Chicks in the Office - Britney Conservatorship Update, Ellen Producers Fired + Jay Manuel Interview

Episode Date: August 20, 2020

Clare Crawley & Chris Harrison spotted filming on the Bachelorette set (20:15-26:50). Top Ellen Show producers fired (27:20-31:11). Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston both set to star in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ live table read (34:42-39:17). Kylie Jenner shuts down viral photoshop of her IG caption (39:59-43:44). Britney Spears wants her father removed as conservator (44:12-48:38). Interview with Jay Manuel – talking everything America's Next Top Model, Tyra Banks hosting DWTS, his new book 'The Wig, The Bitch & The Meltdown' + more! (50:49-1:20:52). CITO merch > http://bit.ly/citomerch. Follow us on Instagram @chicksintheoffice and on Twitter @chicksintheoff + subscribe to our Snapchat show > http://bit.ly/thegroupchat & our YouTube > http://bit.ly/CITOYOUTUBE.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/chicks-in-the-office

Hey, Chicks in the Office listeners. You can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. This is... What's up, everyone? It's Chicks in the Office with Ria and Fran, giving you that Friday energy on a Thursday. This podcast is presented to you by Francia Frenzia wines, our favorite wine to drink this summer. All summer long, we've been drinking it.

Of course, we tell you each and every podcast. podcast, you are wasting your time going to the store and buying a bottle of two or wine. What are you going to do with a bottle of two? You need six and a half bottles to be fulfilled and you will get that in a box of Francia. They have all different types of wines. My personal favorite is a nice pino grigio, add some ice to that. Perfect summer wine during the day at night, whatever it is, all different types. Like I said, friend, what is your favorite type of wine? You know, it just depends on my mood. Sometimes when it's like a nice, chilly, rainy day, like it's, you know, it's raining right now thunderstorms. You just want like a nice red, maybe a cab, maybe it's

chilled red, you know, something, something that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, and that for me is red wine. And then, you know, if it's sunny, if it's a beautiful day, you're out at the beach, rosé is my go-to. The sun is shining. Got to be drinking rosé. It's a great one. to bring to the beach. It's great in their little juice box containers that you can just take a little single serving for yourself on the go wherever you want to go. They have a wine for every occasion. Absolutely. So keep drinking that franzi. Keep tagging us in your post and we will share it all over our social media. Francesca Mariano, how are you doing on this lovely, not really lovely, actually, it's raining right now. Wednesday morning. This is an early podcast for us. We don't usually

record at 11 a.m. on any day of the week. Don't even know if we're alive. People are going to last. I know. I know. People are going to be like, it's 11 a.m. You psychos. Well, you know, we don't record the podcast this early, usually because topics come out during the day. I say, yeah, we normally record our show around 4 o'clock. So considering that, it is definitely white earlier. I've also never recorded in the midst of a thunderstorm. It's thunderstorming here. That's not true. That can't possibly be true. In this house. I don't believe that. I feel like we've had some rain in the past five months. No, there has been, there was one time where we've recorded during a thunderstorm

in doing an interview. And then there was one time when we did the questions with Caitlin Burstow, and it was like storming, like, crazy. But now we've been doing the intro. Totally different, of course. Very specific moment. Right, right. And that's all, I don't know, there's something about waking up and it being,

like rainy and thunderstormy where you just don't want to leave your house well yeah we're supposed to do something together today if people are wondering why Fran is hinting at this I love I love the rain honestly like when I wake up in cloudy it's like oh nice yeah but you don't want to go outside

not really but at least I won't like at least I won't sweat if I'm walking outside yeah you just get wet What? But it's not. But I'll have an umbrella. That's even worse. The reason I think Noah is chiming in right now is because we are supposed to see each other all today.

We're supposed to all be together reunited because we are going to film a couple of YouTube videos. We did the story of on YouTube with Haley and Justin Bieber and also Joe Jonas and Jopjeet Turner. And those seemed like they went off well on YouTube. But then quarantine hit. So we didn't get to film. So today we were planning on shooting four of them. Very exciting. But Francesca...

It's just, you know, the weather is really holding back. It does not want to get on the train to come to the city. And I don't blame her. I don't blame her. And this is... It's my first time taking the train if it happens. You know, it's like... Same for me.

Bring this together. A person again. Yeah, but you're not as much of a scaredy cat as I am, Noah. I'm scared of... what? Like getting Corona? Yeah, I mean, I'm touching things, public transportation. I am kind of. I don't want to get it, but like

neither do I. Well, Fran, didn't you drive to the city last time? I did, yes. What's holding you back from driving this time? Rain. Okay. And also we have meetings tomorrow. So if I was to come into the city today, I would just stay

in the city overnight, in which case I don't want to bring my car and have to pay to park it in a garage overnight, you know? Absolutely. It makes sense. I just, yeah, I wouldn't want to do that. So if we were just going in for one day, let's say Thursday, maybe I would drive. Then I would then I could just drive myself in, drive myself home. I'm really convincing points. I'm seeing both sides of this because I'm in the city already. So I have no say. I can't be like, I don't want to do this today because I'm already here. I'm literally 10 minutes away from

the office. So it doesn't matter to me, but I understand if I was on Long Island right now, I'd be like, um, uh, two days in a row. Sounds weird. Sounds crazy. But we also do have reservations. I was in the city yesterday. That I would have to cancel

as well. Yeah, yeah. Well, that's pending. That's rain pending. I feel like. True. It is rain pending. Yeah. So anyway, that's enough of our daily conversation between the three of us. Noah, you just said you moved into a new apartment. Just want to say, congrats. We haven't really heard from you much on this podcast lately. I feel like you've been pretty quiet. What are your thoughts on the new apartment? I don't know if it's a bad omen, but big crack of thunder when you said Noah moved to two apartments. My apartment probably just got broken into or something.

I mean, other than that, that's very exciting. Yeah, I know, it's nice. It's actually, like, exciting to be an apartment that is, like, somewhat nice compared to where Dana and I used to live. Yeah. It's nice. I'm excited. I have windows that, like, I can see things outside the window. Are you going to have, like, furniture and?

Yeah, I plan on, like, getting, like, a desk and, like, real furniture. Wow. Yeah. I'm trying to make it look good. Yeah. I mean, considering the last, like, you guys didn't even have a table in your last part. We didn't have a table. We didn't have a couch for like six months.

Oh, man. No, I didn't drink any water because he didn't have any bottle water. I've actually been very hydrated this quarantine, just like to say. Well, I mean, you're with your parents. I'm sure your mom keeps you hydrated. Well, I got one of those, like, bottles. Reusable bottles. We did talk about that.

He did. Yep, he did get a water bottle. Very exciting news. Very exciting. That's how you stay hydrated. It really is. Noah, you guys didn't have a couch for six months, but then when you got the couch, I burned a hole through it. I don't know if you ever talked about that in the podcast, but we have burned a hole, like, literally through the entire couch.

You heard a hole through his couch? I didn't know if I heard this. Well, what happened was? I don't know. I feel like we kind of kept it hush, hush, but I also, it was hilarious, but I also felt really bad. I used to live underneath Noah and Dana in the apartment below them and I went up to their apartment to smoke with Noah one time and we were sitting on the couch and the ass just fell onto the couch

and literally burnt a hole right through it like you could see through to the bottom of the couch it just see right through all the way to like the strings like you literally saw the floor oh all the way through wow okay so I'm guessing Now you know what kind of counts. You know what kind of counts. You know what kind of couch. Yeah. That couch definitely just went out to the curb when you guys moved on.

