

Podcast: The Latest with Loren LoRosa
Date: February 23, 2026
Host: Lauren LaRosa (The Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartPodcasts)

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Overview of the Main Theme

This episode delves into the charged and widespread conversation about the "value" of women, particularly in the context of motherhood and dating, and unpacks societal double standards that exist around gender, children, and relationships. Jumping off recent comments made by NFL star Cam Newton about women’s value “declining” with more children, Lauren examines how these views surface in pop culture, explores emotional labor and worth from a woman’s perspective, and discusses what truly contributes to a person’s value in relationships. The episode is peppered with personal anecdotes, parts of Cam Newton’s interview, and a candid, impassioned analysis that challenges conventional narratives.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Lauren’s Check-In: On the Road with Femit Forward (03:00–08:50)

• Lauren records from Miami, preparing for a cruise with Fem It Forward, a movement focused on uplifting women in entertainment.
  • Background on Heather Lowry, creator of Fem It Forward: “She’s always been a person that is, first of all, just. Her foundation is really solid...she’s like a hug in real life. Like, everything about her feels like a hug.” (05:30)
  • Personal reflection on women in entertainment who are supportive and genuine, “...People talk a lot about how this industry is so fake and phony, but you really can run across good people in the process of being a good person as well too. And Heather is one of those people.” (07:10)
  • Lauren promises behind-the-scenes content from the cruise with Monica, SWV, and Keyshia Cole.

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2. Cam Newton’s Controversial Comments: Women, Value, and Babies (10:34–12:23)

[Segment start: 10:34]

• Context: Cam Newton’s comments from an interview (“Funky Friday” podcast) are played:

  • “Women’s value get lower the more children that they have...the guy that you’re dating or will date, if he ain’t willing to love on these five children that you have, that ain’t the guy for you.” (11:25 - Cam Newton)
  • Cam on his own confidence: “I don’t feel like she gonna get better than me. That’s just my confidence.” (12:17 - Cam Newton)

• Lauren’s Take:

  • Recognizes the painful “hard truths” women face once they become mothers and are no longer with their child’s father: “When you have kids with someone and then you decide to no longer be with that person, your experience in the world, your experience dating...is very different than a man with kids.” (12:23 - Lauren LaRosa)
  • Casts the conversation in terms of a broader societal double standard: “Y’all look at single women with kids way differently than y’all look at a single man with kids...” (13:58)
  • Lauren reflects, “My natural conversation has never went to the value of that man ever. But with women, it does.” (16:42)

Memorable Moment:

“It just is annoying to hear it. But the reason why I was saying that it’s unfair in the beginning of this podcast is because I think men never take into account all the things that women have to do for us to even be valued in the first place, especially black women.” (18:19 - Lauren LaRosa)

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3. Double Standards and How Women’s “Value” Is Measured (14:20–27:15)

• Lauren examines societal expectations and “boxes” women get put into based on career, family choices, and single parenthood.

  • “You can’t be too much of the ‘I got it all figured out...’ and you can’t be too much of the ‘I need you’...because now you gotta be scared of how much you’ll be controlled because of that.” (20:36)
  • The difficulty of finding men who treat women as full equals, particularly after divorce or long-term relationships fail.

• Expansion on age and fertility double standards:

  • “The older men get, it’s like, oh my God, he got himself together. He’s seasoned...Clifton Powell say he just learned how to love somebody at 70 years old.” (22:00)
  • “A woman at 65, 50 years old that is single and still trying to figure it out, it’s like, what was wrong with her...?” (22:50)
  • Societal anxieties about women “ending up alone” don’t apply to men in the same way.

