Why Ari Lennox Admitting She Chose the Toxic Man Over the Good Guy Has the Internet in Shambles

Ari Lennox has been known to give a controversial take or two. But her latest one, centered on love and relationships, just might be the thing that has social media arguing for the next 40 days and 40 nights. Let’s get into it.

The last time we told you what was happening with Lennox, she was sharing her thoughts about colorism on the beloved 1990’s sitcom “Martin.” Now, she’s back at it again, only this time she’s sharing her truth and admitting she may have chosen wrong in her dating life. In particular, she admitted to passing over the “nice guys” in her past due to them being a little boring and went for the toxic man instead due to the “excitement” they seemingly brought her.

“I think I have a thing for toxic energy. So I think there’s some more healing that I need to do. Because when I look back on all of these energies, it’s a shame I gave them so much time, and there were sweet energies that I didn’t,” Lennox explained during a new interview on the “Effective Immediately” podcast. “And so, now I see those sweet energies getting married and starting families, and I’m like, dang, that probably could’ve been me if I recognized the security in those individuals at the time.”

She later went on to share that she’s now aware of “something going on” that makes her gravitate towards the toxic, bad boy as opposed to the nice guy, and tried to pinpoint what the allure was for her.

“I think they seem really exciting at first. The chemistry is incredible,” she explained, noting that it’s not always that they’re the most good-looking ones, but rather that person’s convenience and similar interests that they share.

Ari Lennox says she regrets giving toxic men attention and not the sweet ones, now that she’s older and not married.

“It’s a shame I gave the toxic ones so much energy instead of the sweet ones. I see the sweet ones getting married and starting families I’m like, that could’ve… pic.twitter.com/p7tL3G8hvY

— stan🎥 (@wyd_stan) March 10, 2026

“A lot of the sweeter energies that I felt like weren’t for me, I felt I could see myself falling asleep a little bit on the phone. So I don’t know if that’s like—if boring is good or not. I’m trying to figure out what that means,” she concluded.

Because dating discourse is always a hot topic online, Lennox’s admission to choosing the “bad boy” over the “good guy” launched a thousand reactions on social media. The vast majority of the comments from women wished she hadn’t been so transparent, suggesting even more men would use this as a debate topic.

“She has no idea what she just did, now we have to suffer for the next 2 months because of this,” wrote one user on X/Twitter.

“I just heard the sound of a thousand manosphere podcast mics being switched on,” said another.

“Don’t fall for it fellas. Throw away your capes and let them live with the consequences of their bad decisions,” wrote one other user on Instagram.

However, there were others who commended Lennox on her openness.

“I hate when men comment negatively to women taking accountability like it’s always women don’t take it then when she realizes a pattern yall still got something to say. That’s grown woman energy!! Growth,” one user said on Instagram.

Noted another: “Recognizing patterns and admitting past errors publically shows real growth and maturity. That type of accountability that she’s displaying is showing that she is in a new place in life and she’s done some real work.”