Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Michael Kors – on Being a Visionary at Age 5 & the ‘Project Runway’ era

Episode Date: June 2, 2026

Fashion designer Michael Kors joins the show. Over a club sandwich and a birthday cake, Michael tells me about showing an eye for style at 5-years-old, the surreal experience of seeing his name everywhere, and how ‘Project Runway’ demystified the hard work that goes into fashion. Plus, he tells us about his involvement in an LGBTQ+ museum set to open in 2027. This episode was recorded at Cafe Commerce on the Upper East Side, NYC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You know those meals that just immediately take you somewhere? Like you take one bite and suddenly you're transported to a backyard. Someone's manning the fryer and everyone's waiting for a taste. That's exactly what Boar's Head has managed to do, but at your deli counter. New from Boar's Head, the friar's turkey breast has the taste of deep-fried turkey. And I mean, it's perfectly seasoned, that golden, savory flavor. It really does that thing where one bite kind of takes over and you're like, oh, okay, this is what we're doing now.

And the best part is you don't have to host anything. You don't have to fry anything. You don't have to politely ask someone else to handle the hot oil, which frankly, I'm always happy to avoid. It's just there at the deli, ready to go. So if you're putting together a sandwich or just standing at the counter deciding what kind of day you're going to have,

the friar's turkey breast is a pretty great choice. Discover the craftsmanship behind every bite at your local Boershead deli counter. Boershead, committed to crafts since 1905. Hey guys, this is Molly Sims, host of lipstick on the rim. So I have a little bit of a pet peeve that I think you're going to relate to this. I'll be having a great day, feeling good, and someone will say to me, you look tired.

And I'm like, I promise you, I'm not really tired. But here's what I've learned. My eyelids, they do sit a little low. And once my doctor explained that to me, it actually kind of made a lot of sense. She prescribed me upnique, the first and only FDA-approved prescription eye drop for adults with low-lying eyelids. One drop per eye in the morning and I notice my eyes look more open, awake within minutes. It's like just one simple step. That's it. And the results, guess what? They last up to eight hours. Learn more about upnique.com. That's up neque.com or talk to your doctor.

Just a little quick safety note about upnique. Oxymetaziline, hydrochloride, orthomic solution. 0.1%. Tell your doctor your symptoms in medical history, including blood pressure, blood flow issues, and heart, brain, or eye disease. Drooping eyelids can be caused by other more serious conditions such as a stroke. Do not touch the tip of the up-neek vial to your eye or any other surface. This is not a complete list of risks. Hey, it's Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Today on the show, you know him from his iconic fashion brand, his work on Project Runway.

It's the icon himself. It's Michael Coors. When I was doing Project Runway, I remember thinking, I don't know, like reality television, fashion. You know, are they going to eat insects? What are they going to do? You know, I don't want this to be a joke. This is Dinner's On Me, and I'm your host, Jesse, Tyler Ferguson.

So today we're at Cafe Commerce on the Upper East Side. This place is very New York. It's very chic. There's only 15 tables inside. Chef Harold Moore. has done an incredible job of combining American classics with a French twist. So, you know, it's like going to be the best sandwich

you've probably ever had. I'm eyeing the chicken salad. I've also heard a legend of this birthday cake that I might have to order. It also happens to be one of Michael Coors' favorite places to come. So I thought this would be a great place to sit down and have a conversation with the New York icon himself, Michael Coors.

All right, let's get to the conversation. I don't know if I ever were able to properly thank you for the flowers you sent over the summer. Well, for Shakespeare in the park that was so classy of you. Listen, I have to say I don't understand

that fashion people aren't theater addicted. Yeah. But I think fashion people have very short attention spans. Really? Really tough. Really tough to tell people that they have to be in a certain place

at a certain time and you have to turn your phone off. Right. But to me, it's the greatest thing in the world. Like, you know, to see live theater, first of them, to me, live performances, you know, it's what we do when we put on a fashion show. But I loved the show. It's magical to be in the park. Nothing to me is more magical than on a gorgeous summer night.

