Club Shay Shay - Club Shay Shay - Damon Wayans Part 2

Episode Date: April 2, 2025

Welcome back to part 2 of our conversation with Damon Wayans as he opens up about his work with Bernie Mac on Mo’ Money and doing a comedy competition with him. He also recalls a hilarious prank pulled on him by Bruce Willis, shedding light on the playful side of his Hollywood experiences. Yet, not everything in Hollywood was a joke —Damon talks about working on toxic sets and the toll they took on him. He also discusses how he found inspiration for his iconic role of Major Payne. He goes on to talk about Orlando Brown, who he worked with as a kid. Damon also shares stories about his friendship with basketball legend Michael Jordan and what it's like to have a friendship with someone as iconic as MJ. He even opens up about the dumbest purchase he ever made, offering a humorous take on the lessons he's learned about money. Damon’s perspective on wealth and fame is both thought-provoking and sobering as he reveals how, in his experience, the more money you make, the fewer Black people you see. He praises LeBron James for staying loyal to his friends and working with them to build a successful, tight-knit team. As for fame, Damon shares his thoughts on the difficulties that come with it —how it’s hard, painful, and managing relationships with family, friends, and money can be a real challenge. He addresses the impact of cancel culture on his career, admitting it’s made him hesitant to return to stand-up. Damon also discusses the issue of joke stealing in comedy, sharing how Robin Williams paid comedians for the jokes he stole from them. Damon also reflects on his connection with Katt Williams, sharing insights on working together on My Wife and Kids. He touches on the difficult dynamics of nepotism in Hollywood, working with his family, and how he feels about his son, Damon Wayans Jr., stepping into the comedy spotlight. Damon’s time on My Wife and Kids was a pivotal moment in his career. He talks about making a conscious effort to represent Black families in a positive light. His passion for inclusion shines through as he discusses how important it is to have Black people as a part of his sets and the broader television and film landscape. In this episode, Damon doesn't shy away from discussing Kanye West, offering a nuanced perspective on Kanye's current behavior while acknowledging his love and admiration for the artist despite the controversy. With a healthy dose of humor and heart, Damon discusses his personal evolution, from his marriage and divorce to his current health challenges, including living with type 2 diabetes and surviving a brain tumor. This episode is a celebration of family, resilience, and the hard-earned wisdom that comes with a life well-lived. Damon shares how he now values the beauty of his family and faith more than ever and what he wants his legacy to be. Tune in for a candid, inspiring, and hilarious conversation with one of comedy’s brightest stars. #volume See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild-haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell-bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. He was out of his mind, and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. Listen to Divine Intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? Julie Swipings here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.

We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go. The name? Energy Line with Nate and JSB. Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey, life. All topics are fair game, right? Exactly, and you'll never know who will drop by to join us. Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.

Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This past season on my podcast, Here's the Thing, you get your podcasts. You know, you do three hours in the morning, you write, three hours in the afternoon, go pick up a kid from school, and right at night, and after nine hours, you come out with seven pages, and then you're moving on. Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for coming back. Part two is underway. What did Kenan do?

Pray? What did you do? Mike Tyson want to beat you up. Pray? Part two is underway. What did Kenan do? Pray? What did he do? Mike Tyson wanna beat you up, pray? The Super Bowl. Fox put that on, put you guys on and stole the audience. But Marlon say you got him in trouble, what you do?

I think I did a gerbil joke with Richard Gere. Richard Gere. Improvise that. It was funny. We only lost one or two sponsors. The dad already got the money. What are you mad about? But don't put us on live if you don't want it live. That was my thing with SNL is this is supposed to be live,

and I don't feel no edge. Right. I don't feel, this is so, I don't know, it's like methodical. It didn't feel like, oh, there's some danger. You like being on the edge. I loved being on the edge. Right. You're not there anymore.

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safety info. Let me ask you this as a comedian up, did you ever want, was your goal always, before I make my other point, was your goal always to do stand up and go to television? Because it seemed like there's a natural progression. You look at Richard Pryor, you look at Gene Wilder, you look at a lot of the others, you know, Cosby, you look at a lot of stand up comedians, go that route. Was that your goal? No, I just wanted to be as funny as I could be on stage. And stand-up became therapy for me.

You know, I've been able to solve a lot of problems in my life by going on stage. And I just enjoyed talking about my foot. I talked about my brother dying and just know just everything and I did stand up because I had to. Okay. Because you know I've been suicidal. I've been you know in very very dark places but you know when you go on stage and you

talk about it and people laugh you go it's not that bad what else is messed up in my life. Is that what a comedian job is to take real life events and make them funny? Even if it's personal events, like you said, you were suicidal, you talk about that and you make a joke out of it or you see things going on in the world, you make it funny and you make people laugh and forget it. And for that set, 30 minutes, an hour, 90 minute set, they forget about the problems that there might be going. Yeah your job as a comedian is to live until you almost die

to survive it and then cry then put a smile on your face and tell them why. Wow. That's what Richard did he set the bar. Yes. Wow. Why do you think black men get so much criticism for wearing dresses in movies when whites have won Academy Awards for doing said same thing? Because blacks is gay. No, I don't know why. I just think, I just think, you know, you can make anything an issue for me. It's like, is it funny? Right. Right. To me, Tyler Perry in a dress all day, every day I'm there. Right. Hello. That's funny. I don't care. It's funny.

So, you know, if, if, if you do it and it's not funny, then I got a problem with you. Because you went through hair and makeup and you did it. Yeah, for that long period of time. And it wasn't funny. Right. White chicks, hilarious. Yes.

Big mama house, hilarious. I don't, I personally don't have a problem. I don't know. I think we say it because we're crabs in a barrel sometimes and we try to pull people down. But like you said, Dustin Hoffman won an Academy Award. Rob Williams won an Academy Award. I don't have a problem with it. Are there any roles that you auditioned for

that you didn't get that you felt you should have gotten? Or there's a role that you turned down, you're like, damn, I probably should have took that one. Every role you auditioned for you think you should have got. But, you know, every role is not for you. So I had auditioned, not auditioned, they picked me to be in, what, the Show Me the Money, what movie was that? Jerry Maguire? Jerry Maguire, yeah. Yeah. Had a big meeting in New York and-

So you're going to be Cooper Gooding's character? I was supposed, yeah, I was up for that. They wanted me, I met with Tom Cruise and the director, what's his name? Cameron? Cameron Crowe? Crowe, yeah. And I think that's his name. And we're walking around Jim Brooks' apartment in New York

and we're doing the scene where he meets him at the mall and he's walking around like this here and I'm on fire. My brain is just like, I'm improvising and they laughing and me and Tom Cruise, I'm just like I'm improvising and they laughing and me and Tom Cruise I'm just like and out of the corner of my eyes see Tom doing this You too tall yeah, and I'm like what is this? What am I? Yeah, I don't know what's going on and then afterwards I didn't get it and Cameron wrote me this beautiful five page letter and it and it's explaining to me, like, how talented he thinks I am,

and how great and wonderful, and, you know, but, you know, it was out of his control. And it's fine. Right. Because Cooper laid it out. Do I think I would have gotten an Oscar? I don't know. But I don't even think for one minute

about another man's success. I'm happy for him Right. It's another brother chalk it up. Right another one. There's something good But you were supposed to be like Batman forever also, right? No, that's Marlon not Marlon. Mm-hmm Richard Pryor Bob when is that because we keep talking about it and if I'm not mistaken, I think Mike Epps was was like we're close to doing it and then something happened. Right. Well, I was the original one that they picked and supposedly Richard wanted me to do it. And Martin Scorsese was going to produce it. And it was, you know, we met about it.

They loved it and, you know, just felt I could really and then I don't know what happened but it went from me to Eddie to Mike Mike Epps to Marlin to it's just like You know, are we gonna get that are we gonna get the the the biop of Richard Pryor? I hope so There was a wonderful script written by this playwright in New York. I forgot his name. Very bad. Anyway, but he wrote this amazing script based on Richard Pryor's book, Pryor Misdemeanors. Right. And it's just great. And then I don't know what the politics are, but it's a movie that needs to be made. Right.

