Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Fox v. Dominion, and Lee Merritt on Representing the Family of Ralph Yarl

Episode Date: April 21, 2023

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay discuss the Fox News settlement with Dominion Voting Systems (22:05), then attorney Lee Merritt joins to discuss accountability and justice for Ralph Yarl following his unnecessary shooting (43:18). Plus, updates on the Jonathan Majors situation (1:07:45). Hosts: Van Lathan Jr. and Rachel Lindsay Guest: Lee Merritt Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Ashleigh Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, thought warriors. What is that? Oh, change your out. It is I, Van Lakey Jr. And it's me, Rachel and Lindsay. Rachel. We hung out. We hung out on Tuesday night.

We hung out on Tuesday night. Could have hung out last night from what I'm told. Yeah, I messed up. You're in trouble. You are in trouble. I thought about you And I thought I thought for a second

Where is he? What is he not here? Messed up Go ahead, tell the people what happened. Tell the people. We didn't hang out Tuesday. We started on Tuesday. Shout out to, no, let's start up with the negative

is what you want to do. So I was going to talk about when we did hang out before you bring it back to the negative. It's fine. So last night was the Fear of God fashion show. The Hollywood Bulls. Los Angeles, California.

Natalie Manuel Lee invited me to this. Natalie and Brian. Great people. Great people. Very godly. Like, I call Natalie and Brian the Jesus light skins.

Okay. The light skin with Christ. Do you ever see Natalie and Brian in their family? Beautiful family. Brian, nice guy. Got a mustache now. You know them. They're great people.

They're so nice. that sometimes it's hard for me to like be around. Brian is so positive and godly. I'm like, dog, I can't live up to, anyway. So they're great people.

He lifts you up. It's good for you to be around them. I feel like I bring him down. You know what I mean? Anyway, I feel like that on the podcast. It's facts. Whatever.

So, look, Natalie reached out, say, Hey, man, you know, you come into the Fear of God fashion show. Natalie's brother, Jerry Lorenzo,

who is the lead designer, the owner of Fear of God. It's a big deal. Everybody was going to be out there having a great time. And I forgot. I forgot about it yesterday. And then when I got up this morning, I saw you and the amazing Nina, who was invited to the screening Tuesday night,

but didn't come. I saw you and Nina and everybody hanging out, and I went, damn. And I shouldn't have mentioned it. I shouldn't have said anything. But of course, I blurted out. Oh, shit, the fashion show was last night. What fashion show?

What do you mean? You got I was in trouble with Kalika. It's disappointing. Poor Kalika. It's disappointing. I was a plus one, okay? I didn't even get the original invitation. I was just happy to be in the mix.

I was with the amazing Nina Parker, as you said. You should be, you are in trouble because not only was it just great to be there and it was so like just black folks everywhere, Kalika's a stylist. She loves fashion. It would have just been such a beautiful moment for her to be there. I woke up this morning to a text message straight from Kalika. So upset. She wasn't there. And I got to just tell you, it was such an incredible event.

It started late, obviously, it's fashionably late. It didn't matter. When I tell you everybody was there, just just name somebody black. And I'll be like, yes. Sidney 48. Okay. You said name somebody black. Trying to make me feel bad. I know he wasn't there. Angela Bassi was.

I know he wasn't there. A legend. You want to name another legend? Angela Bassett. And where our seats were? Because, like, we had ourselves a little crew. It was me, Nina, LaMaya, Eric. And then Jason Lee was next to us.

And everybody just was walking through. Everybody was walking through from the Angela to the Taraji to the Nia to the queen. to, I mean, you just, everybody was there. It was so beautiful. Everybody came out to support. Beautiful show. I do not know. Shout out to the artist that popped off the show from, he played the piano.

He sang. It was amazing. He did about four songs. And then there was the show. And I wanted every single piece that the men and the women were wearing. Push a T. perform. Your boy was front rows zipped up from the top to the ball. bottom.

Who? Jamming. Who's, who's there? Pusha T was? Yay. Yeah. Kanye West was there? Right there.

Interesting. I'll be honest with you. Right there. I'll be real. Everything that you're talking about right now, I don't give a fuck about none of that. Like, if the only reason why I would have wanted to be there is because for Kalika.

Like, I don't give a fuck about not one thing that. was mentioned. Like, really, last night, let me tell you what happened here in this place. Last night I was on the couch. Last night I was on the couch. The game was on. Wozily Wadden, walked over to me. He looked at me. And then he looked over there and he was like, get on the couch. He gets on the couch. He lays, I fall asleep with Wozily Wabbit right there by me. We're on the couch. wake up this morning, the woes are still right there. That wasn't going to, I don't get to fuck about fear of God. No, no, but it happened last night.

And it wouldn't have, it might not happen if I'd have been out. Thotting at the Fear of God fashion show. Oh my God. Like in the Hollywood Bowl, okay? With Kanye West, you're telling me, you're telling me, you're trying to make me feel like I'm in something. And you're going to tell me that Kanye West was there. I don't give a fuck about you yet.

He was off in the distance. It was a beautiful moment. He should need to be invited. But you just spoke about Natalie and Brian and just like the brand and what it and what it represents. And it was just so great to see this first fashion show ever sold out crowd, so many people representing. I think one of the most fun moments was that the show started and it was this beautiful music. And it was like, you know, glory to glory. That's not the song, but it was like that kind of thing.

It was like godly choir. And then all of a sudden the music stops. And you hear it. Dun-da-da-dan-dun-da-dun-dun-da-dun-da-dun-da-dun. And everybody just, fuck the mother nicks because I'm down for my... Everybody was just... It was like a party. The way that switch happened.

It was, he played that. He played some Tupac and bone thugs. It was great. The fashion was great. It was the time. I guess you want to downplay it because you forgot. And that's fine. And that's a defense.

And that's a defense mechanism. Rachel. I know you don't care. But wait, I know you don't care. But if you had been there. But no, no, no. If you had been there, it's one of those things that was like, I wasn't there.

It's fine. Whatever. But if you had. gone, you would have appreciated it. I ran into somebody who I was like, man, you got to come on the podcast. And I was like, don't tell Van, we'll surprise them.

We'll surprise them. I'm not going to tell you. It's fine. We're going to surprise. He's like, oh, Van's the homie. I said, I know he is. Why don't you come on the podcast? It'll be a lot of fun.

Who could this be? Whatever. Don't you love surprises? I do love surprises. Look, here's the thing. Here's the thing. I would like to say something right now. As this podcast is dropping, it's a very important day.

This podcast is dropping on April 21st, 2020. That is the birthday of my mouse, Kalika Abram. Okay. I would like to say happy birthday to the most beautiful thing that nature and God has ever created. The best mouse ever, the cutest little mouse puppet ever lived, the special dog. Her name is Kalika. Okay. I have a very special gift for you. It is your birthday today. I'm glad to know you.

