January 4, 2026 • 11 mins
In this thought-provoking EYL clip, Cari Champion joins Rashad Bilal and Ian Dunlap for a candid conversation about the complexities of relationships when you’re a woman in the public eye. With years of experience as a prominent television personality, Cari opens up about her dating life, how being well-known impacts romantic dynamics, and the misconceptions that come with her public persona. She addresses rumors about her dating preferences, the challenges of networking without it being mistaken for flirting, and maintaining authenticity without dimming her light for anyone. Rashad Bilal goes deeper, sharing his perspective on the societal and cultural factors that may fuel division between Black men and Black women, touching on economic realities, shifting power dynamics, and the influence of social media. Ian Dunlap adds honest commentary about men needing to build confidence and take initiative, while noting that online debates often don’t reflect real-life experiences. Listen in as they discuss: The unique pressures successful women face in romantic relationships The importance of confidence, security, and mutual respect in love The impact of social media and cultural breakdowns on dating norms Economic challenges and how financial disparities can affect partnerships Combating toxic narratives and fostering genuine connection Whether you’re navigating your own love life or curious about how culture shapes relationships today, this clip delivers authentic insights and real talk you won’t want to miss. #CariChampion #RashadBilal #IanDunlap #EYL #Relationships #PublicFigure #Dating #BlackCulture #Society #SuccessAndLove #CulturalDynamics #Empowerment #ModernDating #Clip
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This episode is brought to you by P and C Bank.
A lot of people think podcasts about work are boring,
and sure they definitely can be, but understanding of professionals
routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little,
day after day. It's like banking with P and C Bank.
It might seem boring to safe plan and make calculated
(00:21):
decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is
what helps you live or more happily fulfilled life. P
and C Bank Brilliantly Boring since eighteen sixty five. Brilliantly
Boring since eighteen sixty five is a service mark of
the PNC Financial Service Group, Inc. P and C Bank
National Association Member FDIC.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
You've been on television for a long time, and you've
been a public figure obviously being on television for a
long time, How does that play into relationships?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Like how what you mean?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Like for women a lot of times it's it's a
little difficult or it could be different than like a man,
like when you're in a relationship, right and it's like
you got to travel or you're like uh, known and
different things that like you know, this is.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
A great question. Can you give me some advice. I
need some advice. Do you think I can give me
some advice?
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Got you what you need? Okay, what's the question?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I know, but first finishing what you're saying, because I
think you're I think you're asking me, how do I know?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Are you? Are you single? Oh?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Oh god, that's a great question.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Let her enjoy the holidays, my boy. Let me that's
a dirty back before the holiday because not present yet?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Right, So, like, well, if you're not all right, well,
all right regardless regardless, it's it's, it's it's. But I've
heard this from other women to like, you know that
it could be difficult sometimes or you gotta sometimes you
might have to lower your presence and moments for the
man to feel more comfortable. I'm not saying that's your situation.
(02:03):
I'm just saying I've heard that from other people before me.
But men don't have to deal with that. Men don't
have to worry about they're on television or you know,
they're getting too much attention, or somebody might recognize them
at dinner, right, Like, that's not something that a man
ever thinks about, But a woman who is a public
figure might have to consider that when the dynamics of
(02:28):
the relationship might have some level of, you know, in balance.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Okay, this is great, and so I think I'm going
to tell you what I think about that. I've never
I mean, I'm aware of it, and I think the
men that I'm attracted to are the men that I've
dated and been with in the past. I don't think
that's an issue for them, at least they've never made
it seem as if it's an issue. They seek confident, comfortable,
(02:54):
got their own, So I don't think that being in
the public eye made them feel a way. At least
that's how they've all made me believe. But it probably
manifests in ways that I haven't really acknowledged. I often
wonder and I and I, because there's always a story
(03:16):
about what kind of minute day I date black man?
Is there on the internet they'll tell you only date
white man. I don't know why where that came from,
Maybe me back in the day being silly when I
was at ESPN joking around with Jamail, we say silly
things or weld TikTok, and then the Internet run with
it and it's like, Okay, shortly, day's white man. That's
just not true. But I think it is hard to
(03:37):
date as a woman who is in the public eye
if you're with somebody who doesn't understand that sometimes networking
might look like flirting meeting. I could be at an event.
