Club Shay Shay - Club Shay Shay - Keith Lee Part 2

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

In the second half of the episode, Keith Lee opens up about his personal life, family, and his plans for the future. He talks about being a father and the pride he takes in giving his kids everything ...he can. Keith reflects on the emotional experience of buying his first house and dealing with depression, imposter syndrome, and survivor’s guilt. He also discusses touching moments like teaching his daughter how to ride a bike and his wife buying him a car. Keith shares how he deals with fame, celebrity culture, and online trolling, including the parodies of him, like the one from Kenan on SNL. He speaks about his role in Churchy, the new sitcom created by KevOnStage for BET, and the controversy at the BET Awards involving Taraji P. Henson when he dropped the rose. The conversation also dives into his relationship with his wife, including moments of infidelity, how she has supported him through tough times, and how he plans to continue growing as a man. Keith talks about his love for Black women, his relationship with his father, and why he believes he owes his life to him. Keith shares his passion for mental health, his hopes to visit Africa as part of his foodie bucket list, and his dream of opening schools in Detroit to help children in need. He discusses his ambitions for acting and reflects on celebrity-owned restaurants like those of TI, Killer Mike, Kandi Burruss, and others. Keith opens up about his 200K shoe collection, his thoughts on the mac and cheese debate with Tini, and where he wants to be in five years, hinting at new collaborations and exciting projects on the horizon. Packed with bold food adventures, hilarious stories, and heartfelt insights, this episode showcases why Keith Lee has become one of the most trusted and inspiring voices in the digital world. Don’t miss this unforgettable conversation, only on Club Shay Shay! #volumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The forces shaping markets and the economy are often hiding behind a blur of numbers. So that's why we created The Big Take from Bloomberg podcasts to give you the context you need to make sense of it all. Every day in just 15 minutes we dive into one global business story that matters. You'll hear from Bloomberg journalists like Matt Levine. A lot of this meme stock stuff is I think embarrassing to the SEC. Follow The Big Take podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen. Hey everyone.
Starting point is 00:00:31 I'm Madison Packer, a pro hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York. And I'm Anya Packer, a former pro hockey player and now a full Madison Packer stan. Anya and I met through hockey and now we're married and moms to two awesome toddlers, ages two and four. And we're married and mom to two awesome toddlers ages two and four. And we're excited about our new podcast, Moms Who Puck, which talks about everything from pro hockey to professional women's athletes to raising children and all the messiness in between.
Starting point is 00:00:57 So listen to Moms Who Puck on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. that catches my attention. I am here to call it as I see it. And there's a whole lot of things catching my eyes these days. Listen to the I Am Rapaport Stereo podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, and wherever you get your podcast. Thank you for coming back. Part two is underway. So how was that experience? Because like you said, bro, I'm in my apartment. Yeah, and I got the CEO of Chipotle on the phone On the phone. Yeah, and he's talking about okay. We want to name a Something we're gonna put something on a menu
Starting point is 00:01:54 Name something after you they had it. It was called a keith adia and it was on the app the like said the Chipotle the craziest thing about that chipotle is the chipotle me and my wife We met when we worked at asics inside of south outlet, and that Chipotle was directly in front of South Premium outlet. So to go back there three or four years after, no, it was longer than that, maybe like seven years after me and her met, and standing in front of the spot that we met, but now we got a Chipotle named after us, it was surreal. And it was one of the things where it was like,
Starting point is 00:02:25 I never questioned God, but it was like, why me? Yeah. What did I do to deserve this? Yeah, facts, facts. I'm looking at some of the companies you've partnered with, Chipotle, Pizza Hut, Wingstop, DoorDash, Pepsi, Chime, Hyundai, Microsoft. I mean, how does Keith Lee determine
Starting point is 00:02:41 who he's gonna partner with? For me, it's a conversation that's had after, like I said, I prayed before everything. And I can, you can feel it. You can feel when something's right and something's not right. I'll give you an exclusive here. We had a conversation with, I was hearing, I said the name, because I ain't going, we had a conversation with, okay, I ain't going to say the name, but one of the biggest fast food companies in the entire world we had a conversation with them oh I was fun Saturday okay my bad my bad okay go ahead
Starting point is 00:03:22 What the hell? What we doing? I'm just having a conversation. Hypothetically. But we had a conversation with somebody and uh, come on Shannon. They like this. So we had a conversation with somebody and they initially reached out and it was like we want to have
Starting point is 00:03:38 a full, this was supposed to be like a full commercial a full deal, like a really big thing. And mind you I'm not making that much money at the time. I'm making good money, but not like nowhere near to be turning, they was offering almost a million dollars chance and I wasn't making nowhere near that. But they was having a conversation and they asked me,
Starting point is 00:03:55 do I eat that food? And I don't. Instead of saying, of course I eat it, trying to get the money. Me as a person of integrity, I told him straight to his face. I was like, no, I've never ate it as a kid. I don't eat it, trying to get the money. Me as a person of integrity, I told him straight to his face. I was like, no, I've never ate it as a kid. I don't eat it now. I don't really eat fast food.
Starting point is 00:04:10 How much y'all offering? You know what, I always wanted to try. I always wanted to try that. I always wanted to try that. I always wanted to try that. I always wanted to try that. But like I said earlier, with integrity, it's something that I feel like I have to be able to turn,
Starting point is 00:04:22 pass down to my kids. Had this conversation with them when I'm 50 or 60 and tell them no matter what position I was in, I've always been myself and I've always stuck to what I believe is right in my heart. I had the conversation with them. He put me on the phone with the CEOs and the first question he asked was, all right Keith, do you like this food? The brand, whatever it is, do you like our brand? Thinking I was gonna back down
Starting point is 00:04:50 because we having a conversation in front of CEOs in front of all of them people, nope. And they said, oh okay, well, we'll have a conversation in the back end. I already knew, it was a wrap. That meant absolutely that's not about to work. But it was just like a testament to who I've always stood on and I've always stood my ground and put my feet in the ground
Starting point is 00:05:10 and been who I stand. Is it easier to represent a brand? And I find this myself, it's a lot easier to represent a brand if you use the product, if you eat the food. Because it's not rehearsed, it's not forced. I actually drive this car, I actually go to this place, I actually eat this food, as opposed to, yeah, I do. For me, again, we blessed enough to have people that will really go out and get the
Starting point is 00:05:37 product and try the product. And I refuse to stamp anything that I personally don't like, because I understand these are people's hard earned money that they're going to spend. I think a lot of people don't think about it like that. They just be like, oh, it's my money. I'm going to get the money from my family I'm supporting. But it's like you also affect other people's money, other people's family. Because if it's a product that you won't even stand behind and you don't eat in your daily
Starting point is 00:06:02 life or that you would eat, why are you about to make them spend their last earned money? And like I said, I'm blessed enough to really have people that will go out with their last, and I'm talking about people be standing in line and having their own real issues, they stand in line for eight, nine hours. And it's like, I don't take that lightly.
Starting point is 00:06:18 I don't play with that, and I appreciate every last one of y'all. So every decision I've made, like how you asked what decisions go into me picking certain partners that we deal with, I think of them, I think of my family, I think of if I can ask myself 20 years from now if that made sense, I can still say yes, no matter how it went, no matter if, like I said, I missed out on a million dollars, no matter if I got a million dollars, like I can have that conversation with myself later on in the road
Starting point is 00:06:48 and not regret it. Wow. Congrats on being the first person in your family to own a home. Thank you, man. You just recently purchased a home, you and your beautiful wife and your two daughters. What was that moment like? It didn't feel real. It felt like I remember having a conversation like It didn't feel real. It felt like, I remember having a conversation multiple times of like, who gonna walk in this house after we done? Where the landlord at? I know he gonna come in here and be like, you can't change this, you can't change that. I'm gonna be transparent.
Starting point is 00:07:18 It put me in a depression. It put me in a pretty deep depression. Survivors guilt, survivors remorse of feeling feeling like it's going to be snatched away. Feeling like, yes, I have it, but how long do I have it for? It's trauma. It's definitely trauma. I had to sit and question and ask myself why am I in this house with my family and with the people that love me and I'm surrounded by love and I feel alone.
Starting point is 00:07:49 This was two weeks ago, so this ain't like three, four years, this like recent. And it just, so we sitting on almost two acres of land. And I vividly, again, a week ago, stand in the backyard like, whose is this? It's one of those things where it's like, you don't believe you earned it and you don't believe you worthy enough of it or for it,
Starting point is 00:08:16 but other people and God deems you worthy enough and just finding that self-worth and finding that self-confidence and being... I'm always thankful, but for me it was like, this ain't mine. But then once I start seeing our stuff roll in and I start seeing my kids, it would really change it for me and brought me out of depression, my daughter just learned how to ride the bike for the first time. Uh-oh, she's got a lot of space.
Starting point is 00:08:43 I'm teaching her in the backyard how to ride the bike, and we got a hill in our backyard. And when I say two acres, it's just all land. It's like we got trees, but as far as I can go, it's just grass. And I literally put her on the bike and let her roll down the hill, and I let her go, and I'm just watching her roll in this field of grass. I was like, you did it, man. I really had to see it's not many times in my life I've been proud of myself and I had to sit back
Starting point is 00:09:08 and be like I'm proud of me man. That's your best purchase have you made any bad purchases since you've been this Keith Lee? No I got a wife I got a black wife she don't let me make no dumb no no dumb purchases. So my whole team is women They'd be on my head right like it ain't no go out splurge Why you got no new whip y'all be you I know you got so she bought me a whip I don't so I don't splurge only think I buy shoes Shout out to Nike only think I buy shoes Um, I don't spend my money on that else but but like, so I have a shoe wall that I collect.
Starting point is 00:09:47 I'm at probably, if I had to guess the worth, I would sell it right now for like 200 grand. Really? Wow. That's the only thing I really spend money on. But other than that, I don't spend money on nothing. Like, they talk about me all the time. I walk around in like Target t-shirts. Like I go to H&M, I go to Zara.
Starting point is 00:10:06 Only very fancy thing I have other than the house. My wife bought me a Genesis G90. Wow. It was probably like $120,000. Yeah. But I wouldn't, I wouldn't spend it. Right. Yeah. She spent it because she knew I wouldn't. Is it now because of how you grew up and not having sometimes you had to go without? Oh, letpedal sorry. The biggest purchase not bad purchase but the biggest purchase that I look in retrospect it was the amount of money we have out the first year. We started doing taxes Shannon we gave out Danmatt $300,000 the first year just like here here you go take it. I'm sure she said we not doing that no more. Out anything, I feel it's not a regret,
Starting point is 00:10:49 because in my mind, to be a blessing, you got to get a blessing. I mean, to get a blessing, you got to be a blessing. It's just in retrospect, I think a lot of that comes from the way that I was raised to of like, yeah, we had money every now and again, but we ain't never touched this kind of money. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's now and again, but we ain't, I ain't never touched this kind of money. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, it's different.