Glad to have you in my life. I don't know where I would be right now if you weren't there. Number two, it's also somebody else's birthday, Rachel Lindsay. All right. It's Rachel Lindsay's birthday as we celebrate today. And let me tell you something else. It's a really interesting situation that the two women in my life, okay, have the exact same birthday. right now. When that happened, when we first knew that, I was like,

we're going up. This podcast is out of it. It's like, how could that be? Of all the birthdays and all the days and all the years, it's Kalika Rachel Day.

Kalika Rachel Day. What do you guys got playing? What are y'all doing? It's a good day. Well, Friday, we're each its own doing our own thing. Saturday, thank God for Kalika, who is proactive and plans things.

She's put together a karaoke event, which I'm very, right? Which I'm very, very excited about. Even when I saw her on Tuesday, I was like, girl, all I'm thinking about is my karaoke song. What are we going to do? I don't know yet. Think about it. I got a couple of, I got a couple of go-toes, but I might change it up. narrow it down.

Yeah. And then Sunday, I'm going to do. do a little spa thing. But, you know, I got to work on Saturday before karaoke. You know, it's nonstop over here. Narrow your songs down. Give us the top four songs that you might do in karaoke. I love to do and you're going to roll your eyes. I love a spice girl's want. Oh, Jesus Christ. All right. You know, I'll tell you what I want. What's really, I want. what you really want to. I want to,

I want to, I want a really, really, really, really. See? The guy and the place to be, she's a real lady and that's with me.

You'll see. Slum your body down and whine. Slum your body down and whine over. Hey, hey, see, see, see? I got you. I was at, I was at Nelson's house. And it was early in the morning.

And I wake up and I'm watching like the box. And one of the, the bee comes on, right? And I remember seeing Mel and being like, that is the baddest fucking woman I've ever seen before in my life. Who are these ladies? You know what I mean?

And then after that, two became one came out. They had a little run. I think that is weird that that's the song that you would do, but it is a song from my youth that I mean. It's one of, it's, yeah, like you got to do a throwback. And that reminds me of it. There's got to be a Mary Jay. You know, I'm going down, real love.

Okay. Okay. I don't know. Janet is always a good one. Collique and I were talking about that because you got to do a song where you know a little bit of choreography too. Okay. You know?

Nice. I got to figure out my rap song, though. I got to figure out the rap song. You got to do something. You got to do ice cream paint job. Yeah, I've read for Dallas. You know what I mean? Is that a karaoke song that people do?

I thought I would do some DSR. D.S. on the butt side. Yeah. You can do that. You do it like, you do one of those songs. Like you, dog.

You like that shit. You know. I do know it. But like I'm not, you always want me to bow down to the kids. You always do this. No, because you always do this.

You're like, let me tell you something. And I'd be like, Dan, just pledge. I don't want to bow. You want me to bow down to the cues. If I asked Donnie to put a collaboration

of you doing this, it's not a cold. It's not a cold. Hey, while we're in the pleasantries, you know what I just came from? I'm like Queen of the Walk of Fame. I do all these Walk of Fame interviews. When people get their star, when people get their star on the Walk of Fame. I just did Martin Lawrence.

And when I tell you, it was a beautiful moment. Donnie, clip that, clip that. Take all the Rachel's. Donnie, remember that. I just did Martin Lawrence. So take all the Rachel's things together. Are y'all? context things.

He'll take all the Rachel's out of con. Donnie, remember that. She just did. Don't do me like that. She just did. Okay, go ahead. Wait a ruin a moment.

I just interviewed Martin Lawrence. And when I tell you, he's so, he was so humble. He had his family there. He had Tracy Morgan, Steve Harvey,

Avion, um, DeRay was there. Michael Block. was there. I know I'm forgetting somebody, but just like all these comedians come out, support him. Lynn Whitfield spoke for him. She was there. Tracy Morgan said the most beautiful thing. He was talking about doing a hustle man and how Martin giving him that opportunity, gave his family the opportunity to leave the ghetto. And he was like, Martin did that for a lot of people with his show. He gave them

the opportunity to get their start. Steve Harvey talked about how that show was the blackest show from when you walked in to when you left from wardrobe to hair makeup to production, catering. He's like, everything was black and just talked about what it meant for the culture. And it was just like really a nostalgic moment in addition to everything else that Martin Lawrence has done. But it was nice to see him. It's one of those people where you were like, how does he not have a star yet on the walk of fame?

Yeah. It was a beautiful. Martin. Shout out to Martin. I'm glad that that happened for him. I'm glad that people are giving him his dude. He's one of the biggest comedy stars in the 90s, 2000. They got another bad boys movie coming out.

They got another one coming out. I think they're doing that right. Yeah, yeah. He said he told me it was the best one yet. Yeah, well, we'll see about that. We'll see about that. Okay. You guys, oh, Tuesday, by the way,

it was a screen of a movie called Once Again, for the first time that I'm involved with the writer-director Boyce Joaquin. It's an allegorical tale of trauma, survival, and perseverance. It's an interesting. watch. Rachel was there. That was Tuesday and, you know, we hung out. It was a beautiful

watch. You liked it. It was interesting, but it was beautiful. At some points, I was like, I feel dumb because I felt like some of it was going over my head. But from the parts that I did, it was abstract. But it was a beautiful story and the acting was top-notch. Great. Great performances. Top-notch. Great performances. Uh,

Boashe King, you guys might know him from Fresh. You might not know him from Remember the Titans. He's the director of the movie, the writer of the movie. Nick and me are, are involved with it as well. Um,

so six feet over. So like Rachel came. She showed out. She supported. Shout to Rachel. Shout out to Joy Taylor. Shout to Sean. Um,

shout out to my brother, Jabryl. Shout out to all of the people that came out. I met somebody in the player proof crew. Gibral is not in the player proof crew. Is he? Excuse me. Sorry.

Sorry to Gibral. It's a different set of people. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry to Gibral. Now that's something that has to be brought up. Now that's going to be something that gets discussed. So I can't keep up.

I thought he was a part of it. Is he from back home? He is. So he was adjacent. Yeah. He was adjacent. And let me tell you something about Gibral. So Gibral is, so all the player proof crew guys are good looking.

Right? They're all, there's a handsome crew of black men. Tall guys. You saw it's real tall men. Was that a requirement? Yeah, no, he's a handsome guy. Was, is it a, it was a requirement? So you got your own little fraternity right there.

I swear to God. It just happened that way. Like, it just happened that way. I remember one time Gino was like, okay. I was, I was stressing out about, about this girl. And Gino was like, man, let me just keep it real with you, bro. If you was an ugly niggian, you'd have heard that way before now

because we'd be on your head about that shit. You know what I'm saying? So, but Gibral was like, so Gibral was good looking, but he also was like, fucking a dude.