And... Because his life is complex. I mean, you can't sugarcoat it is what it is. It's his life. He lived it. And I think it's his life. I think it's his ex-wife. Right. Okay. Who wants to make it her story. Okay. Because I read her book, A Fallen Angel, which was a good book, but Richard was abusive and she wants it to be more about that.

And I met with Jennifer and I was like, look, Richard Pryor is Michael Meeks with punch lines. That's how black people see him. Yeah. They would lose their minds if they made this movie about you. It ain't gonna fly. You are a miniscule part of Richard Pryor to us.

So you do yourself a disservice trying to make it this here. This that you have right now is amazing. You should go with that. And then I never heard from her again. Wow. Bernie Mac was in Mo Money. Who was Bernie like? Love Bernie Mac.

One of the funniest guys ever. Oh, man. You know, Bernie Mac was, I was there doing in Chicago the Miller Lite Comedy, I guess it was comedy competition. Okay, yeah. And they were giving the winner like $15,000 and Bernie won that night. I was hosting. Mm-hmm.

And Bernie, that was the same night that, um, uh, Robin Harris died. Okay, yeah. Right? And, um, he did a tribute to Robin Harris and that's how he won. Wow. I'm looking at this, you and the last boy scout with Halle Berry and Bruce Willis. How did you and Bruce team up and come up with this? Oh, we didn't team up. I got a call that they wanted to meet me in New York. Okay. And this is funny because I say, okay, I'm going to come to New York. He was shooting

some movie in New York, I think Howard Hawke or something like that. And they flew me out. The limo driver comes to pick me up at my house and he has a sign saying Kenan Wayans. I was like, Oh snap. Okay. And I get in the car, get to the airport, the greeter Kenan Ivory Wayans. I think they want Kenan. I get to my hotel. I check in under Kenan and I get there and I'm like, all right, I'm gonna just go for this and I go and I go to the set and Bruce goes gotcha That was I was like I had a knot in my stomach because I was you know You don't want me but I'm here and I just wanted to meet you right now

But they wanted me and they put me in the movie. And it was good to do a big action film. Yes. It's weird when you do sketches. It's like five minutes and then you're done. When you're doing a movie. Three months, six months. Yeah, six months.

And you just go, wow, this is pretty cool. Big ass budget. We have the lobster and steak every day for lunch. I'm like, man, this is crazy. How have you learned? I mean, is it a situation where you've ever been on set and you're doing something and you and maybe someone in the movie don't get along?

How do you suppress that and say, you know what, I'm here to do the movie. Damn you, damn him, damn her, whatever the case may be, I'm doing this and then I'm gonna be out. I don't care if I ever see y'all again. It happens and you know, you would see my family whenever we do something it's always a party. Right. You come on a set of a WANZ project, it's a party. People hug each other and they laugh and you know, and it's alright, quiet, let's on the set. We're trying to make the people behind the camera laugh and you know, and it's all right quiet let's on the set we trying to make the the people behind the camera laugh and you know but then you go on another set and this and I've been on toxic sets

where you just go damn this don't feel good right just like this is this is horrible you know and you okay being this kind of an asshole? And you gonna maintain this for the rest of, for the next three months? Wow. I don't get it. And I've worked with people who just like, woof. You ready for it to be over, huh?

Yes. Ready to like quit. Like I'm out, check please. Major pain. Mm-hmm. Is that your masterpiece? Is that your Mona Lisa? Is that your?

I love major pain. The funny thing about major pain, and most of the times with my projects, I worry about other people first. I think about like, what are the kids? Do they know their character? I didn't figure out the character of Major Payne until the cameras rolled.

So I was like, so there was a guy we had to do, like I worked with a tech guy, went down to Camp Pendleton and this guy named Captain Dale Dye. And Captain Dale Dye talked like this. But he was always like this. That's how we ain't talk. And I was like, that's interesting, but that's too, it'll get on your nerves. And then the stunt coordinator was a guy named Billy Washington. And Billy had a

uber bike and Billy talked like this. And Billy, he was real mean. He told the guy, stunt man, we was doing blank man. He was on a gurney told the guy, a stunt man was doing, blank man. Right. He was on a gurney and the guy was opening up multiple doors, laying on the gurney. But he had come up too high. So his head was hitting the doors going through. And he was going, ow, ow. And at the end of the take, Billy said,

you want me to call your mama? Get your ass back on that table and get the scene done. And the guy was, his head was bleeding. I'm like, this dude is crazy. So I took Billy Washington and Captain Dale die and I came with major pain because he had an overbite and he talked and looked talk and look crazy. So yeah, it was, I think people love it because it's so extreme and to torture kids is fun. You know what I mean? And to actually get away with it, you know,

where it's funny to them and funny to me. And one of the greatest feelings is to sit and watch it with my grandkids and they laugh. Right. You just go wild. That's, that's amazing. Orlando Brown was a star in your movie. Um, he was very, very talented as a kid, but now seemingly going, going viral for all the wrong reasons. Have you, have you spoken to him? He said I touched him. He said, I touched him. No. He'd be wild with it. Yeah.

Have you reached out to him? Have you spoken to him? No. I mean, he's somebody else who I love Orlando. We had a great time on Major Payne. And there were times, but sometimes, guy got to talk to you. Right. And I don't know who's around them

I don't know we don't have that kind of relationship. Okay, you know, I mean, I love him I want what's best for him, but you know, it's he need some Mike. Hey, come on young Let's talk, you know, and I don't feel one. I don't know. I don't have his Information the other thing is y'all don't have that type of relationship. And you don't want to get rejected. You know what I mean? You don't know what's... When somebody starts talking crazy, you don't know what they'll do. It's not what he'll say, it's what he'll do if I tried to reach out to him.

You know what I mean? So I just hope that he finds peace because he definitely is not in a good place right now. As being a top comedic stand-up, being a top actor, obviously in the 90s you had it going on. I mean, do you buy anything lavish? Did you live? I mean, you say you broke your marriage up, so you kind of live in a file. I had a nice house in a gated community. And Michael Jordan moved in next door to shoot Space Jam. But my wife got that in the divorce. You go over and check him out? You talk to him?

Yeah, we became like friends. But I gave Michael his space. Because you don't go behind a gated community to be bothered by Right. Yes. To do next door. So, you know, we had a have a friendship and it's based in, you know, love and respect. Right. He's taught me a lot of things about life and how to navigate fame and all the other stuff. But she got the house. She got the house. You want it back? No, I want her happy. No, honestly, because it's, you know, when you say it's over, it's over, right?

And you pay whatever, when you think about, you know, giving up, who Jeff Bezos gave up, like three billion? No, 40 plus billion. No, that was the other guy. Who's the... No, Bezos gave him the stocks. Oh, okay. Yeah, it was over 40. But that was just for peace, the price of peace. I like chaos with 40 billion.

40. But he gonna go make 600 more. Yeah, but he got $230 now, so he good. Right? But, but, but, but, that, that, you know, as a woman you gotta say, someone would give me 40 billion dollars to get out of their life. Damn. I sure wish I had 40 billion. What do you think the dumbest purchase you've ever made?

Hmm. Drugs? What do you think the dumbest purchase you've ever made? Hmm drugs Back in the day dumb But I've never really been an addict I was just stupid hardcore stuff Coke I've done pretty much everything But I always like getting up and going to work. So I never could get addicted. I didn't have time to get addicted to anything but now it's just like you go well I'm glad I experienced it and I'm done. I came out on the other side.

I don't need nothing. Nothing. Did it interfere with any time? Was the drugs ever a hindrance for anything that you were doing at the time? No, doing the drugs to do the things I wasn't doing. Yeah but it was like you know it's I feel bad for people today because it's so dangerous the drugs they doing could kill you. Yeah. I never you if you told me this could kill you I wouldn't do it. Right. Because you don't know what you get. Now they're lacing it with everything. And what have you learned about money? Money you see is money you spend. And

people always want to spend your money when they see you. True. True. And the thing is for me, money is a tool, right? And I'm grateful to have some tools, you know, and to be able to help people when I can. But right now I don't need nothing. I have everything I want in life, you know, and really that's my peace with God and peace with men. And then, you know then I got my music.