Sort of just even the walk-in and the walk-out. Yeah. It's so great. Yeah. So great. It's, you know, it's a little different than, you know, we go to the theater. all the time. But when you get out of the theater

in the theater district, it's not exactly a pretty magical moment. That's right. But walking out of the telecourt is... What are some of your other things in New York that you're just like, this is something that's so special and unique to New York? Listen, I think the most amazing thing,

you know, of course, just got back from Amsterdam. We travel a lot. Yeah. But New York is for someone who's visual, this is the greatest inspirational city in the world. Partially, I think, because the mix of people in a small area is just so inspiring to me. I always laugh and I'm like, could I just put a chair on a sidewalk

and just saddle up and just watch the parade? I know it is great for people watching. It's the best. You know, and in L.A., you know, I love L.A. And my family, you know, I grew up on Long Island, so I grew up in New York, but my family lived in L.A. since I was a teenager. So it was kind of back and forth between the two. And I love California. But everyone's in their car. Yeah. So it makes it your own space.

Yeah. Whereas here it's just, you know, you never know who's going to pass who. Yeah. You know, and I kind of feel like the two cities that do that for me are London and New York. I agree with that. Did you come into the city a lot when you were a kid? Oh my God, like crazy. Yeah.

I mean, I think what's funny about it now, I think, you know, when I was really young, I did some child modeling. Yes. And so I, you know, I would mostly television commercials and we took the train in together. And how crazy is this? A five-year-old, I had to go to a casting, but she had to go to a casting also. So she put me in a taxi by myself, gave the cab driver the name of the address where I was going to the casting, right? And then, this is nuts. Then I get there, the agent, my agent is there.

The agent walks me in, and then my mom got there like 20 minutes later. whatever. Right. If you did that today, you get arrested. Oh, absolutely. You know, it's child abuse. Yeah, that's crazy. Child abuse. But I was, so I was, I grew up. But I hear these stories, like, I have friends who grew up in New York,

and they always refer to New York as kind of like their playground, and like, I mean, listen, I mean, being in a put in a tax, it's much different than, like, being on the street and, like, having the dormant of the buildings sort of, like, keep an eye on you. Oh, yeah, yeah. But, you know, there was a sense that,

It was a community. It was. Taxi thing is like wild. The taxi thing was weird. And then I think I, it's so funny, the suburbs sometimes, people are afraid of the city. Yeah. They're like, oh my God, you could go to the city? Yeah.

Like, ooh, you could get trouble. And I started coming by myself with my friends when I was probably around 12. Wow. And, you know, New York in the 70, it was, it was, it was. rough. Yeah. You've been here before, right? I love this place. Except at the, you know, at lunchtime, we're not going to split a giant chicken with foie gras.

Why not? Why not? And then go back to work and pass out. Right? So you do like the chicken with the foie gras? The chicken's delicious, but it's intense. Okay. I don't know if I could do that before. Yeah. And then I just have to say, the one

thing that's kind of crazy, tell me. You could come here and for dessert, have your lunch could be dessert, because they have birthday cake. I see this. And the birthday cake is nuts. No, but, no, Jesse, the birthday cake is huge. It's like this big.

And they always like walk over and they go, did you want to take that home with you? You're like, it's enough cake for 10 people. It's a great chicken club. If you just want something light. I like that. The chicken salad also sounds good. Chicken cell is delicious.

And you know what's delicious? Hmm. It might sound odd at first. Scalops with leeks, mushrooms, and escarco butter. Oh. It's very delicious. And you already know what you like? I think we do.

Yeah. Okay. We're decisive. Quick and easy. I'll have a chicken club. Okay, no problem. And I'm going to do the chicken salad. Chicken salad.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Your mom was in fashion. Well, she was, listen, my mother, I grew up like in this crazy kind of insane family. Only child. Only child not only just with my mom, but in my whole family there were no other kids. There were no cousins. There was nothing.

So it's just lots of adults, me, and adults pretending that a six-year-old was 26. and they were the kind of people who loved to debate everything. And fashion and style was dinner conversation. And you started, I mean, I've read this before, but like that you started designing clothes, like, age five.

