One of the biggest challenges of parenthood is becoming an empty nester, as La La Anthony is learning with her son, Kiyan, who is heading to Syracuse to play basketball. He will follow in his father Carmelo Anthony’s footsteps and play for the Orange.
She knows he will do great things at Syracuse, but it is still hard to process. “I try not to think about it,” Anthony told me during our Zoom call. “I know it’s coming soon.”
While she has been pushing it to the back of her mind, she is doing the same things all parents do for their kids. She is going dorm shopping with Kiyan, who is sending her mood boards, and she is doing everything she can to support him during this time.
“I am super excited for him to embark on this next journey of his life, his career as a basketball player, a college student; this is what life is all about,” she reasoned.
Yes, Kiyan’s father went to Syracuse, but La La reassured me that it was her son’s decision to go there. Neither of his parents tried to sway him either way.
“The truth is, he visited a lot of schools, and he was open to each experience and figuring out what worked for him,” Anthony said. “He really sat and thought about it for a long time and made the decision that Syracuse was where he wanted to go. And we support him fully.
“It was definitely his decision. His dad didn’t pressure him; I didn’t pressure him. It’s his life, it’s his journey, [and] we wanted to be in a place that he is comfortable,” Anthony continued.
La La Anthony’s advice for Kiyan as he heads to Syracuse
Even if he is leaving home for Syracuse, Kiyan won’t be able to escape his mom. She plans on going to his games and supporting him. She also shared some advice for him when she is not present with him.
“Just be you; be a leader,” she said. “Don’t be a follower. Be a person that makes your own decisions. Be a person that stands firm in what your beliefs are. And don’t let people sway you from that.”
Raising Kiyan did fly by, as they say, and La La Anthony faced a unique challenge as a parent: she was raising a kid in the social media age, not to mention their celebrity status.
Through all of it, the glitz and the glamor, Anthony always helped her son remain centered. Even if social media is a great tool, she wanted to ensure that she was raising her kid. Communication is key, and Anthony prioritized this as Kiyan’s mother.
“You don’t want social media to be the tool that raises or teaches your kid right from wrong,” Anthony explained. “Social media can be a great tool for a lot of things, but you want to be the kind of parent that talks to your kid [to] where your kid feels comfortable to come to you about advice.”
What’s next for La La Anthony as an empty nester?
La La Anthony was committed to raising her son, but she also balanced her career while doing it. She has acted in several projects throughout the years, and she has more coming up.
Anthony just wrapped Season 4 of BMF (Black Mafia Family), and she will appear in the seventh season of The Chi. They will hopefully be out “in a couple [of] months.”
With Kiyan out of the house, Anthony will have even more time to book acting gigs. She recently sold a project with Kim Kardashian titled Group Chat to Hulu.
“It’s about our group chat,” Anthony teased. “It’s literally a series about our group chat, so that’s going to be a good one that we’re super excited about.”
It is a scripted series, but viewers can expect the high jinks Anthony and Kardashian get into in their group chats. Anthony promised that it would depict “crazy conversations” from their chats.
Both of them will appear in the series in some capacity. They are still putting the pieces together, but the wheels are churning on the series.
Her acting career
Working while raising her son was a “blessing” to La La Anthony. She reflected on landing roles and being selective with roles she feels would “push” her as an actress.
“ I’ve always consistently worked, and that’s a blessing,” Anthony reflected. “I wanted to be an actor many, many years ago, and I did the work acting school acting classes still do that stuff. [I’ve been] picking up roles that I felt would really push and help me grow, whether it was Power — I was on Power for six seasons, BMF for four seasons, The Chi for five or six seasons.
“I’ve done a lot — over 150 episodes of television. So, I’m very proud of that. And [I’m] just continuing to work and look for projects that speak to me, all while, like you said, still being present and being a mom to Kiyan. I’ve always figured out how to make it all work,” she continued.
As for what projects specifically interest her, it’s “things that women are going through.” She further elaborated, “Whether it’s in relationships, friendships, dating, whatever it is. I am really attracted to roles that speak to the power of women, [and] the struggles of women. I really gravitate [towards] those kinds of roles.”
Outside of acting, Anthony is also focused on her partnership with Amgen. She has suffered from plaque psoriasis for a decade, and with Amgen, she is helping raise awareness for it.
“It’s all about everything. We’re talking about confidence, stepping out, being authentically you,” Anthony explained about her partnership. “So this was a great partnership that I did with Amgen to help people out there who are experienced, what I experienced with plaque psoriasis.”
The times are changing for La La Anthony with Kiyan leaving home, but at least she will be booked and busy. It will be challenging, but she seems game to take on the tall task.
The post Exclusive: How La La Anthony is handling Kiyan Anthony going to Syracuse appeared first on ClutchPoints.