I'm a vinyl freak. I love vinyl music. Also, you got a bunch of old 45s, huh? No, they're albums. I don't have 45s. Yeah, I have the albums. I have some 45s, but for disco. I used to DJ.

I've always DJed. And I've always had two turntables my whole life since I was like 13 years old. You said money is a, what did you say? Tool. Tool. Because people look at money in different ways. Me, I look at money, I like, it's not so much money,

I like freedom. Freedom is what money provides. So, you know, and I think there are different things. I mean, because if I could have freedom and still be what I am, be, you know, still don't have to worry about anything, because that's what, you know, you want to get to a place like we were just talking about the 40 billion. So you get 40 billion, you can say, F you. I don't care. I don't want to do nothing. I don't like you I've been wanting to say this for the longest time. Yeah, but you got you know, we live in a Etch-a-Sketch society where You're no longer free

So you can't rely on your money, okay, because you don't know what's gonna be written on the next Etch-a-Sketch, right? right, so you can't I feel like I can't think about my money in terms of my freedom. My freedom is what God gave me, my ability to create, my ability to love, my ability to be disciplined and to take care of myself and those I love. Right. There was a viral clip, You did a stand up special. They say you were talking about blacks making millions then and asking, there's still racism in America.

Mm-hmm. And can you believe that video in 1990, we're talking about 35 years ago, is still viral today. Well, it's never going to change. But you do realize, people think that. People think that once a black person get millions, hundreds of millions that racism has dissipated. Well, if you, what, what, Damon, if you made a hundred million dollars, you were 200 million

dollars, how is there racism? Right. Well, what happens is the more money you make, the less black people you see. Money brings you into a new category. You move to a different house in a different neighborhood and you get different friends, your money, people that come around you to help you make the money and maintain your money and make more money.

The complexion changes, you know what I mean? That's what I love about LeBron. He's got his own. He's got his own. He's got Mav and he got Randy and he got Rich. Yeah, yeah. So he kept that group around him. Yeah.

But unless you have that group, cause like you say, the higher you climb, the less you're gonna see and you're like, okay, well, they don't treat me that way. So it's gone. And it's divide and conquer, you know? At a certain point they sit you down. You know, Beyonce's father. All right, we got it from here.

The Jacksons. All right, Joe. We got it. We got it from here. You know, you sit back and go, what? You know, Venus is from Reno. We got him. You know, but it's, and if you want them to be successful,

you have to kind of let it happen. And then they hit new heights, but you become a liability. You know, I mean, as the parent, well, where were you those nights in the rain when we were hitting balls? Let me ask you this, when you're on top of the world and you were, you still are. I mean, you got to live a great life. Like you say, you live a great life. You don't have any, you don't overly concerned about money.

You have a family. You can still feed your family. You got grandkids. But when you're at that apex in the 90s, what was that like? It was a pain in the ass. Really? Yeah. Like being famous is like being a beautiful woman

on a period. Okay, you didn't explain it. Nobody know the cramps and stuff that you feel. What's going on? Yeah, they see the external beauty and they think you should be happy. And it's like, I'm bleeding. Right.

Okay, you wanna know? I'm bleeding. So what was, we see this external, we see Damon, and then everything's like, man, major pain, and more money, and yada, and yada. What was brewing inside that we couldn't see? Club foot. You know, my foot, I'm always in pain.

Really? Oh, constant pain, yeah. It's like a throbbing pain, you know? But but it's you get used to it. They can't do anything for it. They can't give you like medication or shoot it up or something. I don't want medication. It's a reminder to be grateful. This foot took me a long way. You know, if I didn't have this pain, I wouldn't have this edge. I wouldn't have my perspective on life. I wouldn't have a pain, I wouldn't have this edge. I wouldn't have my perspective on life.

I wouldn't have that fire on my tongue, right? So I'm grateful, but people can't see that. People can't see that you are, the internal conflicts you have, with family and friends and people, that you tend to lose friends because you loan them money and then they don't pay you back. And then they get mad at you. Because you asked for a back.

Yeah. But I had to- Not even for asking for it, just because you look at them. I'm going to pay you, man. See? Nothing. Yeah. Yeah. But why is it like that? Why, I mean, if you come to me and ask me for money, I shouldn't have to go to you to repay it.

You should be mad enough, you was mad enough to ask, here you go. But I've learned, Naaman, I don't know what you think about this, I'll only lend money that I know I can lose that I'm not getting back. Right, it's a gift. Yes. That's how I do it, I give it.

Because I already know, because we're gonna end up falling out, and I don't wanna fall out. I don't want a 10, 15, 20, 30 year relationship to end over money. So here you go. Cause I know you're not going to pay me back. Right. Well, that, I mean, that's what that's maturity.

Yeah. It's like, you know, you just, I don't, I've paid a lot of people out of my life. You mentioned like standup is, is standup therapeutic for you? Absolutely. Why do you stop? I used to have to need guys. I don't need it anymore. And you'll need therapy no more. No, no, I'm at peace. I really am. I'm at peace. And you know, the therapy is knowing that I can bow my head and you know,

that God is hearing my prayers and seeing in my life my prayers answered, and it ain't for material things, it's for the safety of my family and for me to have wisdom and to be grateful for everything. If therapeutic, you don't need to scratch that itch anymore. So now what do you do to replace what you gave up by doing comedy? I write. Okay.

I write for sport. I drive my son crazy because every other week I'm sending him a script, read this. He's like, dad, I got a life. I have six kids. Come on, man, just read it. When you get a chance, read it. But I write because I do have a fear of going crazy.

You have so much going on in your head. No, because I'm running my family. It's like diabetes. You've got to know that it's a possibility. And the thing is, I can't turn my brain off. I can't not think about these stories and characters that come to mind. So rather than have them up in my head scrambled,

I put them on paper and I go, one day I'll make money off of this or sell it or something, but I had to get it out. Do you sleep? I do, I sleep wonderfully. How do you sleep so well and it's hard for you to turn your mind on? When you get 65. It's easy. You just lay down. I got to do a seated bed.

It's beautiful. Did cancel culture scare you away? Cancel culture made me not really want to do stand-up. I had this long conversation with Dave Chappelle. He's like, man, we need you. Get back out there, man. We need that voice. Come on. And I was like, and I had done it again at his, you know, him encouraging me to do it. But you know what today you can't be a shock comic. Especially if you're famous right because the hitch in your pockets. Right. So back in the day guys like Sam Kenison and Dice Clay and you know we that's how I grew up. I grew up with guys that start trouble. You know what they say? And it's like people, they want to talk about comedy.

You got reporters talking about comedy. You don't know my world. You are not qualified to talk about comedy. If you ain't never bought a joke or told a joke or sold a joke or stole a joke. Or wrote a joke. Or wrote a joke, you have joke or sold a joke or stole a joke or wrote a joke or wrote a joke. You have no business talking about comedy. You ain't have been paid in burgers. You can't talk about comedy. So I think a conversation about comedy and what's acceptable should be held

amongst comedians. Right. It's Julie Stewart Banks. I'm doing a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts and the National Hockey League. And I'm paired up with one of my favorite players, the always quotable Nate Thompson. I wore nine NHL sweaters and I have story after story to share. And believe it or not, I have plenty to say and not just about hockey.

Believe me, he does. Energy Line with Nate and JSB is the name of the podcast and it's gonna be, well, it's gonna be quite the ride. We're officially line mates, Nate. We're the Energy Line. We'll have plenty of folks join us, current players, some of my former teammates, Hall of Famers, and wait to see some of the connections that Julie has. She has quite the Rolodex.