I don't know. I think Dana definitely like took it probably if I had to guess. Of course he did. Yeah. Classic. I actually, speaking of smoking, I actually, two things. Yesterday, I actually during this quarantine, I have been smoking way less than I was, I think, prior to it. But still, you know, doing my.

I, you know, before I go to bed, a nice little treat. But I smoked during the day yesterday, and I was just so out of it. And I looked at Norman and I was like, wow, you're my fucking dog. Like, I could not believe it. It was one of those moments where my mind was blown. I was like, holy shit, you're my dog. And the second thing on that is that, obviously, I love my rap music. and I was listening to pop smoke this morning. And one of his lines, he said, roll another one. And in my head, I was like, you know what? I'm not blaming the rappers for my weed smoking,

but I'm also saying that they didn't help it because of the amount of times when I listened to the songs and they're like, they're like, roll one up, roll another one, get your day started. And I'm like, fuck yeah. Like I feel like I find it encouraging. And then I'm like, oh. Inspiration.

Yeah, I'm like, maybe I shouldn't do that. Yes, we also know that. that you are fairly susceptible to peer pressure, and that's just peer pressure through music. Like, that's just, you don't even know these people, and they're, like, just talking about smoking more, and you're just like, oh, so true. Yeah, like, when Wiz Khalifa tweets out, roll one and get the day started, I'm like, you know what, Wiz? I will.

I just might. Wait, Fred, you think I'm, you think I'm easily peer pressured? Yeah. Yeah, I do. We've talked about this. I go back and forth in my head as to if I am or not. But if you say it, if you're like, it's only when you're in between on things. Like if you're adamantly against something, you're sticking to that and you're not changing

your mind. But if you're kind of in between, you can be swayed in either direction. You know, like if you don't have like a firm stance on it, which I feel like kind of is the case with almost everyone anyway. Yeah. You, I admire you because you're very much like, I don't want to do that. I'm not going to do it. You know what I mean? Like about about a lot of things. Or if you want to do it, you're like, I'm going to do it. You have either way, you're pretty sure.

Yeah, like today. She's like, I don't want to go into the office. Yeah. Except I might not have a choice. You know what? You and Noah. Suck it up. You and Noah can get through it together. This is like a bonding experience for you guys. Not really. If we got to take the train together, then maybe. Like if I had a train buddy. Would you guys want to take the train together? I don't think so. That's a long time to just like sit together. You know what? I was going to say yes. We wouldn't even have to talk. I know. Just like do our own thing, but it's just like having a person to do it with. Social distancing. We wouldn't even sit. We wouldn't even sit. Yeah. Yeah, but just knowing you were on

the same car as me, you know? We're going to the same place. It's not, that's not, that's not even possible. Yeah, it's not anywhere close. We're not even nowhere close to each other to do that. So, Anyway, I guess everyone will find out if we did come today. I feel like this is like the most exciting thing of our weeks. We're just like, will, will, friend and know I get on the train? Did they get on the trains in New York City? To be continued on Monday's podcast, we will find out. Huge, huge development.

I want to mention two shows that I've been watching that I recommend to our listeners because, you know, we love talking about our shows that we've been watching in quarantine. and I know, Fran, you just started a new show as well. Teenage Bounty Hunters, I'm only on episode two, but I am enjoying it. It's funny. It's light. Is it Netflix? It's on Netflix.

I'm enjoying that one right now. Like I said, I'm only on episode two. And then Kingdom with Nick Jonas, which has three seasons already. It's on Netflix. A lot of people have been watching it. I love it. How high is Nick Jonas on the show? The thing is,

Nick Jonas is hot, but the other ones are even hotter. Like, it's, you know... I mean, they're all super high. Yeah, that is very true. That is very true. So it's, you know, and I don't want to spoil it. I won't say anything else. But yes, I am loving it. Highly recommend both of those shows.

And, Fran, you said you've been watching Ozark. How's that? Yep, I started... John and I are watching Ozark. I'm like halfway through the first season. It's very intense, very dark. You know the shows that just you watch and the tones

just have dark tones? You just don't see a lot of color on the show. Like everything is like blue-toned. This is one of those shows. Very dark, obviously. Way more intense than I thought.

Like, I knew the premise of it. But after the first episode, I was like, oh, shit, this is way more intense than I expected it to be. But Jason Bateman is really fantastic. And so I'm definitely enjoying it so far, but it's also one of those shows that's, I don't know how people binge shows like that. It's just way harder for me when the episodes

are really intense and they're like full hour episodes. I need to take a break. I don't know. People watch a full season in like two days and I'm just like, that's, it's just so much intensity. Like I got to break it up with something stupid. Don't you feel like when you're watching those shows, you become part of the show after? Like you start living your life as if you were in an episode of one of those shows? Um, no, because, there are other shows, yes. Just me. There are other shows, yes.

Ozark, definitely not, like, I'm not out here trying to, like, launder money. I'm not murdering people, like, drugs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. Other, that, no. But there are other shows, yes. Yeah, I feel like I think I remember. just mostly Twilight, which is a, which is a movie series.

Okay. After I'd watched Twilight, I was Bella. Like, that was it. There was just, I became. Very angsty. Yeah, angsty. And I've talked about this. My acting teacher said I was like Kristen Stewart.

So then I just started to act like I was in the movies. And I don't know if that's a problem. I used to do the same thing with High School Musical, where I would like, in the shower, of course, I would be Gabriela. And then sometimes I'd be Sharpay. but like I was always with Troy. Whatever. That's enough about that.

Now I'm just getting really weird about it. But I'm glad you are enjoying Ozark. I think that I'm going to watch it because every time you and Joe watch a show and you like it, then I want to watch it too. Yeah. And has Hank watched it? No.

I think Hank would enjoy it as well. You know what? It's a good like show to watch as a couple, I think. Right. It's intense. You can talk about it. It's not like a foo-f, who showed that our boyfriends hate watching with us, you know?

Yeah, of course. That's why Kingdom is good, too, because it's about, like, MMA fighting. So, boys are into that sort of thing. Yeah. So let's be a little swap. I'll watch Ozark. You watch Kingdom. And Nick Jonas is in it.

So I have watched some of Kingdom. Not all of it, but I did watch some of it because when it first came out, it was like direct TV. And you could only watch it through that. So it was kind of hard. But I did download, like, the first season. via some shady site on the interwebs when it had first come out because

obviously, you know, Nick Jonas in a show, I'm not going to watch. So I attempted to, and then the website broke down and I don't know, it was all kind of weird. So now that it's all on Netflix, I'll be able to pick it back up. Great. I'm happy for you. I hope you do just that you can appreciate the show

and I will watch Ozark and hopefully our listeners will watch. And another show I hope that our listeners watch is a Love Island, U.S. that will be coming out on Monday, which you know what? Any Love Island, I prefer UK, but any type of Love Island, give it to me. Exactly. I'm very much in the

camp of give me whatever you got. There's nothing, there's, we don't have the Bachelorette, we don't have, we didn't get Boucher in Paradise, there's no new season of Love Island, UK. If Love Island U.S. is the one that we're getting, I'm thrilled. Let's go. I hope it's a fantastic season. I looked at the cast. I'm excited.

a lot of really young guys. So it should be interesting. But I always am more critical of the U.S. for some reason than I am the U.K. When the Kasa UK comes out, I'm like, woohoo! They're like 19, 20. I got nothing to say. I'm like, yeah, let's go.

