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The status of La La and Carmelo Anthony’s marriage may appear obscure to the public gaze after the pair has gone through some breaking up and making up and breaking up again over the last couple of years, but one thing you’ll never have to question about the sometimes-estranged couple is their commitment to their 13-year-old son, Kiyan. In an interview with Essence, the “Chi” actress discussed what it’s like to co-parent with the 2003 first-round draft pick and why you’ll never catch either of them speaking poorly about one another in the press.

“My son is at the center of everything,” she told the publication. “He is watching us, so if we’re out here being reckless or not leading with love, then what kind of example are we setting for him about how he should treat women or how people treat and love each other?”

The Anthonys found themselves in the midst of a public scandal after it was rumored that the power forward fathered a child outside of the marriage. It seemed that the pair later reconciled, but the reunion was apparently short-lived after the athlete was photographed on a boat with another woman. Whether or not the photographs proved infidelity on Melo’s behalf was never publicly confirmed; however, regardless of the context, things looked bad, and naturally, it didn’t help what appeared to be an already-fragile situation. Despite the emotional intensity of it all, La La has not allowed the status of their romance to change how they interact as parents.

“A lot of times, people forget that, and I understand, because you get emotional when you’re going through different things in relationships,” she went on. “But I always want my son to be able to say, ‘No matter what, my parents loved each other. My parents loved me.’”

From the looks of it, they’re doing a great job. In April the “Power” actress revealed that she was quarantining with Melo and a host of other relatives. For her, the reward was seeing her son so happy, despite the world being turned upside down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I grabbed some of my nieces, family members, Kiyan, and we came out West and we’re just quarantining now together. Melo is…yeah, he’s here somewhere. He’s even here. He’s here somewhere,”  she told “Access Hollywood” at the time. “You know, to see my son so happy even in the midst of what’s going on in the world to me is what’s important and what matters to me so I feel really great about that.”

La La and Carmelo welcomed their first child, Kiyan, in 2007. They tied the knot three years later in 2010.

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