Okay, we'll lean into Nate's playing experience and tap into our interests away from hockey and try to do what energy lines are supposed to do, provide an emotional boost. How do you feel about all that, Nate? I'm vibing, Julie. I'm ready to roll. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. Somebody violated the FBI and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. The FBI went around to all their neighbors and said to them, do you think these people are good Americans? It's got heists, tragedy, a trial of the century,

and the god-damnedest love story you've ever heard. I picked up the phone and my thought was, this is the most important phone call I'll ever make in my life. I couldn't believe it. I mean, Brendan, it was divine intervention. Listen to Divine Intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Camila Ramon, Peloton's first Spanish-speaking cycling and tread instructor. I'm an athlete, entrepreneur, and almost most importantly, a perreo enthusiast.

And I'm Liz Ortiz, former pro soccer player and Olympian and like Kami, a perreo enthusiast. Come on, who is it? Our podcast Hasta Bajo is where sports, music, and fitness collide. And we cover it all, de arriba hasta abajo. Sit down with real game changers in the sports world, like Miami Dolphins CMO Priscilla Shoemate, who is redefining what it means to be a Latina leader. It all changed when I had this guy come to me. He said to me, you know, you're not Latina. First of all, what does that mean?

My mouth is wide open. Yeah. History makers like the Sucar family who became the first Peruvians to win a Grammy. It was a very special moment for us. It's been 15 years for me in this career. Finally, things are starting to shift into a different level. Listen to Hasta Abajo on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network. If Dave Chappelle wants to talk to me about my act, I want to hear it. If Jerry Seinfeld, if Jay Leno, guys who've done it, yeah, I want to hear what you say because you're going to do it in a way to encourage, right? Not to just tell me you can't. I ain't never put on a football helmet and got hit by no guy your size and got up and did it again. What can I talk to you about football, just because I watch some games?

I can watch 1,000 games, and I can't tell you what a locker room smell like. You know what I mean? I don't know the camaraderie sitting on that plane flying into bad weather. I haven't experienced that. So I can't talk to you intelligently about it. Same thing with comedy. It's a conversation for comedians, not reporters.

But Chappelle has been one of the few guys that have been able to beat council culture because they can't take, because you know, normally like you said, they hit you in the purse. But he's like, well hey, I just put up a dot com and I'll just go do it. I don't need Hollywood. I don't need to do movies anymore.

So you really, you can't really hit me where it hurts me, which is financially. It's also, he's a unicorn, right? And Dave has rode the wave, right? Of, you know, he didn't take any breaks. It's when you take the break and then you try to come back. Then they can hit you and get you because you, he already knows how to talk to them.

They're his puppets. You know what I mean? They bow to Dave Chappelle because he is the only real voice out there in terms of holding us down, holding comedy down. So, yeah, I mean, but you can't be a shock comedian. Today, you have to have a conversation. Like, I could do stand-up comedy. But it's like understanding, you can't go on stage. You usually be able to go, man, I hate my

wife. And then now you say, I hate, and you hear women, you know, and it's like, but if you go on stage, you go, I don't understand women. Right. That's different. Now the guard is down. Help me understand why women like, you know. Same behavior no matter what you do it. It's a conversation, not a proclamation.

Right. So yeah, I could do it, but I like going on stage and say, I hate. I wanna hate stuff. I mean, when Bursas was out, you like to do a Versus. I was just having a conversation with somebody on the radio and go, have you ever thought about a Versus? And I said Dave Chappelle because I think Dave Chappelle is like, you know, like, he's a man, he don't talk. I said, you know, I don't want to dog anybody here but like you know

I'm a great comedian right so I want to do I would do a versus against another great comedian right you know I mean that's all I was saying but they took it out of they took it out of context yeah would Trump be in an office the PC culture because now people feel very comfortable saying, doing pretty much anything. Are you okay with that? I'd rather know how you feel, what you think. Yeah, you know, I'd rather say no, you don't have the job.

Or say no, you got the job. As opposed to no black person. We don't want you to work. So I think it's, we've lost our way, I think, as a society. And we're so, I call it the bifurcation of men, where you don't, it's like every everybody is I don't know just soft yes you know and it's soft about everybody's scared to say how they really feel yeah it's like what what what's wrong with telling the truth

say it say the truth at least I know where to go or where you know where not to go Joe Rogan said you need better friends. You needed somebody to tell you said Damon get your ass back on stage, man You too good to be housed up hold up in a house writing put those writing and go do a set I Love Joe Rogan, I've actually stolen a joke from Joe Rogan. You stole his joke Yeah, but- You know how people feel about stealing jokes now. No, not intentionally.

So here's what happens with comedians is like you, this is why I don't watch comics, is because you are, you can't help but have that writer on in your brain go, oh, if he had done that and that, right? So the school I grew up in, if you watch the comedian do something on stage and then you, after he comes up, you go, I got a tag for you.

And you give him that joke that you wrote in your head because that's his. So when I was coming up, there was like, we go to this place called Cantor's, a little dive on Fairfax. And after the clubs closed down like two, three o'clock in the morning, Jerry Seinfeld would be at a table, and Jay Leno, and my brother, and Robert Townsend.

And we were poor. We were eating French fries, sharing some French fries. That's how broke we were. But what would happen is Jay would come over and go, hey, Kenan, I saw you do this joke. And I was thinking about it. And then Kenan would get up and go and tell Jerry. And Jerry would come over and go, hey Kenan, I saw you do this joke and I was thinking about it and then Kenan would get up and go and tell Jerry and Jerry would come over

and tell Arsenio, you know, and it was like a community. And if another comedian was on stage doing somebody else's act, they would yell up, that's Jeff Cicero. Really? In the middle of your act, yep. I was there tonight, Joe Rogan was gonna beat up Carlos Mencia.

He stole a joke. Yeah. And he told, and Carlos said, hey, it worked for you. I like that. He's so stupid. I can't even hit you because you just really believe that. I know you, I don't know if you watched the interview but you've heard it. Cat sat down with me about a

year ago. Oh the world heard it. And people got upset with me Damon. Mm-hmm. Because they say well you should have defended this you should have defended that or you shouldn't have. All I did was ask him a question. I didn't know that there was so much animosity or beef between comedians. I don't think the world knew it. The comedic world knew it because you live in that, like you said, you live in that world. So you know what guys and gals don't get along with each other. When you heard the interview, what, tell me what went through your mind. I laughed because I, cause Kat is funny. Kat is one of the few comedians that in one

word you know who it is. As soon as he opened his mouth, him, Wanda Sykes, Chris Rock, you know, that means you have a clear and distinctive voice. Right? Right. So when I watch a comedian, I'm watching funny. I'm watching what's going on behind eyes when he goes Um, and he reaches for his drink and then he starts and he's thinking funny, right? He's really roasting these guys, right people took it, you know, like personal like he's trying to he was just having fun Right got that liquor in him had the fire going behind him, you know, he was like feeling stuff. I don't think, I personally don't think it's,

I feel like we're a fraternity and there's enough stuff going on out there for you to be talking about instead of talking about what's going on in here. You know what I mean? Because, you know, like I said, I think it's funny, but everybody steals jokes. You know, it's like, it's not stealing the joke.

It's once you know is not yours and you keep doing it, that's the crime. Because this is, you know, it's funny how it works. The mind just works and is grabbing stuff, especially for people who don't write jokes. Right. They just go up on stage and talk. Right.

Cat Williams talks, you know? Steve Harvey, you know, you just talk. Right. It's almost like being an MC and you're going, hey, where you from? What you do? And the first thing that comes to mind is what you say. But sometimes you're saying the first thing that came to your mind is somebody else's joke. Do you have to give, if you steal somebody's joke, do you have to give them credit for it? No, you know, Robin Williams was a notorious thief.

No, you know, Robin Williams was a notorious thief. I ain't lying. His manager used to walk around with a checkbook and Robin would come off stage and comedians would be like, hey, he just took me and he just write him a check, $75. Damn. Because he knew Robin was all stream of conscious and he would steal material. He was known.