Didn't she, like, sketch your mother's wedding dress? I didn't sketch it. I didn't sketch it. I know what my five-year-old would draw I was like I don't have a lot of faith in me but no I didn't know no she my mom got remarried when I was five yeah and she had ordered this elaborate wedding gown and my mom was having her fitting

the dress arrived and so my grandmother and I went and we're sitting in the fitting room and my mom puts the gown on and my grandmother was like, oh, my mom, so beautiful. You look perfect. She's like, oh, she's like so hard. And I'm sort of stone-faced.

And my mom was like, what's the matter? And I said, I don't know. My mother's like, do you don't like it? And I was like, it's a little busy. And it had originally, the dress had bows, little fabric bows that were applicated all over the dress. And my mother said, what don't you like? And I was like, I don't understand all those bows.

Why do you have all those bows? So my grandmother was like, the bows are beautiful. And my mother was looking at herself in the mirror. She said to the tailor, maybe it does have too many bows. So my mom said, can you snip a few of the bows off? So they snipped a few off. And I still was sitting there. And then she said, you know what?

I think he's right Oh my God And the next thing you know they took all the bows off And the dress ended up with one bow That was it And I think my grandmother was kind of ticked off Because she was like, why are you listening to a child? Right, right, right

What does he know? And my mother always told me later that she knew that I was sort of always observing things Yeah Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Michael and I get into why Project Runway captured the attention of everyday people outside the fashion world. And he tells me his reaction to The Devil Worse Prada. Okay, be right back.

Right now, our family is living that New York theater life. I'm performing in a play right now called True, where I get to play Truman Capote. And the kids are here with me, and I'm working in the city, which is amazing. so much. It also means I'm juggling a lot. Between rehearsal schedules, school drop-offs, figuring out dinner in between shows, and then making sure everyone has what they need, it's hard enough just getting through the day, let alone planning ahead. And while we're here in New York fully immersed in this, you know, this season of life, it got me thinking about how our place back home is just sitting empty. If you're going to be away for a while, like me, listing your space on Airbnb

can be a great way to put your space to use and earn a little extra cash while you're gone. And the idea of doing it all by yourself, see, that just feels like too much. That's where Airbnb's co-host network comes in. You can partner with a local vetted co-hosts who can handle all the behind-the-scenes details, so hosting feels manageable, even when your schedule is as packed as mine might be. Co-hosts can create your listing, manage reservations, handle guests, communication, and even provide on-site support, so you're, free to focus on the busy season ahead.

If you're ready to get started, find a co-host at Airbnb.com slash host. Hey, y'all. I'm Maddie. And I'm Poodle. And together, we host the podcast Reality Gays. We are two ridiculous homosexuals who love nothing more than talking about reality television and tearing in a new one. So whether it's 90-day fiancé, love is blind, love after lockup, or any other trash TV show about lonely hearts looking for love, your gay besties got you cover, Joe.

New shows every week. follow and listen to Reality Gays wherever you get your podcast. And we're back with more dinners on me. I drove my mom crazy. Because literally at the time in the 70s, they used to have these model rooms at Bloomingdale's, and they would unveil them.

And it was a big thing. You'd be like, Bloomingdale has new model rooms. What does that mean? They would set up like a living, room, bedroom, all decorated,

and you would go to get ideas. Got it. Yeah. And it was sort of like the beginning of like this sort of lushe,

very ethnic kind of, you know, big pillows on the floor, ceiling fans, you know, big wicker peacock chairs, all that. And I was like,

I want my bedroom to look like that. And my mom was like, you're 12. And no, it's like not happening. But then she let me like put a coffee table out.

That is so. Or I think I had some weird kind of glass and chrome etiagere that I had like books on display. Coffee Table Books. Like, who is coffee table books when you're 12? That's so great. And did you flip through them? Of course. Oh, no, no.

It was like, wow. You needed that sophistication. I was dying. Yeah. Magazines like all on display, all my Vogue's interview magazine would come and you'd be like, what's Andy Warhol going to teach us? Right. You know, and, you know, yeah, I feel very fortunate that I had the access.