I'm so excited. Probably more critical. But I'm very excited to have that back. I feel like that's going to be really fun. For sure. And I think that the people in the UK just seem more mature. And I think that's why we don't really care about their age as much. Like, you can't really tell how old they are a lot of the times.

Right. They look much older than they are. One thing I'm confused about is the fact that the U.S. is doing Love Island, but the U.K. is in better shape than we are at this point in time. But maybe that's why they're in better shape because they are not filming these shows. Yeah, because they're not taking risks like this. I know. But I think, I mean, they're filming it in the same way they're doing The Bachelorette, right?

Like it's a total bubble. Right. It's a whole kind of thing. So I don't really know why the UK couldn't have done the same thing. But I guess because the UK season just starts so much earlier in the summer. And they also film for way longer. Like the UK season is way longer. I don't know if the U.S. is changing.

But remember how short U.S. is? It's like, I don't know if it's going to be the same as the first season, but it wasn't that long. Yeah, it was only like three or four weeks. Yeah. Like, UK is way longer. I'm probably like almost double that. Yeah, we'll see what happens. Excited to watch either way.

Speaking of shows that they must give us, it's time to get into the topics for today's episode. We have, of course, another Bachelorette update because this is the most dramatic season yet. Claire Crawley and Chris Harrison were seen back on set. We also have an update of the Ellen Show. Producers were fired. Dane Cook put together a charity event of actors reading,

a table read of Fast Times, at Ridgemont High, which includes Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, so they will be reuniting. We also have a little Kylie Jenner caption scandal. People were photoshopping Kylie Jenner's caption to make it seem like she wrote something that she did not, and she was not happy on her Instagram. Brittany Spears has requested that her dad be removed as her conservator, which is a huge development in the free Britney movement. And we have an interview with Jay Manuel from America's Next Top Model.

He gives some insight to the show, his relationship with Tyra Banks. So highly recommend if you were an America's Next Top Model fan. So let's get into it starting off with our Bachelorette update. We, of course, have another Bachelorette update. This is going to be the most dramatic season yet. Claire Crawley and Chris Harrison were both spotted back on set after hearing that Claire Crawley was no longer the Bachelorette and Chris Harrison had to quarantine for 14 days.

So why were they seen back on set? I don't know. You know what? I wish I had the answers. Zero answers. Only questions. Only questions. It looks like Chris is back on set.

It looks like Claire's back on set. I'm not sure what the timeline is. Like they said Chris Harrison was quarantine for 14 days, but I don't think it's been 14 days. It's all very confusing. Claire, did she even ever leave? I don't know. Maybe she never even left.

Maybe they're filming. They had some stuff from the beginning that they need to reshoot with her. Maybe she is, there's only questions. Only questions. The possibilities are endless. I said that yesterday on the group chat. I said that maybe there were scenes

from the beginning that Chris Harrison and Claire Crawley needed to reshoot. That seems like the most. likely reason, because at this point, if Tasia is the new Bachelorette, which I'm sure she is, because it's been confirmed, why would they need Claire back on set in a beautiful red dress looking absolutely stunning like the Bachelorette if she was not the Bachelorette? And as for Chris Harrison, thought he had to quarantine for 14 days. Maybe they just switched it to he had to get tested and that was it. And if he was negative, he was allowed to come back. Maybe he just wasn't comfortable

with the fact that he wouldn't be there because he's Chris Harrison. He's the host of the show. And he just can't not be the center of the show. We got to call Robert Mills up and be like, yo, bro, what is happening? Because this show is a disaster right now. And I'm all for it, though. Like, as much as there are so many different rumors and so many different things going around at this point, like I said, every single podcast, I just need the show to air because whatever it is, it's going to be juicy.

It's going to be dramatic. We don't even know the half of it, I'm sure. I know. Did you see this article also about if, so the rumor obviously was that Claire and Dale were communicating before the season started. Like before they got to this resort, they were in communication or talked or whatever. Apparently Dale's sister is denying those claims.

Dale Moss's sister said the quote, That's tarnishing my brother's name and it's completely false. Your source for that information is lying. I know that because I spent every day with my brother leading up to production. Never once did he reach out, nor was he ever contacted by Claire. She also said, my brother was extremely adamant about the rules, contracts, and privacy. He had everything to lose and nothing to gain by communicating beforehand. So, and Michelle Money also said that Claire never spoke to Dale before filming.

Michelle and Claire are good friends. Either way, it's not tarnishing his name. Like, who is that upset that they started talking beforehand if that did happen? Because I don't care. I mean, like, I think there are probably Bachelorette Purist who would be mad about that. True. Very good point. I just feel like...

The older, like the trolls of the moms who like send Tyler Cameron me DMs. Like definitely. True. I feel like they're like, yeah, like that's against the rules. Even though we've learned at this point, there are no rules. So why are we going to get mad if Claire was talking to somebody beforehand, especially when, you know, a quarantine happened. If you were trying to get ahead and they weren't really punishing you for that, then why wouldn't you? Although, if everyone's denying it, maybe they didn't speak beforehand. Maybe they just really fell in love in that short of a time, which once again, find it crazy. But a lot of people, are saying if you know Claire, then it's not shocking.

Yeah. Yeah. So we'll see. It's just we're along for this ride. I did see that they announced Dancing with the Stars is back on September 14th. So if the Bachelorette could be somewhere around that time, that would be fantastic. I don't know what I will do when the show returns. I may streak around my apartment and then jump around on my balcony, naked up excitement. Like, I need to do something crazy to show how excited I am for this show.

I truthfully need it. I know. You should, so I started that book, One to Watch, and I think you should read it. Because it is a very good, like, Bachelorette substitute right now. Like, I feel like I'm watching the show, but I'm just reading it. It's literally like the same exact thing, the same format. And it has like all the same, you know, similarities. And obviously, I don't know if anyone's seen in this book is called One to Watch.

And it's about how a show like The Boucher is called Main Squeeze gets a plus size woman to be the lead on the show. And obviously that blows up. And she is a fashion blogger. And so she already has like some fame. and then she gets to be, quote, the main squeeze. And I just started it. I'm loving it. When you know the first page has a quote from William Shakespeare

and a quote from Chris Harrison. You know that's going to be a good book. Absolutely. That sounds like my kind of book. I actually ordered it last week when we talked about it. Amazing. Amazing. And yeah, you're right.

It sounds like the perfect substitution. It's a good way to like, yes, because we're so deprived and just looking for anything that this is a great way. to like try and try and use up some time because I'm hoping with Dancing with the Stars is September 14th and the Bachelor is somewhere around that time. I don't know. I hope. If Dancing with the Stars is on and The Bachelor is not, I'm going to watch Dancing with the Stars. Well, I'm actually going to watch it anyway because the Catalan. Yes. So true. I'm not going to miss

that. I need to see how she does. I know. I'm really rooting hard for her. Like we just, that would be fucking amazing if she won. So I'm rooting hard for that. Exactly. So hopefully it's around that time and we'll finally get all of the answers we've been searching for. The Ellen Show is taking action after many of the accusations that were put up against the producers of the show. Multiple producers were fired and I don't know if it's going to stop there. I think this might be a continuing thing. Yeah, so obviously this was the move they had to make, right? We've seen Ellen, well, not Ellen personally, but like Portia, talk about about, you know, Ellen's not, she would not leave the show.