Starting point is 00:11:06 Yeah, it's different. And it was hard for me to figure out how to say no. I ain't never been a person to, now I am. Well, I'll say no in a heartbeat. Like, it was a video that just came out when he was at Complex, and a guy walked up and he asked me to record him for two seconds. And I was like, no, no thank you.
Starting point is 00:11:22 It just, they be trolling. He wanted to like turn the camera around and like either do a dance or like stand there awkwardly or something like that. But now I'm getting to a point where I know how to say no. It took me a while to get there for the show. Oh, so you go to SneakerCon and you go to ComplexCon, you be buying sneakers?
Starting point is 00:11:38 Oh yeah, Shannon. You spend that kind of bread, she let you spend that kind of bread on kicks. Only on shoes, only on shoes. Shout out to Saker Sneaks. I got a personal sneaker guy who is my best friend. He crazy, he 21, but he the type to be getting like pairs dunks that's worth $100,000
Starting point is 00:11:55 or he'll fly over to Italy just to sell one pair of shoes that's worth 80, $90,000. When I get them, I don't be paying that. But yeah. What's the most expensive pair of sneakers? I don't have to know how Right. But, yeah. What's the most expensive pair of sneakers? I don't have to know how much you pay for them. What would you say you have that's cost you a lot? Probably my 1985 collection.
Starting point is 00:12:13 I got maybe six pairs of Jordan 1s from 1985. All of them was a pretty penny. Are you not gonna wear them, are you? Mm-hmm, I'm on my feet. I wear them when we's in Japan. Oh okay. Yeah, I'm one of them. I don't spend money on stuff other than shoes. So for me, I've always wanted to collect shoes.
Starting point is 00:12:32 I've always wanted to be a sneaker head, but I just never could afford it. I used to wear air walks in high school. I used to get made fun of a lot. That was the only time, I wouldn't even say bullied, but you know, people roasting. I used to get roast all the time shoes But it was like I said either was wearing hand-me-downs or I was wearing like I said airwalks or stuff that my mom and dad could afford I Got in trouble once my brother. He wore a size 12. I wore a size eight and a half I took a pair of his Air Force oneses and he used to color them, like with this back
Starting point is 00:13:07 when you used to get white Air Force Ones, color them with a coloring pencil. I took a pair of them, I stuffed three pairs of socks in them, put them in my book bag. He was gonna wear them to school that day, I had no idea. I put them in my book bag, I used to take the bus, so I walked to the bus stop.
Starting point is 00:13:19 I had a full outfit back there too. I had a polo that came down here. It was supposed to come up here, but it was down here. But you done stole all your brother clothes. I'm stealing everything. I go to school, I go to the bathroom, I take rubber bands, this is no lie. I take rubber bands, I take the sleeves,
Starting point is 00:13:33 put the sleeves up here, put the rubber bands up, I take the socks, put them in the shoes. I'm walking around school looking like Bozo the Clown, my shoes coming up here. My mama, I'm walking through the hallway feeling like that guy. I randomly hear my mama voice. You know, I'm walking through the hallway feeling like that guy. I randomly hear my mama voice. You know your mama voice cut through everything.
Starting point is 00:13:48 Yeah. I randomly hear my mama voice. I look up and she's standing there with my brother. Like, that was his outfit for the day. I'm like, oh, I started running. Ah! Book it. Book it.
Starting point is 00:13:58 I was running through the hallway. They ended up catching me and putting the other clothes back on. I got talked about that so much. Like for weeks, bro, for weeks. But now I think that has sparked the now that I can afford the shoes that I'm always wanted back then, I go in and treat myself a little bit. Did you get to see my live on what?
Starting point is 00:14:20 Not a few weeks ago, I sold 300 pairs of sneakers from my personal collection and all the proceeds are going to my alma mater Savannah State that's going to be donated at a later date and time the best part of the night was someone purchased a pair of shoes off my feet for those who don't know what not is a live stream shopping platform where you can buy and bid on items in just about every category you can think of for the sneaker head what not is celebrating the best sneakers of 2024 with two days of crazy deals and giveaways from hundreds of sellers.
Starting point is 00:14:50 You don't want to miss it. It's on December 5th and 6th on Whatnot. Use my code SHANNON15 for $15 off your first purchase over $20. Not knowing how long this is going to last, hopefully it lasts another 10, 15, 20 years, investing. Are you a big investor now? And be smart with your money?
Starting point is 00:15:10 Because like you said, you never imagined in your wildest, I don't even know if you thought if you become a professional MMA fighter, you'd be making bread like this. A thousand percent. So again, I have a very strong thing behind me. Like you said, we just bought our first house. It's been maybe like a year and a half almost.
Starting point is 00:15:28 Yeah, I would say like a year and a half where we start making this kind of money. We are doing big things, Shannon. First shout out to BET and shout out to Churchy. We about to be on TV. We're going to do a sitcom. Churchy kept on stage, one of my best friends. He has a sitcom that runs on normal cable and it runs on BET+. That's big for us.
Starting point is 00:15:51 Normal cable is different. It's different when you want an app, but if you could just scroll on cable, you can see a TV show, that's a different level. So I think that's investing and reinvesting in ourselves. The first year and a half, we literally just took all of the money that we was making and we put it right back into what he's Doing okay, so with food tour like I said all of that most of that comes out of pocket, right? Because when you got too many hands in it people get to tell you how to do it and what to do
Starting point is 00:16:17 I like my family being on on the forefront And I when I work with companies if I was working with a company that sponsored the whole full tour, I don't think that would be the reality. So we really just invested all of our money right back. It's very expensive to go on the road like that. It ain't no joke. From hotels to flights to the restaurants itself to just driving around in a Sprinter all day, it add up, bro.
Starting point is 00:16:46 But again, to get a blessing, you got to be a blessing. And pouring into what I feel like I was called to do, it has brought us to where we are now. I think I'm going to speak it into existence. These next few years are going to be insane. I don't know where I'm going to be. I'm saying it right now. When I look back at this three, four years from now, as long as I'm with my family and I'm happy,
Starting point is 00:17:09 that's all that matters to me. Wow. Yeah. Impersonations. You become people like to parody you now. How do you feel about that? It's hilarious to me. It's one of those things where I feel like
Starting point is 00:17:22 it's only a few people who's done it well. Kenan Thompson being one of them when he did SNL. Yeah, he did it perfectly. Yeah, I ain't gonna lie. I like when people are realistic about the impression. A lot of times, it's like a trope to impersonate me. And it's like a very stereotypical like, hi, my name is Keith Lee.
Starting point is 00:17:41 I got it. Let's try it and rate them 1 through 10. I don't talk like that. I don't talk like that. I don't sound like that at all. It'd be like real high pitched and real like stuffy. The only reason I speak in that cadence and that converse, again, you're doing a great job because we touching stuff that I didn't think we was going to touch.
Starting point is 00:17:57 The only reason I speak like that is because, again, my social anxiety. If I don't slow down, you won't understand anything that's coming out of my mouth. They always say, like you said, I got a speech impediment. That's why I say, who told you I got a speech impediment? You been talking to my wife before the camera turned on? So they always talk about my voice. So the only way that I can make sure I'm enunciating and you can hear me is to slow down and talk in a very model tone, relaxed way. But if you do an impersonation,
Starting point is 00:18:25 it just gotta be like, calm. I feel like that's more than anything. I don't talk like this. Keenan said he tried the Hennessy, Harbinero, Fruity Pebbles chicken sandwich from Lisa's Soul Foods. He got it. Shout out to SNL, yeah, he got it. Yeah, he got it.
Starting point is 00:18:42 So on a scale of one to 10, you give him a 10 for that one. Yeah, yeah, he was the best one so far. There is a guy who, he's been impersonating me for like a year and a half to the point where that's like his main page now. Yeah. Is that the Evil Keith Lee? Uh-uh, no, his name.
Starting point is 00:18:57 You got the Evil Keith Lee, y'all see? I got a few Keith Lee doppelgangers. But it's, no, there's one guy, he does like Keith Lee parodies, but he's like in Atlanta. And we met him in person. We don't look nothing alike. Really? He like six feet tall.
Starting point is 00:19:10 It's like six feet tall, he had like plaits, he didn't even have locks. And he walked up, he's like, yeah, people tell me what we look like all the time. I was looking, yeah, it was like six, two. I looked at him, I was like, No, we don't. I'm five, nine.
Starting point is 00:19:22 But I feel like, impersonation-wise, yeah, it's definitely Kenan got it. Right. You had, you did run into some controversy with Taraji P. Henson. Oh, let's talk about it, Shannon. What happened? All right.
Starting point is 00:19:35 So again, these are things that I've never talked about, specifically because I like my family being on the forefront and I like the restaurant to be the main focus. The only time I do speak on it is when I feel like it's starting to affect my family or starting to affect the money that I bring in for my family. But like the details of it, I've never gotten to the details
Starting point is 00:19:52 so we'll get into details. So I had a conversation with BET before we had walked out or anything. We did a convention, it was like a foodie con or something, maybe like a week before, and we met one of the heads from BET there. And we had did the BET Awards the year before. So when we met her, she was like,
Starting point is 00:20:16 oh yeah, what y'all want to do to BET Awards? At this point, we didn't even have an invitation. So I'm like, I don't know, we're not going. She like, what? Everybody would love to have y'all there. Y'all gotta be there. We love y'all so much. And this whole year we had worked with BET
Starting point is 00:20:28 maybe like three or four times prior to this. And she was like, yeah, we love you. We want you here. Like we had a full conversation. They ended up getting us the tickets. We had front row tickets. We had the red carpet and all of that. I told her beforehand, the love
Starting point is 00:20:46 that y'all say that y'all have for us, I don't feel it. Because when y'all do mention us or y'all do bring us up in conversation, it's always the most negative things that you can possibly talk about. Oh, it's always like the drama or like it's never like, we went to a restaurant and we was blessed enough to leave thousands of people at a restaurant that was about to close tomorrow or like anything that was positive and is 90%. I would like to think is 90% positive what we do, 10% of the.
Starting point is 00:21:16 And I felt like a lot of times there was the bullshit that was being brought up. So I had a conversation with it transparently about it and we talked about it. We talked again before we got, before we went up into the award show. We were sitting backstage, and I was talking to one of the heads of BET, and I told her the same thing.