Like he was, so I started dunking the ball at 15. He started dunking the ball at 12. You know, he was like a, he was like a dude. Like, you know what I mean? Like he, he was like,

uh, and, You know, he came to my first day of school at McKinley with me. When I went to McKinley, Drew, was there my first day of school. And just, it was kind of thing to where you really love your best friend. But you're like, I'm ready for this nigga to leave because I need my son. You know what I'm saying? It's like, it's like, hey, girls come up to you.

Like, hey, it's first day you're like, hey, what's up with you? How are you doing? He's like, is that like your brother or something like that? Tell him to come over here. And I'm like, no! You talk to me! So sometimes in the player-proof crew, it's a little bit, because he wasn't in the player-proof crew,

there's a little bit, you know, I bring drill around and, you know, taunt him. You know what I mean? No, you think you're a player. I bring you brille around to taunt the guys. I know, I got a nigga that can steal your bitch. Anyway, but nobody, before they hear this and get mad, nobody got more girls than Ian and Gino and Trey. Oh, Ryan.

They're so good looking. They're so good with women. My name is Ian Spooner and all the ladies love me. Ha, ha. I'm Gino. I'm Ryan. Yeah, whatever, guys. Does the player proof crew listen?

Yeah, they do. They'll hear this. You just, like, the one thing you can't do is you can't, two things with Ian, Ryan doesn't really give a fuck, right? Ryan either. But two things with Ian that you cannot ever

like front on him with. Number one is his ability with women and number two is singing. So right now, he is a great singer. He's a great singer. So like right now,

if I say so and so sings better than Ian or Ian can't sing, Ian going to be like, whatever. What's, we'll talk about that before we move on. So, Ian is so

As a singer He's the most vulnerable about singing You know what I'm saying? Like he's like He's he loses all sort of He lets his guard down He loses all pretension Or whatever like when he's talking about his voice and singing and music

He's vulnerable, he's attentive He's like really one with it So this guy named Muhammad Who used to sing with them back in the day too And Muhammad had a beautiful voice. Okay. Three best voices I've ever had with our whole boy Jason, who got killed back in the day,

just had a gorgeous voice, a beautiful voice. Muhammad and Ian, those are the three best singers I've ever heard with my ears, right? I remember it was maybe like 2000, 2001. Ian was really in like a vulnerable moment. And he goes, yeah, man, I used to see him with Muhammad, bro.

You know, it was like, our voices were like in love. We were young. What? You see what I mean? And we weren't really to the point to where that could be appreciated, right? And I remember sitting there and Ian said that and I went,

huh. And then I looked at Gino. Gino looked at me and we know that the drive is coming. You know that the drive is coming. If you're Ian, you know that we're about to get off. And so I'd never forget. in like fat ass nigger

what you're gonna try to make it I'm like why I gotta be fat because you want to fuck Muhammad bro like why like why I got to be fat because you want to fuck Muhammad like why do I

why do I take trap milk because you want to have sex with him and right now somewhere Ian is hearing this and he is mad on the other side of his break Fox News who settles with Dominion

Foxen who settles from Dominion what it means and what happens next. Big deal of the day. The playoffs are here, and you can predict the action all the way to the final with Fandul predicts. Predict the spread, total points, and even the game winner. Sign up and get a $25 bonus. Offered by Fandul prediction markets LLC, a registered futures commission merchant, 18 plus. Bonus is non-withdrawable and expires seven days after receipt. Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors.

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Tap this ad to learn more about Trimphiata. including important safety information. The million voting systems beat Fox. They settled the defamation case. They had sued Fox for $1.6 billion with a beat. They settled this. The Voting Technology Company and Fox have settled for $787 million. That is short.

However, Fox will not have to apologize on air or anywhere else for the alleged defamation to Dominion voting systems. Here's the thing. We know that this has to do with election lies that were spotted off on Fox News by various people, including some members of the Fox News broadcast team, about the fact that Dominion voting systems were hacked and untrustworthy and led to widespread. voter fraud that delivered to 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.

Rachel, when you heard that Fox and Dominion had settled, what was your thought? Something that you just said. You said that Fox, sorry, you said the Dominion beat Fox when you were talking about this. Yes. So that goes to my first thought.

I don't think they did. I think the winner in this is Fox. and for the life of me, when I heard that they settled, that was not surprising. When you look at the evidence that we knew so far, and specifically the way the judge was ruling

in pretrial motions against Fox, when you look at the things that were said in depositions, by Fox on-air personalities, by the person, or Rupert Murdoch, who ran it. Everything was in favor of Dominion. So it was not surprising to me. And for people who were like, man, this was in like the 11th hour. The jury had been selected. They were right there. That is, it is not abnormal for a case to settle prior, especially when the odds are stacked

against one party. The shocking part to me was the number. Everything seemed to be moving towards Dominion and against Fox. So I was completely shocked to know that Dominion settled for more than half of what they were asking for originally in the lawsuit. This made absolutely no sense to me. And I'm not Dominion and I don't know what was at stake for them and I don't know what kind of cost they, you know, potentially have incurred or what was coming up for them. Maybe they needed this money.

needed a settlement. But this was bigger than just getting a monetary judgment against Fox. This was about holding Fox accountable for what they had done and perpetuating these lies about election fraud and dominion and certain and Trump and all of this. It was bigger than that. So the fact that they settled seemed to me it's like, this is a win for Fox because not, they didn't just settle. The terms are just the money. Fox doesn't have to apologize. Fox doesn't have to acknowledge anything. Fox gets to pay this money, which we know they make a lot, and this is not that much of a dent to them, and move on to the next line, to the next story that they want to go ahead and put out there. This won't affect their audience. This won't affect their bottom dollar. This won't affect

their sponsorships. And when you look at legal scholars, they talk about how this was the biggest case against a network with evidence that was towards the people bringing the case and against the network. This is the biggest case that they had seen. They had the biggest chance of winning with all the evidence that was stacked up. We had the possibility of looking at watching some of these anchors have to testify in trial. This would have been huge. This could have been the end of Fox or at least the humiliation of some of these anchors that go on and lie and lie and lie every single night. So to me,

I'm mad at Dominion. This seems to be a punk move. Because to me, maybe we will learn something that speaks to why they felt the need to settle. But to me, this was a lost opportunity to really get at Fox. And I don't know if there will be another opportunity to do this. Because Fox seems very comfortable

just writing a check and making it go away. than facing the music. So here's the thing. A couple of things. I have a couple of issues with a couple of things that you said. Number one. Oh, please.

I do. Yeah, big time. Number one, that's, when you said what it's about, that's what it was about to you. Dominion wasn't looking to hold Fox accountable.

The minion wasn't looking to save American democracy or embarrassed Fox, Dominion was defamed. And because they were defamed, they were seeking damages from a, from a, from a, from a, from a, from a, from a, from a, from a, from a, from a, company that has done most likely irreparable harm to Dominion. When you hear Dominion now, you will probably in some way associate Dominion with the 2020 election. And for a large portion. of the public, it doesn't even matter that all of these things were shown to have been lies.

