Tracee Ellis Ross: “I’m the Chooser”

Tracee Ellis Ross on growing up in Diana Ross's embrace — not her shadow — why Girlfriends never got its due, and the dating rule that changed everything: "I'm the chooser."

Tracee Ellis Ross has spent a lifetime forging an independent identity.

She regales Trevor and Eugene with stories of growing up in the embrace of her iconic mother, Diana Ross, building her own beauty empire with Pattern and starring on Broadway.

Together, the three candidly dissect the societal pressures women face to be "chosen," the racial biases of '90s television, and how to reclaim your agency in work and love.

Packed to the brim with lessons on life, love, and picking the perfect heirloom tomato, this episode is a masterclass in belonging to yourself.

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00:00 – Trevor's Friends Won't Stop Texting Him About Tracee
02:00 – The Heirloom Tomato Revelation
05:00 – Tracee's Life in Europe
08:00 – Growing Up at a Swiss Boarding School
12:00 – Becoming a “Child of the World”
16:00 – Tracee's Famous Friends & Her Life Outside Hollywood
21:00 – The Problem With Having Famous Friends
28:00 – Tracee's Family & the Fake Pregnancy Story
30:00 – Why the Internet Makes Up Celebrity Stories
35:00 – What Fame Taught Tracee About Reading a Room
42:00 – Why America Is Obsessed With Celebrities
45:00 – Tracee's Broadway Debut
52:00 – Building Pattern Beauty
55:00 – Dating When You're a “Whole Planet”
57:00 – The Best Dating Advice Tracee Ever Heard
01:03:00 – Success Doesn't Guarantee Love
01:05:00 – “I'm the Chooser”
01:07:00 – The Comedian Tracee Had to Eviscerate
01:11:00 – Why Girlfriends Never Got Its Due
01:17:00 – Tracee on Finding Joy
01:20:00 – How Tracee Learned to Trust Herself
01:24:00 – “What Do You Want to Do?”
01:27:00 – Gratitude vs. Compliance
01:31:00 – Choose Your Friends by How They Make You Feel
01:33:00 – What Rihanna Taught Them About Owning Your Power
01:36:00 – Tracee's Broadway Routine
01:38:00 – The Importance of Sleep