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Big Teyanna Not the Little One (Teyanna Taylor Sets Boundaries and Michael B Jordan speech)

·15 min·1 clip

Why are people criticizing Teyanna Taylor's pure joy at the Oscars when she celebrated others' wins?

Lauren LaRosa opens by catching up on her recent travels including South by Southwest, where she hosted a live conversation with Ciara on behalf of iHeart and Gilead focused on HIV prevention and health advocacy in Black communities, and the HBCU Battle of the Bands in Charlotte, which was her first time attending. She describes the HBCU energy as welcoming and full, and connects it to the broader theme of the episode: spaces where Black joy is unpoliced and unquestioned, which she contrasts with what Teyanna Taylor faced at the Oscars. Teyanna Taylor had a standout award season capped by her appearance at the Oscars, where she did not win Best Supporting Actress but became a viral moment when Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Picture and she went onstage with him, jumping and placing him briefly in a headlock in obvious excitement. LaRosa recounts that this was followed almost immediately by a separate incident where a security guard put his hands on Teyanna as she was heading up to take a group photo, which Teyanna addressed directly. Both incidents fed into a discussion about how Black women are expected to modulate their emotional expression even in moments of genuine celebration. LaRosa argues this is a tired, harmful pattern, citing Teyanna's posted response on X: the world holds so much misery that miserable hearts forget the face of happiness. They grow comfortable being sore losers. So when they see real sportsmanship, it unsets them. The episode situates the Teyanna conversation within LaRosa's broader platform interest in the intersection of pop culture, Black culture, and the politics of public space and representation.

As heard by us

A brisk culture-and-advocacy pass that keeps the focus on real talent and what deserves attention.

Lauren LaRosa moves cleanly from South by Southwest to a live Ciara conversation about health, science, prevention, and HIV, then on to the HBCU Battle of the Bands in Charlotte.

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Why you'd press play

For a loud, fast catch-up that turns pop culture into values and keeps every topic in motion.

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