I went to a Beyonce concert and I see a
bunch of people that I know, and I'm I'm networking,
(03:58):
I'm talking and yeah, we should do this. I think
that'd be great. We laugh and we're joking. We're all
having drinks. Now, the person I could have been with
could have felt a way about that. If you're looking,
you're like, I don't know what this is. I do
find that that is uncomfortable. And I'm taking notes right
because I don't If you want somebody, you don't want
(04:20):
them to feel uncomfortable. You want them to be good.
But I don't think that taking notes looks like me
dimming my life. I would never want to be with
anybody who wants me to do I wouldn't want to
be with anyone who can't give me a compliment, who
can't tell me I look good because they think three
thousand men on Twitter told me that today, so they
(04:41):
don't want to tell me. So I try to date
and make men feel safe when I fine.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
You know I'm not.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I don't have a bunch of relationships. When I am
in one, I try to make you feel good. I
try to make you feel comfortable, secure, all the things
as I would want you to do for me as well.
Here's the thing that I'm going to.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Ask you about.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I'm curious, and I don't know if y'all notice it.
Whether you're married or single, or whatever your case may be,
there's something going on. And y'all know you've had this
debate over and over again with black men and black
women where I think we are constantly talking about what
when one group does versus the other group. And that's
why we're in this space where we're constantly knocking heads,
(05:25):
like don't I don't understand that now Now I'm so confused.
So I was sitting down and my friend walked up.
Too many goes. You're on your phone and you're sitting
at a bar. You don't even look like you want
to talk to a dude. If I saw a dude.
If I was a dude and I want to walk
up to you, I wouldn't talk to you because you
don't seem open enough. You seem like you mean, you
seem like you don't have time. But I'm just responding
(05:46):
to a text like ten other people are, right, what's
going on with that? Like that's the question I have,
do y'all since that at all? Like there's just this beef,
this unwritten it just gets toxic and it gets uncomfortable.
And I'm not blaming Kevin Samuels because everybody loves him.
(06:08):
I'm blaming him, But I also know that maybe perhaps
there is some blame to be to be there, you
know what I mean. I don't know, so I'm asking you.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I think I think it's it's it's a it's a
good question, and I think it's deep rooted. I hate
to be the conspiracy theory god, but I do think
that there is some level of outside influence that has
that has helped push that agenda to divide and conquer strategy.
But I also think that it speaks to a breakdown
and just the culture of American culture overall. Like I
(06:38):
feel like, you know, we do a lot of traveling,
and you know, I'm overseas a lot these days, and
the cultural norms and cultural standards that other countries have
Americans don't have, and that's something that's not talked about enough,
and I think that that definitely plays a major part
in the relationship dynamics between men and women because it
becomes a battle. Right, So now a woman easily can
(07:03):
disrespect the man, a man can easily disrespect the woman.
And then you throw some gasoline on the fire, you
see a viral clip go, and then before you know it,
it's just a constant No, I'm not paying for this, Why.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Would you do this thing?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
You should be like, you know, it's just like a constant,
just toxic thing. So I feel like that's a real, real,
like just deep rooted. But I also feel like it
is rooted in pain because a lot of times, you know,
there is truths to like they say there's truth in
every joke, Like there's truth in every troll. So it's like,
you know, there's a lot of pain because, yeah, I
(07:36):
used to be a financial advisor, so I have first
hand information on this, Like most of my clients were
black women, and that's when I realized that black women
was making a lot more money than a lot of
black men. That's a real thing, but that definitely causes
issues in a relationship when you're frustrated because you're not
able to earn enough money to take care of your family.
Somebody's making more money, they gonna feel more empowered. Let's
(07:59):
just be honest. If a woman is making more money
than a man, she's going to fill on a certain
level more in powered. Nine times out of ten, it's
going to be a different conversation. It's gonna be different
things that happen in that relationship. So there's underlying things
that I think caused all of these issues. But I
also feel like it's just not deep rooted in culture
as far as like cultural standards, cultural norms. You know,
(08:20):
certain boundaries that other countries, other cultures have established that
we don't have established, and it's just like running them up.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
But to your point, rest in peace to the Godfather.