It's her show, blah, blah, blah, the whole thing. Like, she's not leaving her show. They're just going to send other people away so that, you know, it looks like they were making the right decision. Obviously, these guys needed to be removed. The allegations were terrible and disgusting. And so the executive producers, Ed Glavin, Kevin Lehman, and co-executive producer, Jonathan Norman, quote, parted ways with the show.

Following sexual misconduct allegations, a spokesperson for Warner Brothers said that Ellen DeGeneres also announced that Stephen Boss, aka Twitch, who, you know, is the DJ on her show, will be taking on a new role. She announced his staff on Monday that Twitch is now a co-executive producer on the show. and Mary Conley, Andy Lassner, and Derek Westerfeld will remain on as producers. Apparently there was a call to discuss all these changes in an all-staff meeting held via Zoom on Monday. DeGeneres to discuss the changes and spoke about her own behavior and more than 200 staff members were on the call.

She made an apology to her staff in which she discussed having good and bad days, which she explained is often the reason she keeps to herself on set. she apparently admitted she's not perfect. She referred to herself as a multi-layered person who was striving to be the best person I can be. She also applauded crew members for making the show of success for 17 seasons. She said thank them for their hard work and share that she cares about each and every staff member.

So like we said with her initial apology, got to put your money where your mouth is. Action speak louder than words if she actually tries to be run her show with kindness and a better approach with how, you know, employees are treated, then that's great. But I still, there's just no way in my mind she didn't know everything that was going on with those executive producers. Yeah, I feel like it's one of those things that I've said it before when we talked about this. Like Ellen is so famous and probably has a big head at this point.

like it's hard not to when you were that well-known and probably just didn't even care to know what was going on behind the scenes. Maybe she heard rumblings about it. Maybe she didn't hear rumblings about it. Whatever it is, I feel like she just didn't care in the first place because why would she? She's Ellen. She has everything she needs. And I think it was just maybe a lack of compassion for the people who work for her. Although we have seen on her show, she has many people on the show that, you know, viral moments just and she seems like she has a lot of compassion for other people. people, but it doesn't seem like she was reciprocating that for her employees, which I think shows what kind of person she really is, not to the public, but more behind the scenes.

So I'm hoping that this was like a big wake-up call for Ellen and maybe she will, as the show goes on, we'll learn to maybe become closer with her employees and not think, oh, I'm Ellen, I don't need to talk to these people or know what's going on. Hopefully she stays more on top of it. Yeah, it has to make major, major adjustments for. sure. For sure. I've talked about this a little before on other podcasts that I am trying to eat healthier, eat better things for myself, stop with all the fast food and junk food that I have been eating in quarantine. And with the help of daily harvest, I have actually been doing that.

I have really been enjoying my daily harvest meals. They get delivered to me each week. yesterday I had a cauliflower and pesto harvest bowl as well as a spinach and artichoke lap bread. I put a little balsamic vinegar on that and it tasted amazing because my mom... How good is that flat bread? It's so good. And my mom used to make stuffed artichokes all the time and I would dip it in balsamic vinegar and then eat the stuffing out of it.

And it reminded me just of that except on a flat bread. And it was so, so, so good. So I highly recommend daily harvest. And right now, Daily Harvest is helping us beat the heat with their refreshing smoothies. Of course, we love their smoothies. We've talked about it before. And they're delicious scoops, which is their new plant-based ice cream. Scoops are free of additives, preservatives, and fillers because they're made with whole

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joining the table read, including Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt. People are freaking out about this because that means we may actually see Jennifer Anderson and Brad Pitt interact virtually, which is what the world needs right now. I completely agree. This is a really nice idea. I think this has been going on. Throughout a lot of quarantine, stars have been doing things like this. So, and it's a crazy,

cool group of people, right? So the star set to cast of the Fast Times, Ridgeman High, Table Read, with, they added Brad Pitt and Jimmy Kimmel, and they joined

Jennifer Anderson, Julia Roberts, Matthew McConaughey, Morgan Freeman, Henry Golding, Chial Abuff, Dane Cook, and Sean Penn.

So that is a lot of very famous people. And that's a cool group. I'm assuming they're all doing it, although wouldn't they all be doing it virtually? Or are they all going to sit in the same room? No, they're doing it virtually. Oh, okay. So they're not even going to be in the same room together. No, they're not going to be in the same room, but say they have parts that have lines together,

then we will get to see them interact, and that would be a beautiful thing. Now, we don't know. We're just desperate to watch them talk to each other. I'm desperate for it. And just anything that gives me a little dose of serotonin in my life will be good for me. But yeah, it's going to be cool to see. I obviously, not obviously, but I have never seen this movie. And I feel like it's a classic, but it came out like, you've never seen this movie.

You know, and you know what's crazy? I talked about this with Casey and Trent, and they're a little older than we are. And they've never seen it either. And they got offended that I said that to them. They were like, it came out in 1982. And I was like, well, you know, we've seen a lot of movies that came out in the 80s. just haven't seen this one. Yeah. Yeah. Which I know is like a sin. I feel like I should be banned. I'm pretty bad with, I'm pretty bad with older movies. Like Joe makes fun of me all the time for all

the movies that I haven't watched and I just like have no desire to watch. But that is, that is one that I have watched. Yeah. I feel like maybe I need to watch it before the table read so I know what's going on. Yeah, I think it's, you've got to know who the people are that, that they're playing. I, like, I, I, I, I, don't know. It's because they're all, if it's, you know, Sean Penn, Madden, Beconi, if they're not playing their characters, if they're reading for other people, then I feel like you got to get the, the real thing, too. Sean Penn is not playing his part, he said. So, yeah, okay. So then you've got, you gotta see the,

you got to watch the movie, for sure. This is taking place on August 21st, um, at 8 p.m. Eastern on Corps' official Facebook page and TikTok. The event will benefit the emergency relief nonprofit Corps, the humanitarian organization co-founded by Penn and CEO Anne Lee, currently on the front lines of the fight against COVID, providing testing and relief services in the United States. It's also going to support the Reform Alliance, which is focused on passing laws to reform the criminal justice system

and protecting the incarcerated population from the spread of COVID-19. The live streams will feature a donate button, and all proceeds will, like I just said, Benefit Corps as well as Reform Alliance. So it's all for a good cause. No excuse not to watch. All for a good cause. Matthew McConae, are you thinking of Dazed and Confused? Or was he in Fast Times at Ridgemont High?

Because I think, I don't think he was in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I think it was just Sean Penn. Just Sean Penn. Yeah. I'm probably combining them in my head. I think you are because he was in Dazed and Confused, which I think people, I think that's an easy movie to get confused with Fast Times at Ridgemont. High. I'm definitely combining the two. I do know, I mean, I know Sean Penn, Spicoli, that's

Viramont High. Yes. And Matthew McConae was not in that movie. Yes. So Matthew McConae will be at the table read, but he was not in that movie. Yes. But he is. John Penn, though, was, John Penn is, but not reading for Spicoli. No. Nope. So it will be interesting to see like who gets to be Spicoli. Right? Like, who is he letting play his own part? Right. Like, who gets to read for Spicoli out of all those people, probably like Shy LaBuff. I feel like that would make the most sense. That would be pretty cool. I haven't seen Shy in a little while, so that would be exciting. Right? Hey, where did we go? Days when the rains came playing a new game.

