The Breakfast Club - Love is In The Air (Rewind of Taylor Rooks wedding and more)

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

Loren is reporting live again from Ghana, and this time she is letting us in on her experience visiting the Cape Coast Castle (slave castles). She also, mentions some engagements that came into the new year including Gherbo and Taina and  our very own TaylorMade producer. Moreover,  throws us back to when Taylor Rooks surprised the world with her wedding pictures and moreYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. I know he has a reputation, but it's going to catch up to him. Gabe Ortiz is a cop. His brother Larry, a mystery Gabe didn't want to solve until it was too late. He was the head of this gang. You're going to push that line for the cause. Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it.

When Larry's killed, Gabe must untangle a dangerous past, one that could destroy everything he thought he knew. Listen to the brothers Ortiz. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? My sister was y'all 22 times. A police officer, right?

But what do you do when the monster is the man in blue? This dude is the devil. He'll hurt you. This is the story of a detective who thought he was above the law until we came together to take him down. I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die.

I got you. Listen to the girlfriends, Untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, everybody, it's Michelle Williams, host of checking in on the Black Effect Podcast Network. You know, we always say New Year, New Me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. And on my podcast, we talk mental health, healing, growth, and everything you need to step into your next season, whole and empowered. New Year, Real You. Listen to checking in with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro. We were in the car, like a Rolling Stone came on, and he said, there's a line in there about your mother. And I said, what? What I would do if I didn't feel like I was being accepted is choose an identity that other people can't have. I knew something had happened to me in the middle of the night, but I couldn't hold on to what had happened. These are just a few of the moving and important stories on my 13th season of Family Secrets. Listen to Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the shade is always Shadiest right here.

Season 6 of the podcast Reasonably Shady with Giselle Bryan and Robin Dixon is here dropping every Monday. As two of the founding members of the Real Housewives Potomac were giving you all the laughs, drama, and reality news you can handle. And you know we don't hold back. So come be reasonable or shady with us each and every Monday. Listen to Reasonably Shady from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm a homeguard that knows a little bit about everything and everybody. You know if you're going to lie about that, right? Lauren came in. 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. So we are back on the go again. I am currently traveling back down the coast here in Ghana. We went, it's about like a three-hour drive, depending on the traffic. We went up the coast to the Cape Coast Castle, which a lot of people visit when they come here to Ghana. Though this castle, there's a few different castles that you can visit, but the Cape Coast Castle has the door of no return. I can't even put it into words yet, and I'm going to wait to do so.

but we were able to experience a tour of I want to call it a castle again but our tour guy rabbi Kohan who is a very well-known rabbi here he does a lot of the tours at the castle especially when you know a lot of like prominent leaders and you know different political people and civil rights activists come in to the country he does a lot of work with making sure that black people in America are connecting with Ghana and the way that they should and just understanding our history the way that we should and kind of where y'all know we learn and when I say y'all, I'm talking to everyone listening to the podcast, but black people specifically, I think, not even think I know, in America we learn black history so different

than what I've experienced in real life here, not even just history, but also black present. So going to the castle today, we talked a lot, of course, you know, about the slave trade and, you know, black people being taken by boat and brought over across the waters and, you know, what that looked like. We literally went into, like, dungeon areas. And as he was describing, like, you know, these, and we're literally sitting in these dungeons that are pitch black because we also got there kind of late because of the traffic. So the sun was going down. We got to really experience what it would have been like. Not comparable, of course, to actually what these people went through. But just putting yourself in that room as literally the sun is going down and it's pitchback, barely any access to outside, barely any fresh air.

Like it was to a point in one of the rooms, and I didn't even know what was happening, but I started getting like dizzy. I'm like, I got to sit down. I can't imagine being. in these rooms, I think a rabbi told us sometimes people would be there. Like, there's one place where they would put people when you were sentenced to death by starvation. And he said, you know, depending on your fight, because one of the things that we talked a lot about was, you know, people, especially us in America, we are taught slavery as if

depending on who's teaching it to you. And I think that's why the critical race theory conversation is so important. But we are taught about our history and about slavery. when you guys will hear the cars and so because we're literally driving down the coast. You might turn it in the radio down a bit? We're literally driving down the coast. So we're driving through like the city and there's like markets and stuff like that. So you'll hear the cars and all of that.