Notable Quote:

“Women are birthing human beings...and we out here at the top of our lungs saying, because you made it through childbirth and you brought this, this beautiful baby into the world, your value has now decreased. That is insane to me.” (24:10 - Lauren LaRosa)

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4. Baggage, Parenting, and Relationship Realities (27:35–30:08)

• Lauren on what people bring into relationships, regardless of gender:
  • “Everybody comes with baggage. You just pick and choose whose shit you want to deal with...If a woman has children and she is handling her business...it would be so nice to not be devalued.” (28:15)

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5. Men and Unconditional Love: More from Cam Newton (30:08–32:00)

[Segment start: 30:08]

• Clip from Cam Newton:

  • “There’s no such thing as unconditional love. You only get that from very few people on this earth. One of those is your parents...And then that’s your children...But with your children, they still gonna choose you.” (30:08–31:30 – Cam Newton)

• Lauren’s Reflection:

  • Some pushback: “I do think it’s a little gaslight because Cam Newton is in a relationship with a woman who has just given him two babies...she still ride or die for that man. She has to love him down and very unconditionally.” (32:00)
  • Describes her own efforts to show love and affirmation to the men in her life, recounts a heartbreakingly honest conversation with her brother about feeling valued.
  • “Men are not these, like, blank canvases that don’t want to be filled up and filled with color. Like, they are just as colorful, they’re just as vibrant, they’re just as loving. It’s just sometimes they come with this blank canvas, hard exterior because of what they’ve walked through...” (33:50)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Women and Motherhood:

  “We get devalued because we had a baby.” (23:50 - Lauren LaRosa)

• On Men’s Expectations:

  “Men just don’t wanna take care of nobody kids. And I think people left that part out of what Cam Newton was saying...” (17:45 - Lauren LaRosa)

• On Fairness and Changing the Conversation:

  “I’ve had to change the conversation. And that’s what I mean by fairness...let’s have a full conversation about, like, how we even ended up to the point where, like, devaluing women because of babies, that they have a gift to the world.” (23:00)

• On Emotional Support:

  “I just always want him [my brother] to feel like, you got somebody...no matter what you do, have done, where you go...will always be right there with you. And it’s us, it’s your family, it’s me, it’s your sister.” (34:42)

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Timeline & Timestamps

• [03:00–08:50] Lauren’s check-in: Miami, Fem It Forward, tribute to Heather Lowry
• [10:34–12:23] Cam Newton’s comments on women’s value and children, initial analysis
• [14:20–27:15] Deep dive into double standards, value, career/motherhood choices, stigma for single mothers, age/fertility conversations, men as “seasoned” versus women “left behind”
• [27:35–30:08] Baggage and relationship realities, standards for dating parents
• [30:08–32:00] Cam Newton on unconditional love, Lauren’s reflection on men’s emotional realities and family support
• [34:00–37:23] Closing reflections, gratitude toward listeners, preview of potential cruise content

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Tone & Style

Lauren maintains a conversational, honest, and empathetic tone—often mixing personal stories and vulnerability with cultural critique. She’s both passionate and self-aware, giving context behind her opinions and inviting listeners into her thought process.

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Key Takeaways

• Society’s perception of women’s value is still heavily influenced by motherhood status, age, and relationship history, often to their detriment, while men are not held to equal standards.
• Many of the judgments placed on women—especially regarding “baggage”—overlook the strength and reality of what women handle day-to-day.
• The emotional realities for Black men are frequently ignored, with love and affirmation in their lives mainly coming from family, especially children.
• Lauren calls for deeper conversations about fairness and respect when discussing relationships, value, and the realities of modern dating and family—pointing out that everyone brings “baggage,” and we should be conscious and kind in the standards we set for each other.

