Tracee Ellis Ross Responds to Interview Backlash: 'I Didn't Say Men Were Toxic'

Tracee Ellis Ross denies ever saying that men are toxic.

In a new interview with SELF Magazine’s Jessica Cruel, the 52-year-old actress addressed the viral reaction to her comments about toxic masculinity in the dating pool on Michelle Obama’s IMO podcast.

“The dialogue was fascinating,” Ross told SELF. “I didn’t say ‘men were toxic.’ I said they were steeped in toxic masculinity because so am I. The same way that we are steeped in a culture of white supremacy. I know the generosity of how I express things. I also know that if I do things wrong, I’m happy to admit it.”

When speaking to the former First Lady, Ross explained why she often dated younger men: because “a lot of men my age are steeped in a toxic masculinity and have been raised in a culture where there is a particular way that a relationship looks.”

Ross made the comment while recalling a dinner conversation with Barack Obama where he asked why she dated younger, to which she responded, “Well, maybe because I can.”

The Girlfriends and Black-ish actress is now starring in the new reality show Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross, which premiered on the Roku Channel on Friday (July 25). The series sees her traveling between destinations like Morocco, Mexico, and Spain. But Ross says the show's purpose is so much more than exploration.

“Can you be yourself, by yourself out in the world?” she asked Cruel. “It's one thing to discover who you are, and it's another to have the courage to be that person. And then it takes even another layer to do that when you're not in your comfort space. Travel, for me, is a way to give myself a chance to wander, ponder, and be.”

Ross, who has never been married and is childfree, also expressed resistance at being made into a symbol for independent women.

“I'm not interested in [being the poster child for] singledom, because I am looking to meet a partner,” she told the magazine. “What I don't mind is being a poster child for living your life on your own terms, for not waiting for partnership to find joy and happiness, for curating and cultivating one's own sense of self.”