The battle of the sexes is alive and well.
I was recently involved in a conversation with men and women about an NFL player accused of harassing his girlfriend into getting an abortion.
Most of the men felt that the woman was a gold digger who purposely got pregnant to get Arian Foster’s dough.
The women didn’t doubt that could be part of it, but when we learned she was in college and he’s married, most of us thought he was an insensitive jerk who would probably go to extreme measures to keep her from having a child that would possibly ruin his marriage. Then someone brought up the Rae Carruth story and suddenly we imagined Foster not only harassing her, but also threatening her life and actually causing her physical harm. If you watch any crime shows on cable TV, you know the story of the popular wide receiver who was convicted for masterminding the death of his pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams.
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In fact, that was our trump card because no one in their right mind could defend Carruth or bear to imagine another young pregnant woman falling prey to such a horrible and senseless murder.
And then the bombshell headline: “Arian Foster’s Baby’s Mama Lied. “Arian Never Harassed Me About Abortion.’”
Excuse me?
According to audio tape obtained by TMZ, 18-year-old college student Brittany Norwood blames her lawyer for encouraging her to make the claims that she was being strong-armed into terminating her pregnancy. She even praised Arian saying “I love you and you’re still the father of my child. You think I’m going to let anyone desecrate your name, especially if my baby has Foster tagged on it.”
Even though some people think this “confession” lets either of them off the hook, it really just adds another layer to this dysfunctional relationship.
We don’t know if Brittany loves Arian Foster so much that she’s protecting him or if the whole thing was a lie to begin with.
Here’s the thing. Arian Foster is no different than any other guy who cheats on his wife, gets the woman pregnant and finds himself in a major jam. Oh, but wait, the difference is that when he messes up, TMZ is waiting.
As wrong as Brittany may be for having an affair with a married man, Arian Foster has much more to lose—a wife of two years, a young son and daughter, his reputation and lots of money, too.
You can argue that Brittany wins, but not really. Adrian and his lawyers will make it as difficult as possible for her to get paid. And whatever she gets won’t be enough for her to deal with the rejection she and her child most likely will feel as they watch him publicly play out the rest of his life without them.
This may be one of the best cases for condom usage we’ve seen in a while.
Instead of battling over who’s taking advantage of whom, the conversation between men and women needs to be about moral values and sex education for boys and girls. And it can’t begin too soon.