Yeah. And, you know, when I first went to school, I went to FIT. And I was sort of one of the few people in my group who grew up with access to the city. A lot of people were transplants. They were transplants from other cities, other states. So I was sort of the kind of the tour guide. Right. Have you ever felt like, and I mean, I feel like I sometimes feel this way as an artist,

but like you, you know, when you have a point of view and then you're getting information from just other people who do what you do in the industry, did I ever feel like it was clouding what you wanted to do or you were ever questioning your aesthetic or? Oh, yeah, sure. Sure. I mean, more than anything, you know, I, as I said before, I am very impatient. It's just my nature. And, you know, I was, I had just turned when I delivered my first collection to Bergdorf-Goodman, I was 22. Wow, that's so young. I was a kid. I literally, I didn't know anything. I didn't know the rules, whatever. But I remember like, I waited three years for my first fashion show because I was like, I want to be ready.

And I had this show. And I couldn't understand why at 25 I wasn't a household bank. Yeah. So because I looked around and I thought, oh, you know, isn't it my time? And I now, of course, realize how lucky I was that I wasn't a household bank. Who were the other people that maybe you were comparing yourself to at that time? Oh, at that time. Well, listen, I wanted to be.

be Calvin Klein overnight. Yeah. You know, I wanted to, you know, I grew up watching someone like Halston. And, you know, but he put in his years. He put in his time. You know, Calvin, same thing. You know, these were sort of the bedrock of American fashion. And then you watch all the people that you come up with, you know, and it's amazing.

I mean, like Mark Jacobs and I have known each other. my gut since we were kids. I mean, you know, I was at his Parsons graduation fashion show. And, you know, I was doing Celine in Paris. He was doing Louis Vuitton. We were sort of the American boys like eating cheeseburgers and cranberry juice in Paris. And, you know, so you see everyone's trajectory. And it's the same as what you do.

do you want this to be something that has longevity? Right. That you keep trying new things. Or a flash in the pan. Yeah, or do you want it to be quick? Right. But of course, when I was, you know, like I said, when I was 22, I was like... Yeah, it never happens as fast as you wanted to when you have drive at that young of an age, of course.

Like, yeah, you want it to be white hot. But I do think that, I mean, I certainly am grateful for the way my career has unfolded and sort of simmered at the beginning. and, you know, I think that longevity is the perk of that. At the same time, you want to try new things. Yeah. You know, how do you... So to me, it's always been that kind of... The tricky balance.

So you're right. I mean, look what you've done. I mean, I think it's so great that you jump into things that aren't, you know, what the mass public knows you for. Yeah. How great. Yeah. I mean, I feel like that.

And you have the freedom to do it. It's always easier to take risks after you've had success, for sure. I would. Yeah. But I think, you know, what's so funny? When I was doing Project Runway, initially, I remember thinking, I don't know, like reality television, fashion, you know, are they going to eat insects? What are they going to do?

Well, I was like... This was right after the top model had kind of taken off. Exactly. So I was like, you know, I don't want this to be a joke. Right. This is something that I love. It's very important to me. It's important to me. I want to support the industry. I want to support the talent. And then the show came on and it wasn't that.

And people were really watching and watching the process and all of that. But then someone said to me, I think Jane Krakowski. Jane said to me, she said, you do know you're on television now. Everything's going to change. So I said, what do you mean? She said, people are in their underwear eating ice cream hanging out with you. She said there's no. There's a shift.

Yeah, for sure. And I said, no, no. He said, you'll see. She's right. It happened. Yeah. People would come up to me and said, how did you get rid of him? He was amazing.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I'm like, okay. Yeah. I mean, what were your hopes when, when that show first started, you know, you talked about like wanting to not be one thing, but

I mean, what I was so, as a viewer, what I loved so much about it was, sure, I know what fashion is. Like I get magazines, I shop for clothes. Like, I know a baseline of what fashion is. What I loved about it was that you really pulled the curtain back and it wasn't just about frivolous runway shows. No, what goes into this hard word?

What goes into this? What sweat and tears and just passion? I remember thinking, what was so interesting about the show. Yeah. Do you cook? You're a good cook? Yeah, love cooking.

I can, like, grill things. I can arrange a platter, but, like, baking, for instance, to me, I find it, I'm very not scientific, so I don't understand. It's very precise. And I also don't understand how these things

that look like one thing. How did the flour, the baking powder, the sugar, and the egg turn into something totally different? And that's what Project runway did. You saw from nothing, the sweater comes a lot. You're like, where'd it come from?