They still believe that Dominion voting systems are susceptible to hacks or that some way they are crooked and working with the Democrats. So that brand is probably shocked as far as it goes for a lot of people. They have something on their name. So they're looking for damages there. They weren't trying in any way to get Rupert Murdoch right, to make Fox, you know, come to Jesus with political honesty or news. They weren't trying to do any of that. They got their legal bills paid for as part of this, $40 million.

And they got $700, nearly $800 million. That is a win and a half. and they don't have to go to trial. That's definitely a win for Dominion. And if you can settle in the situation like that, you do settle. You put the number at 1.6, obviously, because you're trying to get close to a billion dollars.

Something else. I don't think that we can say outright that this doesn't affect Fox in terms of their profits. Fox's profits for their profit for 2020, their net income is about $1.2 billion. $1.2 billion. I mean, they make a lot of money,

but their net income is about $1.2 billion. So being that their net income is $1.2 billion, $757 million is a shit ton of money for them to have to pay out. That is absolutely going to hurt. and I would say something else here. Fox is not anywhere close to out of the woods. Right now there's also a $2.7 billion lawsuit coming from Smartmatic.

Smartmatic is another voting systems company that is suing Fox for defamation. That claims that they were defamed. And the people over at Smartmatic are saying if you thought all of the information about Fox came out during the Dominion suit, you ain't seen nothing yet. And then Fox has yet another problem, which is that some of their shareholders are probably going to launch lawsuits as well

because they are being affected by the malpractice of Fox News staff in getting sued for defamation. This has happened a couple of times there. shareholders, they sued Fox or they settled with Fox during the entire Bill O'Reilly's sexual misconduct thing that caused a black eye on the company. There was a settlement back in the day

from the hacking thing that went on over in London. And now you're looking at a situation where the shareholders who, you know, the brass of Fox, the shareholders have a fiduciary responsibility to hold Fox accountable, it's really a bad time over there. I think when I saw people looking at the settlement and saying that in some way Fox like skirted or in some way Fox wasn't held to account, I think what people wanted was their version of this to happen. And they didn't look, in my opinion, at what actually happened.

What actually happened is that Fox was hit for half or a third of their yearly profits, which, God, is going to hurt Fox and this just buttered the fucking bread for smart matter. Fox is on the ropes right now and you might see something that you might not see before, which is you

might see a sort of tightening of the standard of the discussion over there because they have finally had to pay out some real consequences for the things that they say.

This is actually never happened to them before where they had to pay. It would be one thing. We were talking about $50 million. We talked about almost $800 million. It's a big deal. I was actually pretty excited about the whole thing. And when I saw people kind of upset about it on Twitter, I don't feel like we delved enough into what the settlement actually means for them.

and like what they have coming down the pipe. So key things, a few things that you said, you said they might tighten up. They might do these things. This was an extremely strong case against Fox. One like we had never seen against any network in regards to defamation ever. If money was the bottom line,

which I don't doubt it, I believe that. And clearly it was at the end of the day. I mean, it's a business. They've been harmed. They may never recover. I get that they, that money is what's important to them. Knowing what was for them. And this is a civil case. So, you know, I don't, they're not paying their, most likely they're not paying their attorneys by the hour. So the more of the settlement is, the more the lawyers get. That's how it works. So my point is, but it's based off a percentage is my point. based on how much the settlement is or the judgment would have been, had this gone to trial. Seeing how things were going in their favor and how Fox was continually losing credibility with the judge in this case

by hiding certain things, by not being forthcoming, the odds were in their favor. So going forward towards the 1.6, maybe they didn't get 1.6. Maybe they got a billion. To me, if the money was the issue, why not continue in that way rather than settle for less, more than half of what it is that you were asking? I agree with you on the money.

That's obvious based on the fact that they decided to settle. But I feel like if they kept pursuing it and you've gone this far, you've been doing this for two years. There's a two-year lawsuit at this point. Why not just keep going? This benefits, I don't care. Donnie put in the rundown the last quarter they made $321. million. This benefits Fox because Fox can continue with the lie. Not that they're going to continue lying about this, but they can act as if it never happened because they don't have to apologize

and they don't have to be accountable. And I totally know about the other lawsuit at play, but right now, that's not affecting what they're doing on their network. Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, all the other people, whoever else it was, didn't have to testify. didn't have to look like fools. Their credibility isn't, isn't sway. It really isn't, and it really could have been, especially if this had been a trial that was streaming lives. This had been, if they allowed cameras into the courtroom,

this potentially could have been damaging. And I think that Fox is able to hide behind it with this settlement. They just pay and they keep it going. They'll recover. This one lawsuit is, I do not think, affects them that much. And I think we will see the same thing happen because if the bottom line was the money for this for Dominion, it'll be the same for the next. And they'll just write another check. I just don't understand.

Their credibility isn't, their credibility isn't hurting at all. Their credibility wasn't going to be hurting. Everything that we would have wanted to know in terms of this, a lot of the stuff, it was reported. It was reported that Tucker Carlson said that he hated Donald Trump. It was reported that Rupert Murdoch admitted that everybody lied. These were these in the depots that came out, these things were reported. I'm not saying that they might have not had more power, had these people had to take the stand.

What I'm saying now is I'm saying we keep talking about like what we wanted from the case. And Dominion wanted to get a bag for what happened to their company, right? Right. So we've established that. So then why take it to trial? Anything could happen. Because you could have got more money. The way the trial was going, but the way the trial was going, the way the trial hadn't even started.

The trial hadn't even started. Excuse me. Can I put, can I throw the attorney? Can I put the attorney? The trial is, everybody says you win the case. You win the case before it even starts. That is that people, you go into a law crash. and they'll say in litigation, when do you win the case? And I'll save war dire.

You win it before. Everything that was happening prior to this was in Dominion's favor. Let me ask you a question. As a civil attorney, which you were one, right? What percentage of the time did you go into the courtroom? Did you actually try out a civil case? How many time do those civil cases make it into the court based upon? Me twice.

So there you go. So twice in the time that you served as an attorney, did you try a civil case? Settlements in situations like this are customary, right? They happen all the time. They happen more times than they don't. So in a situation like this, the only reason why we would have, the only reason why people would have wanted this to go to trial is to Bears Fox and Dominion, that wasn't their thing.

I personally think that the best way, the best way, because I don't think Fox News viewers care about anything that they were going to hear during the trial. I don't think Fox News viewers care about that. Now, the best way was to get the money and the surest way to get the money was to settle for almost $800 million. No, it's the surest way to get some money. The cases, you want to talk about the cases that did go to trial? because I did insurance defense.