Laughing and her skipping and jumping all with our hearts that felt bumping you. I go. We used to sing. Everyone freaked out after seeing a post from Kylie Jenner. It was an Instagram post. The internet thought that her original caption on the picture was brown skin girl and that she edited it and then made it brown-eyed girl. Everybody obviously freaked out because that is a ridiculous thing to make her caption and outrage would be very fitting if she had actually made that her caption. Somebody photoshopped it, spread it around the internet.

made everybody freak out, I guess someone who just, you know, wanted to make Kylie look bad. This is what I cannot stand about the internet. These are the times I fucking hate the internet is when something like this happens. People can literally Photoshop anything and make people look like they said something or whatever it is. And this is a perfect example of that case. Because obviously this started going around and me and you both saw it and we were like, what the fuck, Kylie? Like, what the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you make that your caption? And big outlets were picking it up like page six wrote about it. And they were reporting as if it was true. And even we talked about it and we were like, we were like, we think it might be Photoshop. Like there are tone

deaf sometimes the Kardashians. We all know that. But like are they this tone deaf to make that the caption? Like I had a hard time believing it. But at the same time, I was like if all these news outlets are picking it up, maybe it is true. Maybe it is Photoshop. And that is what is so dangerous about the internet is that you can make anybody seem like they said something or posted something with a little Photoshop and then that person needs to defend themselves. And then even when they do defend themselves, people don't believe them because of the fake Photoshop. I see it on TikTok all the time because you can duet people's videos and you can put text over the video. So you can make a video go viral and make it seem like somebody wrote something on their TikTok that

they never even wrote. And then unless you go to the original page and the person who originally posted it, then you're going to believe that they wrote that thing. And I think it's such a dangerous game to play, especially when there are people who are making mistakes and who do need to learn from their mistakes. Yeah. And then you're just making shit up and it just defeats the purpose of anything. Like, it's just so stupid. Like, what are you gaining from doing that? It's not like, you're not gaining anything from making a fake post of someone. Yeah. It is ridiculous. And she posted on her own Instagram stories clarifying because the caption, you know, the picture did say edited, but that was because she had originally posted the picture with just two

emojis as the caption and then changed it to brown-eyed girl and somebody photoshopped it. I don't know. You just got to be a bad, sad person, I guess, to do those kinds of things. It does really make any sense to kind of try and ruin someone like that. it's really just sad to see. And it's, it sucks that Kylie, you know, has to, has to defend herself and that she had to kind of post the original one, you know,

the post the original one, but very clearly from what she had posted, not her very clearly photoshopped. If you kind of look at the, like the fonts too, the fonts are all different. So just, a tough,

tough day. Like, yeah, you open up your social media. on that day and you're you just got to be like, well, what the fuck is going on? Right. At least they're so famous that people screenshot their shit right away anyway. So there was a clear screenshot of what the caption was prior. At this point, I feel like they got a screenshot all of their posts going forward just in case anybody fucks what the caption again.

It continues to mess. Yeah, exactly. An update in Britney Spears battle Tuesday. She asked the court to keep her father from reasserting the broad. control over her life and career that is that he has had for her over her for the past 12 years um this is the documents filed by her court appointed lawyer gave a rare public airing to the wishes of brittany she asked that her father not returned to the role of conservator of her person which gave him power over her major life decisions from 2008 until 2009 when he temporarily stepped aside

uh the document says that brittany is strongly opposed to James return as conservator of her person. James Spears has kept his separate role as a conservator over his daughter's finances. For the first 11 years of the conservatorship, he served as co-conservitor with an attorney, Andrew Wallet, who resigned from the role early last year. That briefly left James with soul. He had soul power over everything, life, money, career, everything.

Brittany says she wants Jody Montgomery, who has been serving as conservator of her person temporarily to do so permanently, but she says that doesn't mean she is waiving her right to seek an end to the entire arrangement. The documents also reveal that Britney Spears has no plan to reform again anytime soon. She last performed live in October of 2018, and then obviously, you know, 2019, she had that canceled Las Vegas residency. So very clear. she does not want her dad in this role anymore. Yeah, I think it's pretty known at this point that he seems like he's an asshole. We saw Brittany's son, I think it was, that went on Instagram Live and called him a dick and made that pretty clear. And from all the rumors going around, even though people want to say, Britney's fine and Jamie Lynn said, you know, we shouldn't be talking about her mental health.

And, you know, I respect that. But I think it's very clear at this point that Britney Spears' dad is. a huge problem in her life. Even seeing now that she does not want him on the conservatorship anymore means that he is not a good guy and he is not good for her. And I feel like he's been manipulating her. I know. I agree. It's interesting, obviously, to see these documents because there's been so much speculation over how Brittany feels and this is what Bernie thinks and these court documents are actually coming from Brittany. NBC News had also written, you know, the filing gave a rare glimpse at Brittany Spears' own wishes in the conservatorship that has had vast power over her for

over a decade. She almost never has never spoken publicly about the matter, and court hearings and documents in the case are cloaked in secrecy, though last year she addressed the court at her request, suggesting she was seeking changes. In the papers, Britney praises the conservatorship and its work overall, saying it, quote, rescued her from a collapse, exploitation by predatory individuals and financial ruin, and that it made her able to regain her position as, as a world-class entertainer. The document was filed a day before a status hearing on the conservatorship expected to be closed

to the media and public. Britney Spears' attorney said that he expects James Spears will aggressively contest being marginalized and said that Britney Spears has suggested may retain a lawyer with expertise in complex financial court fights. So it's going to be an ongoing battle between this. Obviously, we're not going to know how that hearing

goes if it's close to the media and the public. But you just hope that Brittany is able to fight for some of her own independence. And it's not even like she's fighting to totally end the whole entire thing. Like she clearly likes how it's been going with this woman Jody, who is in charge

to the conservatorship after James stepped after her dad's stepped away. So hopefully it can just continue like that. and Britney's dad is not as intensely involved? I don't know. I just feel like when you have that kind of power, like he had been given to him,

he's now going to be thirsty for that power. He now wants Britney's money. He wants to be in charge for life because he has been for so long. So hopefully she is able to fight against that. I really hope so. I know, me too. As ladies, we have all been there before PMS,

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You know him from America's Next Top Model. He has a new novel out. It's called The Whig, The Bitch, and the Meltdown. And we are super excited to talk to you all about that. You have amazing setup going out behind you. It's like this whole, it looks like a press tour in your house. home, I'm assuming. Well, you know, that's what it is. We're in a pandemic still. So I'm doing my virtual press tour from one side of my office. So this is the room I wrote the book in. So I guess

it's only fitting I'm doing all my interviews from the other side of my desk, so to speak. I love it. It looks great. Yeah. Exactly. Because if we were doing these interviews in person, you would have the same, you know, you'd have the same setup. The book would be everywhere. So I love that you did it on your own. The big, the cover art on the book is fantastic. It's, I'm just going to keep staring at it behind you. It's very, very cool. I will say that when I was reading, kind of reading up on the book and what exactly it was, I feel like there's been maybe some confusion on like, was this a tell-all? Is this a novel? Like what exactly this book is. So explain to everyone what this book is, how it came about and, you know, why you started writing it. Absolutely. So, well, first of all, oh, well, it's. going to be a long answer. Get ready. Oh, we're ready. To clear up everything, so it is a novel and a novel by definition is fiction. So it is a fictional account. And, you know, it is inspired by my life on America's

X-Tel model, but really in the entertainment industry as a whole. So it is a piece of satire. It is meant to make you laugh out loud. A lot of people say they talk to the book. They cringe. They're like, oh, my God, it's meant to do that. But really on purpose, because if we think about it today, um, stories of substance are always overlooked for viral sensation. So this kind of is really, this book, which really has these important core themes and things that we're discussing today in 2020. Um, they're baked into it. That is what gives the book, it's gravitas. There's like a real gravitas to the piece. And, um, I wanted people to kind of make assumptions of what they think it is. And even when they start reading, they're like, oh, this is what I thought it is, you know, in the set-up chapters.