He brought a lot of us to the table.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
And then it became an inflection point because most people
aren't having these coming like when I'm outside of dinner.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
This is not a talking point.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
And the other part that has to be said about man,
y'all have to quit being so fucking scared whether she
mean or not, whether you got motion or not to
a future shot.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
But no, but this goes back to the thing what
we're saying before that most people can't afford to get married.
So there's a lot of this is an economic issue
with this whole red pill community was birthed out of
people that's frustrated with this people.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
It's just like racism.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
When people are angry about this situation, they projected on
other people. So this whole anti woman movement that we've
seen with a lot of like people online, like you said,
a lot of stuff you don't even see in the
real world, like real I think what I call it,
this is the vocal minority. Things on social media get
amplified and it seems bigger than what it really is.
(09:26):
But I've never seen somebody have a fifty fifty debate
in person. I've never in life. I never in my life.
They might have had it behind closed doors, but I've
never in my life been at a restaurant and seen people.
I've never in my life seen a man tell a
woman pay the bill at a restaurant. I've never been in life,
and I've probably been to at least three thousand dinners
in my life. I've never seen these hypothetical questions that
(09:47):
permeonate on social media I've never seen in reality, But
like I said, hurt people. Hurt people when when you
really don't have enough confidence and you really don't have
enough money and you like then you're not gonna want
to talk to a woman because you don't even feel
confident in yourself.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Erners, what's up?
Speaker 1 (10:06):
You ever walk into a small business and everything just works,
like the checkout is fast, or seats are digital, tipping
is a breeze and you're out the door before the
line even builds odds are they're using Square. We love
supporting businesses that run on Square because it just feels seamless.
Whether it's a local coffee shop, a vendor at a
pop up market, or even one of our merch partners.
(10:29):
Square makes it easy for them to take payments, manage inventory,
and run their business with confidence, all from one simple system.
One of the things we love most is seeing neighborhood
businesses level up business West Indian spir writing our community
that started with a small takeout counter. Now with Square,
they've been able to expand into a full sit down
(10:50):
restaurant and even started catering events across the city. That's
the kind of growth that inspires us, and it's powered
by Square. Square is built for all types of bis businesses,
from the corner bagel shop that turned into a local chain,
to the specialty market with thousands of unique items, to
the stylist who's been holding you down for years. If
(11:10):
you're a business owner or even just thinking about launching
something soon, Square is hands down one of the best
tools out there to help you start, run and grow.
It's not just about payments, it's about giving you time
back so you can focus on what matters most. Ready
to see how Square can transform your business, visit Square
dot com backslash, go backslash eyl to learn more that
(11:33):
Square dot com backslash, go backslash eyl. Don't wait, don't hesitate.
Let's Square handle the back end so you can keep
pushing your vision forward
This episode is brought to you by P and C Bank.
A lot of people think podcasts about work are boring,
and sure they definitely can be, but understanding of professionals
routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little,
day after day. It's like banking with P and C Bank.
It might seem boring to safe plan and make calculated
(00:21):
decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is
what helps you live or more happily fulfilled life. P
and C Bank Brilliantly Boring since eighteen sixty five. Brilliantly
Boring since eighteen sixty five is a service mark of
the PNC Financial Service Group, Inc. P and C Bank
National Association Member FDIC.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
You've been on television for a long time, and you've
been a public figure obviously being on television for a
long time, How does that play into relationships?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Like how what you mean?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Like for women a lot of times it's it's a
little difficult or it could be different than like a man,
like when you're in a relationship, right and it's like
you got to travel or you're like uh, known and
different things that like you know, this is.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
A great question. Can you give me some advice. I
need some advice. Do you think I can give me
some advice?
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Got you what you need? Okay, what's the question?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I know, but first finishing what you're saying, because I
think you're I think you're asking me, how do I know?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Are you? Are you single? Oh?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Oh god, that's a great question.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Let her enjoy the holidays, my boy. Let me that's
a dirty back before the holiday because not present yet?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Right, So, like, well, if you're not all right, well,
all right regardless regardless, it's it's, it's it's. But I've
heard this from other women to like, you know that
it could be difficult sometimes or you gotta sometimes you
might have to lower your presence and moments for the
man to feel more comfortable. I'm not saying that's your situation.