So it was about whether or not the insurance company wanted to pay the plaintiff. The ones that went to trial when we tried to settle and we were like, we're going to give you this amount. And they were like, no, it's because the evidence was in their favor. And there were cases that went to trial and they got more money from the jury than we were trying to settle with them. Now, on appeal, it was a different story. and they lost that. But they got it from the jury because the evidence was in their favor,

whether even if the evidence wasn't emotionally, it was in their favor to where a jury couldn't get past it. With everything that was stacked against Fox, I think it was more likely than not. And more that I read and reading what legal scholars are saying, it's more likely than not that they were going to win and they were going to get more money than $800 million. My thing, go ahead.

Because I just lost my point. What I'm saying, though, is you just said the word appeal. So let's say we go through a trial and the trial lasts two, three months. Sure. However long it lasts. Remember, Dominion is a company, a company with elections coming up that might have systems that are being used less. And Dominion is paying money out, right?

So let's say you beat box, box appeals. How long after that do you have to? the way. This, like, oh, it could be a while. So, so,

right, so what I'm saying right now is, this definitely makes sense for demeanor. For people who wanted to see a trial. So for, for people who wanted to see a trial, democracy on trial,

or media on trial, then maybe you're left with the, with the sour taste in your mouth. But I would say even to those people, your glass half emptying this. And when you look at the fact that this is just the beginning, I have it up right here, just the beginning of the problems for Fox, shareholder complaints in the Delaware County Court saying that Fox breached their fiduciary oversight duties by failing to block the network's flaw reporting despite red flag warnings. Fox is in a little trouble here. And we shouldn't cut off our nose to spot our face just because you got, we.

didn't get to see Tucker Carlson on the stain. Maybe smart mad if you do. I don't think that that you're that. But I agree with you. The first thing I said is I don't know what is the issue with Dominion and they might need the money as a business. I totally agree with that. I believe they could have gotten both.

We could have seen both. Not that Fox's audience would have reacted a certain way, but I feel like we could have gotten both. They could have gotten the money. And there could have been the accountability and the humiliation. on the side of Fox. And I will just say, the last thing I will say is

there's a difference when somebody's saying they said this during their deposition, they said this during their text messages, and watching someone on the stand and having that video footage. There's a total difference and there's a different impact

than having to watch a Tucker Carlson being cross-examined, direct examination, all of it. There's a total difference to it. I agree. I see it. I'm just saying.

I agree. They didn't care about that. We'll never know because they fucking settled. And I think the reality of the situation is this. You guys follow your hearts all the time. There's a bunch of people I hear who are following their hearts. They thought that Dominion was the little guy suing Fox and they were going to bring Fox to bear. Dominion was doing what they're doing.

The money is what matters here. The money is what matters. And they got a for sure. payout that hits now for a large portion of Fox's yearly income. It's not a small number, but I feel what you're saying. All right, we got Lee Merritt coming on. Normally we would hold the interviews to the second half of the show. But Lee Merritt, who is representing Ralph Yarrow in the atrocious shooting case down there

in Kansas City, joins us right now on higher learning. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable Internet means everything for your business. And even this podcast, that's why I trust Spectrum Business. They keep companies of all sizes connected with Internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus 24-7 U.S.-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum Business. So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply.

Services not available in all areas. This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner. Or a road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those WeatherTech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer.

You don't need WeatherTech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. You guys are well aware, as we have discussed it here on the podcast, about the situation in Missouri regarding a young man named Ralph Yard. Ralph is on the men right now, which is fantastic. But we talked about it on the last podcast. He was tragically and really outrageously shot while knocking on the door of a man whose home he had showed up to mistakenly.

Now, since that has happened, we just talked a little bit about it before. There have been a string of similar shootings, which underscores kind of what it is that we're dealing with as an American society when it comes to guns. But in the case of Ralph Yarl, we are blessed to have somebody on the podcast today that has direct knowledge of the situation there and what's going to happen in the future. His name is Lee Merritt, and he is an asset to this. culture and asset to humanity. He's a lawyer and a freedom fighter out of Texas who is, am I right

about this, Lee, representing the Yarl family in their case against the gentleman who who shot him twice for no damn reason. Lee's here today on higher learning and that'll be my first question. How did you

come to represent the Yarl family? Rob was shot a week ago day. And so shortly after the shooting, people in his community began reaching out to me and other attorneys online asking for help. They eventually got to me when Sean King called me on Friday and said, hey, look, he actually reached out to Ben and I, put us on a group text and said, hey, look, I really want you all to look into this case. My secretary was getting married Saturday, so we had to look on it right before her wedding, got on a plane Sunday when the family asked us to come down.

we have mentioned you several times on this podcast because of the work that you do and you are constantly representing black individuals, black families for injustices that are done upon them or are someone similarly situated. Let me just ask you this. How are you? Because I don't know how you do it. And we are grateful for what you do. And in continuing, do. But how are you? Because I can't imagine having to, you know more than we even know about certain cases, because this is a case that has been brought to national attention. I'm sure there are multiple cases that you have that we don't even know about. Yeah. Yeah. I am relieved in this case because I heard a little boy was shot in his head and then again when he was on the

ground. And I assumed that by the end of the week in Kansas, I would be attending a funeral. And that's normally how this pattern goes. I have been in this line of work for over a decade now, representing victims of police violence in the deadliest police culture in the modern world. And I used to just throw myself into it and say, well, at least I get to be a part of the solution. And when people ask me how I was doing,

I would give some sort of answer like that. The truth is, this shit is exhausting. You know, the truth is, I've learned to sit back and kind of try to detach myself. give myself a chance to breathe, recover, meet with my therapist, and my kids, and then come back to the fight.

But for a long time there, I was standing too close to the fire, and it really began to affect my personal mental health. Wow. I'm going to come back to that and ask you just how you cope, because I think that's something that a lot of people deal with that aren't even as into it as you are in terms of being in the middle of these situations.

I think sometimes just, sort of ingesting them over and over and over again can lead people to fill that type of burnout. The man who is the shooter here, 84-year-old Andrew Lester. Now, there's going to be a lot of discussion as this gets ping ponged around from various sides of the internet about why someone would have done something like that, about what the purpose of shooting through your door when you hear somebody knock on your door is, about Castle Doctrine, self-defense, all of those things.

For our audience who might not be aware of it, exactly what is he charged with and what are they going to attempt to prove to make sense out of this unbelievably senseless shooting event that took place? He's charged with aggravated assault in the first degree, which is the Missouri. The Missouri laws, similar, I'm sorry, I need to say that differently. Before, yeah.

Yeah, the Missouri statutes equivalent is the word I was looking for. Do you mind if I start that over? No, go ahead. Yeah. I'm sorry. So he was charged with first degree assault, which is the Missouri statute's equivalent to attempted murder and aggravated arm action.