Starting point is 00:21:34 And I was saying, you don't have to include us. I'm OK with being in the Sprinter van with my family and just eating food. That's more than enough of me. If you are going to include us, include it from a place that y'all want us here and not just because we viral or we fooling and fooling sure that like, are big right now. I would like include it from a place of the love
Starting point is 00:21:55 that you say that you have for us. Because what I don't like is that you come to us, every time you see me, it's immediately like, oh, we love you so much, we wanna do this, we wanna do that. And then nothing comes out of it, right? So we go to the war oh, we love you so much. We want to do this. We want to do that and then nothing comes out of it Right. Right So we go to the war show we sit in behind DC Young fly we sit next to what's his name? Know the the original seats that we're in we sit next to an older guy and
Starting point is 00:22:20 Everybody was like being super rowdy and me him we talking we have a conversation. We laughing with each other I'm telling him like you ain't got to worry about my wife standing up and twerking. We sit here And everybody was like being super rowdy. And me and him, we talking, we having conversations, we laughing with each other. I'm telling him, like, you ain't got to worry about my wife standing up and twerking. We sitting here, we enjoying the show. We laughing, we having a ball. So it's probably halfway through the show, a person from BET walks up,
Starting point is 00:22:36 or a person from production walks up, and she says, hey, we about to switch your seats in a minute because we're doing a episode, or we doing a segment to where we're giving people their flowers, right? Mind you, I just talked to BET an hour ago and I'm like, y'all don't have to do this. I'm okay sitting in these seats having conversations with, I think his name was Dr. Bobby Jones. Now, yeah, we sit next to Dr. Bobby Jones.
Starting point is 00:22:57 I'm like, this is more than enough for me. I'm more than thankful just to be here. They like, no, we're going to sit you in the front row and we're going to give you your flowers and we really want to highlight you. And I'm saying all of this to the production lady, like, no, we gonna sit you on the front wall and we gonna give you your flowers and we really wanna highlight you. We really wanna, and I'm saying all this to the production lady like, don't bring us up here with the, like I'm okay with sitting here.
Starting point is 00:23:11 She like, no, come on. So they come get us maybe like 10 minutes later. They put us in Tyler. She was sitting there, she had got up and left. So they put us in Tyler's seats. Sitting next to Tyler, we sit next to Jordan and, what's Jordan? No, Jordan Estallian. He's a guy from TikTok. He does like the Hit where he like turn his camera on he in the bathroom and he like do like reaction videos
Starting point is 00:23:36 Me and Jordan look nothing alike. Again Jordan 6'2 big scruffy beard he got a Curly afro. Me and Jordan are really friends too, that's what made all of this even crazier. So me and Jordan, we sitting there, they, Taraji come out, and this is the biggest thing that I wanna get throughout this whole story.
Starting point is 00:23:57 I didn't blame Taraji for one second because it was all production, I was making things that didn't have to be made. That was making a spectacle that had no, no business being a spectacle. So they come around, she's starting to do her segment. We're reading the prompter and owner prompter is saying like, give Fla-J her flowers, say this about Fla-J,
Starting point is 00:24:17 do this, that and the third. So she read off of the prompter for Fla-J specifically. She do like two or three more people. She come over to us and she immediately walked past me, walked to Jordan and she start talking to Jordan as if she was, as Jordan was me. And I'm reading the prompter and the prompter is saying like, tell Keith Lee, give Keith Lee his flowers,
Starting point is 00:24:37 to send a third. And she look at Jordan and she go, I bet you rate this award show 10 out of 10. And Jordan go, oh no, no, no, no, that's him. Mind you, at this whole time, I'm not upset at Roger at all. I'm like, I understand a whole bunch is going on. They just threw this on you,
Starting point is 00:24:53 they didn't have to throw this on you. Again, we was okay sitting in the back. They just made this a last minute bitch effort to give us our flowers. They had a, she come over, She like, oh, my bad. She immediately start like improv-ing. Because again, this is a situation where it's a lot going on.
Starting point is 00:25:11 So she starts saying like, you look good too. Even though my wife is sitting right here. She like, oh, you look good. Give him his flowers, this, that, and the third. And then she tell Jordan that he look good. And just a whole bunch of improv. She leave me and Jordan looking at each other like what just happened like it was a crazy thing I'm looking I'm sitting there like you didn't have to do that like my wife and I were
Starting point is 00:25:38 More than it's content which is being in a moment Sitting in the seat where we were, having a good time talking. You didn't have to do all of that. So you put us in that spot and F it up for no reason. Now that I open my phone, literally when I say five seconds after I open my phone, we the number one thing on Twitter. And it's like Keith Lee looks so embarrassed. His wife look humiliated and his wife, she was flirting in front of
Starting point is 00:26:05 his wife. She was dissing at a third and they were just dragging the situation out. And I took a roll, I took the rolls that they gave me, I dropped them on the floor. The reason I dropped them on the floor, because this whole time, I'm like, that's not for me. That wasn't meant for me. What was meant for me was to sit there where I was sitting at and mind my business. Because if it was meant for me, it would have went just as smooth as everything else was going. Like I said, we'd sit there laughing, smiling, having fun. When I dropped the roles,
Starting point is 00:26:31 I was speaking directly to production. Like, don't do this again. If we gonna come and we gonna enjoy the rural show, enjoy how we had the conversation. Mind you, I know all of this is happening because I had the conversation with them before. But people online, they just see oh He dropped the Rose. He talking directly about Taraji
Starting point is 00:26:47 So they make it into a huge thing of like me disrespecting her to 7-3rd so I take the video down because I am a supporter of black women and I'm a supporter of us as a people and to see her on stage killing it the way she killed it I Didn't want that to be clouded by the unnecessary so I took the video down specifically for that reason but then you know people dig into that they like why he take the video down is because people was get on his head and this and the third so Taraji come out and she say yeah his ego was hurt and the
Starting point is 00:27:18 whole time I'm like Taraji I didn't have no issue I don't have no problem with you I if anything I feel like she should have understood that I was talking directly to production. Because I know the situation that she was in. We was in it together. We was literally looking at the prompter and the teleprompter together. So I understand that it was nothing that she did.
Starting point is 00:27:34 It just was a spare the moment kind of thing. And I felt like she would understand that I wasn't coming from a place of attacking her. But it was one of those things where it was like, it is what it is. I still got love for Taraji. I never had no ill will it is what it is. I still got love for Taraji. I never had no ill will in my heart for her. I still got love for BT.
Starting point is 00:27:48 That's why I said we doing the BT thing. Cause we called, I called them, we had a, I still haven't had a conversation with Taraji, but BT called me and we had a full conversation. I told them exactly how I felt and they apologized. And they was like, we understand that it was super last minute and next time we do something, we gonna plan it out and we actually gonna think about it
Starting point is 00:28:05 and make it a heartfelt thing if we gonna actually do it. But how did it make you feel for probably the first time since you started and you became this internet sensation that you had had people kind of come for you? How did you tell it, how did your wife handle it? Because you guys are a package deal. I was pissed off. But I was pissed off from a perspective of it was being made as if I was going at Taraji. I don't care what people say about me. People been talking about me my whole life.
Starting point is 00:28:34 So I told her I've always been the one that stick up for myself. So that part in my head, again, I don't see myself like that anyway. So you can say he ain't a celebrity. He wanted to be a celebrity. I want to be Keith. I want to be nothing else. So when those comments was coming, I don't see myself like that anyway. So you can say he ain't a celebrity, he wanna be a celebrity. I wanna be Keith, I wanna be nothing else. So when those comments was coming, I wasn't paying no attention to it. Only time I ever got upset is when people was like, he's down in black women, he's taken away
Starting point is 00:28:55 from the shine of a black woman in a black woman's time where she was doing something amazing for us and pushing a culture forward. That's when I was getting pissed off. I didn't want it to be misconstrued that I was coming to her. My family, I tell you, I literally was having a conversation with them
Starting point is 00:29:08 and I was like, bro, if they just leave her out of this, and then when she started getting mad at me, I'm like, why are we going at it? Like, why is it always spun to where it's two of us that look the same, getting into an articulation that don't need to be had? Would you have felt better had she just, if she would have picked up the phone
Starting point is 00:29:24 or somebody could have put you guys in contact with each other so you guys could talk to this thing? A thousand percent. Man to woman? Rather than just saying, oh, his ego hurt. Like I feel like if, but again, I'm not, I don't expect anything because we don't have no personal relationship.
Starting point is 00:29:37 I understand it was just as stressful for her to get all of those comments and getting all of the feedback. And so just as stressful, and again, it was clout and what she was doing that night. So I understand the frustration from her end, because she like, I'm doing something that I've always dreamed about doing, and getting, because you know, she came out publicly
Starting point is 00:29:53 about her not getting the respect that she deserves, and she was getting the respect that she deserved that night, and it got clouted by something as stupid as dropping a rose. So I feel like from her perspective, I fully understand. I don't hold no ill will or no feelings. The forces shaping markets and the economy are often hiding behind a blur of numbers.
Starting point is 00:30:11 So that's why we created the Big Take from Bloomberg podcasts, to give you the context you need to make sense of it all. Every day in just 15 minutes, we dive into one global business story that matters. You'll hear from Bloomberg journalists like Matt Levine. A lot of this meme stock stuff is, I think, embarrassing to the SEC.
Starting point is 00:30:29 Amanda Mull, who writes our Business Week buying power column. Very few companies who go viral are, like, totally prepared for what that means. And Zoe Tillman, senior legal reporter. Courts are not supposed to decide elections. Courts are not really supposed to play a big role in choosing our elected leaders. It's for the voters to decide. Follow The Big Take podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
Starting point is 00:30:58 Hey, everyone. I'm Madison Packer, a pro hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York. And I'm Anya Packer, a former pro hockey player and now a full Madison Packer stan. Anya and I met through hockey and now we're married and moms to two awesome toddlers. And on our new podcast, Moms Who Puck, we're opening up about the chaos of our daily lives between the juggle of being athletes, raising children and all the messiness in between. We're also turning to fellow athletes and beyond to learn about their parenthood journeys and collect valuable advice, like FIFA World Cup winner Ashlyn Harris. I wish my village would have prepared me for how hard motherhood was going to be.
Starting point is 00:31:38 And Peloton instructor and Ratchet Mom Club founder, Kirsten Ferguson. And I remember going in there hot mess. So listen to Moms Who Puck, a production of iHeart Women's Sports and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One,
Starting point is 00:31:55 founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien. We're the hosts of The Daily Zeitgeist, and we want to tell you about Miles and Jack Got Mad Boosties, an NBA podcast from iHeartRadio. We nailed that. This is a weekly podcast about all the amazing moments that keep all of us NBA fans coming back for more.
Starting point is 00:32:19 Basically, if you love basketball and you like to laugh, listen to Miles and Jack Got Mad Boosties, an NBA podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Brought to you by Hypnotic. There's one thing that I didn't want to talk about. What's up? I didn't even think about it. The BET Wars. Again, I never spoke on this before. There was a video that came out of a guy walking up in Gerald, Gerald Huston.
