Another day, another ridiculous Cam Newton clip that’s making the rounds online, it seems. Only this time, his words just might be the final nail in the coffin that proves his brand of smarts isn’t actually all that smart at all. And we have rapper Lady London to thank for that, check the break down below.
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The “What Is It Giving” rapper recently joined Newton as the latest guest on his “Funky Friday” podcast where they discussed, among a myriad of things the NFL’s star sense of fashion and style. While you would think that that conversation would go smoothly, as Newton has been known for his…interesting fashion choices over the years, that’s actually when the conversation took a turn in the most off-putting direction.
Things began going off the rails when London asked Newton to describe his style in one word, to which the former Carolina Panthers star responded: “inclectic.”
When London gently corrected him by asking him by asking him to repeat the word again and then clarifying that the word was “eclectic” and there was no “n” in it—Newton refused correction.
“No, no, no, no—it’s my word,” he said before spelling it out. “N-c-l-e-c-t-a. inclectic. Do you want to know what the ‘n’ stands for?”
London’s blunt reply: “Niggatry?”
Peep the exchange around the 29:30 second mark in the video below.
After clearly sensing and mentally noting Newton’s ignorance, the “Do Something” rapper responded that she needed to hit up the Webster and Oxford dictionary since she learned a new word.
Newton’s response? That they didn’t have to hit up anybody due to the fact that neither Merriam-Webster or the Oxford dictionary related to Black folks.
That’s when London countered back that she was “pretty big on words” as that’s how she makes a living and Newton—refusing to be corrected or made to look like a fool by her (even though he was doing that all by himself)—then gave her yet another absurd explanation and excuse.
“That’s cool but you just used people that don’t have Thanksgiving morals as I have. Please!” he said. “Because I’m crushing it right now! Webster and Oxford, they don’t eat what I eat at Thanksgiving. That smell ain’t the same. They may be around cousins and aunties, you know what I’m saying?”
And it’s here that we have to highlight—for the umpteenth time— Newton’s pseudo-intellectualism and how exhausting it is to see it displayed so brazenly and openly. It’s one thing to be loud and wrong, but it’s a whole other thing to be loud, wrong and so averse to correction to the point that you make the people talking to you mentally resolve themselves to stop engaging in conversation fully and authentically. It’s also extremely disingenuous to try to position yourself as the smartest person in the room and keep on with that front when confronted with someone with legitimate knowledge as opposed to just being truthful to yourself and where you may have lesser insight.
You can quite literally see the moment where London mentally checks out and decides to play the rest of the interview easy and it’s so disheartening that for a man with his money and stature—he chooses to act in a way that doesn’t reflect real smarts, personal growth or self-awareness. It’s no wonder why Bishop T.D. Jakes told him that he’s “built his life around a youth that’s leaving” and that he needed to do the inner work to fix his issues sooner rather than later.
And it’s no wonder why folks online were quick to call out Newton’s ways and praise London’s composure on social media after watching this interview.
“The Cam Newton & Lady London interview is a masterclass on false intelligence vs actual intelligence. You don’t gotta too much when you actually know what you’re talking about. Her intelligence is attractive,” wrote one user on X/Twitter.
“I have a new respect for Lady London after her interview with Cam Newton. she beat him at his own game, while remaining soft and respectful,” said another.
Over on Threads, one other user wrote: “The Cam Newton vs Lady London interview is a prime example of what successful intelligent black women who have and are doing the inner work Have to endure when trying to date men who match or supercede[sic] them financially. Cam represents of how arrogant, mentally combative, internally ignorant and absent of true substance ‘successful men’ tend to be because money, talent and status is enough til you in front of a real woman.”
Another Threads user explained, “It’s not even just that Cam Newton spelled that word wrong but he couldn’t admit he was wrong when he was corrected. Had he accepted the correction, we could’ve all believed he just misspoke. Then he tried to convince us he made up the word and when asked to spell it ended with ‘ta’ instead of “tic” confirming to us he didn’t know how to spell. You can’t learn new things when you hate being corrected and gotta be right at all times.”
Unfortunately for us all, since Newton has a major platform, this won’t be the last time we hear some truly off-the-wall stuff from him. But hopefully, with the response this latest interview has gotten, he’ll take the time out to reevaluate himself and how he moves as 2026 gets underway.
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