Together, those two charges could bear the penalty of life. Before we get into the Castle Doctrine, which is something that's been discussed publicly, But prosecutors don't even know that a jury couldn't be charged, given the facts that we know now with the Castle Doctrine, because there must be an initial showing that there was a reasonable belief that a deadly threat was being exerted by the little boy ringing the doorbell. And since there's been no evidence that he did anything other than ring the doorbell

and standing on the front porch, as many people as you imagine do on a daily basis, the Castle Diction is anything invoked at that. that point. But there is deeper discussion as we learn more evidence about who Mr. Lester is, whether or not hate crime charges can be applied either at the federal level or the Missouri statute. What took, I think a lot of people were very frustrated with, we know now that he has been charged, but initially he was not. And I think one of the things that was really frustrating was we were listening to the police chief speak out

and she said that she needed one of the things that she needed was testimony from the victim, which we know isn't necessarily what you always need. I mean, they build domestic violence cases off of without necessarily a cooperative victim. So why was that being asserted

and is that something that we, was that even necessary for them to eventually charge him? Because I think a lot of people were upset and there was this outrage that it didn't seem, you know, he went in and he came right back out. If you could explain a little bit of that. A CPD and the Clayton County prosecutors in that area got caught nationally with their pants down. What actually happened was on Thursday, they heard about a shooting of some black boy in a predominantly white neighborhood.

They began criminalizing that unnamed black boy. He wasn't the national route that we all knew last week Thursday. He was just another black kid who got shot in Kansas City. which is a common occurrence. And they began testing the labs. When I spoke with the prosecutor, he said, one of the reasons we didn't charge Thursday or Friday is we were waiting for the labs to come back. So I asked him, well, what labs did you run on Mr. Lester, of course, right?

They said, no, the blood from the same, we had to test the scene that had any intoxicants. If Ralph was under the influence of some sort of drug so that we can criminalize him, they never intended to go after Andrew Lester. It was only after the national outcry in the national shock that when the federal spotlight was shined on them that they began treating this case like other very serious shooting cases. Wait, wait a minute. Wait a second.

The kid is shot twice and they ran a toxicalogy test on him before arresting his assailant? Not Andrew Lester. They didn't run any tax on him, which obviously that's kind of evidence that we want to know what was he under the influence?

No, they took the blood from Ralph from the scene, and then they said, they told us that they were waiting to get the labs back before they issued an arrest warrant. Lee, uh, uh, what?

What, what, what's the, uh, before I, lose my shit here. What's what what what's the justification for that? Like what is that standard procedure like how why did they do that? You ask a trick question. Is it standard procedure in American jurisprudence in American law enforcement to criminalize the victim when they're black?

He asserted an affirmative defense. He said that he was he thought that Ralph was trying to get in. And so I guess in order to sure up his defense if Ralph had some intoxicants, they might be able to help absolve Andrew Lester of this terrible crime. And yeah, we do see that all the time. So, yeah, that is kind of standard procedure. If, in fact, there is a component here that escalates this into a hate crime, you know, how does that change things? I saw, I guess it was Andrew Lester's grandson talking with Don.

And he asserted that his grandfather has some sort of racial bias that's inflamed by his incessant viewing of Fox News. If in fact all of that turns out to be true, how does that change the crime, the penalty, or the way you guys might view it or the way he might be prosecuted, shall I say? So I don't think it's likely under the Missouri statute, under the Missouri hate crime statute,

the criminal charges go forward. However, there is a serious investigation underway by the Department of Justice who's led by Kristen Clark. Ammao Kiz and Ben has had some experience with Christian Clark because she brought those eight crime charges against the men who murdered Hamad Arbery back in 2020. That case has similarities in terms of what statutes should apply because in both cases, some white men using the pretext that they were defending their community went after an innocent black person.

Of course, that case involved a chase and some more horrendous details here. the details are bad enough, but we know that Larry, I'm sorry, Andrew Lester made a flip decision when he got to the door that the person outside was black and imposing and he was justified to using deadly force. That's not altogether dissimilar from what the decision making of the McMicha's when they murdered Amad Arbery because he was running while black. And we do think that there's a strong possibility that similar federal charges will go forward against Mr. Lester. Something I want to go back to that you said was the public outcry, the national outcry,

that pretty much you're saying that this case wouldn't be where it is today. Andrew Lester most likely would not be charged if there wasn't the national outcry. You who have dedicated your life's work to this, how important and necessary is it that we have, like we, we support each other, we have this national outcry, we bring attention to it, because I'm sure you've seen it be the opposite when it's not. So if you can speak to why it's important to discuss it like we are right now, to post on social media, to make the phone calls, because the case could be totally different. We might not even be speaking Ralph Yarl's name. Yeah. Everybody should be calling out the injustice that we see on a daily basis, but I get it. It's

exhausting to have to do that, right? We talked about all of these other shootings that took place since Ralph was a gunned down by this shooter. What the family has asked during this entire time, very specifically in the media, is that they want equal justice across the board. Yet, as shootings happen in the deadliest police, I'm sorry, in the deadliest gun violence country in the world. Students happen all the time. In order to ring goes in, we want to see a response from the the prosecutors that mirror what they get in white neighborhoods. Unfortunately, if we don't pry out, if we don't speak out for Ronald Green, who's beat to death in Louisiana and Baton Rouge, very similar to what happened to Tyree Nichols when five black officers beating the death. Troop F, and I'm sorry to sort of go off a tangent, but Troop F in Louisiana beat Ronald Green to death.

but it was five white officers and we didn't have the public outcry, and we haven't seen nearly the kind of response. So you're absolutely right. In my cases, what I've learned over a decade of work is that unless there is public out fraud, I'm sorry, when there is public out pride, families are empowered actually to get justice. When the communities are silent or they're busy or they're burned out or frustrated, it's a very low likelihood that the kind of pressure necessary to get policies changed to get accountability. will actually take place. What information do we have? Is there any information about, you know what?

Forget about that. Lee, tell us about Ralph. Like, who is Ralph Yard? Who is the kid? What is he like? Yeah. So Ralph is a 16-year-old

junior in high school. He's a music major. I say a music major. Obviously, you know, I don't have majors in high school. but he's been recruited to be at the the Premier Music Academy in the region. He's been recruited repeatedly by places like Yale and Harvard to apply to their school

because of his gift as a bass clarinet player. I've had a chance to hang around him and watch him interact with the president. He's a funny kid. He always cracks the way to crack a joke, even though he's speaking with like, you know, Madam Vice President Kamala Harris. he's slid in a couple of funny ones there. And this is somebody who just had a bullet in a brain less than a week ago, right? And so I really think Ralph was special.

And I also think that this is happening right now for a reason to this kid. I think God has something planned. He shouldn't have survived. The kind of injury he sustained is not the kind of thing that this 16-year-old, quite petite boy should have survived. but he ran to three other neighbors and got himself help and he's still here. I'm looking forward to his recovery process because I think Ralph can change the world. In piggybacking off of that, how else can we continue to support this particular case?