Starting point is 00:32:43 You know, he walk around with the cameras, the cameras on his glasses, and he purposely mistake his people for other people. And he did a test and he called me DDG, and he walked up, and it turned into like a fiasco of us actually getting into it. I wanted to make it very clear, because again, I never spoke on it.
Starting point is 00:32:59 I didn't have no problem with Gerald. Gerald grabbed me. He walked up the thing and he grabbed my waist. And I was like, hey, don't do that. It's the difference between him saying, oh, you're DDG. I'm the type to laugh about that. I don't care about people trolling.
Starting point is 00:33:13 But I don't care about people trolling. Me and DDG stood next to each other. He came, I just met his mama, was at last week, and my whole family said we look alike. So from that part, I was like, I can laugh about it. I just don't like being touched. It's the touching part. So I wanted to make that very clear. I think that was one I was like, I can laugh a lot. I just don't like being touched. It's the touching part. So I wanted to make that very clear.
Starting point is 00:33:27 I think that was one of my biggest things I wanted to get up while we were doing this, is that if we trolling, you trolling. I get that. I just don't like being touched, bro. I think that comes from me being a fighter my whole life and from just anxiety in general and me being outside and really trying to get to that space,
Starting point is 00:33:42 being comfortable in those spaces, 1,000 people around us and taking pictures and whatnot. I'm getting a lot better and I do pride myself on that. It's just the touching. That takes me immediately back to like, get away from me, don't grab me. Troll but keep your hands to yourself. Exactly, exactly.
Starting point is 00:33:58 But it was fun to like, I was mad that he was calling me DDG and I wanted to be a celebrity and I want him to know who I am and I was mad he didn't know. I didn't care about none of that. I don't care if you know who I am. God knows who I am, man. My family knows who I am.
Starting point is 00:34:10 That's what matters to most of me. Go James and the Lakers are back putting on a show and you know I gotta get the best deal on tickets. That's why I need to tell you about my sponsor SeatGeek. With over 28 million downloads, SeatGeek is the number one rated ticketing app. There are more than 70,000 events on SeatGeek including concerts, sports, festivals, and more sports. I'm excited to go see the Lakers. Y'all know who it is. It's your favorite uncle and I'm riding around here in Vegas with my guy, Keith Lee, and he's the internet's most popular and famous food critic. He was named one of four
Starting point is 00:34:37 of 30 under 30 class members for 2024. A viral food and local restaurant reviewer, charitable influencer and advocate for small businesses. One of the top digital content creators, social media superstar and sensation, king of TikTok food community. He has over 19 million followers between TikTok and Instagram, a former Mixed Martial Arts fighter, beloved father, husband, and he's a people champ. And he's the people champ, Keith Lee. God is amazing, man. I'm honored. Appreciate it, bro. But so pay the price one slice got the ball and I just swap my life. I've been grinding on my life I'm excited. I knew you was intro
Starting point is 00:35:34 But I've been I've been I've been this tour of Vegas and some of the five best cities for food? Top five. In order? You can put them in order if you like, or you can just give me your top five. My order, personally. Yes. New Orleans is number one. Okay.
Starting point is 00:35:53 Houston is number two. Okay. Chicago is number three. Wow. Toronto will be four. Okay. Right now, I would go Miami, but I would go to the United States.
Starting point is 00:36:01 Okay. I would go to the United States. Okay. I would go to the United States. Okay. I would go to the United States. Okay. I would go to the United one. Okay. Houston is number two. Okay. Chicago is number three. Wow. Toronto will be four. Okay.
Starting point is 00:36:08 Right now I would go Miami. Yeah, if I had to think of where I would go back, I would go Miami for sure. Man. But top three is solid. My top three is New Orleans, Houston, and Chicago. Wow. Solid. No Atlanta, no New York.
Starting point is 00:36:22 So very specific reasons why I say that, right? So, for those that don't know, we go on food tour, but we go on food tour for people that look like us and people who come from the background that we come from. So we specifically do it for people that can jump on a plane, that are foodies, and just wanna go try food. So I don't do it in a way where you can go call the biggest influencer in that city,
Starting point is 00:36:42 or the biggest celebrity, and have them chauffer you around and show you places. I do it specifically for people that literally just wanna go try food. So we go to spots that are more on an unknown level, places that only locals know about, if you know you know kind of places that have great food, great customer service, but can need the marketing. But we also go to staples of the community
Starting point is 00:37:03 to show respect to each city that we go to. So when I'm picking these places that are my top five is more on accessibility. What's the easiest to jump on a plane and just go get some great food? And I feel like New York isn't in that top five for me because the accessibility of to know the spots is really hard to find great spots unless you're from there. And if you do meet somebody that's from there, if y'all not super close, if you just meeting this person for the first time, they more than likely not gonna give you the spots
Starting point is 00:37:31 that they go to. Because one, they don't want the spots blown up so they don't want everybody there. Two, they aren't a super welcoming group of people. They want you to be a tourist and that's it. But once you start venturing off of that and you start deepening, digging into like local spots and spots they've been going to for years and spots they have nostalgia attached to,
Starting point is 00:37:52 they don't want no parts of it. What's the best city to get pizza in? New York, got that. New York, good question. New York, got that. That was one of the best things that we had when we was there was pizza. I'm from Detroit. So I like a deep dish, thick, hearty.
Starting point is 00:38:10 I tried but I ain't a deep dish. Oh I'm a deep dish. See that's cause you're from Atlanta. Yeah. Understood. Are you born and raised in LA? I'm from South Georgia. Yeah but I see like when I get that deep dish I feel like I'm eating a piece of cake or something. That's pretty much
Starting point is 00:38:27 Yeah, see now if you if you don't like a super thick then I would say but personally like sound to be choice I like a deep dish I like I like the dough to be super high quality and to be the main focus What about what's the five most underrated cities? Oh, you put me on us, but let's go there Shannon top five Most most underrated I will go Detroit I feel like not a lot of people know that Detroit has a food scene Seattle I feel like is one of those places again, if you know, you know, if you were true foodie, you know Seattle has a great food Yeah
Starting point is 00:38:57 Baton Rouge Baton Rouge is is a place that it's very specific now like it's Alright is black's black people, black people, black people. Country food. So if you are into country food, I'm talking about hogmog, neck ball, smothered everything, smothered and covered, then Baton Rouge is definitely an unknown spot. Oh, Arizona, that's perfect.
Starting point is 00:39:20 Arizona, I feel like Arizona is underrated. And the reason I say that is because you get a lot of healthy spots But you also get very authentic from my knowledge authentic Southwestern Southwestern food even they have a really big native population So you get a full yep, and I've never been to a place that has native food, right? Milwaukee got a good food scene. That's that's pretty underrated Wow. Oh Dallas Dallas got a food scene. That's pretty underrated. Wow. Oh, Dallas.
Starting point is 00:39:45 Dallas got a food scene that's definitely underrated. Really? For sure. It's here missed because it's a place that doesn't have much of a big food culture other than barbecue and southern Texas roots. But as far as stepping into other cuisines and other ethnicities, they don't really do it that much. Right.
Starting point is 00:40:05 So but the barbecue alone carries. Yeah. Some of the best barbecue I've ever had in my life. Um what about the worst where you go like man y'all they be hyping this up and it ain't even like that. Foolish. Yeah. Yeah. So.
Starting point is 00:40:20 You know you can start talking about Atlanta I just want you to know. That's my whole. It's based off of our experience. So you know you're gonna start talking about it later. I just want you to know Absolutely, so for me Atlanta and I'm so happy you asking this Atlanta had really good food Atlanta had a good food scene. It's just you have to be somebody in order to get food Do you have to name drop when you go to Atlanta and get food? Nah, because I really don't go the places that I go to they kind of know me So when I like I call and they're gonna take care of me, because I really don't go, the places that I go to, they kind of know me.
Starting point is 00:40:45 So when I like, I call them, they're going to take care of me. But I ain't, nah. But do you feel like if they didn't know Shannon Sharpe? No, hell no, I ain't getting there. And that's exactly why I say we do the food twerp and people that really want to jump on a plane and just go get food. If we go to a place specifically because I'm Keith Lee,
Starting point is 00:41:03 and we go eat at the best restaurant, and people want to jump on a plane and go try that spot. They're not going to be able to get the service that you got. Not only the service, they're not going to be able to get the food. Right. They're going to go in there and they're like, oh, we ain't got no bookings for the rest of the day, just that third. But let Shana Sharp walk in. We got six tables as wide open. We got to clean them right now. You get the fresh food. So that's one of the main categories of why we do our business. man it's not so much the food is to service absolutely in order to get the food yeah for sure are you surprised you got so much blowback for when you critiqued Atlanta and you let them know that it's not so much the food is the
Starting point is 00:41:35 service it if you're not somebody you're not you're not getting in there they're always crowded they're always booked and and they only treat people of influence. Was I surprised? No. Because it's like ripping a bandaid off of something that people didn't know was a scar. Right. If you from there and you was born and raised in that environment, you don't know no better. You think that that's what the food scene is. And you think that's what culture is. Right. Cause that's part of Atlanta's culture.
Starting point is 00:42:05 Right. I just came from a perspective of somebody who wasn't from there, and somebody who was experiencing it for the first time. The death threats and whatnot, was I surprised about that? Yeah. That was the first time I ever experienced something like that.
Starting point is 00:42:18 People taking food that serious? Oh, it's bad. Even in DC, we got a death threat from a guy who's a rapper out there And he talked about next time he come instead of reviewing fool. We don't review his life or something like that We just eating food man. It's like my opinion isn't the end all be all I understand Everybody has a different opinion on food and I always say that but I get how the internet gets to and I don't blame them Because people are prideful on where they come from right and people have a lot of
Starting point is 00:42:43 gets to and I don't blame them because people are prideful on where they come from. Right. And people have a lot of love and nostalgia in the city that they come from and they feel personally attacked. And I want to make, put it on a record right now, that when we go for the food tour, it's not to find what the best food is. It's specifically to highlight the restaurants that have great food, great customer service, but can need marketing and don't get the marketing specifically because either they're in a food desert to where a lot of people don't have access to the food that they would need or want
Starting point is 00:43:09 or two it's a location based place or three it's a place where the owners have put so much into the restaurant itself that they don't have the time or the money to market because a lot of people who do food reviews that's why I don't consider myself a food influencer or a food creator or any of that because I don't charge restaurants anything. Right. When I first started people were telling me I could charge anywhere from five thousand to ten thousand per video for a restaurant and I know people that do that that charge more more than way more than that but I specifically do it for the restaurants and I don't charge them a dime so that's what the food tour is about. It's about marketing these places
Starting point is 00:43:47 and it's about going out and trying food that my mom can go in the next day and get the same experience that we got. ["Brunsh," by Lil Nas X, playing on radio and radio playing on radio.] Yeah, Atlanta had good brunch. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Atlanta had good brunch for sure. Yeah. You call hell getting in there for brunch.