And that, I think that was pulling the curtain back, like you said. I mean, I remember, Rashida Jones told me that her dad watched Project Runway. And I was like, Quincy Jones watched Project Runway. That's the coolest thing of the world. And I was like, I'm amazed. Why?

And she said, he just thought the process was cool to watch. Yeah. You know, the funny thing is fashion. Hollywood has not done a great job with fashion. It always makes us seem. frivolous, nasty, ridiculous. And there's very few films or, well, theater, forget it. Television, not a lot, where it really captures it.

And I think Project Runway really captured it. And I think people are enamored of seeing the story. of fashion. But then when it gets too arch and too crazy, everyone's like, oh, I hate these people. Like, they're horrible, you know? And there are some horrible people. Well, what did you think of, like, for example,

just talking about pop culture and just like half-fashioned represented? Like, for example, the devil wears product. So much fun. So much fun, right? So much fun. But listen, I remember going to see the devil wears product,

and Lance and I go into the theater, and the movie starts, and within the first five minutes, It's RSVP to the Michael Corse party and make sure the car is there 10 minutes later, blah, blah, blah. And I had no idea. I had no idea. And I remember the next time I saw Anna, I said, well, I said at least I was in the first five minutes. And she laughed at me and she said, yeah, she said, it was good placement.

Yeah, yeah. So I said, yeah, I'll go with that. And then Merrill was wearing a Michael Corr's suit in one of the first scenes. you know, I think that the funny thing about the movie is obviously it's not a documentary. Right.

Did it capture a moment in New York and the fashion world? It did. Yeah. When I think about Devil Wear's product, the photo shoe that Stanley Tucci is,

they're dressed up as animals in Central Park, whatever. The reality is, is like there are these insane fashion shoots that have always gone on and maybe it's not animals in Central Park but they're pretty wacky right and when you watch a shoot like whenever we're on location and we're shooting a campaign or something and I always see like crowds will be gathering around and I know that they all must be like what are all these people doing and you know the whole scene of like the belt, they're so different.

Well, Lance and I sometimes laugh at work would be like, I don't know. Should the neck come in like, I don't know, like a quarter of an inch? And most people would be like, it looks fine. What are you talking about? So, yeah, the movie captured that. Yeah. Now let's take a quick break, but don't go away. When we return, Michael shares an unexpected request from a fan,

and we get into LGBTQ history. what he's doing to preserve it. Okay, be right back. And we're back with more dinners on me. What does it feel like when you're just like out in the world and you recognize your pieces on people? Initially, it was so bizarre. I can't even tell you.

I imagine it's like being, I hear like, you know, singers and songwriters who heard their music for the first time in the elevator or something. Yeah, or the supermarket. Yep. Well, seeing your initials. Yeah. Like on strangers.

Uh-huh. Yeah. Now, when I was a teenager and a very terrible student in high school, I was a horrible. I would just sit in doodle all day long, drawing all day long. And I used to doodle a Michael Corr's logo. I was probably 16. And I'd sit there and be like, And what we use as our logo for handbags is a cousin of what I doodled originally. So when I see it, when I first saw it, I'd be like, like, I can't believe it. And now it's enough time as elapsed. Do you know, I've had situations where someone like, I was in South Africa. and I had to give this woman my passport

and she looked at it and she said, how long have you worked there? Oh my God. And I said, work there, and she said, you work at Michael Coors. Wow. And I said, no, no, I'm Michael Coors. And she looked at me and she goes,

you're a person? She had no idea. That's incredible. She thought it's kind of like in Back to the Future. Yeah. When Leah looks and she thinks that his name is Calvin Klein. Right. Like, no, there's a person.

Yes. And I do think people sometimes think that you're just this brand. And no, there's a person behind the brand. But I still get excited. I still get juiced. I still count handbags. You know, I'm walking through an airport. I'm like, oh, one, two, three, okay, shoes.

I mean, I did, we had a thing. that we did for a while was called Fashion's Night Out. I remember this, yeah. And we did like, I think we did like three or four times. And some of it was wild. Some of the stuff we did was crazy.