Because I know you have many, and I do have that question as well. Not to take away from the issue at hand, but while we have this opportunity, I want to be able to bring awareness to other cases that you're working on too. But how can we continue to help Ralph's family to make sure that justice, whatever that means in the best way is served when it comes to Ralph

and that Andrew Lester is behind bars? And maybe if you can't say this as well because I didn't have time to look this up. What is the max he's even facing? Because it's not murder, it's first degree assault. So what is it that he's, or attempted murder, I should say, what is it that he's facing? And how many years is

and with the hate crime element is that just on federal, like what is he looking at and what can we do to be more vocal to make sure that the maximum is placed on Andrew Lester? I'll say as an 84-year-old man, misdemeanor is probably a life sentence for Andrew Lester. But outside of that, he's actually facing life in prison. And prisonment, those two crimes together are high-level felonies in the state of Missouri, facing life in prison if convicted. There are two things that I can ask the community to do to ensure accountability and conviction.

The first is keep pressure on the Department of Justice on the Civil Rights Division to move aggressively forward with criminal charges. That creates a safety net at the state level so that if somehow the Castle Doctrine successfully applied at the state level or the prosecutor doesn't do a great job at putting on the case, the federal prosecutors come in immediately and make sure the detail of accountable at the federal level. We've seen that happen to George Floyd, Rihanna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery. We need to keep that pressure on the DOJ and on the White House. The second thing I ask

the community that they do is the family is going to be asking this prosecutor to refuse himself. This prosecutor is incompetent. This prosecutor behaved very offensively, as I just described when the case just began. We're working with the prosecutor because you have to dance the person who brought you. However, we are asking that the attorney general, the governor, been and that the prosecutor Zachary Thompson

and Plade County voluntarily recuse himself. We saw or joined with a special prosecutor. We saw that happen in George Floyd's case, where Hendon County felt that they were overwhelmed with the responsibility of prosecuting Derek Chauvin. And so that prosecutor humbled himself and asked the Attorney General for help. I asked that the prosecutor in this case do the same thing.

Last question for me. There is going to be, an ongoing conversation because of this about the racial component that exists in this case. Black kid, outside your door, killer. We talked about it on the last podcast.

However, there have been two other shootings that maybe three, actually, that mirror this that seem to hit at not just the racial component here, but of an Iraq. national fear that a large portion of Americans have right now and their quickness to pick up a weapon and eliminate what they perceive as a threat, even though there is absolutely zero threat in front of them. I mean, we're literally talking about shooting cheerleaders in Texas. When you see all of these cases, and of course they'll be compared, they'll be poured over, they'll be scrutinized. what is your thought on the similarities and the differences between them?

I'm talking about what happened in Buffalo with the young lady lost her life. I'm talking about what happened down in Texas, North Carolina, and here in Missouri with Raphael. So I'm not sure that we're seeing a higher frequency of these cases, and this is what we started talked about earlier, as much as they're being reported on more. Now, it's still an emergency. We live in the deadliest gun culture in the world. There are more guns in America than people.

The gun proliferation is being met with a national mental health crisis that we've been acknowledging and experiencing together since 2020 in the pandemic. That during that pandemic, we discussed sort of before the show that there was a run on guns nationally. And so our nation is more armed than ever. We're under the influence of more drugs. and we're experiencing mental health prices with a complete dearth in resources for mental health. And so I think the combination of those things, and we've seen the polarization politically across the nation, I think the combination of those things have created a very toxic and dangerous environment. If we're going to resolve it, we have to talk seriously about racism and systemic oppression.

We have to talk seriously about the war on drugs. Today is 420 in the over-incarceration and the violence that we allow for the over-incarceration of our population. If we're going to talk seriously about that, we're going to have to talk about a serious interpretation of the Second Amendment. It is bananas to continue to think that if the Second Amendment calls for, everybody to be armed in the Second Amendment says that in order to form a, in order to guarantee safe militias, essentially. We ignore that part about militias and protecting your state,

and we think everybody gets a gun, and that's not what the law says. Last question for me. You've been to the White House before. I want to know on a national level if you've are, because obviously what happened with Ralph and you just spoke about the prosecutor there and how in it being corrupt. And that's just not alone about what's happening in Kansas City, Missouri. It's nationwide. I'm wondering, are you continuing these conversations with the White House, with the Biden administration,

are they making any effort moving forward? And then the last thing I want to say is if there is any other case that you're working on that we need to bring light to, that we need to pay attention to. Can you please let us know about that as well? So unfortunately, there's so many cases going on right now that if I mentioned one, there are going to be so many families that were offended. I will say that Amad Arbery, a national case that happened years ago and people are ready to move on from. His mom, Wanda Cooper, is still building the Amad Arbery Foundation.

It's great safe for communities in Atlanta and across the country. there's a 5K on May 6, a 5K in Atlanta. I actually do you can participate if you like, if you're around May 6th. Come out and run with Maud. Go to run with Maud.com to learn more about participating in that 5K. To answer your first question about policy on the federal level, the White House has met with families.

They are accessible. They are very sensitive to criticism. And the families aren't always happy just to have a conversation. and a hand-shaking an invitation to the White House. We appreciate that. We appreciate the platform. But when not more is done, when resources aren't given to Kristen Clark to actually go to some of these regions, send the FBI in to take over investigations,

when we're not having a serious conversation about ending qualified immunity or actually changing some of the war on drug policies that President Biden helped create, then we're wasting our time. I haven't seen anything that makes me hopeful that they're saying, hey, 50 years of we started a war on trucks that was really a war on black and brown communities that turned our nation upside down. And just like we were very specific about those policies when we created, we have to be very specific about the policies as we dismantle it. Trump's White House wasn't saying that when I got there. Biden's White House is still not saying that.

And nobody on the political spectrum I can see is really saying, hey, we actually have to undo what we've done that slowly continue to move forward. You guys heard it right there. You get bad when I say it. maybe you'll take it from somebody who maybe you'll take it from somebody who does this every single day and is giving his life to it. Lee,

I want you to be uplifted. I want you to be strong. I want you to be encouraged. My brother, we appreciate you. We need you. We celebrate you and we thank you for joining us

today on higher learning. Thank you all so much for having me. Please have me back and love hanging out where you are. I appreciate you all asking about my mental health and my family as well. Boris. Yeah. you so much for being here. Did you know about one and three people with plaques psoriasis may also

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Tap the banner or visit clinickids.com to learn more. That's Clinic with a K. Clinic Kids is a registered 501-C3 nonprofit. All right, Lee. Lee's a goddamn saint. I can't believe he made time and his schedule to come on this podcast and talk to us.

Really appreciate that. I said he's the man. How about that? Uh, Rachel, got to get to entertainment news. Go for it. All right. Jonathan Major is in the fuck

to the trouble. Oh, that's where we're going. I thought, no, I thought we were going somewhere else. No, no, no. Go ahead. I'm going to give you the floor. I don't have any.