But I wanted to make sure I got this to you guys in real time. But we're taught things just so differently. Like a lot of times the conversation around slavery and what we went through is about how we just conformed. And, I mean, if you've ever been taught the lessons that you should have been taught about, and I mean, there's even movies and stuff at this point, about how that is not true, coming to Ghana and going to the castle that we just went to, which he called not, I mean, I would call it like a dungeon. It was like a prison. It was a place that you went to literally, most of die, be raped. It was very heavy. So it's just ironic that it's called a castle.

but we're taught that we kind of just like lay down and took that and that is not the case like the rabbi was telling us that that room that I was mentioning where people were put to die by starvation depending on your crime sometimes you wouldn't even know your sentencing right because there people are speaking different languages so you don't even know what you're being sentenced to and why but you know that you're being put there because you're not going to make it back out and depending on your strength some people would be able to last for 48 hours 90 days um these are starving people who could have just decided to you know what suicide i you know i i i can't take this but they wanted to fight to be here and to try and make it

out and when he was taking us through the tour i thought that it was just like genius of him to talk to us in a way where we really understood that and what that experience was in a different a way then you're taught in the states i will tell you that like it's just different being here and he's actually from um out vernon new york but he's been living here um in ghana for some time he said he left uh back in the 90s he got tired of all of the protesting and you know all the things and look i've recorded a lot of it and he knows that we'll be using it for the podcast asked for permission so you guys will hear a lot of that so we'll get to that but he talked to us in a way where it was like okay here's what happened we're not going from from that

But if we're being honest, here's, you know, here's what we were able to do from it or take from it, even though things were being taking from us, literally, including our life. So even when we walked through the door no return, which was the door that they would walk through to then get put on the boats, to then travel, you know, across the waters to places. Now they have it where, you know, you walk back through the door and it's kind of like taking your power back. So you come in and you learn all this deep, a lot of it dark. history, but then you walk out of there feeling like, all right, like nothing about my life and, you know, me being here and the things that I'm trying to do in this world or am doing

this world can be taken lightly. It's just a sense of responsibility. It's like a, I can't describe it, but you guys will get to hear parts of that tour in the next episode. So make sure you guys stay tuned for that. But just wanted to come in and let you guys know an update from Ghana because I've been giving you guys a lot of updates since New Year's Eve, and we're going to rewind it back to another episode. I'll be back here Monday morning, our first full, fresh episode back from the new year to break down what this tour was like for me and to get into some of the news and all the pop culture things because there are some updates.

So we're going to take a rewind back and talk about some love, I needed some positivity, some uplifting after. all of that heaviness so we're winding it back to a love episode where Clarissa Shields is talking about she's ready to start a family another thing I saw too um throughout the new year I know I like whether it was people celebrating here or back in the States there was a lot of people that got engaged I saw Tiana and Tiana who is the daughter of Emily who is a step well formerly stepdaughter of rapper Fabulous is now engaged to rapper G. Herbo.

Oh, well, this is old, but Young Thug, Maritius scientists are also engaged. Like, this is the era of, like, we're going to solidify this love, okay? Happy to see it, love to see it. It's been all over my timeline. Taylor made it. Y'all know Taylor made it. She does all of the imaging for the breakfast club, but also she is the producer of this podcast, and y'all have also heard from her a lot on Brilliant Idiots.

Also got engaged on New Year's Eve, girl. Congratulations. And I can say that because she posted it. Okay, so I'm not breaking any news here. So let's throw it on back to a conversation about some loves and family. Even going to get a little messy too. I'll see you guys in the next episode. It's the latest with Mara Rosa.