Starting point is 00:44:06 Yeah, Atlanta has good food. And I don't want that to be mistaken at all. Atlanta has really, really good food. You're not saying they don't have good food. Yeah, Atlanta has really good food. Or good brunch, anything. You're just saying the customer service, the wait. I really like the people in Atlanta.
Starting point is 00:44:18 I love how many of us is out there. I love the wealth that's out there and the things that those kids that are from there are exposed to when it comes to black wealth when it comes to black excellence When it comes to a community that's built around us for us I never want that to be lost in translation when it comes to the Mecca of what we do and the highlight of us It's Atlanta, but at the same time if you ain't got a certain status or certain million followers you better cook at home Or eat before you leave at home A thousand percent
Starting point is 00:44:54 Do you try crazy foods have you tried crazy foods? What you consider crazy? I mean I ate as a kid. I ate raccoon. I ate squirrel ate rabbit and turtle No I try anything that I always say I'll try anything once right um so you try raccoon possum yeah I'll try it once okay but I like it I don't know right you eat which but how do you eat it you eat like cool soup no no no you you bake it you like yeah yeah you put it in the oven you cut it up bell peppers onions celery you put it in the oven, you cut it up, bell peppers, onions, celery, you put it in the oven.
Starting point is 00:45:27 You're a different kind of country, Shannon. I'm not going to lie to you and say I won't because again, I'm a foodie, so I get very interested in stuff. I'm the type to, my family be getting mad at me all the time. I'm the type to walk into a random establishment and be like, oh, we was in Seattle and we walked by and we saw ducks hanging out the window Yeah, we walked in got a duck. He cut the head off right in front of us and we went in the car ate it That was my first time ever doing something like that, but I'll do it like that
Starting point is 00:45:53 Yeah, it depends on where you get it from a lot of times it can be gamey Yeah, it could be a little too overpowering and chewy and texture But the one we just had was super crispy. It was flavorful. It was fresh It was juicy like I said, they took it right off the rack and cut it in front of us. You like quail? I like quail I like quail. Yeah. Yeah, we just had a quail egg the scotch from When we is in Seattle, it was like a scotch egg It was wrapped in it was fried but it was a quail egg that was wrapped in bacon and then fried again on the outside It was good. Yeah, but you need to eat like seven of them to get full. Yeah
Starting point is 00:46:23 That's a fact. They like just be like I eat Shannon. Yeah, I'm an eating man. Yeah, but so I saw what you ate the sushi worm Mm-hmm. I knew that was coming. So when we is in Seattle, we went to a place It was a sushi spot. Okay a bunch of people recommended Okay It was a staple of the community and it was out the door when we went so we went just to show respect to the city And go to a place that was a staple. Okay. I did a full review, did a full video. I posted it. Two days later, somebody tagged me in a clip of them slowing it down and on one of the
Starting point is 00:46:52 Nagiris there was a what seemed to be something moving. I can't confirm or deny what it was. I'm not going to say it's a worm, a parasite or anything. It was something that looked like it was moving. And I ate it. I had no idea what it was. I had no idea there was anything moving into somebody tagging in that video.
Starting point is 00:47:06 Okay. That whole thing spiraled into something else. Allegedly, I can't confirm or deny that this is specifically from the restaurant, but somebody was hospitalized a day after we left. And again, I can't confirm or deny it was from that restaurant. And in my mind, if anybody did go to a restaurant
Starting point is 00:47:27 that we did go to and they were sick in any way, I came and spoke up about it because I wanted to send my heart and my support to that person. They say you like sushi. I love sushi. I've never had it. I just like my food cooked.
Starting point is 00:47:42 I just can't. You don't like nothing raw? No? Mm-mm, mm-mm, I can't. I was about to say something. I'm gonna leave it. I just I just like my food cooked. I just can't you don't like nothing raw Okay, I was about to say something I'm gonna leave it alone I know you go see So I Again, I'm a foodie. I can't have shellfish, but I explore everything else other than shellfish So that restaurant got closed down, right? from allegedly from what I hear they did put a statement out and said it was closed but I believe it was closed because they
Starting point is 00:48:14 Are looking internally? the owners have reached out to me on a bunch of different occasions and I get the impression that they are just Fine tuning things and getting things together Because I don't get the impression that they are just fine-tuning things and getting things together because I don't get the impression that they were malicious in any fashion or that they were neglectful. I believe it just was a isolated incident. I feel like it was just an unfortunate incident that was put on the internet and I feel like
Starting point is 00:48:39 anybody could have put on the internet and it would have blew up in the same manner. It just so happened to be that we were the ones that posted it. But I truly believe that not only, in my opinion, I even gave the sushi that had the alleged whatever was moving on it, I gave it like an 8.5 and that was the highest thing out of the entire thing, out of the entire what I was eating because in my opinion, it was delicious. I just believe that once they take a step back and really see what it was that could have been an issue, that they'll be back better than ever. And I'm not opposed to going back and yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:13 That's where I was going. I was going to ask you, would you be open to going back and offering another review? Absolutely. I'm not opposed to going back if I'm welcomed, if it's not a review, if it's just having a conversation, if it's being back on opening day and bringing my family and showing my support
Starting point is 00:49:28 and showing that I mean it when I say, I understand that as a business, it's a lot harder than just food itself. And I had nothing but respect and love for them and what they do. Keith, I went shopping yesterday for you. I know you'd be doing all these reviews and sometimes the food is really, really good
Starting point is 00:49:45 and you want to take some of it home. So I went shopping for you at Amazon. I got you something. That's fire. Keep the leftovers. That's fire. I appreciate you, man. Just being here with you was more than a gift.
Starting point is 00:49:59 Appreciate you. Hard times, I was broke. Remember Santo five on four. These days when an only thing that I know. Alright, Shannon, this is where everything started. We was in here two years ago, we've been living here for like three or four years. This is where I have my babies at. This is where everything started for me as far as contracts, as far as fighting, food reviews, starting at Paw Patrol chair.
Starting point is 00:50:24 Yeah, this is the Mecca for real. This is the beginning of Keith Lee as we know it. Absolutely. And then some. Yeah. The days are warmer, the walks are longer. And one easy way to help your dog shine this season is with fresh, healthy food from Farmer's Dog.
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Starting point is 00:51:37 Keith, we're back at the condo where it all started. Absolutely. Being back here, what kind of memories come rushing back? Everything, man. This is insane to me. So literally from, what kind of memories come rushing back? Everything, man. This is insane to me. So literally from we moved here in 2019 when me and my wife had no money coming in for real. And I say no money, we just trying to figure out how to even survive them there.
Starting point is 00:51:55 The rent was $1,000. We moved in, we had both our babies here. The pandemic happened here. All of the videos that you see online happened here. Me even starting on TikTok because I always had bad social anxiety so I never posted, I never, man, four years ago you could never get me on camera. So like this is where everything, me even getting comfortable to be on camera started. I don't know if you can feel it but it's like I'm getting goosebumps bro.
Starting point is 00:52:18 Like I ain't been here so long, I'm like look you can see it. Yeah so I see you here standing up. I'm starting to get scared man. But yeah this means everything to me. You mentioned that you started posting the TikTok videos to help with your stuttering, to help with your social anxiety, and also to help you because in MMA, you're gonna have to do interviews
Starting point is 00:52:34 and so you could be more fluid in your conversation. How did the TikTok, what made you think, say, you know what, let me get behind the camera, let me just talk, build up some courage to do this, and then once I get in front of people, I should be able to do it. Sitting right here doing interviews I was sitting I had like a little table and I would sit and do MMA interviews and I would be so bad it would literally mess up my entire week like from the point where like the second I got to think about doing the interview to three or four days before the interview to the actual
Starting point is 00:53:01 interview to a week after interview it literally would just like ruin me. I'd be sweating, I'd be nervous, I'd be clammy. So during the pandemic, we ain't really had nothing else to do, like we, like I said, she was pregnant. So my brother fought in Brazil and the second he fought in Brazil, the pandemic started while I was out there. So she called me and so they don't really, they didn't really have the same newsfeed
Starting point is 00:53:21 that they have out here. So when my wife called me, she like, everybody taking stuff off the shelves, they panicking, they grabbing stuff and they weren't masking. That's this one, the first art. So, you know, people who are hazmat suits and all that. So she called me and she was panicking. And I'm like, okay, as long as I can get back, then I'll be safe.
Starting point is 00:53:38 But I was worried about getting back. And so by the time I got back, I was like, whatever we need to do to get this issue like under wraps even a little bit, I'm gonna start doing. And TikTok at that point, it was either like, you was made fun of for having it, or people was like, bro, you missing out because this is where everybody, we in the house. So this is where everybody at.
Starting point is 00:53:57 So I think it's one of those things where God don't make no mistakes. And my wife was telling me to do it. So I was like, I might as well try it. Seeing where you are now, seeing where you were then, what's going through your mind? Emotions, bro. Like I'm trying not to cry.
Starting point is 00:54:16 Yeah, it's surreal because I remember vividly having conversations about the exact moment that we in right now. Coming back and rejoicing and having like that like I made it moment and the fact that it's here, I don't even think it's I think it's impossible to put into words. I just can't wait for my kids to be able to watch this because I got a four-year-old and a two-year-old and both of them are born in this house so I just can't wait for them to watch this and let them know that daddy made it. Yeah, you mentioned the MMA aspect of it So how do sports?
Starting point is 00:54:47 Help you get over your anxiety because you're around people all the time I mean, it's kind of hard to play sports and not have a conversation not be having interaction So did it help or hurt you playing sports? I would say it kind of hurt me because the sports that I was playing so I wrestled all from middle school to high school To my first year in college and even my first year of college only reason I didn't wrestle all the way through is because I couldn't afford it So I got kicked out But I feel like the reason it hurt is because wrestling and MMA guys are very awkward anyway And a lot of them go through a lot of eating disorders
Starting point is 00:55:20 They go through a lot of anxiety a lot of depression, but it's not a thing that spoke of in a sport It's not a lot of people that come on a forefront and say it because we MMA fighters We like the modern-day gladiators. We supposed to be the tough guys So I think a lot of it is is hidden So for me once I got into the real world and I got into a space where I wasn't around nothing the fighters or wrestlers It made me feel like the outcast I always kind of felt like the outcast even in wrestling, but even more so when I was in normal society because it's a different level you gotta turn off
Starting point is 00:55:52 when you fighting. You know it's a big pressure. Yeah, for sure, absolutely, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a different level you gotta turn off. You really fight. You locked in. So it's something that I feel like a lot of people don't have to be able to switch on and switch off.
