La La Anthony

Alani Nicole "La La" Anthony (née Vázquez) is an American television personality, actress, author, and producer. She first gained wide recognition in the early 2000s as an MTV VJ, hosting shows such as Total Request Live and Direct Effect. Over her career, she has performed in feature films and television dramas, hosted reality television programs, and expanded into business ventures, theater, and publishing.

Anthony was born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents of Puerto Rican heritage who were born and raised in New York City. Self-identifying as Afro-Puerto Rican, she grew up alongside a younger brother and two younger sisters. As a child, she participated in various activities, with music being her main interest. She graduated from Redan High School in 1997 and subsequently attended Howard University for three months.

She began her career in radio at WHTA-FM, HOT 97.5 in Georgia, completing a short internship before co-hosting Future Flavas alongside rapper and actor Ludacris. Anthony later worked at Los Angeles station 92.3 The Beat co-hosting The B-Syde. She left radio in 2001 to join MTV, where she co-hosted Direct Effect and Total Request Live before departing the network in 2006.

As a television host, Anthony presided over several VH1 reality reunion shows, including Flavor of Love, I Love New York, For the Love of Ray J, and Real Chance of Love, and served as a dean on Charm School with Ricki Lake. Her film acting credits include Two Can Play That Game (2001), Urban Massacre (2002), Monster Island (2004), You Got Served (2004), Think Like a Man (2012), Baggage Claim, Think Like a Man Too (2014), November Rule (2015), and Destined (2015). On television, she appeared in NYC 22 and Single Ladies, and played Lakeisha Grant in the Starz drama series Power.

Anthony has also produced projects across film and theater. She worked as a producer on the documentary Tyson, which won the Regard Knockout Award in France and was screened at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, and produced a feature film with Brett Ratner. She appeared in the off-Broadway show Love Loss and What I Wore in 2011 and co-produced Danai Gurira's Broadway production Eclipsed in 2016. In addition, she launched a cosmetic line in 2012, a clothing line in 2013, and authored books, including The Love Playbook (2014).

In 2003, she met basketball player Carmelo Anthony, and the pair became engaged on Christmas Day in 2004. Their son, Kiyan, was born in 2007. They married on July 10, 2010, at Cipriani's in New York in a ceremony officiated by Michael Eric Dyson. The wedding and their subsequent home life were documented on the VH1 series La La's Full Court Wedding—which she executive produced—and La La's Full Court Life. Anthony filed for divorce in June 2021.