Category: Fearless
Michelle Obama demands ‘education’ on black beauty
We are born with an intrinsic ability to recognize beauty, be it a sunset, a piece of art, or a fellow human being. The second our eyes behold something beautiful, we can’t help but stop and admire. No one teaches us to react this way; it just happens naturally.
Michelle Obama, however, argues otherwise. On a November 12 podcast episode titled “The Power of Hair: Identity, Legacy & Black Womanhood,” the former first lady posited that the world needs to be taught how to appreciate black beauty in particular.
The episode, which featured Cosmopolitan beauty editor Julee Wilson, actor and producer Marsai Martin, and stylist and founder of Esthetics Salon Yene Damtew, was part of the promotional content for Michelle’s new book, “The Look” — a glossy vanity project that repackages the same grievance-laden identity politics she’s been peddling for years under the guise of empowerment and joy.
After declaring that “there isn’t a standard of beauty” and that what we see featured in magazines is merely “taste” and not beauty, she stressed the need “to start educating people about all kinds of beauty.”
“Our beauty is so powerful and so unique that it is worthy of the conversation and it’s worthy of demanding the respect that we’re owed for who we are and what we offer to the world,” she added.
“I didn’t need an education on [beauty]. I can remember at a very early, early age the ability [to recognize], ‘Oh, that’s a beautiful woman; that’s a handsome man,”’ counters Jason Whitlock, BlazeTV host of “Fearless.”
“Fearless” contributor Shemeka Michelle agrees. “You don’t have to teach about beauty — it just is. Michelle sounds so silly, and every time we turn around, here she comes, just another round in the victim Olympics.”
Contrary to Michelle’s belief, objective beauty is real, but “attitude,” Jason argues, can certainly go a long way in the beauty department. Kindness, confidence, faith in Christ — these are all beautifiers, he says.
Unfortunately, many women, he says, adopt the kind of attitude that detracts from the natural beauty they possess. “That’s this feminism that many black women and girlbosses have attached themselves to,” he says. “It erases a lot of their beauty. That bitterness and anger just is not attractive.”
“When you’re sitting around and you’re a multimillionaire and the world has kissed your butt and … then you’re still angry and whining and complaining and demonizing America, it’s just very unattractive,” he says.
Jason and Shemeka both agree that Melania Trump, with her timeless poise and quiet grace, is a far better example of beauty than Michelle Obama will ever be.
To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above.
Want more from Jason Whitlock?
To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
NFL player apologizes over backlash for doing Trump dance: ‘I did not mean to offend anyone’
A Detroit Lions player says he is sorry if he hurt anyone’s feelings.
The Lions crushed the Washington Commanders 44-22 in Landover, Maryland, on Sunday, in a game that featured a flyover from President Trump in Air Force One.
‘It had nothing to do with who the president was.’
The event included the president in the commentary booth, and Trump swore in members of the military over a chorus of boos from Commanders fans.
Fans were likely equally as perturbed when Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown celebrated a touchdown with Trump’s signature dance, which was a massive trend among athletes in 2024.
Evidence of displeasure from fans was apparent on social media following the game. Detractors called Brown “a f**king disgrace” and a “hoe ass n***a,” while claiming he is “supporting an orange racist, sexist, felon currently stopping people from receiving food.”
On Wednesday, St. Brown took to his podcast to address the controversy. His brother, Equanimeous, brought up the “elephant in the room” less than six minutes into the episode.
“You had a touchdown celebration. Talk about it,” Equanimeous prompted his brother.
Amon-Ra then immediately apologized.
“First of all, if I offended anyone, I do apologize. I did not mean to offend anyone. It was just we’re having fun,” he said on the “St. Brown Podcast.”
The 26-year-old added, “If any president was at that game — if they had a dance, I would have done it. It had nothing to do with who the president was.”
While it seemed that St. Brown was deliberately fence-sitting, he commented on the historic nature of Trump’s appearance at the Commanders’ venue.
“Even after the game, I found out — someone told me that was the first game that a president has been to in over 40 years. So first regular-season game, which is crazy,” he said.
The receiver said the controversy was simply a case of him and his teammates “having fun doing the dance”; “nothing more, nothing less.”
Backing his brother, Equanimeous equally described the “quick shimmy” as “nothing serious, nothing political.”
Trump has become intertwined with the Commanders franchise during his second term, as the team hopes to move back to D.C. and a $2.7 billion stadium.
Trump, the NFL, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) praised the plans in May while announcing that the city would also host the 2027 NFL Draft.