I mean, me seeing Defying Gravity was not pretty, especially with Adina. Like, and I kept saying to her, I can't do this. She's like, I'm covering you. Don't worry, it's fine. Oh my God.

But we had one where I went to Macy's, but not Macy's here in Manhattan. I went to Macy's in Queens, and we were supposed to meet people and sign, I think, perfume bottles or something. And a woman came up to the desk where I was sitting, and she turned around and put her butt in my face and said, please sign my ass. And I was like, what? And she said, I'm wearing Michael Corse jeans. and I was like, what? And Anna went to her

was sitting next to me. And Anna looked at me and said, what are you going to do? I said, I'm going to sign her ass. I got a Sharpie. And I got a Sharpie and I signed her ass and off she went. And Anna was like, is that the oddest thing

that you've ever done? And I said, kind of, yeah. I said, but you know what? She's got a one of a kind piece now. Right? It was amazing. It was crazy. Oh, my God.

That's incredible. Yeah. But I do get a rush when someone says, you know, oh, I've worn this and I've had it for 15 years. Yeah. You know, while we were in Amsterdam, we came back to the hotel and there were a group of people were coming in at the same time. And one of the women looked at me and said, oh, my God, you're Michael Pors. And I said, yes, how are you? And she just, look what I'm wearing.

And she had on a jumpsuit of ours that must have been 15 years old. And I was like, she said, you know, I've had this forever and I love it. I love that. And it was great. I mean, it's great. Speaking of, like, how do you, what are your opinions on trends? Like, when you see big things happening in fashion, like, are you wary of them? Are you, do you embrace them?

I think, again, you want to be aware. Uh-huh. And you have to know what's, for me, as a. designer, are there things that I find intriguing that are appropriate, that I feel I can add something to that? I can put my spin on it and is it appropriate to the people who wear what I design? Right. And if not, leave it behind. I mean, I was so crazily trendy when I was a teenager and a young adult. And then literally the minute I started my own business,

I really realized I'm going to spend my energy and time thinking about what everyone else wears. Right. And I don't want to have to think about what I'm wearing. But you still want to look fabulous. Yeah, I want to look great, but I want it to be fast, expedient. It has to work for me.

And yeah, there's subtle little shifts. Yeah. You know, the shape of your gene changes. The lapel on your jacket changes. Although I think the jacket I'm wearing today is like 23 years old. It's a great jacket. Why not? But it's these subtle little shifts.

And, you know, I've heard people say, oh, I'm never going to need another black jacket. And then suddenly you try a new one on and you're like, oh. Yeah. Shapes different. Yeah. Proportions different. I've never had this fabric before. Oh, actually, yeah.

You just feel different when you're wearing it. You put it on and isn't that what it's about? Yeah. Well, he's got to see it. What do you want me to see? You have to see a birthday cake. Oh, I want to see the birthday cake. Do you want any coffee or anything?

I'll have another one of these. I'll take an espresso. Thank you. You and Lance were we met when again? We met in 1990. Okay. So this is like right. In New York, that was a crazy time.

I mean, that was still, we were. It was a very, 1990 to me, from a business perspective, I was really starting to come into my own. Yeah. But from a personal perspective, it was a very tough time. I mean, AIDS epidemic was. I was just losing so many people in my life, people who were friends, people who were colleagues, everywhere you went.

I knew people who were so, like, over just the fear and the sadness that everyone started going to Miami, going to South Beach, because you could buy an apartment for, like, $45,000. Right. And say, to hell with it, I'm going to dance in my underwear and whatever. The world's going to burn and have fun. And we started going down to Miami, and I was like, Wow, you know, this is amazing.

So there was that energy down there, which was so different than the heavy sadness that you felt in New York in the early 90s and the late 80s. But that's also, didn't you also start working with God's love we deliver around that time? I still. Well, actually, in a weird way, you know, I was young. My business was small. I didn't have any money. I was kind of amazed by, you know, what were people doing about the AIDS crisis? How do you handle this?