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“Thank y’ all for tuning in this episode. I tell y’all every episode: y’all could be anywhere with anybody talking about all of these things, but y’all choose to be right here with me, and I appreciate y’all for that.” (36:45 - Lauren LaRosa)

Transcript

[Lauren LaRosa]

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[Lauren LaRosa]

let's get to it. Time to do it. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody. You know, she don't lie about that, right? Lauren came in hot. Hey, y', all, what's up? It's Lauren LaRosa. And this is the latest with Lauren LaRosa. This is your daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment news, and all of the conversations that shake the room, baby. All right, so we're gonna start how we always start. Low riders. We gotta check in behind the scenes of the grind. Back on the grind. I am actually recording right now from 103.5 the beat in Miami. I'm in Miami, y', all, because we're going on a cruise today. So today I will disembark. I think that's the word you use for cruise, right? Okay. Yeah. Today I will disembark on a cruise with Fem it forward. Fem it forward is a program, an organization, a movement created by Heather Lowry. Heather Lowry, if you don't know her, because she's very much behind the scenes, but she is that girl. She's from Delaware, first of all. So yeah. And then secondly, you know, she's done a lot in the entertainment space for a long time. Heather Lowry was at the helm of some of your biggest tours and artist performances as she led, you know, the charges at Live nation, you know, and Live nation puts on a lot of those in person performances. But, you know, as of recent, I feel like her brand, femme it forward, has grown hugely and it becomes such a huge success. Feminine forward does the give her her flowers event every year? I believe it's during. It's either during the BET weekend or the Grammy weekend. And normally that event goes viral because she's honored amazing people. You, Teyana Taylor, Chloe and Halle Bailey. Big names, Big names. Heather has. She's always been like, I was Gonna say, like a girl's girl, but I feel like that's such a general term that's just like, so easily used. She's always been a person that is, first of all, just. Her foundation is really. Her foundation is really solid, but she's always been a person that is. She's like a hug in real life. Like, everything about her feels like a hug. She's super encouraging. Her temperament, until she has to get with you is also very, like, positive and, you know, soft, but it's very strong. And I say it's like a hug and then I say it's strong. Y' all probably like, girl, what, how we're running to the same. Because when you think about, like a really good hug when you need it, right, it's soft. It's reaffirming. It's, you know, it's everything that you need at the time, but also it can strongly change the chart, the trajectory of your feeling in that moment, you're feeling after that moment, and even just how your day was going. One good hug changes everything. And that was what meeting Heather Lowry was like for me. I always said that I want to host an artist tour. Like, it's always been a dream of mine to like, team up with like a fire female artist. I really would love for her to be a rap girl, but I'm open and go on tour. Like how DJ Khaled went on tour with Beyonce. And I know I'm not a dj, but I just think it would be so fire me rocking out with the DJ as the host of the tour and being able to, you know, just go stop. To stop. I don't know why I've always wanted to do that, but when I met Heather Lowry, she had actually booked me to host my first live, live concert ever. For real? For real. I was fresh out of Delaware State University in HBCU Week, which we've talked about here on the podcast before. Another organization that feels like a hug by Ashley Christopher, another Delaware girl. They host these live concerts every year in October in Wilmington, Delaware, where they bring artists to the city and it raises money for students that are going to HBCUs and are getting through their four year undergrad and even some graduate programs at HBCU schools. But I hosted a concert for a while and Queen Nyjah some years ago, and then I did another one for like Rick Ross and, you know, all these people. And Heather was at the hem of that, like, literally. I. I just, I really appreciate women who are like that. Women who are like, they they stern with you when they need to be. They honest with you when they need to be. They're strong with you when they need to be. But also, like, they're real. Like, they're real people who are giving real advice, who just really care about your well being. People talk a lot about how this industry is so fake and phony, but you really can run across good people in the process of being a good person as well too. And Heather is one of those people. So shout out to her and shout out to femit forward and the Femme Lam cruise. So I'll be there this weekend and my plan is to bring you guys as much sound bites as I can the first day. Like today, we toast to, you know, all the girls and the black girls being on board and, you know, kicking off the cruise. But we got Monica SWV and Keyshia Cole performing today. And that's just day one. So y' all know I'm bringing you the latest from the cruise boat. So I'm excited, if you cannot tell. I'm really excited. I'm in great spirits and I'm just ready to get on into the things. So now let's get on into the latest. Hey, y'. All, what's up? It's Lauren LaRosa. And you know I give you your daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment news, and all of the conversations that shake the room, baby. And for me to give you all the factual content. Content, when I get into the details, I got to make some phone calls. I'm calling lawyers, attorneys, managers, publicist. Shoot, I'll even call your mama if she's the person that's going to give me the exclusive I need. But did you know that 2026 will mark the 150th anniversary of the first ever phone call. It took place on March 10, 1876. And from the call that sparked it all to the first long distance phone lines, the first line across America, the first line across the Atlantic, the first round the world call, the first commercial cell Service, the first 911 system. AT&T has been connecting people for 150 years in so many different ways. I'm just happy that somebody's going to answer the phone because how else would I bring y' all the news all up in the people business? But they answer. Thank you. AT&T. Connecting changes everything.