Starting point is 00:56:03 So for me, it was hard to switch that off once I got into like a space where people don't have to be able to switch on and switch off. So for me, it was hard to switch that off once I got into like a space where people looked at me more for doing cooking videos or more for doing food critic videos and they looked at me for fighting. Because as you know, as a professional athlete, you think that's all you wanna do for the rest of your life. So it was such a drastic change for me
Starting point is 00:56:19 that I feel like fighting hurt a little bit because again, I didn't have that social interaction with people. All the social interaction with people I had was people that got kicked in the head for a living. So it was like, they talk different, they act different, they have a different mindset. So once I got into this space and I'm like, you don't worry about getting punched in the face.
Starting point is 00:56:38 But did it, because like as you mentioned, other fighters, they're kind of socially awkward, kind of like yourself, they have anxiety, they don't really care to be speaking on camera. Did it give you a certain level of comfort hanging around people that were kind of just like you? You guys had something in common. Subconsciously. Yeah. Because like you don't really know what you don't know. Right. I didn't know because I don't really consider myself socially awkward.
Starting point is 00:57:00 I consider myself a person who willfully exits from conversations and exits from social interactions. So again, it's something that you don't even realize until you get around other people and you're like, wait, y'all just be sitting here talking to people? Like you be mingling? Right. I never did that. Like, is that working? I don't do that.
Starting point is 00:57:18 Are you naturally an introverted person? Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A thousand percent. I think a lot of it is trauma-based. I had a very traumatic childhood. Okay. My parents did the best that they could because my mom and dad were always super involved I just always been kind of like a quiet start to state of myself kind of person and then when I didn't and I tried
Starting point is 00:57:34 To step out of that and tried to be like the life of the party and like the extrovert that will go out party drink smoke I always ended up in like I was always the one that was targeted for some reason. And I genuinely believe now in retrospect, it was because God was telling me that that's not for you and you're trying to fit into something that don't belong for you. So I'm gonna make you an example and I'm gonna stick you on the forefront.
Starting point is 00:57:55 And I felt like that was always the example for me. The forces shaping markets and the economy are often hiding behind a blur of numbers. So that's why we created the Big Take from Bloomberg podcasts, to give you the context you need to make sense of it all. Every day in just 15 minutes, we dive into one global business story that matters. You'll hear from Bloomberg journalists like Matt Levine.
Starting point is 00:58:15 A lot of this boomstack stuff is, I think, embarrassing to the SEC. Amanda Moll, who writes our Business Week Buying Power column. Very few companies who go viral are like totally prepared for what that means. And Zoe Tillman, senior legal reporter. Courts are not supposed to decide elections. Courts are not really supposed to play a big role in choosing our elected leaders. It's for the voters to decide. Follow The Big Take podcast on the iHeartio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen. Hey everyone, I'm Madison Packer, a pro hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York.
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Starting point is 01:00:03 This is a weekly podcast about all the amazing moments that keep all of us NBA fans coming back for more. Basically, if you love basketball and you like to laugh, listen to Miles and Jack Got Mad Boosties, an NBA podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Brought to you by Hypnotic. Being socially awkward as a child,
Starting point is 01:00:26 having a speech impediment, I had one of the, I still have a list, I talk with a- Why you think I got a speech impediment? Where did that come from? It seemed like you had a stuttering problem, correct? Kinda, yeah, okay, we can go speech impediment. Well, you do realize stuttering is a speech impediment. It wasn't necessarily stuttering,
Starting point is 01:00:41 it was more or less of like trying to, I guess it's stuttering, yeah. Yeah, I got that. Youuttering. It was more or less of like trying to I guess it's better But the kids the kids make fun of you and make you go deeper deeper And to being into yourself and deeper deeper introverted. Mm-hmm. No, I was if anything I was a bully I need to go a lot of you. Okay, I was a I can guess. Oh, I was a bully. I didn't go lie to you. Okay, I was a I can guess oh I was a asshole bro Growing up as a kid. It wasn't no me getting bullied It was more the opposite cuz I was always real small so when I graduated high school I was like 411 maybe like a hundred and who you pulling that for 11 exactly Is it was I got a little man got complex man syndrome
Starting point is 01:01:24 So it was like the last thing you was about to do was mess with me. And again, I wrestled off to high school, so I had that edge over a lot of people. But for the most part, I always was fighting, I was always arguing, I always had a problem with authority. So for me, again, I never really realized that I was this introvert or this super quiet person
Starting point is 01:01:43 until I got into spaces where I would be around other extroverts or I got into spaces where like say it was networking events or like people looked at me something other than a fighter. So my older brother fought, he was in the UFC by the time I graduated high school. So I always was in his shadow. So for me, it was easy to be like, I'm just Kevin Lee's brother, like I don't really have to step out of that. So when all of this started taking off, and I was Keith Lee, that's when everything opened up for me. And I really saw, oh, you really got an issue.
Starting point is 01:02:14 You really can't do interviews. You really can't talk to another human being for more than five minutes without you sweating bullets and literally want to shut off and run in your room for the rest of the day. That didn't really start until like I said, like 2019, 2020, but as a kid, yeah, you couldn't tell me nothing. So how was it at family time? Because you said, I mean, did you realize that how is your family?
Starting point is 01:02:35 Are they very talkative? Did you know you guys sit around the television and carry on conversation and watch, watch a program together? So how was it growing up with your brother and what you said he was already in the UFC, so he's probably what? said, he was already in the UFC. So he's probably what, five, six years old? Four years. So I got a brother that's four years older than me,
Starting point is 01:02:50 brother that's four years younger than me. And then I got a sister that's seven years older than me. Okay. So how was your childhood? How was your, you know, you and your brothers, did y'all get along? Did you fight? No.
Starting point is 01:03:00 So we definitely didn't get along. Okay. But for me, Alex, I was always, I feel like the black sheep, but I feel like me and my sister argue about that a lot because she feel like she was a black sheep. But so my sister, she had godparents. So growing up, she was always with her godparents. And then it was me, my older brother, my younger brother, my older brother was a very smart kid, the kid who everybody like modeled after and everybody was like praising at all times. He had always had like a 4.0 grade point average.
Starting point is 01:03:27 He was in sports. He was light skinned, curly hair, pretty boy. You do light skin too. Way lighter than me. Okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And right, typical B2K. Okay, okay. Like super curly.
Starting point is 01:03:40 When I was younger, I was always the darkest out of everybody in my family. So, and I like to say I was small. darkest out of everybody in my family. And I was small. The main thing about me as a kid, I always either hurt myself or I always ended up in a situation to where I was the center of attention, but for the wrong reasons. Self-hurt yourself or? I was clumsy. So my head was the same size it is now.
Starting point is 01:04:00 I was just 4'11". What? So it was like my neck wasn't strong enough to carry. I got scars all back here. I got a scar on my forehead, you see here. I got scars all in here. When I say that was a normal thing for us to have a family function and us to end up in an emergency room because Kieftain bust his head open. I had staples. That's happened to me at least, I would say six, seven different times, seven different occasions.
Starting point is 01:04:26 And for me, like I said, childhood wise, it was more or less of like, I was always trying to figure out where I belonged and why I belonged where I belonged, and I never could really like figure it out. So I was always longing for attention. So I always had a problem with authority and I would make it known that I had a problem with authority. So I was always the one getting suspended. I was always the one getting kicked out of school.
Starting point is 01:04:47 I got kicked out of five or six different schools. I got expelled, when I say kicked out, I mean expelled from the whole school district. So yeah, it was like that. Did you have a problem with, you know, parents are authoritative figures. Did you have a problem with your parents? Absolutely, yeah.
Starting point is 01:05:02 Me and my dad used to get into it all the time. To the point where I moved out when I was 16 with my godbrother, and then when I moved back in, we ended up moving here, and then when I met my wife, I met my wife when I was 18, I was homeless at the time, let me tell it, I ran away from home and was sleeping in my car. You had a place, but you could do it. Yeah, I had a place, I just wasn't staying.
Starting point is 01:05:22 She'll tell you, I literally was sleeping in my car, and I never told her this until maybe like last year. I would like, so I was working as a lifeguard. I would drive to work. And I had like a 2000 Nissan Maximum Super bucket. I used to drive to work in it. And then as soon as I would get off work, I would text her and be like, Hey, I'm on my way over to you.
Starting point is 01:05:41 Literally, she know I'm already sitting in a parking lot. And I've been sleeping there for three days. And I'm literally on the phone with my cousin, with my sister, and telling them what's going on. And she thinks I'm getting off of work, but the whole time I've been sleeping in the parking lot. I walk upstairs, take a shower, get some food, be like, oh, I'm headed back to work,
Starting point is 01:05:58 just because I didn't want to be embarrassed, walk back downstairs and sleep back in my car. Yeah, so that was happening for maybe like, what, a month maybe? Yeah, maybe like a month. So my relationship with my parents, I've always been very rocky, but I take a lot of credit for it because my dad always tried the best that he possibly could.
Starting point is 01:06:13 When he would come home, it would be like, either you going to do what I say, or that's it. No other ifs, ands, or buts. I grew up in an old school household. Yes. It was different for me because I've always been a big communicator. so you either gotta explain to me why I'm doing what I'm doing or I'm not doing it.
Starting point is 01:06:28 No, no, no, no, old school don't explain nothing. Exactly, don't explain nothing. You do it in kind of a sense. That's a fact. I'm the king of the household, she the queen, and you listen to everything we say, and that always was a problem for me. Did your brother and sister have those same problems
Starting point is 01:06:40 with your father or they just like, okay? No. It just so different. No, it was me, yeah. But it was, so it trickled down from me to my younger brother, so my younger brother and I was in prison. And I believe a lot of it, no it's okay, he horrible, he was bad. For you to say it considering that you said you were bad, he was bad.
Starting point is 01:06:57 It trickled down from me to him. But I think a lot of times it was more or less of like I said, just a communication issue. So my sister, like she was with my godparents, so by time a lot of times it was more or less of like I said, just a communication issue. So my sister, like she was with my godparents. So by time a lot of the traumatic stuff happened for me. She was already in Chicago where she went to school at and then my older brother he was already in college. So quick story. When I was in 11th grade, my brother had like he's four years older than me.
Starting point is 01:07:19 So he had graduated already. He was in college. We were living in some originally from Detroit. So we were living in Detroit on a seven mile out of drive and we had, my dad bought us a Topper bike, we bought my little brother a Topper bike. You know what a Topper bike is? It's like one of those bikes that had the real big tire
Starting point is 01:07:33 on the front and then the real fat tire on the back. He bought my little brother one of those and he was riding around the neighborhood, acting like he was the shit. And it was a group of kids across the street, obviously they didn't like it. Again, we still in the inner city of Detroit. So one day they stole his bike.