And then the book just goes, woo, there's a tone change. There's all this stuff going on. It's still really, really funny. But at the same time, I wanted to focus in on some important issues like the cost to fame and looking at the entertainment's kind of rampant abuse of power within the industry. But really that expands to, you know, work and power struggles in the workplace, which I think everyone can identify to. And then also I wanted to kind of really look at how the entertainment industry deals with just intersectionality overall in black women's identity. So the book is really an identity piece. And ultimately, the entire narrative is a journey of awakening and that journey of self that all of us go through and we all relate to.

And that's what the book is really about. So it's not just this fun, salacious tell-all. there are moments in the piece that are obviously Easter egg moments for top model fans. So they'll recognize these moments that are inspiring the story, but you're getting a very different POV of what that moment is and a reason behind that moment, which is fictional. And I wanted to kind of entertain people to let them go, hmm, what's true, what's not?

But at the same time, they're getting something that's really substantive beneath this story. Right. It sounds like there are so many layers to it. And I'm actually really, really excited to read it because I was an America's Next Top Model fan through and through. And I really just, I've seen like every season at this point. So I kind of get what you're saying about it. It's like you were able to tell things about the show while also adding things that are not real. So it gives you that leeway to be like, hey, maybe this was, you know, you don't want to spill everything because some things need to remain, I think.

Yeah. And someone asked me what I ever do. a, you know, a tell-all, why didn't I do an all, you know, like a total tell-all memoir? And personally, excuse me, the reason I didn't want to do, you know, it's that Flemm moment when I've been doing it. And of course, my mug of water, look, my mug is empty. Empty. Sorry about that. But, you know, I've reason I didn't do a memo, like this ridiculous tell-all memoirs, I find that a lot of memoirs promise to be super juicy. They tell you, nothing and they leave you frustrated. And you can't really do these real, real tell-alls because

I would have to move to Alaska. I'm going to go somewhere and just hide out for the rest of my life. But, you know, but again, using fiction to illustrate kind of very real issues within not only society, but also within the industry, I think is important. And, you know, Dan Brown, who is someone I really admire. I've read every one of his books, even the ones people don't know or are as familiar with. But he's always cleverly weaving this kind of fictional narrative around very real organizations and places and people and things. And I wanted to do the same thing in my book. And I won't spoil this for anyone listening or for you guys who have not read the book. But in the last third of the book, I have this kind of metaphictional mechanism, which breaks literary convention. And I wanted

to kind of blur lines and break the fourth wall to jolt the reader into their own world. And the people who have read the book, it only just came out. I'm getting all these messages from people going, I did not see that coming. Oh, my God, it was this deep moment. And I'm really hoping that that spoiler stays secret because it is this thing that no one expects. And, It was really fun kind of crafting that moment. You're making me want to hang up right now and go read it because now I'm like, now I need to know what the spoiler is. Right.

And I love it too because I don't know if you're, you know, obviously America's Next Top Model, massive reality series reminds me of kind of like how, you know, The Bachelor, everybody has so many rumors about that show. And then Unreal on Lifetime was a satirical kind of version. It was a different show. It was fiction. But obviously, you know, they had pulled stuff and everybody freaked out about Unreal being like, wow, is that stuff like really happening or is this happening? And so it creates that kind of discussion, which I think is actually really important because it's kind of a way to, like you said, shed light on these very important things that are happening within a reality show that you can touch on in fiction that like maybe in nonfiction it's too much. It blows it open.

Yeah. And beyond Unreal, which I totally appreciate the success of that show and the excitement around it, I felt like, you know, coming out with a novel, I had to kind of go, you know, several steps kind of deeper beyond just the, because everyone knows reality is not real. Okay. Well, all right. So what are you going to talk about in a novel? So ultimately, this is a character piece.

And I really wanted to, and it's not just about, you know, Kisha Cash and. Pablo Michaels, which you see over my shoulder. It's not just about those two characters. There's a whole cast of characters. It becomes this really interesting ensemble group of characters, but really what I'm illustrating are human stories. And my goal was to help shift the paradigm about how we look at power, authority, and relationships.

And so when you get into these character pieces and look at what everyone's doing, and people don't realize before I even started writing the book, I'd outlined the story. I knew I was going to do this really, you know, I was going to break literary convention with this very kind of jarring thing and towards the end of the book. But I actually sat down with two different psychologists and I talked with them and interviewed them about kind of what my story was. And I wanted to really discuss why certain people would react certain ways within this story and really, really kind of take apart these characters and have fun with it.

So I think that's the surprising thing people are having when they read the book. They're like, I thought this was going to be a fluffy little puff piece. And it is fun. And it's meant to be, it's a very fast-paced book, a fast-paced book. It's meant to be relentless to mirror the world behind the scenes of fashion reality. But I think the thing that people have not expected so far when they dig into it is just that these characters are so rich. And they're characters unto themselves. They're not meant to be like, oh, this is so-and-so, this is so-and-so.

They really became their own beings, really. Right. There's so many layers to it, like we said before. And I feel like you're right that there is a misconception of what the book is actually about, especially people are now saying that Tyra Banks heard about the book and was not happy about the book. But hearing you talk about it sounds like it's not really identical to America's next top model. So how do you feel about that? Well, you know, I totally understand that people have made assumptions. I mean, look at even the cover line on the book. And it is inspired by that world. I mean, there is a black supermodel host. Her name is Keisha Cash. And she's the host of a show. Well, you actually see the birth of the show. It's called Model Muse within the world of the book.

So obviously there are parallels, but I've made it very clear that I've used kind of my life as inspiration to tell stories very authentically. But they're not verbatim. Again, it is fiction. And, you know, in terms of, of even Keisha's character, you know, unlike I think other stories and other books or franchises, in terms of films, they, you know, I'll call it in my book the seemingly like the antagonist

character, and I'm putting that in quotes, is often like a textbook villain or they're just, you know, you know, they're the antagonist just because of the way they are and we don't ever learn why. And in my book, I wanted, you know, Keisha Cash, she's this very, she's an anti-hero. She's this vulnerable, rich, incredible female character. And I look to, you know, people that I admire like Shonda Rimes, who blew open the doors with like how to get away with murder, for instance, with Annalise Keating played brilliantly by Viola Davis. You know, you've got this character where you love her, you root for her, she's powerful, she's strong, then you don't trust her, then you don't like her, then you're mad at her,

then you love her again. And I wanted to have a character that was just as rich and diverse because traditionally those, those, kind of those gem characters were always reserved for white, straight men. And not even, you know, not until even House of Cards did we get like Claire Underwood, you know, played by Robin Wright. You know, I wanted to, you know, have that kind of true diversity in that in terms of,

inclusion as well in terms of this character. Yeah. Am I getting way too techie for you now? No, no. I totally understand because I feel like I've seen it's, we're like waiting for the delight. And we always, we also always pause so that we don't speak over each other. Yeah. Yeah.