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[Lauren LaRosa]

backcountry shop Small business on Amazon. All right, y', all, so Cam Newton is back at it again. You should be very familiar with Cam Newton. I mean, he has his Funky Friday podcast, but Cam Newton, you know, huge football player, super bowl ring winner. You know, Cam Newton has done the things in all aspects of his career, but for some reason he just can't seem to talk about women in a way that I think is fair. If I'm being and I have no issue with Cam Newton, but I just think his takes of women, although sometimes realistic, it's a bit unfair the way he's positioned. And I feel like he knows what he's doing when he's doing it. And it always works. We always get all riled up. So I'm not gonna let him get me riled up today. We're gonna Take a listen to the comments and then we'll be right back. Let's take a look.

[Cam Newton]

Women's value get lower the more children that they have. Break that down because, and I was having this conversation, you know, with one of the mother of my children and she's still fine. You see what I'm saying? But like I was telling her, I was like, yo, the guy that you're dating or will date if he ain't willing to love on these five children that you have, that ain't the guy for you. Because when I came into your life, I was willing to accept you and whatever you had. And there's guys that's out there that's just going to say, don't make my kids, I want you. Well, that ain't how it worked. But that's not to say that she can't find nobody.

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Right.

[Cam Newton]

I'm pretty sure she has somebody.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Right. But do you feel like it's as the best that she could possibly do if she didn't have children?

[Cam Newton]