(02:03):
I'm just saying I've heard that from other people before me.
But men don't have to deal with that. Men don't
have to worry about they're on television or you know,
they're getting too much attention, or somebody might recognize them
at dinner, right, Like, that's not something that a man
ever thinks about, But a woman who is a public
figure might have to consider that when the dynamics of
(02:28):
the relationship might have some level of, you know, in balance.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Okay, this is great, and so I think I'm going
to tell you what I think about that. I've never
I mean, I'm aware of it, and I think the
men that I'm attracted to are the men that I've
dated and been with in the past. I don't think
that's an issue for them, at least they've never made
it seem as if it's an issue. They seek confident, comfortable,
(02:54):
got their own, So I don't think that being in
the public eye made them feel a way. At least
that's how they've all made me believe. But it probably
manifests in ways that I haven't really acknowledged. I often
wonder and I and I, because there's always a story
(03:16):
about what kind of minute day I date black man?
Is there on the internet they'll tell you only date
white man. I don't know why where that came from,
Maybe me back in the day being silly when I
was at ESPN joking around with Jamail, we say silly
things or weld TikTok, and then the Internet run with
it and it's like, Okay, shortly, day's white man. That's
just not true. But I think it is hard to
(03:37):
date as a woman who is in the public eye
if you're with somebody who doesn't understand that sometimes networking
might look like flirting meeting. I could be at an event.
I went to a Beyonce concert and I see a
bunch of people that I know, and I'm I'm networking,
(03:58):
I'm talking and yeah, we should do this. I think
that'd be great. We laugh and we're joking. We're all
having drinks. Now, the person I could have been with
could have felt a way about that. If you're looking,
you're like, I don't know what this is. I do
find that that is uncomfortable. And I'm taking notes right
because I don't If you want somebody, you don't want
(04:20):
them to feel uncomfortable. You want them to be good.
But I don't think that taking notes looks like me
dimming my life. I would never want to be with
anybody who wants me to do I wouldn't want to
be with anyone who can't give me a compliment, who
can't tell me I look good because they think three
thousand men on Twitter told me that today, so they
(04:41):
don't want to tell me. So I try to date
and make men feel safe when I fine.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
You know I'm not.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I don't have a bunch of relationships. When I am
in one, I try to make you feel good. I
try to make you feel comfortable, secure, all the things
as I would want you to do for me as well.
Here's the thing that I'm going to.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Ask you about.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I'm curious, and I don't know if y'all notice it.
Whether you're married or single, or whatever your case may be,
there's something going on. And y'all know you've had this
debate over and over again with black men and black
women where I think we are constantly talking about what
when one group does versus the other group. And that's
why we're in this space where we're constantly knocking heads,
(05:25):
like don't I don't understand that now Now I'm so confused.
So I was sitting down and my friend walked up.
Too many goes. You're on your phone and you're sitting
at a bar. You don't even look like you want
to talk to a dude. If I saw a dude.
If I was a dude and I want to walk
up to you, I wouldn't talk to you because you
don't seem open enough. You seem like you mean, you
seem like you don't have time. But I'm just responding
(05:46):
to a text like ten other people are, right, what's
going on with that? Like that's the question I have,
do y'all since that at all? Like there's just this beef,
this unwritten it just gets toxic and it gets uncomfortable.
And I'm not blaming Kevin Samuels because everybody loves him.
(06:08):
I'm blaming him, But I also know that maybe perhaps
there is some blame to be to be there, you
know what I mean. I don't know, so I'm asking you.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I think I think it's it's it's a it's a
good question, and I think it's deep rooted. I hate
to be the conspiracy theory god, but I do think
that there is some level of outside influence that has
that has helped push that agenda to divide and conquer strategy.
But I also think that it speaks to a breakdown
and just the culture of American culture overall. Like I
(06:38):
feel like, you know, we do a lot of traveling,
and you know, I'm overseas a lot these days, and
the cultural norms and cultural standards that other countries have
Americans don't have, and that's something that's not talked about enough,
and I think that that definitely plays a major part
in the relationship dynamics between men and women because it
becomes a battle. Right, So now a woman easily can
(07:03):
disrespect the man, a man can easily disrespect the woman.