Now, every now and then, I give y'all a little sprinkle of an exclusive. But today, the exclusive, not even exclusive, because it's all over the World Wide Web. It's all over Beyonce's Internet at this point. We ain't even checking it behind the scenes of the grind because I am flabbergasted. it. Y'all, Taylor Rooks, broadcaster, media personality, sportscaster, the Taylor Rooks. I think all of us, you know, the black girls in media and, you know, in reporting, we root so much for Taylor Rooks as we do a lot of the other girls, the Joy Taylor's, the Carrie champions,

the Jemel Hills, all of the girls, especially, you know, me, because I am not a sports, I am not a sports reporter. I can get a concept of a story in sports as it relates to culture and entertainment, but y'all be hearing me when I get through, you know what I mean, I do my sports stories on the breakfast club, we're here on the podcast. I try and stick to what I'm good at, but sometimes the world's intertwined, so I dibble and I dabble, but those girls are so good. They know the facts, the numbers, they're hard at work, they're at the games, or traveling, or doing all the things. But what I love so much about what just happened with Taylor Rooks and the fact that she is married, she announced yesterday via her Instagram that she is

married. I didn't even know she was engaged. I assumed she was dating. She's gorgeous. She's successful. She's young. You know what I mean? So, of course, I assume she was dating. But because we had never seen anything or heard anything about who she was dating, I did not know she was dating serious enough to be engaged and now married. So yesterday, Taylor Rooks took to her Instagram to post photos from her wedding. I would say it was a surprise wedding, but baby, is given only we were surprised so many other people knew so she posted the photos and she captioned it what a night this is love with the wedding ring um emoji now in these photos you see her and her new hubby under her veil then there's photos of her by herself walking down the aisle

there's photos of taylor rooks and new hubby and she's holding up her wedding ring a diamond okay it's a diamond okay the girl the rock is sitting nice but she has her hand on on her hubby's face. It looks like it's like a photo booth picture from after the wedding from the reception. And then there's photos of her and just like the people who attended. And I think that's what's most impressive

is the fact that not only was it private and very intimate and, you know, when you're in the public eye, you don't get to not share moments like these much because sometimes even if you're trying to keep it private, the people around you are so excited for you that they want to tell the world in them, boom, here you go. Everybody knows you engage,

you marry, you got a man, you got a this, you got a that, right? The guest list was five-star, and she still managed to be able to keep this wedding private. In attendance, there are photos of Mike Rubin, you know, music artist Jack Harlow, Cocoa Jones, and her newly engaged fiancé Donovan Mitchell, who was an NFL player, Sequan Barkley, Kevin Duran, Draymond Green, the people were in the building. that Taylor Rooks was married in New York, but I mean, I don't even know how we were confirming these reports because she didn't mention where she was married.

So it's like, how do we even know that? We don't know anything, and it is so fire. Oh, my God. Congratulations to Taylor Rooks and her husband. There are little to no details known about her husband besides the photos that she posted, which I think are also dope. But, yeah, it was just so fly. I'm one of the girls that I love to see the career girls,

especially at a young age. have all of the things do the family thing have kids have a husband be happy in the marriage and actually having it last um but also be able to also be able to like you know adamantly go after your career and your goals and establish a life for yourself and you know and there's nothing wrong with this right like there are women who you know their lives and their careers and their names revolve around the men in their lives their husbands their kids fathers i'm not knocking nobody. But what I'm saying is is that my personal preference has always

been for myself to be like, look, I'm going to be in love, I'm going to be married, I'm going to have children, I'm going to have the big wedding, the fairytto wedding, you know, I want that for myself and, you know, I want my mother and my grandmother and my

niece and, you know, the people I love to be able to see me be loved correctly. But I've always been worried, like, okay, at some point in my career, there's going to be a conversation about you're a woman so what about family what about marriage what about this what about that and i don't want my career and the work that i've worked for to be tied to my relationship or my husband not even not tied to i don't mind that because me and my men so equally yoked that's what it's always going to be

given right but more so i don't want that to overshadow my work every single day i'm working like harder to get better at what i do and what i do and even what teller rooks does or you you know, Jamel Hill and, you know, all of the women, shoot, shout out the stat baby on Camden Mases. It is what it is. Me and her, we've never met in person. We've tried to link up, but me and her have, you know, become social media friends and watching her navigate her journey over, you know, on It is what it is. While I'm here on Breakfast Club and, you know, with you guys on the latest with Lauren the Rose of the podcast has been a journey. And we both always, you know, say to each other that everything's just moving so crazy.

so to see the girls have it all and be able to establish it all but not have everything centered around or the conversation centered around your relationship status or what's happening in your room but more about the hard work that you're putting in the points you're putting on the board the great interviews you're doing the great content you're putting out the efficiency of all those things that matters to me I can't speak for any of the other women that that I just mentioned but that matters a lot to me a whole lot so I I thought the way that Taylor Rooks went about this was Superfly, number one, super fly. And I just thought it was dope. I thought it was fired or see her, you know, walk down the aisle and celebrate and do all these things. And we had no idea it was happening. And it wasn't nothing little about this wedding, baby. This was Big Taylor Rook's big wedding, okay? Guestless, crazy setup of the wedding looked amazing.