Well, you're talking to a dude that was once in her life. I don't feel like she gonna get better than me. That's just my confidence.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I don't even think it's confidence. I have said and I might get eaten alive. I don't think most women do better than the father of their children. I really don't think that it's real. That's the barometer. So here's my thing with this conversation. Women and their value and the decreasing of it because of kids. It's like, yes, let's just talk about the hard truths first. As a woman, it is a hard truth. Knowing that when you have kids with someone and then you decide to no longer be with that person, your experience in the world, your experience dating, your experience moving forward in your career and just in your day to day life is very different than a man with kids. And even that man that had the kids with you, it is very different. Number one being. Because normally what happens and this isn't all the time shout out to the, you know, single full time dads out there. But normally what happens is, you know, even if the man that you had kids with is super hands on and is a great dad, as the mom, the babies came out of your body, like as a mom, you know, the load is just heavier on your side and it's not that the man that you had kids with is not helping. Let me be very clear when I say that it's just, it's just different. And I Don't have kids. So, you know, y' all like, who she talking, she ain't got no kids. Yeah, I don't have kids, but I, I have friends with kids who, you know, are working through situations where it didn't work out with the, with the father of their children. I have family members, you know, that I'm very close to who, you know, I have, that have gone through these things and being there and seeing what they're going through and seeing how they like rebuild their lives after, it is very different. Now, I do know men who have been in the same position where not that they're single full time dads, but these are men who have decided that, you know, they're no longer going to be in a situation where they're in a family unit, right? And then they go out and they want to date and they want to rebuild their lives. And it's difficult on both sides. But if we're being honest, y', all, y' all look at single women with kids way differently than y' all look at a single man with kids. As long as he got that baby mama under control and he can afford you and whatever he got to do over there on the other side, for most women, it's not an issue at all. However, I wish I had one of my homegirls here right now, however, and maybe we'll have this conversation when we get on the cruise as well too. I think this might be a great conversation to bring amongst the group of women I'll be amongst. I just gotta figure out how I'm gonna do it, sound wise and all that. So stay tuned for that. Because one of my friends that's with me right now, she was actually, we were at dinner last night and she was having a conversation and, and her child is older and she has a great co parent, like an amazing co parent. But she was saying how because the families were still so intertwined because of her son, it made things very difficult for her in trying to move forward because men were not comfortable with the fact that families were still intertwined. But I mean, y' all have kids together and their son is to an age where they have no choice but to be very intertwined because he's older. So he wants to be with his cousins on both sides, he wants to be with grandmas on both sides, he wants mom and dad at certain things. And she said, you know, that was an issue for her and still can be an issue for her today sometimes, just because not even the relationship that her and her child's father have and they have a good one. But there's boundaries there. But just because of the family aspect. And I was thinking about my own self, like, you know, in dating men with kids, one of the things that you have to just suck up and get used to, and it's like you want it, right? Like, you want a man that has a good relationship with his mother, with the mother of his kids, and with the family of his kids on the mother's side, because you want the best for the child. Once you love the man, you love the child. But also too, you want peace for that man. If you really with him and you love him and you want to be with him, you want peace for him. And that's normally what brings peace. However, it can be uncomfortable. It can be very uncomfortable because you have to trust blindly. Like, you already trust him blindly being vulnerable because your heart isn't it. And y' all know how that go. But when there's another woman who emotionally this man is tied to, even if they're not together because they share children, it's just different. Especially because those emotions are things. If you guys don't have kids, those emotions are things that you really like. That's something that they have together and that causes fear for a lot of people. I've been there shooting. I've been there. But I think as women, we're like, he'll handle it and it's okay, and we'll figure it out. I've never thought about any men that I've met with kids. My natural conversation has never went to the value of that man ever. But with women, it does. And it's because, number one, the relationships that men are just not okay with, the relationships that you have to upkeep because you have children with someone the same way that women are. Number two, if we being honest, men just don't wanna take care of nobody kids. And I think people left that part out of what Cam Newton was saying because the way he got into this, he was actually talking about a conversation he was having with one of the mothers of his children. So. And all these audios are on the it's Giving podcast with Sarah Fentonote. I probably am saying her last name wrong. I apologize, Sarah, but her podcast is really good. I feel like her conversations, really, they get the people going. But listen, I don't. I told you in the opening of this. This Kim and some of his statements are not my favorite. But if we're being honest, I understand where he's coming from. Because men don't be wanting to take care of them babies if them babies not theirs at all. And also too, I don't know, there's just this like double