Comedians would go, I'm not going on because Robin's here. Yeah. You know, but it happens. Right. But I always look at comedy like this. If this is not the last joke I'm ever going to tell, I ain't going to treat it like that. Oh, okay.

You ain't taking my wife or my kid. It's just a joke. That means I got to think of something else. Right. You know what I mean? But for people to be all up in arms about a joke, really, what is the joke? Did the joke end the war in the Middle East? Was it that powerful? Then what you tripping over? The creator from the Jamie Foxx show, say he and Jamie, if I'm not mistaken, haven't received a check because he said the network said they're still in the red and that they're operating at a loss 25 years later. It's hard for and I think a lot of people when they hear that it's hard for them to believe, especially with the success that

the Jamie Foxx show enjoyed. Well, it was on the network. Yeah. Right. So I made a lot of money off of wife and kids. I can't I can't relate to that. Right. This is a different network, though. So Jamie and, you know, and living color, too. I get like residual checks for 39 cents. I'm like, what? What is that? Trying to be funny? Yeah. Right.

Yeah. I saved the postage for that. Right. So but but that's what they send out now what happened with these upstart networks WB was one of them Fox was one of them They got these sweetheart deals from sag and after where they didn't have to because they were to upstart, right? but they still You know operating as if they just started right andB, my brothers didn't really make no money off the Wayans Brothers show. So, you know, like I said,

I made a lot of money from wife and kids. So that's why you want to be on Major Network? Yeah, I still get checks. Not to rub it in, but I still get checks. My wife and kids, what's your favorite memory? Because I mean, like I said, you voted one of the greatest TV dads of all time. Uh greatest moments was the the bond that I had with Tisha and

George and Jennifer and Lou Parker. You know, it was just some of the best times and you know, everything I do is family. So, June, Damon Jr. was there and my son Michael and my sister Kim wasn't there. But like a lot of family, you know, on a day to day. And it's nothing like walking in and seeing faces that looked like you, you know. And now... Is that conscious? Absolutely.

When you do things like that, you're like, I want to make sure that we're well represented. If I don't, nobody else will. So if you don't make that conscious effort, that you hire a producer who happens to be white, because that's who the studio wants, because they control their money, and they want to make sure that their money, you know, they, okay, that's cool. And then you tell him the mandate, I need you to hire some black folks.

He's going to give you one or two people, hair and makeup. And you go, no, that's not enough. I need department heads. I want camera. I want a cameraman. Right. You know, I'm very like adamant about what I want. Right.

And, you know, when you walk on, and I understand all white sets, because people wanna be, it's about a comfort zone. Being comfortable. You wanna be racist and tell those jokes, and then you look up and you see the black grip walking around, you just feel uncomfortable. You can't take it.

You can't tell your jokes, right? Okay, but it's the same way with us. It's like, we bring in people and it's a family and you're free to express yourself. We wanna talk about eating oxtails. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you had, Cat was on the set of My Wife and Kids for a few episodes.

Oh yeah, Cat used to open for me. I knew Cat was, you know. Did you know Cat was gonna blow up? Absolutely, that's why I brought on My Wife and Kids, because he would open for me Cat was one of those comedians like I took him to Vegas. He got Stan Orvation 20 minutes set Wow He was powerful still powerful, but like he was like

When he was young he was all over the storm and splits, sliding across the stage and just go, wow, I gotta bring my A-game. You know what I mean? And I think what most comedians respected about me is I never told them to not do material. Like, you know, it's customary for the opening act to go, hey, is there any jokes that you don't want? I said, no, go do you.

Really? Yeah, I don't want you to tamp down. I don't want you to hold down anything. D-Ray, all of these guys, hey, is there any jokes that you don't want? I said, no, go do you. Really? Yeah. I don't want you to tamp down nothing. I don't want you to hold down anything. D-Ray, all of these guys. Nope, just don't hold it in. Just go back. I just have to be better.

Hold on. I'm reading that you have an Oscar-worthy film with Cat, your brother Marlon, Terry Crews that you won't release. Yeah. Why? The myth. Oh, you mean? It's just that what happened was I shot this movie called Behind the Smile about

this comedian who moves from Cleveland to LA and he meets his idol, who's me, and his idol sees his potential. He takes him under his wing and then destroys him because he's threatened by him to the point where the kid blows his brains out on stage. It's called Behind the Smile. And Marlon is absolutely brilliant in this movie. But I went to sell it and Netflix was the first place to come to me. This is before, so this movie was in 2004 or 2005 and they came to me and I didn't like the deal. I just said I'm putting in the vault. But that was like the only, I mean we got great reviews and we did a festival

up in Aspen and Dave Chappelle was like, oh man that's my favorite movie. That's why I went to Africa So so what so if they were to come back and offer you more money would you let it go? Yeah, I would tell yeah, I told Marlon. I don't want to go shop it But if he can sell it sell it. It's fine. It's a great. It's a he's brand cat is brand This is like, you know, I got Cat Williams George Wallace What's his name? Bob? He died recently Bob. I'm saying sag it isn't it and Jim Belushi and

Yeah, it's just it's a great great cast You got many how many movies do you think you're having the ball that you've shot or you got scripts? Just that one, but I've scripts, it's crazy. I've got cabinets of scripts, TV and film, because I have to write. I have to, just because it gives me peace and it also gives me something to think about. That's like, so when I wake up in the morning, I'm thinking about my script. I'm not thinking about what's wrong in the world. Right. Thinking about these characters. You know I got a production company, right?

Do you? I'm gonna give you some if you want. I gave you some. I just wrote it. Yeah, I do. All right. We might need to look at that film. Okay. I know some to look at that film. I know some people that know some people. Well, let's meet some people. Do some things with some people.

Papa's House, your new show. Yes. Brother, Sister, Granddaughter, I mean, you mentioned that like when you do something, hey, it's a family affair. Right, cause I'm gonna go to, here's what is wonderful about like doing my show. So my granddaughter is actually in an episode, she's brilliant, Robert Townsend directed it. Crazy

because Robert Townsend directed me in my first thing and then he's directed my granddaughter in her first thing. Then my sister Kim is a director, writer, Sean is a writer, Damien directed an episode, Michael's in the writer room, Kim, and you know, it's just like to walk in. It's what it does to me psychologically is I have to check my ego at the door. Right? So I walk in and I got to show them how to do it, how to lead.

Right? And so, you know, my son is also an EP, but you know, he's kind of defer different to his dad. Right. But it's also like, my temperament is so that everybody feels at ease. Right. As Damon goes, so goes the show. Right. Right. And Junior also is like, you know, it's like, no, we gotta be here on time, all the time. You know, you're EP, you gotta set an example. Right. When you say all, so people in your family is in the room,

how different are you intellectually? Like when you write, how close, how similar? Are you like, you think like Kenan? Do you think like Marlon? Does Kim think like you? Does Sean think like this? I'm like this, you know, at think like Keenan? Do you think like Marlon? Does Kim think like you? Does Sean thinks like this? I'm like this, you know, at the end of the day, I have veto power.

So I wanna know what you bring to the table. I wanna hear what you think. And that's every writer in the room. Everybody has good ideas. But not every idea is good for this particular episode. But I wanna hear them all. Because for the most part, my brain works like this. That's it. Right. And either it is or it ain't. Right. Right. Either it's a good episode, a good story, or it doesn't work.

My brain, because I write all the time, I can see it just in the pitch. Okay. Yeah. That'll work. You know, but everybody feels good about contributing to these episodes. You know, we haven't seen Sean in a while because I was looking for, because I had never seen Kim. I think I saw you in passing, but to meet you at the NAACP Image Awards, obviously Marlon, a couple of years, many, many many years ago I met both of them is uh is he still writing Sean it's amazing Sean they're working on scary movie I don't know what number six but yeah so since a Marlin is in Papa's house are you gonna be a scary movie probably not I mean you perfect with the foot. Are you done with movies? No, it's not done with movies. It's just that particular, you know, they be watching

scary movies that I don't... That you don't really care for. Yeah, and I don't play with demons. Because I don't want them playing with me. You know what, I've never really had, because normally when I give my family money, but when you're working with family, how do you negotiate with them? Because they be trying to upcharge you. No, well family gets what they deserve. They have fair market value, Kim and Sean, and it's the younger ones that come along,

you got to earn it. Right. You know, so my son, he's a staff writer and he's earned it. He's got three scripts in this season. So you get paid for scripts too. You can't cheat the process, you know, because then you, you don't want to sit a bad precedent, do you? Because what, if they're not working for you, ain't nobody else going to be giving them money just because. You's like, I want you to earn it.