And then you throw some gasoline on the fire, you
see a viral clip go, and then before you know it,
it's just a constant No, I'm not paying for this, Why.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Would you do this thing?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
You should be like, you know, it's just like a constant,
just toxic thing. So I feel like that's a real, real,
like just deep rooted. But I also feel like it
is rooted in pain because a lot of times, you know,
there is truths to like they say there's truth in
every joke, Like there's truth in every troll. So it's like,
you know, there's a lot of pain because, yeah, I
(07:36):
used to be a financial advisor, so I have first
hand information on this, Like most of my clients were
black women, and that's when I realized that black women
was making a lot more money than a lot of
black men. That's a real thing, but that definitely causes
issues in a relationship when you're frustrated because you're not
able to earn enough money to take care of your family.
Somebody's making more money, they gonna feel more empowered. Let's
(07:59):
just be honest. If a woman is making more money
than a man, she's going to fill on a certain
level more in powered. Nine times out of ten, it's
going to be a different conversation. It's gonna be different
things that happen in that relationship. So there's underlying things
that I think caused all of these issues. But I
also feel like it's just not deep rooted in culture
as far as like cultural standards, cultural norms. You know,
(08:20):
certain boundaries that other countries, other cultures have established that
we don't have established, and it's just like running them up.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
But to your point, rest in peace to the Godfather.
He brought a lot of us to the table.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
And then it became an inflection point because most people
aren't having these coming like when I'm outside of dinner.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
This is not a talking point.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
And the other part that has to be said about man,
y'all have to quit being so fucking scared whether she
mean or not, whether you got motion or not to
a future shot.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
But no, but this goes back to the thing what
we're saying before that most people can't afford to get married.
So there's a lot of this is an economic issue
with this whole red pill community was birthed out of
people that's frustrated with this people.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
It's just like racism.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
When people are angry about this situation, they projected on
other people. So this whole anti woman movement that we've
seen with a lot of like people online, like you said,
a lot of stuff you don't even see in the
real world, like real I think what I call it,
this is the vocal minority. Things on social media get
amplified and it seems bigger than what it really is.
(09:26):
But I've never seen somebody have a fifty fifty debate
in person. I've never in life. I never in my life.
They might have had it behind closed doors, but I've
never in my life been at a restaurant and seen people.
I've never in my life seen a man tell a
woman pay the bill at a restaurant. I've never been in life,
and I've probably been to at least three thousand dinners
in my life. I've never seen these hypothetical questions that
(09:47):
permeonate on social media I've never seen in reality, But
like I said, hurt people. Hurt people when when you
really don't have enough confidence and you really don't have
enough money and you like then you're not gonna want
to talk to a woman because you don't even feel
confident in yourself.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Erners, what's up?
Speaker 1 (10:06):
You ever walk into a small business and everything just works,
like the checkout is fast, or seats are digital, tipping
is a breeze and you're out the door before the
line even builds odds are they're using Square. We love
supporting businesses that run on Square because it just feels seamless.
Whether it's a local coffee shop, a vendor at a
pop up market, or even one of our merch partners.
(10:29):
Square makes it easy for them to take payments, manage inventory,
and run their business with confidence, all from one simple system.
One of the things we love most is seeing neighborhood
businesses level up business West Indian spir writing our community
that started with a small takeout counter. Now with Square,
they've been able to expand into a full sit down
(10:50):
restaurant and even started catering events across the city. That's
the kind of growth that inspires us, and it's powered
by Square. Square is built for all types of bis businesses,
from the corner bagel shop that turned into a local chain,
to the specialty market with thousands of unique items, to
the stylist who's been holding you down for years. If
(11:10):
you're a business owner or even just thinking about launching
something soon, Square is hands down one of the best
tools out there to help you start, run and grow.
It's not just about payments, it's about giving you time
back so you can focus on what matters most. Ready
to see how Square can transform your business, visit Square
dot com backslash, go backslash eyl to learn more that
(11:33):
Square dot com backslash, go backslash eyl. Don't wait, don't hesitate.
Let's Square handle the back end so you can keep
pushing your vision forward
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