You know, act up was, you know, they were on the front lines, you know, chaining themselves to, you know, buildings and really trying to raise the noise level. up. But everything seemed, I don't know, like you couldn't make this concrete difference. And I kept thinking, there's got to be something concrete we can do. If you're not wealthy, what do you do? Right. And I heard about God's love. We deliver. And someone said, started in the basement of a church, this woman Ganga Stone she had a friend who was sick and he couldn't cook he couldn't prepare food for himself

and she was like well maybe there are other people like him and the next thing you knew the kitchen started and you're like oh I can deliver a meal I can do that and you know you'd walk into someone's home

and obviously the food was a big part of it, but it was also human interaction and connection. Sometimes we're the only person they might have seen that day. They don't see anyone. And now when I see what's happened with God's love

through the pandemic, through the AIDS pandemic, through COVID, and now we're opening in Brooklyn. Incredible. We're the Michael Corps building in New York, which at the time we thought was enormous. Is that the one off of six?

It's on six. Six in spring. Yeah. But when we first opened the building and renovated it, I remember thinking, wow, this is so big. This is going to be. And then, of course, the need just exploded.

And now we see there are families that, you know, if the parents are too ill to cook for themselves, they can't cook for their kids. Yeah. So that's been a change. I mean, you're bringing that same passion to some. that I'm really worked up about right now with Stonewall. You know, recently with the government taking the flag down.

And, you know, I think what kind of breaks my heart so much about Stonewall specifically is I just feel like there's so many people that don't understand the history of what Stonewall is. and its presence in New York, I think, and also the visitor center that is connected to it, is so vital. Oh, when they, when they, we got approached, there was the discussion that the building where the Stonewall Inn is was going to be turned into a nail salon or something.

I remember this, yeah. And they said, you know, wouldn't it be great if we could actually teach people what happened here? Wow. Is that nuts? How nuts? That's insane. It's the baby slice. It's a sliver.

All right. Your podcast, you make a wish. I wish for sanity. The sanity in this world. Oh, my God, it's beautiful. Isn't it? Now, how do you go about eating it? Do you tip it?

No, they, well, I think we could stab it or. Yeah, do it. Do you do it? My God. No, the visitor center, Jesse, was so important to teach people what had happened here. And then, I mean, listen, when marriage equality passed in New York State, Lance and I were sitting on the sofa, and I literally, it came across the banner. And I literally, it came across, the banner came on the television.

And I always said, I'm not going to go to another state. I am a New Yorker. Yeah. And when it passed here, I literally was like, okay, let's get married. We called our best friends a couple. And we said, where do we get married? Do you want to get married with us? Four of us?

And they were like, sure, of course. Where did we go? Immediately? We went. We went. We went to Stonewall. Wow. And so the power of it's remarkable.

And so to see the perseverance, like, you want to take the flag down? No, we're going to put it back up. I mean, what I'm very excited about, we haven't really announced much of it yet. It's shocking to think that we don't have an LGBTQ plus museum. Well, guess what? We're going to have one. Oh, incredible. It's going to be at the New York Historical Society on Central Park West.

Yes. And we are on the board. It's going to open in 27. That's great. And it is going to be not only here in New York, but the exhibits will actually travel. That's so great. It's so important. My God, that's so important.

So we're pumped. And are they traveling to these, you know, Cities. Oh, thank God. I'm so happy to hear this. We're going. That's so important. Yeah, we're going. Because that's the thing. We're like, immediately my reaction, I said, guys, I don't want this to just be New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco. So great. So smart. So we're going everywhere. That's so important. Oh, this has been a fucking joy. Thank you for doing this.

It was a pleasure. I truly. Thank you so much. This episode of Dinners on Me was recorded at Cafe Commerce on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Next week on Dinner's On Me, you know him from The Big Bang Theory, and he's currently on The Audacity on AMC. It's Simon Helberg. We'll get into scene-stealing brilliance on The Big Bang Theory and his transition from sitcom stardom to more nuanced characters on prestige TV and film. And if you don't want to wait until next week to listen, you can download that episode right now by subscribing to Dinner's On Me Plus. As a subscriber, not only do you get access to new episodes one week early, you'll also be

able to listen completely ad free. Just click try free at the top of the Dinners On Me show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial today. Dinner's On Me is a production of Sony music entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf.

Sam Bear engineered this episode. Hans Dale She composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tamika Balance Kalasni and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week.