I want you to earn this. I'm not gonna give you what you deserve. I'm gonna give you what you earn. And once you earn it, that means you deserve it and I'm gonna pay you accordingly. Well, the thing is, like, the industry has a set for what you get at each level. So it's not on me.

It's okay. You know, and they can't cheat him even if they wanted to. Wanted to. All right. So like next year, you put in work and there's a bump for it and you get a different credit.

Right. You know what I mean? So it's like, but I don't feel that I should go in and make them, make him a co-producer. Right, okay. I probably could. Right. But that's a disservice to him

because now all the other people in the room looking at him like this. Bro, that's not what you earn. Right, right. So like my granddaughter is in an episode coming up and she had to audition. You make him audition? She wanted to audition. Okay. So she said so Amara she is a

Standing right and I told her so she's doing standing for essence and I told her said baby This is an opportunity When you are doing these lines do them as if you are playing that role Okay, so go home and I want you off page. After the second day, you don't have a script, you memorized it, learn to hit your mark, say it with enthusiasm, say it like you wanna replace essence. You're not, but if you act like that,

you get in your reps, now when it's time to go. You ready to go. You're confident. So she walked when it's time to go. You ready to go. You confident. So she walked into that audition, killed it. And there was probably 20 other women. So I said to the casting, I said, listen, who do you think was better than her? Nobody.

And she got the part. Wow. Nepotism. Talking to Marlon. Marlon said, man, look here. What good is it if I can be in this position if I can't put my family on? What the hell am I doing? You know, the thing about nepotism is sometimes, you know, like Kenan said this one time to the family, he goes to the next generation.

You guys were born on the road to success. Why do you keep making detours? Mmm. Oh, I like that one. It's like just show up and they talk about we don't want to do Wayne's project. What? What? We can't keep doing Wayne's Brothers. What? So go, all right, you go and see how many other projects you get. Build your resume off of funny stuff. That's what you know is going to happen if you do a Wayne's project, it's going to be funny. There's levels to how funny it'll be, but for the most part, you can say you did some

comedy. That you can put on your resume. You go do one or two lines of somebody else's stuff, you ain't going to get off because they don't care about you. Right. I'm always, I wanted to ask this, my mom, because people ask why, because I look just like my dad, my mom, they ask my mom why did I not name me a junior?

And my mom says that wasn't gonna happen. LeBron says he kind of hate naming his son LeBron James Jr. Because of if you are someone, the natural comparison. You are, you have a junior. And people automatically think, you funny like your dad. Can you write like your dad? Ken Griffey Jr., Dion Sanders Jr., LeBron James Jr.

What made you, did you factor you factor it is like well? No, I just want to name him jr. I didn't think he was gonna be in showbiz I thought he wanted to be an animator okay, right so I never like you know when you name them You just yeah, I got my son right you know I mean I want him to be named after me Yeah, I ain't thinking about I didn't even know what I was gonna do back then right you know I mean so you know, he has jokes about being a junior. He says, the most arrogant thing you could do is to name somebody after you. Like, I'm so wonderful. Look, I'm gonna make another me. And, but he was able to navigate, you know, a very tough road because at the height of my fame, he started doing

stand-up. And because I wasn't giving him money, you had a baby, I can teach you the family business. So I took him on the road and he changed go up on stage, and half his act, they yelled, that's Damon's son! Yeah! So he just had to own Damon Wayans Jr., you know? But he wasn't able to concentrate on stage because he kept hearing people, you know, say you look just like your daddy. Oh, yeah, you spit him out, he spit you out.

And it's just like, just say it, address it, and then keep it moving, now be funny. It's Julie Stewart Banks. I'm doing a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts and the National Hockey League, and I'm paired up with one of my favorite players, the always quotable Nate Thompson. I wore nine NHL sweaters,

and I have story after story to share. And believe it or not, I have plenty to to say and not just about hockey. Believe me he does. Energy Line with Nate and JSB is the name of the podcast and it's gonna be well it's gonna be quite the ride. We're officially line mates Nate. We're the Energy Line. We'll have plenty of folks join us, current players, some of my former teammates, Hall of Famers and wait to see some of the connections that Julie has. She has quite the Rolodex. Okay, we'll lean into Nate's playing experience and tap into our interests away from hockey

and try to do what energy lines are supposed to do, provide an emotional boost. How do you feel about all that, Nate? I'm vibing, Julie. I'm ready to roll. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes,

host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild-haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell-bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious somebody violated the FBI and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. The FBI went around to all their neighbors and said to them, do you think these people are good Americans? It's got heists, tragedy, a trial of the century, and the god-damnedest love story

you've ever heard. I picked up the phone and my thought was, this is the most important phone call I'll ever make in my life. I couldn't believe it. I mean, Brendan, it was divine intervention. Listen to Divine Intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Camila Ramon, Peloton's first Spanish-speaking cycling and tread instructor. I'm an athlete, entrepreneur, and almost most importantly, a perreo enthusiast.

And I'm Liz Ortiz, former pro soccer player and Olympian and like commie, a perreo enthusiast. Come on, who is it? Our podcast, Hasta Abajo, is where sports, music and fitness collide. And we cover it all. De Arriba, Hasta Abajo. Sit down with real game changers in the sports world, like Miami Dolphins CMO Priscilla Shoemate, who is redefining what it means to be a Latina leader. It all changed when I had this guy come to me. He said to me, you know, you're not Latina. First of all, what is that move?

I'm out this wide open. Yeah. History makers like the Sucar family, who became the first Peruvians to win a Grammy. It was a very special moment for us. It's been 15 years for me in this career. Finally, things are starting to shift into a different level.

Listen to Asta Waho on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network. Situation, we saw a couple of weeks ago, Michael Jordan's son running into some issues, had some some drug issues and things like that I don't know if your kids have ever been I gave him the drug How would you handle that situation if one of your one of your kids got into a similar situation

Here was playing by my family We are a comedian right? Oh, so you don't want to write us some new material. I kid you not. I got a phone call this morning from some dude who said he's a hacker, a hacker, and that he has some explicit images from some young, I think he said boys, on one of my family's phone that he hacked into. And I said, listen, we're comedians. Tell me who, cause I want to write some jokes. I hope it's Kenan.

I hope it's Kenan. I need to know who the pervert in the family is. I said, you can't, and he was like, you think it's funny? I said, yeah, it's funny. And go ahead and release it. It's funny. And that's how my family would deal with it. Am I lying, Heather? No. Raising kids in a privileged situation because that's not how you grew up. And the thing is, we always, well, I want my kids to have so much more. And sometimes we do a disservice to our kids because we give them more and they're not

always appreciative, because tough times create tough men. Yes. Tough men create easy times. That's true. Kids that come from hard, easy times create hard times all over again. So how were you able, having what you have, kids grew up with 50 times more than what you had,

how did you get your kids to say, you know what, my daddy has, but that ain't me. I'm gonna go get my own. You gotta starve them out. You gotta starve them out you give them bail minimum. If you happy with $700 a week okay that's gonna be your life see how good that $700 I'm gonna keep you off the pole you know I'm gonna keep you off the pole, you know? I'm going to keep you off the crack because you can't afford it. So now, and with that comes opportunities to make and to, I can give you a job, I can't give you a career. And the thing about having like the next generation,

they don't have that. You know, and that's what it takes to really hit that next level that, give me. Yes. You know, I have that because I miss meals. My kids never miss meals. Missed the meals. So they don't. And they wasn't eating, you know,

pig knuckles and everything like that. They eating steak, they eating lobster, they eating crab leg, they eating eating crab legs, they're eating. They have snack, a snack, what do you call that? A pantry. Pantry. With snacks. Look, ah, chips.