The president subsequently threatened to suspend the whole deal if the Commanders refused to change their name back to the Washington Redskins. The team abandoned the moniker in 2020, going as the Washington Football Team until rebranding as the Washington Commanders in 2022.
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Trump pardons MLB legend and ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ cast member for 30-year-old tax fraud charges
President Trump has granted a pardon to a cast member from his hit show “Celebrity Apprentice” for the second time this term.
In February, Trump pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) after commuting the politician’s 14-year prison sentence in 2020.
The new pardon again extinguishes charges laid against a member of the Season 3 cast of Trump’s hit reality show, this time for a legendary baseball player.
‘Mr. Strawberry found faith in Christianity and has been sober for over a decade.’
“President Trump has approved a pardon for Darryl Strawberry, three-time World Series champion and eight-time MLB All-Star,” a White House official told the New York Post.
Strawberry had an iconic 17-year career in the majors, spending 13 seasons with teams in New York. He came into the league with the New York Mets and finished his career with the New York Yankees.
Back in 1995, Strawberry pleaded guilty to a single count of tax evasion over a failure to report nearly $500,000 in income from baseball card shows and autograph signings between 1986 and 1990.
As UPI reported at the time, Strawberry was sentenced to three years of probation in April 1995, along with six months of home confinement and $350,000 in restitution for tax evasion
At just 32 years old, Strawberry was also battling substance problems that cost him some opportunities in MLB.
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Photo by James Devaney/WireImage/Getty Images
Strawberry was beloved as a member of the Mets and was hilariously immortalized in the iconic episode of “The Simpsons” titled “Homer at the Bat.”
However, the trouble started after he moved back to his home state of California to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Following an All-Star campaign in 1991, the outfielder never played a full season again.
Just three days prior to appearing in front of a federal judge for the tax evasion charges in 1995, Strawberry was suspended by MLB and released from his new team, the San Francisco Giants, over his continued use of cocaine.
Months later, Strawberry signed with the Yankees and played well, but only appeared in 32 games. He retired from baseball after the 1999 season.
Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
“Mr. Strawberry served time and paid back taxes after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion,” the recent White House comment added.
“Following his career, Mr. Strawberry found faith in Christianity and has been sober for over a decade — he has become active in ministry and started a recovery center, which still operates today.”
Strawberry has been praised in recent years for overcoming his drug-abuse problems and turning to God, and he now preaches alongside his wife.
“There’s nothing too hard, there’s nothing too big for God,” Strawberry was recorded telling a group of prisoners in 2024.
“There’s nothing too hard, there’s nothing too big for God to fix in your life right here, right now,” he preached, as the men rejoiced. “God has not forgot about you. You’re not a mistake to God. We’ve all made mistakes. We have all fallen short. The Bible didn’t say some of us. The Bible says all of us have fallen short.”
Strawberry concluded, “So you gentlemen need to know that today I stand up here; there’s nothing great about me. I was a liar. I was a cheater. I was a womanizer. I was an alcoholic. I was a drug addict, and I was a sinner, saved by grace.”
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90-year-old golf legend Gary Player reveals secrets for living to 100
Golf and PGA Tour legend Gary Player is still playing as he turns 90.
The South African was the first international player to win at the Masters in 1961, and a star was born. Even though Player broke the tournament’s rules by taking the prized green jacket back home with him in 1962 despite losing to Arnold Palmer — only the reigning champion can take the jacket home, for that year only — a lifetime later, he is still making headlines.
‘I really suffered a lot. A lot.’
In April, Player shocked the crowd in Augusta, Georgia, teeing off at 89 years old and finishing his shot with a signature high kick.
“I’m standing here for the 67th time, and I think the word is gratitude, just being here,” Player said at the time.
He turned 90 years old on Nov. 1, and now one of the sport’s oldest stars is sharing his secrets to living a long life.
“Under eat. Exercise. Read. Prayer/meditate. Love. Ice bath. Gratitude. Sleep. Laugh a lot. Keep busy. Friends. Do things you don’t want to do,” he said recently.
The secrets were not his, though. While he may have the rules written on a laminated card in his wallet, he once received the advice from a gerontologist as a list of 12 keys to living to 100.
“All the gerontologists varied to a degree, but basically what they all agreed on to live a long time is under eat,” Player told Golfweek. “Everybody’s eating too much. Obesity, which is killing them.”
Publicly declaring that living to 100 is now his goal, Player shared more of his regimen for good health.
