Tracee Ellis Ross is setting the record straight: she never said men are toxic.
In a new interview with SELF Magazine’s Jessica Cruel, the 52-year-old actress addressed the viral backlash to her comments about toxic masculinity in the dating pool, which she discussed on Michelle Obama’s IMO podcast.
“The dialogue was fascinating,” Ross told SELF. “I didn’t say ‘men were toxic.’ I said they were steeped in toxic masculinity because so am I. The same way that we are steeped in a culture of white supremacy. I know the generosity of how I express things. I also know that if I do things wrong, I’m happy to admit it.”
While speaking with the former First Lady, Ross explained that she often dated younger men because “a lot of men my age are steeped in a toxic masculinity and have been raised in a culture where there is a particular way that a relationship looks.” She shared that she once told Barack Obama at a dinner, when he asked her why she dated younger, “Well, maybe because I can.”
Now starring in the new reality series Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross, which premiered Friday (July 25) on the Roku Channel, Ross is inviting viewers to join her as she explores destinations like Morocco, Mexico, and Spain. But she says the show is about more than just travel.
“Can you be yourself, by yourself out in the world?” Ross said. “It’s one thing to discover who you are, and it’s another to have the courage to be that person. And then it takes even another layer to do that when you’re not in your comfort space. Travel, for me, is a way to give myself a chance to wander, ponder, and be.”
Ross, who has never been married and is childfree, also expressed that she doesn’t want to be turned into a symbol for independent women.
“I’m not interested in [being the poster child for] singledom, because I am looking to meet a partner,” she told the magazine. “What I don’t mind is being a poster child for living your life on your own terms, for not waiting for partnership to find joy and happiness, for curating and cultivating one’s own sense of self.”