Starting point is 01:07:49 We end up going to get it back and we put it back in the garage. One of the little boys from across the street came while we were asleep. It was just me, my mom, me, my mom, and my little brother. My dad was at work. He came in the garage while we were asleep
Starting point is 01:08:01 and I saw him, nobody else saw him, so I walked outside and confronted him. He went to go take the bike anyway. I punched him in the face. He ran out stairs, told his brothers, told all of his cousins and whatnot. I go back in the house not thinking nothing of it. Maybe five minutes later, all you hear is like, it sound like a war, war starting outside. All you hear is like people screaming and yelling. I go peek through the window, no exaggeration, it's probably 30 people and they are running
Starting point is 01:08:24 down the street and they taking their shirts off, you already know what that mean, they taking their shirts off, screaming. It's over with. It ain't even nothing you can say at this point. So they full blown coming down the street, I go to close the window, acting like if they don't see me,
Starting point is 01:08:38 then they go in the opposite direction. Before you know it, there's a brick that comes through the front window and it shattered all the glass. We had a glass that was in the, so the front door was here and then a glass was here. It literally shattered through the living room. So now it's a big brick in my living room.
Starting point is 01:08:53 My mom come downstairs and she panicking. She go to open the door. They rushed the door. They completely try and take me outside. I ended up getting jumped. They ended up hitting my mama and they hit my little brother. But when this happened, of course, you know,
Starting point is 01:09:06 my dad get a call. I handle my own, I like to think, I still got jumped. So I go in the house, I call my dad, tell him, my brother ends up driving down, because he went to school in Grand Valley, was maybe like an hour, hour and a half. He ended up driving down, well, I'm a kid, so I don't know how far it feel,
Starting point is 01:09:22 but it felt like it was probably like an hour. But he drive back, he pull up, my dad get a gun, long story short, he go down, do whatever he was supposed to do at the house, according to court documents. He went down and did whatever they said he did. And the next morning- Your older brother or your dad? My dad.
Starting point is 01:09:39 Okay. So the next morning, my dad's in jail. We still stand at the house. Maybe a week later, we getting eviction notice. My brother went back to school by this point, so it was literally just me, my mom, my little brother. We here, my dad gone, we getting eviction notice. They come and tell us like,
Starting point is 01:09:55 hey, you got two or three days to get out and we throwing everything on the curb. My mom's best friend used to live on the opposite side of the block, but she had a house that she had just moved out of. It was one of those situations like how I was telling you here, how when we moved out, we just didn't tell the landlord that we moved out. So the landlord is still thinking we there, but at this point we squatting basically.
Starting point is 01:10:14 So we get evicted, we move over to that house, we squatting, and it was one of the darkest times of my life. I'm telling you, I'm at this point of not understanding, really, but fully, what am I doing? My mom, she has no money at this point. We eating checkers, shout out to checkers, because at this point I want to sponsor her. We eating checkers box and they had a popcorn chicken box and it was like popcorn chicken and fries and you get it for like $2.
Starting point is 01:10:42 And we all get one a day and that's all we've eaten. So that again my older brother wasn't there my older sister wasn't there it was just me and my younger brother that had to go through that and it was one of those things where I feel like that really molded me as a person of who I am. So that's probably why I act the way I act a little bit. Now as an adult I feel like I've learned from a lot of it. And being in this house is really like reminding me of why I'm exactly where I'm at and where I'm supposed to be at. Did that experience- Damn, bro, you about to choke me up.
Starting point is 01:11:15 Come on, man. That experience that you went through, did that have anything that you say, you know what, I'm going to the MMA. I got jump, I'm gonna be able to, because you say you're handling your own, but I mean, you'm going to the MMA. I got jump, I'm gonna be able, because you say you handle your own, but I mean you can only do so much when it's 10, 5, 10. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:11:28 Yeah, yeah. Not necessarily. I feel like the main reason why I ended up fighting is because I got kicked out of school, I got kicked out of college, well I couldn't afford it, and they basically was like, either you give us $25,000 by tomorrow
Starting point is 01:11:42 or the next day after that, or you gotta leave. So I came back home to Vegas, and my brother, me on the couch and he saw I was depressed and I know What I was about to do and he was like welcome to join me and he took me to the gym and I never turned back Wow So what what did email may give you what is what is email made up do for Keith Lee hard work? It gave me a lot of like Resilience and I feel like that's exactly what I take
Starting point is 01:12:06 into this profession that I'm in now. I feel like my work ethic is bar none. I honestly don't that's why I don't compare myself to nobody and I don't consider myself an influencer. I just consider myself Keith and I feel like the reason I do that is because not to sound cocky or sound like an asshole but I'm him, Shannon. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm one of them. I can go a lot to you. I take a lot of credit and I give it to my wife and I give it to my kids and I give it to my sister and the people in our family. We eat some dogs, bro. When I tell you, it might look like we just eat food, but even this last week, we've been in four different states, thugging it out the
Starting point is 01:12:42 Sprinter van. And a lot of this we do with our own money, we do it our own time. And before you know it, we look up and we on a food tour and we've been outside in the Sprinter Van for nine hours a day. And I feel like a lot of that is attested to my MMA background. Because again, it's a different switch you gotta turn on
Starting point is 01:13:00 in order to really like lock everything out and just do what you feel like you call it to do. And that's what I feel like I take into food and anything else. You got an eight and five record in MMA. You won three by knockout, one by submission, four by decision. What's the hardest part about MMA? I mean, you know, look, there is everything. I mean, the backfist and kick you and hitch elbow you and choke you out, man. Absolutely. Because really, people ain't really trying to go to the cards.
Starting point is 01:13:27 No. If you're trying to be in the UFC, Dana won't action. That's a fact. He won't action, so you go get a couple of decisions, Dana go like, nah, you're not going to the UFC. So what is the hardest part about MMA? I can't speak for nobody else, but I feel like the reason why my record looked the way it did
Starting point is 01:13:42 is because, again, I had a brother that was already in it. So I didn't have a slow roll. If you go back and watch and see who I fought, I was jumping into the deep end immediately. My first three fights was in Canada. Most people don't fight internationally until they get to their 10th, 15th pro fight. I was outside immediately. So the hardest part for me was fighting guys that were out of my experience level and not really having anybody to be like, relax, bro. You ain't got to rush it. I was 18 fighting guys that had kids and wives and real life struggles. So for me, I felt
Starting point is 01:14:17 like that was the hardest part. But physically the hardest part, I felt like if you were to beat me, it was pressure. It was guys that was coming forward nonstop, had nothing to lose, was willing to get knocked out. I always was a person who valued my footwork. So I'm moving. I don't want to get hit. I don't like getting punched.
Starting point is 01:14:37 I got a pretty face, Shannon. I want to keep this. It was guys who didn't care, bro. Yeah, it was guys who didn't give a damn. But yeah, once I, I didn't even really officially retire. My wife wanted me to officially retire, but everything kind of just took off in like the end of 2022. And in like December, I fought in September of 2022.
Starting point is 01:14:54 So right after that last fight, everything kind of took off. But I feel like, yeah, the hardest part was just like, and it's relinquishing. It's like you have no control over what's about to happen. You just got to let it happen and that's the hardest part for me It's like just getting into that mindset of like God I trust you and I know whatever is about to happen is about to happen and it ain't nothing that I'm about to do I can train for eight weeks straight the hardest training camp the be the most prepared train with the world champions Train with everybody who they claim is the best you go out there and get finished in 20 seconds.
Starting point is 01:15:26 So it ain't really nothing you can do about it other than just let it be what it is. You said you had a wrestling background, so clearly you're good at grappling. You can try to take people down, get them off their feet. You don't wanna, like you said, you don't wanna get punched in the face or the best way not to get punched in the face
Starting point is 01:15:39 is get them on the mat and do what you need to do. So that was what you tried to do? I was a hybrid so I mix it up really well in my opinion. I came in an era where people was doing everything so there was no more just grapplers or just strikers. There's very rare cases of it and like somebody like a beat where he's a straight grappler. I came in like on the tail in that so like I said I turned professional I was in 2015 when I was 18 or 2014. So that was when literally you had to do everything. People on a grassroots level or like the amateur ranks,
Starting point is 01:16:14 they was literally like switching stances already. Stuff that most people don't do until like I said, 20, 25 pro fights. They was fighting at 19, 18, grappling, striking. So I like to consider myself part of that generation. What does it feel like to knock someone out? And what does it feel like to get knocked out? So I've never been knocked out.
Starting point is 01:16:35 I've been finished once in my entire career and that was me being choked out. Rear-naked triangle? A rear-naked. Okay. So that was probably in that. And I feel like I love that you even brought that up. Okay. So that was probably in that and I feel like I love that you even brought that up. That fight right there was literally what made my
Starting point is 01:16:49 life begin to where it's at right now. So I was in his house when it happened too by the way. That's crazy. I was here when it happened so I just had a contract with Bellator which is the second biggest promotion in the world when it comes to MMA. I was 2 and 1 in the promotion. I had just beat the number 7th ranked guy and the number 8th ranked guy and I had just lost to the number 1 ranked guy. So I'm thinking in my head like oh it's just a bounce back fight. I'm fighting this guy that's like 7 and 0. I'm like oh this is going to put me right back into top contention
Starting point is 01:17:30 Because they had a tournament coming up at 135 to where the top eight guys fought for a million dollars So the winner between me and the guy I fought that was seven or no went into the tournament Okay, so I'm thinking like mind you I just bought I just fought number seven number eight This guy was I think he was ranked number 12th at the time. I'm real cocky, Shayna. I'm like, oh, it's over with. I'm already coming home and I'm telling her, what spot in the tournament I won't. Man, what? I'm telling her what spot in the tournament I got. I'm telling her exactly what we about to do with the money.
Starting point is 01:17:57 I'm taking the camp serious, but I already, I'm going into it with that mindset of, oh, it's over with. I get smoked. I'm talking about whooped on. First time in my entire career. So at eight and five, only had my four losses were by split decision. And split decisions to where it could literally
Starting point is 01:18:15 go like this, like razor thin. That was the only time where I got shut out and I got finished in the first round. He was, when I say jab, everything was landing. I was looking up, like, how many people in here? I'm looking at his coaches like, why the, how you gonna let him jump over the top? They come punch me in the face.
Starting point is 01:18:33 It's bad, bro. I look up, before you know it, he got my back, and there's maybe like 10 seconds left for the clock. And I could hear, so they do a smacker for the last 10 seconds. So I could hear the 10 second smacker, and you could see on my face in the video that I'm here. I'm still there. He got the choke, but I'm like, I'm all right. I'm still scrambling before you know it.