standard sexually about a man being able to go out and conquer the world and create children and create all these homes, even if he doesn't stay in them. And that's a man. That's what men do versus a woman. Like, men look at you. If you're a woman with like, you know, children and your relationship didn't work, even if it's just one, you share children with one man. Not even multiple men. Because that's a whole nother conversation too. They love to, you know, that's a whole thing. It's always like, well, what happened? What didn't work? Cam is not saying nothing that people haven't said before. It just is annoying to hear it. But the reason why I was saying that it's unfair in the beginning of this podcast is because I think men never take into account all the things that women have to do for us to even be valued in the first place, especially black women. And I know Cam talks in this same podcast episode about men and, you know, men not being loved unconditionally, black men and only being looked at as providers. We'll get to that. But I think for a lot of men, it's like women have to do. So it's like, okay, if I am working a career and I'm good at what I do and I'm making good money and I'm providing for myself and I am self sufficient and I have standards and I want you to come to the table with something. I might be, you know, those girls are outed or outlisted, right? Like most of the time those women are looked at as like, difficult or we understand why you're single or too much attitude or your standards are too high, right? So you have that pocket and then you have the pocket of, okay, I'm a woman who decided that I wanted to be a career wife and mother. And I've dedicated my life to this man and I built this family with this man. And then one day it just doesn't work and he decides to leave or I decide to leave. And now I'm starting from scratch. So I'm, you know, starting from scratch of like figuring out career and who I am and what I have going on. And then those women are put in a box of okay, because you aren't sometimes financially stable. The way that a man that you may meet is because those women, you know, may look For a man to take care of them, which I'm not knocking, you know, but I'm just making a difference in lifestyle. So those women might be like, okay, look, I'm gonna get myself together. I want to be self sufficient, but I'm used to being a wife and a mother to a man that takes care of everything and brings everything home. It is very hard nowadays to find a man that will do all of that and will still treat you as if you are as equal of a human being as he is. Very, very hard to find that those type of men. Child, that is. I was gonna say that's so old school. But even old school, I feel like, you know, the, the whole, like gender equality, like that whole thing was always a thing. But I think nowadays, man, it's so scary the way that men try to control you with money. So it's like, it's hard. Like, you can't be this, like you can't be too much of the. I got it all figured out. I need you, but I gotta learn how to need you. And you can't be too much of the. I need you. Because now you gotta be scared of like, how much will you be controlled because of that. And, and then you got kids too as well. So you're making decisions based off of your children and trying to make sure they're good, not even about yourself. And in all these situations, I've never once talked about value because I've only talked about things that devalue us. Like, I can only speak from my experience in saying that. Like, I feel like it's always a fight for us to have valued conversation. Then there's like the whole like fertility conversation and the time clock and your time clock and your age devalues you as a woman. The older men get, it's like, oh my God, he got himself together. He's seasoned, he's ready to. We just heard, he's ready to settle down. We just heard Clifton Powell say he just learned how to love somebody at 70 years old. Somebody, you know, younger than him, who was looking just for stability. Not even just financially and like physically, but like looking for stability and love and being able to be vulnerable. Clifton Powell, hey, I mean, he's providing well for himself. You know, he's not a bad looking older man, but he's telling you I'm finally at the age where I want to be fully about somebody and about a family and about all the things that's what a woman wants. But he's 70, a woman at 6550 years old that is single and still trying to figure it out. It's like, what was wrong with her that she ain't never got herself together? We always hear from men and women. I've always been told, because you don't want to end up 65, 70 and alone. No one tells men that. Nobody's like, nobody. I've never heard my brother or any of my male friends be like, you don't want to end up 70 and alone. I think we just assume that men will always conquer and will always figure it out. And even when we do speak to men about getting it together and not wanting to be alone, it's never from a devalued place for women. It's like, once you get, you know, your age clock gonna run out. No more babies. Menopause is always these, like, detractor things. So I, for me, I've had to change the conversation. And that's what I mean by fairness. Like, I think when people have these conversations, you can be honest, but, like, let's have a full conversation about, like, how we even ended up to the point where, like, devaluing women because of babies, that they have a gift to the world. Like, literally, women are birthing human beings. You know how many women don't make. Black women don't make it through childbirth. And we tell, we out here, we out here at the top of our lungs saying, because you made it through childbirth and you brought this, this beautiful baby into the world, your value has now decreased. That is insane to me. When a man welcomes his child into the world, especially if it's a boy and a junior, oh, my God. The kingdom continues. It's like Lion King when they hold up, you know what's Lion King, son? Simba. When they hit, look, y', all, it's been a minute, okay? I'm 34. When they hold up Simba over, you know, the whole, like the rock, it's like, yes, the kingdom continues. The last name continues. We don't even get talked about like that. We get devalued because we had a baby.

