Paula Patton Debuts Her New Love & Shares The Book That Helped Her "Call In" The One
Paula Patton has found love again.
The 48-year-old actress broke the news of her newfound love this past Valentine's Day on Instagram through an Instagram Reel of photos of the couple. The lucky man is former tennis player Prakash Amritraj, and in her caption honoring the day of love by debuting her beau in such a public way, Paula got real about her journey to "calling in" love after divorce.
In her caption, she shared that it was a year ago, on February 14, 2023, when she received a book that turned out to be divine alignment. The book titled Calling in 'The One': How to Attract the Love of Your Life in 7 Weeks arrived on Valentine's Day, and she recalled seeing it as a "sign" that it arrived in the mail on that day of all days.
After her high-profile relationship with Robin Thicke that ended in divorce after 21 years together, Paula shared that she had experienced years of being single. Opening the book might have been inspired by her desire for romantic love at the time, but what she found through reading it ended up being so much more.
"I had been single for a very long time and couldn’t remember the last time I had a Valentine, so I decided to begin reading it that day and do all the work the book suggested," she wrote in her caption. "It was an incredible journey of self-discovery where I called in myself and changed the wiring in my brain and the genetic patterns blocking me."
The book Paula read came with the promise of attracting the love of your life in 7 weeks, and while the Just Wright star said that wasn't her story, she did share that reading the book helped her call in to her life "better relationships with friends, work partnerships, and myself."
"And then it happened: I met Prakash, and today, a year later, I am celebrating Valentine’s Day with my love!" she wrote. "Prakash, you are a magnificent man with tremendous integrity. Life is full of laughter and joy with you! You are one of my greatest blessings! You take me on adventures and make me feel safe. You have my back, and I have yours. I love you."
Paula's new lease on life and love unfolded at a rich time during Paula's self-discovery journey to wholeness. After spending much of her life with her ex-husband, starting when the pair were just teenagers, the two formally split in 2014, with Paula alleging that there was infidelity and abuse, which led to an intense custody battle over the son the former couple share.
In a 2016 interview with Essence Live!, Paula spoke about her mixed emotions around being newly single but also how "freeing" it felt to be alone post-divorce. "It’s really nice, honestly, getting used to being alone. It’s freeing, it’s scary at the beginning. It’s really scary. But it’s something I’m coming to embrace and knowing that that’s really what it is now: learning to love yourself, enjoying your time with your friends, your family, and then it will sort itself out.”
Heartbreak isn't easy to navigate, and neither is starting over. Shout out to Paula for putting herself first and, in the end, being able to call into her life a love that is worthy of her love.
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Featured image by Prince Williams/Getty Images
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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You've Never Seen Luke James In A Role Quite Like This
Over the years, we've watched Luke James play countless characters we'd deem sex symbols, movie stars, and even his complicated character in Lena Waithe's The Chi. For the first time in his career, the New Orleans-born actor has taken on a role where his signature good looks take a backseat as he transforms into Edmund in Them: The Scare—a mentally deranged character in the second installment of the horror anthology series that you won't be able to take your eyes off.
Trust us, Edmund will literally make you do a double take.
xoNecole sat down with Luke James to talk about his latest series and all the complexity surrounding it—from the challenges taking on this out-of-the-box role to the show's depiction of the perplexing history of the relationship between Black Americans and police. When describing the opportunity to bring Edmund's character to life, Luke was overjoyed to show the audience yet another level of his masterful acting talents.
"It was like bathing in the sun," he said. "I was like, thank you! Another opportunity for me to be great—for me to expand my territory. I'm just elated to be a part of it and to see myself in a different light, something I didn't think I could do." He continued, "There are parts of you that says, 'Go for it because this is what you do.' But then also that's why it's a challenge because you're like, 'um, I don't know if I'm as free as I need to be to be able to do this.' Little Marvin just created such a safe space for me to be able to do this, and I'm grateful for everything I've been able to do to lead to this."
Courtesy
Them: The Scare, like the first season, shines a light on the plight of Black Americans in the United States. This time, the story is taking place in the 1990s, at the height of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. While the series presents many underlying themes, one that stands out is Black people and the complicated relationship with the police. "For the audience, I think it sets the tone for the era that we're in and the amount of chaos that's in the air in Los Angeles and around the country from this heinous incident. And I say it just sets the tone of the anxiety and anxiousness that everybody is feeling in their own households."
James has been a longtime advocate against police brutality himself. He has even featured Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Colorado man who died after being forcibly detained by officers, as his Instagram avatar for the past five years. So, as you can imagine, this script was close to his heart. "Elijah was a soft-loving oddball. Different than anyone but loving and a musical genius. He was just open and wanted to be loved and seen."
Getty Images
Luke continued, "His life was taken from him. I resonate with his spirit and his words...through all the struggle and the pain he still found it in him to say, 'I love you and I forgive you.' And that's who we are as people—to our own detriment sometimes. He's someone I don't want people to forget. I have yet to remove his face from my world because I have yet to let go of his voice, let go of that being [because] there's so many people we have lost in our history that so often get forgotten."
He concluded, "I think that's the importance of such artwork that moves us to think and talk about it. Yes, it's entertaining. We get to come together and be spooked together. But then we come together and we think, 'Damn, Edmund needed someone to talk to. Edmund needed help... a lot [of] things could have been different. Edmund could have been saved.'
Check out the full interview below.
Luke James Talks Ditching Sex Symbol Status For "Them: The Scare", Elijah McClain, & Morewww.youtube.com
Featured image by Getty Images