In almost every way, 2021 has been as trash as 2020. In terms of celebrity gossip though, well, there’s already been a lot of good gossip. And a lot of gossip about the gossip – see Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and Jason Sudeikis. We’re not even two weeks into January yet and already, we’re starting out another week with more. 

 

But let’s rewind to last year (because I am still on a roll with the gossip anniversaries!) and what Lori posted on Instagram. 

 

This exact day a year ago!

 

That was January 11, 2020. By August 2020, Lori and Future were over and by Thanksgiving, Lori and the reigning Sexiest Man Alive, Michael B Jordan, were seen arriving in Atlanta together to celebrate the holiday, presumably with family…so even then, there were indications that it was serious – and sexy, considering they were both wearing sweats and there’s a certain energy when two people who are newly into each other both step out in sweats. 

Cut to the new year, last night, and both MBJ and Lori coordinated this announcement, no caption necessary: 

 

This is… a moment. Because MBJ has NEVER publicly claimed a girlfriend. So now that he’s doing it, in the most public and deliberate way possible, on a Sunday night, during football – and tagging her too! – well, it’s practically a proposal. It’s the 2021 version of getting onstage at the school assembly, interrupting the principal, and telling the student body “I love Lori”. 

And now you know why she’s been trending all night. Lori Harvey levelled up, again. At this point we might even consider changing the expression from “level up” to “Lori up”. As usual, Black Twitter was the best about this. Here are some of my favourites:

 

And no, this is not about defining a woman’s achievements based on who she’s dating. It’s about HOW she’s been able to present herself despite how women are often only presented via their heteronormative relationships and in her case even though the people she’s dated/dating have (up to this point) a higher profile than she does. MBJ the SMA, the big Hollywood star, is out here telling us that in this relationship, she’s the prize. You’d be underestimating her if you thought she didn’t know this is… and fully expected it.