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so let's be fair. My whole thing is like, look, go ahead, have the conversation. Do what you do. Boo Kim is really good at. Cam Newton is really good at what he does, though. Like, I have anytime I ever talk about him in the moments that he has like this, I always say, that man knows what he's doing. He's really good at the content thing. But let's be fair. When we have the conversation and not just talk about, okay, women are devalued because of children or the more children they have, right? Let's talk about, like, how we got there and how unfair it is that men aren't either. Because let me tell y' all something. The older and more responsible for my life and myself, I get. I don't want nobody. That comes with a lot of anything. You gotta have it together at period. So you can have kids, but please have it together. When it comes to how you take care of your children, the relationships with the children's mother, the, like, there's a lot to it. We not just accepting anything anymore. We having the same conversations. There are women, literally, that don't want nobody with no kid. They don't want it. They don't because of the baggage that it comes with. And I think that's another conversation as well, too. And we talked about it a bit when I said men don't be wanting to take care of nobody else's babies. They look at certain things as baggage. But, like, everybody comes with baggage. You just pick and choose whose shit you want to deal with. And a lot of it all boils down to how things are being handled. If a woman has children and she is handling her business and she has, you know, things going on and things happening, and it is not, you know, messing up how you date her, how you court her, the time that you spend together. It would be so nice to not be devalued. You know what I mean? Because I've also experienced life as well, too. We can't even be single out here dating no more. If you single and you out here dating, you gotta be. So, I mean, you should already be selective about who's entering your space and your body. But you gotta be even careful about how you talk about the experience you had dating. Because we should, as women, be able to date experience, learn, grow, know what we like, what we don't like. But please be careful how you talk about it when you meet that the man that you're really trying to be with because your experience with other people even devalues you too. Like, we gotta be so careful. We gotta tiptoe so much. Yo. Now let's get into. I'm gonna end this with a. A point that Kim Newton brought up in the same interview where he talks about men, black men, specifically, not experiencing unconditional love. Let's take a look. Now, I watched an episode with you and TD Jakes, and you said you don't feel like you can ever take the mask off. You can only do that with your children. Do you feel like that robs you of your humanity?