Yes. Yeah, I ain't had none of that. No. We had an hour later that you kept in your pocket and if you wanted to eat one, you had to sneak it up. Yo. Slide it up your arm here and. an hour later that you kept in your pocket and if you wanted to eat one, you had to sneak it out. Yo, hee hee hee. Slide it up your arm here and.

Hee hee hee hee. Hee hee hee hee hee. Cause if my brothers find out, they gonna take it from you. Yeah. You know what I mean? Hee hee hee hee hee. Now that you're a grandparent.

Mm-hmm, and a great grandfather. A great grandfather too? Mm-hmm. Damn, I didn't know that, we didn't know that. Yeah, it's beautiful. Because a lot of times, and I'm a granddad now, two times, my son just had welcomed a daughter about three weeks ago.

Congrats. And when I heard people say, my grandmother, and I'm living testament to this, I believe my grandmother loved her three grand more than she loved her own nine. Yeah. I love my grandkids more than my kids. And I'm going to tell you why, because it's a different love, right?

So your kids, all your hopes and dreams is in your kids. Right. When they say something smart to someone, it's a reflection on you. You don't talk to Mr. Jones like that. Right. You go apologize. My granddaughter, he's fat. Yeah, go tell him. It's funny. You know, because it's a different kind of parenting. You know, so I frustrate my kids

because they want me to, I said, listen, it's on a need to know. My kids, the grandkids, the relationship I have with them, they can tell me anything. They tell me the stuff they too afraid to tell you. And I'm gonna give them the best advice possible because part of my title is parent. Right. Right?

But if I feel you really need to know something, I'm gonna tell you. And I'm gonna tell them that I'm gonna tell you. Right. But right now they're saying stuff you don't need to know. Yeah. But they because they feel comfortable around me and I feel... my granddaughter told me yesterday, she said, Papa I'm coming to you for advice from now on. Because we talk about stuff that they feel like they can't really tell their parents. Let me ask you, who

are some of the people that had, they've been around when you guys were doing in living color that you would have loved to do a sketch about? Kanye? Y'all killed Kanye with. Yeah, but you know what? I love Kanye. You know, and people are mad at him.

You know, what he's doing is wild, but you know, when you see a homeless person in the street and they're talking to themselves, you can't be mad at them. Something wrong, they're sick. Right. Kanye, something wrong with him. And people, I don't listen to the homeless man yelling stuff and think, oh, he mean that?

Right. He don't mean that. It's just coming out. Right. Right? So somebody needs to Grab him mm-hmm somebody you know that's what you need an uncle right grab him hey come here boy Let me talk to you. You don't say that you don't do that

Somebody who he loves and respects right does he have that in his life? I don't know right, but I love Kanye He's a musical genius You were married for 15 years. What do you learn about marriage? What did you learn about yourself during marriage? I was married 19 years. 19, damn. I shorted you four. My bad, I'm going to add it back on. It's cheaper to keep her.

Or cheaper to kill her. Keep her, keep her, keep her. We're going to kill her. But marriage is not just a moment, right? You have to get through moments. It's tough. So I was trying to tell my sons, you want to get married because brands want to know.

If you think about Bill Gates and Jobs and all these guys, Basil's about to get married again. Why? Because when you sit down and people think about being in business with you, if you can manage your marriage, I can be in business with you because I know on a day to day you are having to humble

yourself and have to kind of work through stuff. So with business, you'll do the same thing. I feel like you would do the same thing. You know, I think marriage is beautiful. But marriage, when you get to the oldie years, where it becomes a ballet, where they don't say much, you know? After all these years, she know what shut up mean. She not talkative. She make you a little coffee in the morning and you toast. Not breakfast, toast.

You know? She figured out you need something to eat and come downstairs and the paper's there and you read it and y'all just exist together. You know, you fart and you look at it, she ain't laughing, okay, go back to the paper. You know, and then she talk and you just, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm.

And when you get to a certain age you got the most wonderful thing in the world which is a hearing aid you turn that down did look and I mmm mmm so what did you do mmm mmm and that's that's what it is but you think about all that you've been through and the kids and the grandkids you know and it and it's special. I think marriage is a beautiful arrangement. You know, I was just too young and dumb to know that back then. Are you on good terms?

Yeah. Here's what's crazy is, you know, for the longest, like she and I would, you know, we never said it to each other, but we just made up our minds that we can't let the grandkids feel our resentment. And there was resentment, you know. She'd come in and sit over there, and I'd sit over there. And then probably about seven years ago, I was over at Junior's house, family gathering, because their kids would invite her to barbecues at my house, at Junior's house, family gathering, because kids would invite her to barbecues at my house, and it's fine. And what it was is the fear of having to relitigate what happened in the marriage.

And I know I messed up. I messed up. So I don't want to deal. That's why I pay you out of money, so I don't have to deal with that. But about seven years ago, we were over Junior's house and we're sitting outside. And she's over there somewhere. And we're laughing. That's what we do is laugh, we're joking.

We start reminiscing. And then she came and sat right next to me and started chiming in. And then we were talking about, she brought up a story. And I was like, remember, remember? And the kids were like, talking, but I could feel all the tension just leave. Disappear.

The relationship changed, I love her. And I was able to say I love you, and she says that to me when we see each other, I care for her, I don't want nothing bad happen. Right. You know, and it's maturity. You know, and she said the last week when I saw her, she's like, we did good by the kids, right?

We high-fived, yeah. Wow. So what's the dating life like for her? Because I'm headed towards 62, bro. I don't date, I'm happy. You happy? I wake up in the morning like a kid. You know, you run outside and you come home smelling like pennies.

I can do whatever I wanna do. There's peace in my house. I don't have to, hey, we good? You all right? You need anything? Yeah, I don't, I could not. I've been by myself too long. You're sitting ways in her.

So you ain't getting married no more? No. I never say never. Because if some woman can climb over the wall of resentment. The bile that I have in my stomach. All the checks you done had to write. For 25 years I've been writing checks. If she can come out, she was sent by God.

That's a superhero. Hold on. This can't be true. That you dated the same woman as your nephew once? Yeah. I was in love with her. That's the thing. Come on, you ain't never did-

Hell no, I ain't never did that. Jackson five. I did. No. I mean, for a family member, that's off limits, Damon. No, but it wasn't like they were in love. So he dated her. Do you know how small the pool is out here in Cali?

Yes. The dating pool? And this was probably, what, 2000, what? 2001, 2002? Did you know originally? Did she know originally that? Yes, when I met her. So I was, I got divorced and I was by myself for two years. Right. Right? And then I saw her and I was just like, oh my God, I'm in love. And then I found out my nephew had dated her. I'm like, you know, what's up with that?

He goes, that's you. I say, okay, Pastor Kavasi. Let's go. I went drink with that dog. Yeah. And I went ahead and I fell in love. Fell in love. And it was okay. But it's just-

They clowned you, didn't it? Yeah, family gatherings is awkward. Yeah. Yeah, family gatherings is awkward. Yeah! Yeah! I don't know about that one, damn. I'm at a... I just have to let her go.

Nah, you see, you understand. You understand. The hand she cook, she went to Cardon Blue. What? She go to Oxtail, Neck bone, mac and cheese, collard greens. Harry, all that. And then some desserts. Desserts?

Come on. Oh, man. Like a bona fide chef. I think she does that now. Amazing. I might have to think about it. And then the other things. While she cook. I do not approve this best.