It looked literally like a fair tale wedding. She looked beautiful as well. So congratulations, this is we see you. girl you did that you ate that yes okay putting it on the Pinterest board now in other news today we're having a conversation about women in sports look at me trying to be you know all in the women in sports conversation uh Clarissa shields will be fighting this weekend in Detroit she's fighting Lonnie Daniels um and Clarissa Shields is she's been uh I met her at the breakfast club when she came and we interviewed her the my first time I'm only interviewed her once my first time

interviewing her was not her first time here, but then she also came back to the breakfast club again, which I wasn't in the interview for. But she talked about wanting to be a mom in both of those interviews and what that looked like. You know, we're having a conversation about women with very demanding and big careers being able to go on and do all of the things, right? I definitely think of Clarissa because I've been watching her journey since meeting her here on the Breakfast Club when she was promoting her movie, The Fire Inside, that came out on Christmas of 2024, which stars Ryan Destiny, and it's the story of Clarissa Shield's life.

One of the things I was thinking about when I was talking to her was just her sport is so physical and being able to have a kid and establish a family and all those things also requires a lot of your physical as well. So I've always wondered what that experience was going to be like for her. Like, for instance, Clarissa Shields was on the pivot, which is, you know, the show with Ryan Clark and all the guys. And she talked about not even being able to have

sex before the fight because of the way that an orgasm affects a woman versus a man. Let's take a listen. When it comes to sex, right, men and women may look at it different. Women have something called orgasms. And when women have that, it take a lot out of you. I'm training two or three times a day. I don't got time to be trying to force myself to work out because I don't have a, you know, orgasm. I would rather keep everything in.

And I feel like, to me, I feel like it helps me be more prepared for the fight. And when you go without, you know, sex and, I mean, you guys are men, it do make you be a bit more aggressive and you can lift more weights and you can squat more weight and everything. It's the same thing for me.

That's a lesson to you young boys out there. Women, too. And then hear her talk about this, my first thought is, is like, how long does Clovers of Shields have to go without sex? Because she's never specified. She said, just before a fight.

And I'm like, well, how long? And how does that work when you're trying to have a kid midst of your career fights coming up like it's just a lot to balance I feel for anybody who things are growing and you have a lot to balance because y'all know we started this podcast in midst of so much growing and moving for me the latest with lauraosa has been not just a podcast and entertainment news and training topics but you guys have grown with me through a journey of all of the things since meeting me on the breakfast club um all of my lowriders here so

my soft spot for women in the spotlight who are figuring all this stuff out is like no other because I'm new here. Spotlight is still. I ain't nowhere near Clarissa and what her life. You know what I mean? Like, so I can't imagine is what I'm saying. And I think a lot of people right now unfairly are having a conversation about distraction with Clarissa.

I think a lot of people right now are having a conversation about women in any industry and across industries and what they're able to do and what they're able to balance and what they're able to not balance. And this episode, you know, when I was putting it together and I was thinking about what we could do, you know, an extension to everything that was trending today. The first thing I thought about is, man, the girls is having it all. Okay? They got their

man by their side. They got the business deals popping. Clarissa is dropping music, and she previewed it last night in Detroit. Let's take a listen to. It's really short, but we got a snippet of one of her songs. Okay. What's up? Some people say I'm a killer.

Good. Tad to the mouth, then the shot to the liver. Ooh. Her man wanted to take me to dinner. I call What's the name? I don't even remember. Who? I know you never. And baby, the girls is coming for all of it.