[Cam Newton]

No, because that's the only feeling that I have where it's unconditional.

[Lauren LaRosa]

What does that mean?

[Cam Newton]

Respectfully, any man, any provider can agree with this statement. There's no such thing as unconditional love. You only get that from very few people on this earth. One of those group of people are your parents. Lucky if. If they love you unconditional. You commit a crime, they love you, you, you, you. You are failure. They love you, you. You do something that's against their will, they still love you, right? And then that's your children. Like, we go different places. I get accolades, I get awards. I get, you know, certain experiences. And a lot of people put me on the pedestal. I don't know why, but to my children, that's daddy. To other people, that's, oh, my God, this can't do. Oh, my, this. And they don't care nothing about that. They don't want that. Only thing they want is time. And that mask only comes off for them because they see through the minutiae. They see through like, man, welcome to fourth and one. Well, like, hey, welcome to Funky Friday. Like, they see first take, they see the hey106 and sport, they see all that, all those characters that you may see online. My children just see me. When you're dealing with other entities, whether relationship wise, wives, girlfriends, significant others, partners. If your husband don't do right by you, there's only a certain amount of time where you just gonna say, ah, all right, now, I ain't gonna keep dealing with this now. Well, with your children, they still gonna choose you. And that's the true essence of what unconditional love is. And that's I said it. People think it. And you can't find another source that will love you regardless of who you are. And that's what I mean by that.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I'm not mad at this comment at all. I do think it's a little gaslight because Cam Newton is in a relationship with a woman who has just given him two babies, who. I mean, I don't know her personally, but there's been a lot that she has had to endure publicly because of some of his statements. And she still ride or die for that man. She has to love him down and very unconditionally. That is probably, like, my only pushback on it. But the reason why I don't have an issue with the statement is because I do have a lot of male friends and even, like, my boyfriend all the time. I feel like one of the things that I love doing and I don't get it right all the time. I can be a lot to deal with. But one of the things I love doing is just, like, reminding him that, like, he's, like, God's gift to the world. Because what I learned from my brother, actually recently, my little brother, we were having a conversation just about his feelings, and we had never done that, but he was going through some things, and he was just like, y' all don't ever hear me. And then I'm like, well, I wanna hear you. Let me listen. We had a conversation, and it broke my heart to hear him feel like he wasn't valuable to us because of what he couldn't do physically. And I'm like, oh, my God, I don't even expect physical things from you. Like, my love has nothing to do with any of that. But as a man, I think, you know, because of how men are, some men, well, really all men. I think because of how men are positioned in the world and in society and raised in our households, it's like, if you're not physically doing, you don't feel like much. And as a woman, when I'm not achieving my goals, when I'm not able to do for myself physically and do for the people I love, I don't feel like nothing. But men take it on so much heavier. And I wish that, like, that's one of the things that as I get older as a woman and I become accountable for my actions and how I make people feel, Lord, that has been a journey that I'm still on. One of the things that I really, really, really, really feel like I try to talk to even my friends about is the fact that, like, men are not these, like, blank canvases that, like, don't want to be filled up and filled with color. Like, they are just as colorful, they're just as vibrant, they're just as loving. You know, all of that. It's just sometimes they come with this, like, blank canvas, hard exterior because of what they've walked through in the world or how they've been, you know, raised or, you know, that might have been what they needed to do to get to where they were to be able to provide and to be able to honestly, like, meet you at a certain point. But you gotta kind of really peel back that layer. Because I know as a woman, like, I get to the point sometimes where I'm like, yo, I'm tired of doing everything for everybody. Like, we naturally just. Especially black women. Like, we are naturally just like, nurturers and we want. Man, I would love to solve so many things. A real cure for cancer being the first of them. Just so many things that I wish I could do so that I could, like, make sure that people that I love can never hurt again. And always just be happy and always be good. And that's just, like, the nature of a woman to just jump in and be like, I got it. Don't worry about it. I'm gonna protect you. I got you. And a lot of times when you do that, and you've always done that, you get depleted, you be burnt out. Men get there, too. They just don't talk about it. We're a lot more vocal, but they get there too. They just don't talk about it. So I'm trying to be a lot more aware of the fact that that feeling is there and that it's a real thing and that even when it's there, they might not even express it or talk about it. You kind of just gotta, like, know. You literally just gotta know. And even when you don't know, because there's sometimes where, like, I might not know what's happening with, like, my boyfriend or my brother. And I'll still call and be like, hey, what's up? Just checking. Well, my boyfriend, I talked to him every day. But my brother, I don't talk to him every day. But I'll still call and be like, hey, what's up? Just checking on you. Or if I don't call him. Cause we don't talk on the phone all the time. I'll just text him, be like, hey, I love you. Or, you know, you need anything. Like. And he. My little brother is the epitome of a little brother. Like, he be getting on my nerves. But I just always want him to feel like, you got somebody and you got something that no matter what you do, have done, where you go, where you don't go will always be right there with you. And it's us, it's your family, it's me, it's your sister. And I went, you know, and I think that's what Cam Newton is speaking to. It's like having your children make you feel that way, but. And you know, potentially mom, dad, and some family members. But you don't always get that from a lot of people in your life as a man is what he's speaking to. So, yeah, I said I wasn't gonna get all worked up. And here I am early in the morning about the head to this cruise, all worked up because my value decreases because I want to bring life into this world, child, the people are crazy, honey. The people are crazy. But thank y' all for tuning in this episode. I'm Lauren LaRosa. This has been another episode of the Latest with Lauren LaRosa, your daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment and conversations that shake the room. And I tell y' all every episode. Y' all could be anywhere with anybody talking about all of these things, but y' all choose to be right here with me and I appreciate y' all for that. My lowriders so much. I'm gonna catch y' all on the flip side. Maybe some bonus episodes will come out of this weekend because I'm headed on a cruise, y'. All.

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[Lauren LaRosa]

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[Lauren LaRosa]

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