I was going to say that I've actually been seeing a lot of people talk about like, why don't we ever see what like the mean girl feels like in a movie? Like we only see the outside of her being a mean. girl and not why she is that way. So I feel like I definitely get what you're saying with that. Yeah, because there's always a contributing factor. You know, one of the things that I was always raised this way, you know, when someone is like angry or reacts to you, like my mom's like, well, you just really don't know what their day was. You don't know what they're processing. And it's not an excuse, but it just helps put everything in perspective. And I think, you know, I said it in

my, I talk about in my acknowledgments. I did it. It's just a short paragraph to make a statement, you know, talking about, you know, telling our stories and our pain through comedy. It really helps us learn about humanness and how to become more humane to one another. And I think that's an important message. And I think it is important to kind of understand and see the 360 of characters. So I had a lot of fun with that. And I tried to really honor that. And in terms of my feelings for Tyra, you know, our relationship,

isn't what it was. However, I still will always speak positively about her. I respect everything that she represents, every door she's kicked down as a woman, as a black woman, what she represents to so many young, brown and black girls and boys in the industry. And so I will never, ever, you know, speak negatively against that. But within our lives, we're all human beings. We're all complex. And we all have different things that contribute to how we react and I felt like it was important to show that through many characters really. Right, right. Where or when, I guess is the better word, what when do you think that kind of disconnect with with Tyra started to happen? Like where was that I guess fallout? Well, it was,

you know, I think there's there are many things that contributed. I recently spoke about and people did not know that actually when it got to cycle eight, my contract was done and I felt like I'd done all that I could. And now there were so many cooks in the kitchen. Initially, I was just doing the creative and hiring the creative talent. Then there were some controversial shoots I wasn't comfortable with. So by the time I finished my contract, I said I was ready to move on. I was working on other shows. I was an e-correspondent. And she became very, you know, she basically just said, I'm just disappointed and that was it and kind of cut me off. And even outside of the show, we would almost talk every day and it was very weird. But then about two weeks out of production to cycle nine,

just kind of under pressure, they said, could he come back and just do one cycle of the show? And I was unavailable. And then it was kind of, you know, it was presented to my lawyer at the time from the studio. Well, if I didn't come back, I would be putting them in a difficult position because they couldn't cast someone to replace me. And it was intimated that I wouldn't work for the studio again. So again, you know, these kind of threats in this fear-based culture built. And I went back under pressure to work on the show. And she later admitted she behaved inappropriately,

and she did apologize to me. So I want to preface it with that. But I walked on to set to shoot casting. You know, it's just Miss J. her and me. And she wouldn't talk to me unless the, cameras were rolling. And you try and tape a whole cycle that way. And it was extremely difficult. And I think that changed things. And she did apologize. But then there were other things, a lot of things that contributed to kind of the shift. And there was a shifting culture behind the scenes.

And it was not a great work environment. And I've worked in several different kind of entertainment shows and live event shows. And I'd never really experienced that. So it was difficult. It was really difficult. But I did go back because some people say, well, why did you go back? Because once then I went back, they asked me to come back for or more. And then you go, you end up under contract and you're just and you can't speak about it. Because people are like, why are you talking about it now? And people give you shit for it for leaving. It's like, you know, don't bite the hand that feeds you. You like you become the bad guy. If you leave. And it's crazy now because at the time we did know, but now we kind of have heard, you know, these rumors and these stories that have come out from

years ago of kind of the toxic environment on set and things that were going on. So now it all kind of makes sense. Yeah. And when I, and I actually left the show after cycle 18. They wanted me to sign on for cycle 17, 18, 19, 20. And I said, no, we went back and forth. My contract was done last minute. I went back into two cycles. I knew those were my two cycles. But of course, I've been, you know, I had a clause in my contract where I couldn't talk about things or that I was leaving. And so six months later when that show is airing, then it's leaked that were then fired for the next season. It was all, let me tell you how the leaks work. They're planted. And we would all agree to do a professional joint press release. So, you know, when your colleagues treat you that way,

and then you can't say anything legally, and then there's this leak, and you can't talk about that it's leaked and that you actually left the show, it really puts you in a very, it's really sad after doing 18 seasons of the show and working together like that. And building the show initially, you know, as a small group, it's hard when you're treated that way. And so people who have, you know, concerns with me saying, well, why are you talking about it now and this and that? I'm not talking about, I am talking about it in interviews, but again, my book is a work of fiction. Everyone has the right to tell their own story. And I can now. That's really what it is. Definitely. And, And so you kind of laid it out.

I was going to ask, what was the difference between when you first joined America's Next Top Model between the end? And it seems like just the environment changed as a whole. And like you said, you know, people have been bringing up a lot of the insensitive things that have happened on the show that at the time wasn't really talked about. But you said that you were uncomfortable. Did you guys talk about it like behind the scenes at the time that it was happening? Oh, yeah, absolutely.

specifically in cycle four the whole race swapping shoot. You know, I was very uncomfortable. My parents grew up in South Africa. They're from South Africa under apartheid. So you've got to understand the kind of the family I grew up in. I'm biracial. It's just, it just was very uncomfortable. And my reason I only bring up my own ethnicity is because most people think I'm like

Brazilian or Spanish or this or that. And my whole life that's been a struggle because, you know, I tell people I grew up identifying as black, and then, you know, you get some black people saying, well, you're not black enough or like, oh, you're not black. And then Spanish people, you're not Spanish. So it's like you receive all of this kind of just negativity. And I actually really didn't experience it until I moved back to the States when I was 19 going to NYU. I was born in the States, but I grew up in Toronto. And I didn't really experience it in Canada. So when I came here, it became this whole thing. So I did go to my co-executive producer at the time because it was kind of

understood, like I knew certain things at that point. I couldn't even go to Tyra with. And they basically said, I had to do that shoot. And I said, well, I'm going to look like this is my idea. And they said, don't worry, we'll cover you in the edit. You won't look bad. And, you know, still to this day, I get people who say, you were the creative director. This was your creative. And, you know, everyone online, they all have their opinion. And you just let them have their opinion. But they don't really know what's going on. And it's difficult. And so even beyond those stories in the book, I wanted to share some, and also let people see a very vulnerable side to myself because people don't know. I mentioned it once when I was co-hosting The View and in Hot

Topics, Barbara Walters, we were talking about adoption because her daughter's adopted. And so I said, well, people don't know that I'm adopted. And like the whole world, like I got all this response like, you're adopted. I had no clue. So my adoption kind of story, which is somewhat of a unique story is kind of baked into Pablo's character because Pablo's not really me but there's a lot of me it's inspired by me but really I'm in every character but my adoption storyline is part of his storyline which pays part of the whole overall narrative so that's something that people can learn they'll get to learn other things about me and reading the book absolutely and it sounds like writing this book may have been like a therapeutic experience in some way because you were writing

about a lot of the things that affected you in your life from a different point of view and all different characters. Sure, and I think people who don't, and I learned this the day I handed my submission draft into my agent, I realized, because, you know, all art is never really finished, it's just abandoned. You have to get to a place where you're like, okay, I'm done.

