black panther

As long as humans have endeavored to do anything great, there have been those who have tried to take them down. These are the opposite of the creators in life: the bullies, haters, and naysayers who only want to bring people down to their level. But when you have a dream and desire, its possible to tune out the voices of negativity.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better,” Theodore Roosevelt once said. “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena." Some folks use the naysayers as fuel to push them to work even harder. Basketball legend Michael Jordan was infamous for letting his thirst for revenge drive him to even greater heights on the court.

Another Michael Jordan, Black Panther star, Michael B. Jordan, came face to face with someone who doubted that he could reach his dreams, and he wasn’t shy about letting her know that he remembered. What's Upworthy about the encounter is that he did so with class and confidence.

In 2023, Jordan was on the red carpet for the premiere of Creed III, a film he starred in and directed. He was interviewed by The Morning Hustle radio show host Lore’l, who had recently admitted on the Undressing Room podcast that she used to make fun of him in school.

“You know what’s so crazy? I went to school with Michael B. Jordan at a point in life,” Lore’l said. “And to be honest with you, we teased him all the damn time because his name was Michael Jordan. Let’s start there, and he was no Michael Jordan.”

“He also would come to school with a headshot,” she added. “We lived in Newark. That’s the hood. We would make fun of him like, ‘What you gonna do with your stupid headshot?’ And now look at him!”

In addition, her co-host, Eva Marcille, referred to Jordan as “corny.”

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Jordan had no problem discussing their past on the red carpet. “We go way back, all the way back to Chad Science [Academy] in Newark,” Lore’l told the actor. Oh yeah, I was the corny kid, right?” Jordan responded with a smirk.

“No, you did not hear me say that! I said we used to make fun of the name,” Lore’l said.

“I heard it,” Jordan said. “I heard it. It’s all good. What’s up?” he responded. “But yeah, [you are] obviously killing things out here…you’re not corny anymore,” Lore’l clarified.

After the exchange went viral, Lore’l admitted that she teased Jordan in school, but they were only classmates for one year.

“So, the narrative that I bullied him all throughout high school—this was 7th grade. We were like 12 years old, and everyone made fun of each other,” Lore’l told TMZ after facing backlash from fans of Jordan. "The whole bully narrative is crazy... That was school, you know. That was one year. And, again, I’ve never bullied him. That just sounds so outrageous to me.”

Whether qualified as bullying or not, teasing someone for things they can't control like their name, appearance, or personality is extremely harmful. Usually, teasing is more lighthearted and the person being teased is in on the joke; it's not done with the intent to hurt or belittle the person. In an article for Understood—a nonprofit dedicated to providing resources and support to people around the world "who learn and think differently" in school, at work, and throughout life—editor and attorney Andrew M.I. Lee, JD writes that teasing is "a form of communication," usually between friends or even (potential) romantic partners (i.e. flirting). However, Lee notes that because some bullying begins as teasing and some teasing is indeed done with negative intent, the whole thing is complicated. In short, teasing could be experienced as bullying depending on the context and, according to Psychology Today, bullying physically harms the brain and can lead to mental health issues such as chronic anxiety and depression.

Teasing and bullying can be harmful. Canva photos.

Jordan later shared some advice on how to deal with bullies.

"Just stay focused, just stay locked in,” he told a reporter from Complex. “You know, just follow your heart, try to block out the noise and distractions as much as possible and run your race. Don't compare yourself to anybody else. Just keep going."

Sounds like good advice from someone who truly knows what he's talking about.

But remember: bullying can go both ways. In an attempt to defend Jordan, many fans of the star in turn bullied (and threatened) Lore'l pretty mercilessly. The unfortunate bottom line is that bullying is likely going to keep happening in this world, especially thanks to the Internet and social media. But when it does, we can all take a page from Jordan's book and handle it with class and truth. Who knows? If we stand up to bullies, call out bad behavior, and defend those being bullied around us, we just might be able to nip bullying in the bud.

Be Nice GIF by Microsoft StoreGiphy

This article originally appeared last year.