Tracee Ellis Ross got candid about her dating life during a recent appearance on Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson's IMO podcast, sparking a major debate. The actress said that she prefers to date younger men. She explained that this is because men her age tend to have traits that she avoids in a partner.
"A lot of men my age are steeped in toxic masculinity and have been raised in a culture where there is a particular way that a relationship looks," she explained. "And anything that starts to smell of that for me — I did enough of it where I was controlled and felt like I was a possession or a prize — I just have no interest in it. And I will not do it again."
Some social media users commended Ross for speaking her truth. Others began to question her actual motives, and wonder if her comments would be received differently if they were made by a man. Corey Holcomb, for example, recently compared her remarks to some that he made himself last October.
Corey Holcomb On Dating
At the time, he told Cam Newton that he prefers dating women in poverty. He admitted that this is because he finds them easier to take advantage of. “Well I’m older now so women in poverty, I can control them better," he said. "A girl who can’t afford to say ‘F*ck you Corey, I’m gone.’ She just can’t afford to do it. So I take advantage of that."
This earned Holcomb a fair bit of backlash, but according to him, it wasn't much different from what Ross said. He went on a rant about what he sees as a double standard during an episode of his 5150 Show.
Holcomb argued that Ross' best years are behind her and that younger guys are choosing to date her for money or clout rather than out of actual interest. "This is how it go when them older women get a younger guy," he said, as captured by The Art Of Dialogue. "They want to possess them."