You have type two diabetes. How's this going? How's it going? Yeah. It's like my club foot. No, it's good. Did you always have diabetes or you developed diabetes? No, no, I got how do you it's like my club foot? It's good, I got you always have diabetes or you know, yeah in 2017 how what I don't know. It's in is it it's in your family jeans. Here's why I'm learning because I have a Freestyle lead break. Yeah, which takes change my life. Right and

What it is is you eat stuff and you don't know life, right? And what it is is we eat stuff and you don't know what's good or how your body is breaking it down, right? So this gives me, I got the glucose monitor and I can look at it and I know where I'm at at all times. The thing is I walked into the hospital. I was, I felt delirious. My sugar was at 535. Supposed to be between 80 and 120. You better go into a diabetic coma. That's what he said.

So I tell Kenan, and Kenan's like, OK, you've got to change your diet. I go, what do you mean? He goes, well, if you don't eat sugar, you won't have a sugar problem. Right? Life changing. So he goes through my cabinets and stuff,

and he's going, throw away this, you're going to throw away this, ketchup got sugar, everything I like got sugar. He does. And I was like, wow. So then I'm like, I still had to take insulin. You know, you're taking five, six units with every meal. I'm like, I don't want to do this. Sticking your finger to the prick.

Oh my god. It's like, I don't want to. But what I found out, having this glucose monitor, is if I lift weights, heavier weights, then my sugar goes down all day. And especially legs, right? So that's the first thing that go when you start, when you get older, you stop doing the legs.

You think walking is working your legs out. Oh, I've walked three miles and it don't mean nothing. In order for a muscle to grow you gotta put it under stress. That part. You know they say there's a part of your brain that only grows when you do stuff you don't want to do. And athletes tend to have the most developed part of their brain. And this part of your brain has to do with discipline, self-control, stick-to-it-iveness, you know? And so I'm trying to develop that part of my brain.

Right. So we see LaVar Ball have some complications with diabetes, end up having to have a limb amputated. Irv Gotti, I think he ended up, he had type 2 diabetes, he ended up succumbing to it. So now, so how does Damon Wayne eat now? I read that you like only eat, you know, you have a garden. Protein, protein, vegetables. I do eat from my garden every day. People think I'm crazy, but I, you know, it's, it's delicious. I don't put a whole lot of seasonings, just salt and pepper. And then I have my, you know, like turkey. Crazy thing is I can eat turkey, but chicken don't sit well and don't digest. Really? Yeah. You think it's just, it's the cousins. Yes. Yeah. Why

am I having problems? Right. But, you know, I learned that with the glucose model. Right. You know, yams shoot my blood sugar up. Blueberries, it's all the stuff that they tell you you can have. No, you can't have. They're very high in sugar though. Especially fruit, it's very high in fruit juice. You had brain surgery? Yep.

I had a tumor on my pituitary. So everything was shut down. That's your master gland. Yes. Right, so testosterone was low, So everything was shut down. That's your master gland. Yes, right. So Testosterone was low my my adrenals were blown out So I go there and what was crazy is I Was starting to see cockeyed because the thing was the size of a lemon

Inside my brain. So if you do like this, that's where the pituitary is in the middle, right? Underneath. Doctor told me that's the best place to get a tumor. Because they don't have to cut your head open. It went in through my nose. So, you know, Jehovah's Witness couldn't do it with blood. So I had to tell the doctor. So you don't do transfusions, right? No transfusion. So the crazy thing is when I found out I had the tell the doctor. So you don't do transfusions, right? No transfusion. OK. Right? So the crazy thing is, when I found out I had the tumor, I thought they were going to cut my brain open. So I'm like, I don't know if I can do it. I'm just writing it out.

I had a good life. Thank you. And my family, Kim especially, was like, you are going to get this surgery. I'm going to punch that thing out your head. So it was crazy because not doing the blood, you know, you have to really, you know, this is a test of your faith.

Yeah, absolutely. So they give you that thing and there's no turning back, right? And you don't know what's gonna happen when you go out underneath, but here's how faith works. So I say my prayer and I ask God what I'm gonna do. Okay, I'm gonna do it. No blood. So I say my prayer and I ask God what I'm gonna do. Okay, I'm gonna do it no blood

Not only Was this it's successful But the the number one doctor in the world to perform this surgery did my surgery Wow, dr. Kelly at st. Joseph's Hospital And he went in and got it all. 99% of it. And I didn't have to do no blood. So when you, when you put God first, good things happen. But I remember being in the hospital afterwards and you know, that recovery sleep is amazing. Bad, isn't it?

Amazing. They just don't let you get long enough. They up there shaking you, waking you up, and start waking you up. Leave me alone! I ain't slept for three days! But all I remember is a kaleidoscope of wands. Every time I opened my eyes,

there was somebody different there. There's so much love in my family. You know, grandkids, and my brothers and sisters and sisters and you know and nieces and it was just like there was never Not anybody there Wow, you know cuz in the hospital they try to upsell you Yeah, you know, they constantly trying to put something else in there and you go no, no, no No, you need somebody to advocate. No, he don't need that He said no blood you go, no, no, no, no, no. You need somebody to advocate. No, he don't need that. He said no blood.

The blood is the most expensive thing they can give you. The brain surgery, the diabetes, what have you learned most about life? What do you embrace most about life? I have a beautiful family. I have a beautiful family. I have a wonderful God. I have so many blessings that, you know, the anger that I used to have when I was young, I no longer have because I just know that God has His hand on me and my family. He's protected us for years and years.

And I know not everybody with the last name Wayne is good, or tries to be good. But what we do have is others that will correct you. And we ain't shy about going, hey, you're acting a fool. Wow. I like that. You get checked. And so for that reason, I truly appreciate my family and this wonderful journey that I'm on. You know, people, I jokingly said when people, when I die, I want it on my tombstone.

Don't cry for me. You're next. What does Damon Williams want his legacy to be? I just want people to smile. When they think about me, I just want them to smile. Because that dude, he loved life. He was funny. That's it.

What, your family, what can people take away from the Wayans family with the way you guys interact? What would you like other families to take most away from the way you interact with your family, or your family interact with each other? That you never know what could happen or will happen. So all that stuff you hold on to let it go. You know I don't always agree with my brothers and sisters. We have our little disagreements but for the most part you never know what tomorrow brings. So don't bring tomorrow today.

Right? Which is I wish I could have. I know so many people. I don't bring tomorrow today, right? Which is, I wish I could have, I know so many people. I don't understand families that don't get along. You don't talk to your brother? Yeah. You know, you stop talking to your mother? How'd that happen? I don't get that. My mother come kick the door down.

She climbing through the window. You don't stop talking to her. You know, that's not how my family, I just wish that people, the funny thing is like on my set, people are hugging and kissing when they come in and they tell me, we don't do this in my family. We should. Yeah. And they just think, I got some wonderful cards thanking me, it's not me, it's my family. Right. It's how just we are. And we get work done. Right. Anything you want to promote?

I know you have Papa's House now. Just Papa's House and the movie that we're going to do together. All right. I like that. David, I want to thank you. Thank you. Continued success. Everything you've done in this business and what your family has meant for this community. I think I speak for everybody that's going to watch this and is going to listen to this. Thank you.

God bless you. I appreciate you. Thank you Spotlight LA, the newest exclusive nightclub for allowing club Shea Shea to film here. Spotlight LA is a place for anything and everything with something programmed for everyone. Keep up with Spotlight on Instagram at Spotlight.LA. Sacrifice, but so pay the price, want a slice you My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild-haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell-bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. He was out of his mind and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees.

Listen to Divine Intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up everyone? Julie Swirpinks here along with former NHL player, Nate Thompson. We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go The name energy line with Nate and JSB each week We'll get together and talk about hockey life all topics are fair game, right? Exactly, and you'll never know who will drop by to join us Julie is pretty well connected

She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe Julia's pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This past season on my podcast, Here's the Thing, I spoke with more actors, musicians, policymakers,

and so many other fascinating people, like writer and actor Dan Aykroyd. I love writing more than anything. You're left alone. You know, you do three hours in the morning, you write three hours in the afternoon, go pick up a kid from school, and write at night. And after nine hours, you come out with seven pages, and then you're moving on.

Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. you you you you you you you you you