All of it. So with this being said, I want to take y'all to the streets. You for the streets. We outside, we outside. Every other page I go. Because another thing that went down yesterday in the midst of the conversation of the girls having it all, people were so sad that Taylor Rooks

popped out Mary like I know the men be on the girls with the things going on but Bay B where they said somebody said L Brothers Media on X said not only did Clay Thompson pull Magdalian but a light skin inward with waves

just married Taylor Rooks we up it's our time baby 2025 is the year of the Bage Brotherhood laugh out loud the light skins is outside that's what it's given a Corrosier kid said we lost Coco Jones, Meg, and Taylor Rooks, all in a two-month spin with a sad face emoji.

Shout out to Kev Coke 6 on X. Let's send him some love, y'all. He tweeted and he said, I just opened up IG and saw Taylor Rooks got married. Please respect my privacy at this time. Because these be the bays. These be the bays of the sports industry. Corrissa Shields gets it. Taylor Rooks gets it.

I understand. But I think that is crazy, too. I wrote this line down when I was prepping. for this um episode i really think it's crazy how big the conversation gets around women who choose to have the all this serena williams went through this too when she decided to have her baby uh her daughter her first daughter with her husband alexis and venus williams announced her engagement at the same time that sis made history at 45 years old venus williams became the second oldest woman to win a tour level match according to esPN she took this from

a woman who was the oldest woman at the time in 2004, she was age 47, who won Wimbledon. I say that to say, guess what headline lasted longer out of the two? Venus Williams announces she is engaged. People be so surprised to see women have all of the things when you're successful and your career is loud. Naomi Osaka, people give it to her really, really hard whenever she doesn't win or doesn't perform at 200%. I've even seen people openly say, you know, online, she shouldn't have had a kid at the height of her career.

When the girls do finally get to have all the things, the way that we have conversations about them is so different than how we have it about men, completely different. And I get it, babies, don't come out of men's bodies. I get it, you know, women and men have different roles in marriages and how, you know, the marriages change what they're able to do outside of the home. And, you know, just I understand the double standards. but I do feel like this is the era of the women being able to stand next to a partner who understands our power. I was going to say take back our power. But it's not even that. It's standing next to the right person who understands your power so that you can have all things

because the balance that you're going to need to learn both mentally and physically, that partner is sitting next to you, baby, it ain't nothing but it ain't nothing but a thing. So shout out to all the ladies. For some reason, we focus mostly on women in sports today, not even on purpose, But yes, shout out to the ladies, having all of the things. At the end of the day, there's always a lot to talk about. And I appreciate you guys being right here with me every episode to talk about it by Lowriders. I will see you guys in my next episode.

I know he has a reputation, but it's going to catch up to him. Gabe Ortiz is a cop. His brother, Larry, a mystery Gabe, didn't want to solve until it was too late. He was the head of this scam. You're going to push that line for the cause. Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it. When Larry's killed, Game Must Untangle the Dangerous Past, one that could destroy everything he thought he knew.

Listen to the brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? My sister was y'all 22 times. A police officer, right? But what do you do when the monster is the man in blue? This dude is the devil. He hurt you.

This is the story of a detective who thought he was above the law until we came together to take him down. I said, you're going to see my face to the day that you die. Listen to the girlfriends, Untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, everybody, it's Michelle Williams, host of checking in on the Black of Effect Podcast Network. You know, we always say New Year, New Me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals.

And on my podcast, we talk mental health, healing, growth, and everything you need to step into your next season, whole and empowered. New Year, Real You. Listen to checking in with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro. We were in the car, like a Rolling Stone came on, and he said, there's a line in there about your mother.

And I said, what? What I would do if I didn't feel like I was being accepted is choose an identity that other people can't have. I knew something had happened to me in the middle of the night, but I couldn't hold on to what had happened. These are just a few of the moving and important stories on my 13th season. of Family Secrets. Listen to Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the shade is always Shadiest right here. Season 6 of the podcast Reasonably Shady with

Giselle Bryan and Robin Dixon is here dropping every Monday. As two of the founding members of the Real Housewives Potomac were giving you all the laughs, drama, and reality news you can handle. And you know we don't hold back. So come be reasonable or shady with a us each and every Monday. Listen to Reasonably Shady from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.