Starting point is 01:18:50 I go to lift up. I get up and I run to the cage. I don't know. I've been out for like three seconds. Wow. And he looking at me out. You can go watch the video. I'm completely bloodied up in my head. I didn't go out at all in my head. I'm like, trope not even in oh let me get up oh I hear that the time is over let me get up and run to my corner literally you know I'm out I wake up my head snap back I stand up and I stumble all the way over to the corner and the ref he picked me up and he like gets over with I'm you can see in the video I'm like why what happened I was out we're going that it felt like a movie like it felt like it's such a weird feeling because you still hear everything you still feel everything like you feel
Starting point is 01:19:33 like you're watching somebody else like I felt like I was standing over myself and being like oh the joke not even in but the whole time I'm like gone so for me that felt like like I said it felt like movie, but putting somebody else to sleep, that's one of the most amazing feelings. That's why I say it's a switch. You gotta be a little crazy. You gotta be a little off to say you feel good to put somebody to sleep. But when you're in a heat of the moment, I feel like it's one of those vindicate moments because the second, for anybody who has never fought before, the second that you know you
Starting point is 01:20:04 won, everything from, so it's usually like an eight week process that goes into fighting, and that's from cutting weight, that's from eating right, that's from making sure that you run in the morning. Yeah, no sex, none of that. None of that, I'm talking about like full blown militant. So the second that the fight is over,
Starting point is 01:20:20 it could be from you finishing, putting a guy to sleep, everything comes crashing and you just feel like, oh, I can breathe now. So it's literally like when people say like, it's a monkey on your back, that's no joke. You know, winning like Super Bowl is exactly what it feels like every fight is like somebody lifting somebody off your shoulders. So it's like literally the second the fight is over, you just go, oh. And then it shows that all that hard work, all the eight weeks. All of it. Paid off. Absolutely, absolutely.
Starting point is 01:20:46 It's one of the best feelings in the world. What about a return? Are you interested in returning to the octagon? It gotta be a lot of money involved, Shayna. A lot of money. I got kids, man. And the main reason I even stopped training, like I said, there was never official retirement.
Starting point is 01:21:02 The main reason I even stopped is because you either gotta do it or you're not gonna do it at all. Yeah, it's all in there. It ain't no plan. It ain't no like, I'm about to go on a food tour, I'm about to go drive around the city and I'm about to go eat and then I'm gonna train. Ain't none of that.
Starting point is 01:21:17 No. I trained with one of the best guys in the world, his name is Dewey Cooper. He trained Francis Ngannou. He's got four or five different championships in UFC alone He a bad man. So it would play him it wouldn't know like right. Oh, I'm out to come in I'm a celebrity ain't none of that man. Go get on the bag Right, so for me it was it was either you gonna do it. You're not gonna do it at all So that's probably the main decision when I come back
Starting point is 01:21:42 I'm looking at my wife right now, and I say no. Yeah, she's over there. It's over with, yeah. So have you ever met Dana? I've met him like in passion. Right. That's not why you're with me. My brother fought for 10 years,
Starting point is 01:21:58 but I never had like a full-blown conversation with him. So do you still train? Like, no, sir. You see me in this chair? I'm spreadin' out in this chair. So there's, I mean, do you still work out? Yeah, I play basketball. Right.
Starting point is 01:22:12 So that's it, no training, no bath, no glove work, no? I'm blessed enough to say I got a lot of contracts right now. And all of those contracts says that I can't have any blemishes on my face. So if I go train from just scar tissue, from doing it for so long, my face is automatically either gonna swell up or it's gonna open up or it's gonna get cut real easy.
Starting point is 01:22:32 And that mess up the money, I can't mess up the money. It doesn't mess up the money. We just saw the fight this weekend. John Jones took out Stipe. Now he's the heavyweight champ. He also took the belt from Cyril Ghosn. I hate that whole conversation. We can talk about it, I hate that whole conversation.
Starting point is 01:22:48 Do you hate the conversation to go? I hate the conversation of him ducking from time. Oh no, I don't mean it. I hate it, bro. Now we talking, cause I like to consider myself an MMA, what's the, nerd, deep. Officionado. Officionado, all of that. Okay, tell us about, what you think about Bones've I only think it's a conversation or is a question that he's the best that we've ever seen do it by far
Starting point is 01:23:11 I hate the the conversation of like he ducking time We did this maybe like a year ago with Sergey Pavlov Losh. That's how you say his last name Excuse me if I pronounce it wrong, but when he was coming through the ranks and he was killing people last name, excuse me if I pronounce it wrong, but when he was coming through the ranks and he was killing people, everybody was like, oh, he got to fight Jones and Jones scared of him and then he got finished by Tom and don't nobody talk about him no more. It's like don't nobody pay him no attention. But it's like, it's very annoying to see somebody, especially somebody that look like us be in a space where it's like every single time you do something, it's something else that
Starting point is 01:23:44 got to be done in order for you to cement your legacy. It's like he been doing this since I was a kid. Yes. He been doing it. We've been the champ since 2011. That's insane. Yeah, that's insane. And he hasn't lost to anybody.
Starting point is 01:23:55 No. If he was anybody else, it wouldn't even be a question. It wouldn't even be a conversation because when Khabib beat, that was Gachie, his last fight, when Khabib beat Gagee, there wasn't a question of, oh, he got to come back and he got to fight Ilya to submit his legacy or he got to come back, he got to fight Volk to submit his legacy or he got to come back, he got to fight Holloway.
Starting point is 01:24:20 It wasn't none of that. It wasn't even a, like even, there's no conversation as we speak revolving around his legacy, his greatness, but with Jones, he gotta beat everybody in their mama in order to get any kind of recognition. When he beats Aspenall, they gonna come up with some- He gonna smoke Aspenall. They will come up with somebody else,
Starting point is 01:24:37 but he gotta wait till he's- It's always gonna be something else. Yeah, it's always gonna be something else. And even if he don't beat Aspenall because it's the fight world, anything that happened, I don't think that takes away from the greatness that is John Jones and that always will be John Jones to have that type Of rain for a decade of a half. I don't think time doing that. I go lie He might again everything happens the way supposed to but I feel like it's a little a little too late because again
Starting point is 01:25:01 Don't what time is 27? 31 I think. I think he's seven years younger than Jones. I think that, I think the conversation's over with that. Alone. Alone, even just his age. Are you a boxing fan? Every now and again, I watch.
Starting point is 01:25:16 I predicted Tank and Garcia in front of Tank. Literally the punch, the round, and exactly how it was about to go. Right. Because again, I'm him, Shannon. So who do you want to see Tank fight? People say they want to see a rematch, they want to see Tank fight Shakur, they want to see him fight Boots.
Starting point is 01:25:35 So who would you like to see Tank fight? That's a great question. I feel like there's so many options, but at the same time, I think a lot of people feel like he hasn't been tested yet, because we are in his era of protect the O. But just from seeing him up close and watching him, so I trained at Mayweathers for years. So just seeing him up close, I feel like I'm about to sound like a tape recorder with anybody that's in his camp. Tank him, bro. Take one of them. So I don't care who you fight. I feel like he is our generation's best.
Starting point is 01:26:08 And I feel like at the end of the day, when the smoke is clear, he gonna come out of like really being one of them. Where are you on this celebrity boxing? We just saw Jake Paul fight Tyson. We saw McGregor fought. I hated that fight. I hated everything about that fight.
Starting point is 01:26:24 What did you hate about it? You think it was stage. Do you think what happened first to the lead-up? I told my wife that I can't be there because I was gonna drop the ring I was one it's Tyson bro, right? He's a legend of the sport. He's a legend of our community He is somebody who should be held to the highest regard. I don't like that there was like this conversation of like competitiveness. He's 60 bro. Like if we if we bring up any legend of any other race or demographic, there's no way that you touch in one of their legends. But we allow our legends to get in there and no he allowed them mockery. I agree with you. I agree with you. But us as fans still was
Starting point is 01:27:03 convert having conversations around the fight itself. Like it was about to be a competitive or back and forth fight. I mean Keith, if what they're saying is true, the man made 20 million. I mean, can you... I hear you. I hear you. But is it worth the beef? And his money jump for it. Now you gotta realize here's a guy that's made what? Five, six, seven hundred million dollars. And I'm not so sure he has half of that. I'm not so sure he has a third of that. I hear you. And sold 20 million dollars at the age of 58, 59 you might Tyson the money gonna come and go right? Yeah
Starting point is 01:27:29 He's had way more than 20 million before for sure So in my mind is I know he I watched Tyson very religiously and I know he don't believe in legacy But for me, it's not necessarily him. It's the kids that's below him. It's my kids. It's me. It's somebody who's watched him literally from the beginning so to Stand on integrity. This is one thing that I always preach to my kids to stand on something that you can that would last forever and that you can pass on another generation and that's as far as Integrity and that's as far as something that you,
Starting point is 01:28:05 a code that you stand behind. To stand on that is way more valuable than any amount of money. Yeah, for me. So, would you do a celebrity boxing match? Maybe. Maybe. See?
Starting point is 01:28:17 Maybe. You said money have to be right. So they got five million. For me, so money-wise, it would specifically be for professional fighting. That's where I say the money gotta be right. Because again, my money wise, it would specifically be professional fighting. That's where I say the money got to be right. Because again, my life is in there. Yeah, no, this is a celebrity.
Starting point is 01:28:30 But celebrity, the money don't necessarily got to be right. It got to be the right one. It got to be the right fight. For me, I wouldn't fight necessarily the celebrity because I feel like it would erase what I've done for 10 years in MMA space. It would really just be to go out there and have fun, but still be competitive. So it would have to be that middle ground
Starting point is 01:28:47 of being competitive and still not getting cut off by my wife because I'm getting cut and stuff. Is there any way we could do a celebrity MMA fight? Maybe, we can be the first of the kind. Who you wanna see me fight, Shannon? I don't know who, like you say you fought at 135. Oh, I'm not that at all right now. What did you fight boy? No, I'm solid what six you not more than 160 way more than 160. No, come on key way. Come on key
Starting point is 01:29:12 I'm solid, but I'm built like a brick house. Okay, what's 63? What's no not even close? What you trying to say you you're not 190 keeps I'm like 180 183 Solid I'm making 68 do that3. Solid. I'm thinking 60, 80. Feel that, Shannon. Solid. Like a rock. 170. Give 170, Jordan. Like a rock.
Starting point is 01:29:30 So one thing I know when you kept asking, Shannon, who would he want to see you fight? If he threw out Jake Paul, what would your video response? The forces shaping markets and the economy are often hiding behind a blur of numbers. So that's why we created The Big Take from Bloomberg podcasts to give you the context you need to make sense of it all. Every day in just 15 minutes, we dive into one global business story that matters. You'll hear from Bloomberg journalists like Matt Levine. A lot of this meme stock stuffack stuff is, I think, embarrassing to the SEC.
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