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Arnold Palmer (L) presents Gary Player (R) with the green jacket at the 1961 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Photo by Augusta National/Getty Images
Working out or playing golf as many days as possible is part of Player’s plan. Weight training, walking the beach, and swimming are included.
“But not far out,” he said. “Because I’m very wary of sharks.”
The thought of living to 100 is in Player’s head “every day,” he explained, saying he thinks he will get there so long as he does not contract a disease. “[It] can happen because the food is all sprayed, you know, and it’s the things that prevent you from becoming a hundred.”
Player opened up about his younger years in South Africa, saying that when he was a kid he thought of golf as nothing more than a “sissy sport.”
Soccer, rugby, and cricket were more revered in his eyes.
“When you experience what I experienced as a young man, which is living like a junkie or a dog …” he told the outlet. “I went to this great school, which really helped me, but I’d go home at night, nobody there, cook my own food. I’d get up at 5:30 in the morning to travel to school.”
When he eventually started playing golf, Player said he made a promise to himself that if he ever became a champion, he would help others in a similar situation.
He continued, “So I really suffered a lot. A lot. I lay in bed for two years on and off wishing I was dead, crying in bed. That was the greatest gift bestowed upon me ever. And that’s what made me a world champion.”
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Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Player has 24 wins on the PGA Tour and 22 wins on the PGA Tour Champions. He has victories in nine majors, winning three Masters: 1961, 1974, and 1978. He also has 118 international wins.
Player was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
Through all his success, Player says he knows why people die — it comes from retirement.
“I think people retire too early,” he said.
“To me, it’s a death warrant,” he explained. “They say, ‘I’ve worked hard; I’m going to take it easy.’ And yes, literally, they do. They go home and they sit there and they overeat and they watch television and they die within three years.”
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Hot take: Michael Jordan’s new show is HURTING the NBA
While Jason Whitlock respects and celebrates Michael Jordan, he thinks the six-time NBA champion is actually doing more harm than good to the league right now. “Jordan is the black shadow that hovers over the NBA like a dark cloud, and he’s a constant reminder of how things suck right now,” he says.
Jordan, who has mostly stayed out of the public eye since his 2003 retirement, has recently re-entered the NBA as a special contributor. His new show, “MJ: Insights to Excellence” — a prerecorded miniseries of interviews where Jordan shares basketball wisdom and personal reflections with host Mike Tirico — airs weekly during certain NBA games in the 2025-2026 season.
Fans and players have been soaking in Jordan’s wisdom and the tidbits of information he shares about his personal life, but Jason says this focus on the NBA’s “good ol’ days” when Jordan was the face of the league isn’t doing anything positive for the already hurting association. If anything, Jordan’s show is a reminder of how “lazy” today’s NBA players are.
On Tuesday night during the postgame show following the New York Knicks vs. Milwaukee Bucks game, episode two of “MJ: Insights to Excellence” aired. Tirico asked the GOAT his thoughts on “load management” — the strategic practice of resting healthy players during games or limiting their minutes to prevent injuries, manage fatigue, and extend careers.
Jordan, who was notorious for playing through injury and fatigue all 82 games of a season, pulled no punches: “[Load management] shouldn’t be needed … I never wanted to miss a game because it was an opportunity to prove.”
“You have a duty that if [fans] are wanting to see you, and as an entertainer, I want to show,” he added.
While Jordan’s work ethic and commitment to the game will forever be admirable, the fact that it remains unmatched over two decades later only highlights how far the NBA has fallen.
“This is not a criticism of Michael Jordan. It’s really a criticism of Adam Silver and the executives and ownership in the NBA. They can’t come up with a solution for what’s wrong with the NBA, and so they’re allowing Michael Jordan and the media to mostly drive the discussion about what’s wrong with the NBA,” says Jason.
NBC, which recently inked an 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal to broadcast NBA games, is “using the greatest player of all time to basically subtly take a dump on the NBA,” he explains.
“Fearless” contributor and basketball aficionado Jay Skapinac agrees that Michael’s words are true — load management is a reflection of how soft NBA players have become — but the NBA highlighting this is only “undermining the current product.”
If the NBA wants to move into a new era, where grit and passion define the league again, it needs to ditch LeBron James, who he says “is the only player that has left the game worse than the one that he inherited,” and “move forward with these new, bright, rising young stars in the NBA” instead of “focusing on the greatest player that ever existed in the sports history.”
To hear more of the conversation, watch the episode above.
Want more from Jason Whitlock?
To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