But I knew I was done, and what was really powerful was this realization that no matter which way I'd, look at it and who likes what character or dislikes if people don't like other characters, I'm really, there's a part of me in every character. And you have to own that too. Otherwise, you can't write it authentically. So that was a really powerful kind of realization that you just, I got to know myself in a different way in writing this because I did write it myself. I did not work with a ghost writer. I had a great writing mentor who I would check in with every draft and we would

talk. We would do like a FaceTime just like this. And yeah. And so you learn a lot about yourself in the writing process, which it was so fulfilling. Yeah. It's like Raya said, a therapeutic process, just being able to put pen to paper at any time, I feel like is always helpful, even if it's like journaling or whatever, not to get too deep into like, you know, actually ready to your thoughts down. But that stuff, that stuff definitely, it really helps. And, and And I, you had mentioned before, obviously that people, I mean, people are critical of everything. And of course, they're like, oh, like, why is, why is he talking about all this stuff now? But I think it's still, it's so important to talk about it because people loved that show so much.

And with reality TV, it's just, you know, people say, people know, they're like, oh, reality TV, is it really reality? People know that there's other stuff going on, but you still don't always get the full picture. And regardless of if it's 10, 20, 30, 40 years that have gone by hearing these stories, I think just are important and important to talk about. And I'm sure you also have amazing memories from America's next top model. Of course. I would love to know, like, do you have a favorite cycle? Like, was there? What are some of the fondest moments that stick out to you?

Because like Reyes said, those early cycles, it was, we watched nonstop. No. A favorite cycle. It's so hard because there are so many magical moments, even in later cycles when things weren't that great behind the scenes. I loved personally as an abroad location. One of my favorite abroad locations was being in Marrakesh, Morocco for shooting for three weeks. I kind of felt this real spiritual connection. I did not expect to feel I'd never traveled there before.

But yeah, in the early cycles were special. You know, literally even the creative, it was a phone call between me and Tyra. We were on the phone. I would say, you know, she always wanted to root it in things that she had done. And that was her honest intention out of the gate so the girls could experience the industry. And I would just say, oh, well, what if we did a shoot like this? Like a lot of people talk about and even cycle three, this whole shoot I did with the, it was like the Varaggio jewelry with the tarantulas and the girls are like all close and their cross.

But that was really inspired by this old, well, I don't say old. It's like an iconic jewelry ad. I think Victor Scribneski who shot it and like Iman was the supermodel. There was like spiders and animals and I just wanted to kind of always kind of give a nod to the greats out there. And I've had the opportunity work with major photographers like Annie Leibovitz, Richard Avedon, you know, Her Brits. I got to work with these creative visionaries and I wanted to always kind of be inspired by their work on the show. So I would say those early cycles, like cycle three I know is a favorite for so many people. people. I definitely loved that cycle. That was the first cycle. We had Cover Girl and I and I had pitched

them with our co-executive producer. They were a client of mine, what Procter & Gamble was, and that's how they became part of the show. And it was just fun. Those early cycles, building it was kind of fun from behind the scenes because we thought we were only going to do maybe two or three cycles. That was right. Yeah. Yeah. And it did so much more. Right. And I see you do Jay's chat on Instagram and you've been talking to models who have been on the show. What was your relationship like with these contestants on the show during the time that you were filming and verse now? Yeah. So a lot of people, we do talk about on the J's chats, because I'm the person who spent the most time with the girls. So I was obviously administering challenges or teaches, but the photo shoots really are just the longest segments

of the show. You only see about eight to ten minutes of it in each episode, but we could shoot for 15 hours. So I got to really know the girls, and we'd hang out at lunch and dinner. Well, some of it was on camera. A lot of it isn't, even though the cameras were shooting, you don't see it in the final edit.

So I got to learn how the girls tick, and my job was always to make sure they had everything they could to put their best foot forward. So, you know, some girls need a little push and a shove. Other girls need the handhold, to learn who they were. So in a lot of the girls, too, you know, I go back to Even Cycle One because you can see it on camera. They couldn't even cut around it.

You know, they were trying to make it look like Robin was challenging me in the bathroom when we were shooting in Buda Khan in Paris. And it was that new jewelry shoot. It was just her, Shannon, Elise, and Adrian left. Yes, I do remember them all. I remember every moment. I was going to say, I can't even remember, like, the people, some of the names of people I work with.

like that's incredible they all become part of your family but there's this scene specifically where robin was talking about you know because she was very religious but when the cameras weren't rolling she was always teasing and joking with me and kind of like this fun sexual way it was kind of funny um and we got along really well so on camera she's saying to me last week it was a brawn panty this week is two ribbons and a thong what's it going to be next week because i'm saying she could cover up with ribbons and a thong right and the thing is she goes my grandmama always told me stand for something, you go fall for everything. And I'm laughing. And they tried to make it look like I'm serious, but I didn't get along well with the girls. I didn't really have any like kind of

negative interactions. I'm sure, of course, there are moments where we're like pushing and I'm trying to get the girls to work, but we didn't not get along. So there are a lot of the models over the years I've remained in touch with, a couple of them I'm friends with. And so doing this, I wanted the girls to have an opportunity to just speak about their experiences also behind the scenes because the fans want to know, like their POV. And then also I'm kind of in those chats. I only have a couple left, but we're just also talking about, you know, clearing up the rumors that people didn't know. Yeah, exactly. The rumors are always so crazy. And obviously, you know, we had asked you about Tara, but are there the other kind of panelists, judges, like,

we're, have those people you've kept relationships with or not at all. Oh, of course. Yeah. You know, like, I've always loved Paulina Porcover since before she came on the show. And I knew Andre before the show and, you know, all of that. So it was great kind of working with them. And then, you know, obviously Miss Jay and Nigel, you know, we've always, we're always, like, see each other at events or when Nigel's doing one of his, you know, kind of, he does a lot

of philanthropic work. You know, I go and support him. So, yeah, we all, you know, keep in touch for sure. Good. That's great to hear. Jay, thank you so much for hopping on and talking with us. This has been fantastic. The book, I just want to, I want, last thing, is there like a little Carl Inspo on the Pablo like drawing because it feels like it? Yeah. Well, it wasn't really meant to. Some people say, oh, is that Carl Lagerfeld? It really wasn't meant to be, but the illustrator, Aaron Favalloro, who is this very famous fashion illustrator.

He lives in Sydney, Australia, and he draws Carl a lot and has a whole product line with it. It wasn't meant to be looking to look like drawing. It wasn't really supposed to look like me either. It was like a version, like somewhere in between. It's kind of a good in between. Yeah. Yeah, and Keisha really looks nothing.

And even the way I've drawn her in the book, she does not look anything like Tyra at all. So, yeah, again, and then there are other characters in the book. Like there's a Miss Thing. the model coach and there's a Mason Hughes who is the English, the British photographer judge. And so, you know, people get in there and they'll get to have a lot of fun. And yeah, it's a good time.

It's meant to entertain, especially during this time. It's perfect. Of course. You want to escape your bedroom walls in quarantine. Absolutely. We sure do. And the book is available everywhere. you can you can uh buy it download it download it lop's kindle physical whatever however you prefer to read

you can get um the wig the bitch and the meltdown anywhere you could buy books right now so go get it go read it jay thank you so much thanks so much for your time guys all right that wraps up today's episode of chicks in the office and like we've been saying each week we have new merch coming and it is actually coming tomorrow friday august now i'm getting the date hold on one second august 21st, our new merch will be live. So be ready for it. It's really great and really exciting. I love you guys.

Talk to you on Monday. Every day I see you. My head you are bad.