I don't have any. What? Wait a minute, what? You're punking? I thought we were, I thought we were talking about a totally different topic. Go ahead.

All right. So we have to report things the way that they come out and the reality is this. It's a low moment for Jonathan Majors. His issues have gotten worse. There are reports that more alleged abuse victims

are cooperating with the DA's office. Sources familiar with the matter have told variety that multiple alleged alleged abuse victims of majors have come forward following his march arrest and are cooperating with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

That news came out after the news that Jonathan Majors had been dropped by some people. He had been dropped by his publicist. I think he had been dropped by, who else? Help me out. His management, his publicist, his management had

cut ties. And there are other rumors right now about what's going to happen with him in the future of not only the MCU, which Marvel has steadfastly said that they have made no decisions or there's been no internal talk about replacing Jonathan Majors as Kane in their upcoming slate of movies. Also, there have been a couple other projects and things that he was tethered to that have also backed away from him. Some things that I guess for right now aren't happening. John The Major's lawyers talked.

And they said, according to his lawyer, Priya Shaudry, said there's video evidence that will go a long way to exonerating. They say that the driver of the vehicle

that he was in with the woman at the time of the alleged assault will testify that he never struck her. They also said they have video from the same night of the incident. And during this video, you can see that the woman in question

is uninjured and that during the time that she went to a club after this incident happened that she spent $800 of Majors' money on Champagne. They have, according to them, video footage from an elevator

where it shows her with no laceration on her ear. And that would really happen was she went out, sent a bunch of angry messages, accusing Jonathan of infidelity then the next morning she had a manic panic episode. He calls the police and then we have what we have. That is all the information about Jonathan Majors now.

You have the fact that there are more alleged accusers coming forward. That's a report from Variety. You have another report from the LA Times that says that his lawyer has mounds of evidence that will exonerate Jonathan Majors, and then you have the professional response. There's nothing that we didn't report here on Higher Learning about Jonathan Majors and nothing that we didn't say.

And I'll say this. Watching you guys volley this back and forth like a volleyball to play gotcha with the two hosts of your podcast, you can go fuck yourselves, all of you. And I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I'm not fucking around. I'm not playing. I mean this from the bottom of my heart. Go fuck yourself. All of y'all. The reality is this. Things are hard. There's great in the world. There are things that you wish weren't true. The things that test your principle and they test who you are. And a lot of people listening to this right now, don't have to get on something and then be who everyone thinks that they should be twice a week.

And that's the reality of it. The reality of all the information being out there right now. And I can tell you one thing. If in fact this guy is who they say he is, if in fact all of this is true, I'm deeply disappointed, deeply. sad and was fooled in a very deep way. Don't have any problem coming to terms with that. But the fact that there are people out there that want to fucking skewer me,

like, I'm not going for that shit. I'm not going for it. Like, I'm really not. And however y'all want to feel about me, y'all can feel that way. The reality is, that's all the information right there. You're asking me what I think. it looks bad.

Straight like that. You're asking me what I feel it looks bad. Doesn't look like it's going to have an income, an outcome that would make me feel good. That's what it looks like. And I unequivocally, unequivocally denounce, kill, destroy, set on fire,

the notion of abuse and the abuse of women in our culture. Never been about it. Not about to start at 43. But I'm telling you guys right now, people are human. That's the story for anyone that thought we were run from it because we have had Jonathan on and we've talked to Jonathan and we've liked Jonathan and we had a relationship with Jonathan

in whatever way we've had a relationship with him. Like, that's what you get. And saying all of this, I'll say again, I hope it isn't true. I hope it isn't true. I deeply and desperately hope that it's not true. And if it is, the next hope is that this brother would get help and that in some way the people that were victims of whatever happened in these situations

would be made whole and be able to go on and live. their lives in some kind of way. So that's what I'm saying. And that's, I don't have anything else to say on it. Okay. The only thing that I disagree with you on is that I was trying to run from it. I don't want to talk about it. I was trying to run from it.

But like, something that you said, this is not, this is not easy. And obviously, everything that you said is right. And I wholeheartedly agree. And we don't want to. any of this to be true. But a part of the reason, it's not just hard to talk about because this is somebody who's come on our podcast, we're obviously friendly with. It's also hard because we haven't heard from him. We haven't seen any, any, like, video. We haven't seen any photographs. Everything that comes out, in my opinion, we shouldn't even be, it shouldn't even be out here.

I am very annoyed by the fact that there continues to be information that comes out from the attorneys that keeps seeing seemingly trying to try this in the court of public opinion. I would much rather see this handled in a court of law. If there is all this evidence, if there is photographs, if there is things that are exonerating him, let that play out in court. And please stop releasing stuff to the media and allowing. people to have their own interpretation of it before it even starts. Just let it play out in the court system. I feel like it is doing so much more damage and allowing people to talk about it, which makes them try to then feel like they need to respond to it. There is a court date May 8th.

Let it play out there. I'm honestly so annoyed by the way that it's been handled this far. I don't think that we should be getting the information that we get up, that we've gotten this far. there's there's more out there apparently that we know let it play out in court and then I'll talk about it well that's that's impossible that's impossible rich what which part they can't they can't do that they can't do what they can't do what people are going to be ravenous for the information it's just like troy and men people are going to be people people people people people are going to be rabbiased about information and to be real with you they can be ravenous so much many other people's plans, movies, whatever,

are on the line, somebody's going to talk to somebody. You can have, no, no, no, no, no. Right now it's specifically his team, his attorney's talking. You can have those conversations with networks. I want them to stop. We didn't need text messages release. Obviously, you're going to put out a general statement when it happens to respond. Put that statement out.

That is necessary. Stop sending out text messages. Stop responding to a report that comes out. and variety. Just let it play out. You've put out a general statement. You've proclaimed his innocence. Just leave it there. You saying we have this, this and this and putting out club video, who are you trying to prove your case to? The court of public opinion? Or you're never going to win with them. We know this. Just let it play out in the legal system. If you've got that evidence that's going to free him, fantastic. Please let it play out there. But I think you were doing so much more damage to him

by trying to argue your case to us outside of it. We don't matter as much as first figuring out legally what's going to happen. That's just my opinion. Just to get his side of it right, some details. They say, they got home at 1113 and filed her unconscious. That was the next morning. and half naked on the floor of his walking closet, he also discovered she allegedly threw up in his bed

and told him she'd taken a few sleeping tablets. And that's what they say that he called 911. 911 comes out there, then there is a discussion. John McHen's arrest. All right, you guys, we'll cover the story as the information comes out.

Or if Rachel doesn't want to or whatever, we'll cover the story, shut up, Rachel. We'll cover the story as the information comes out. We'll cover it as it comes out. God damn. All right. Rachel,

you go out and party a lot, right? You go out and party. You like to go out and party. Don't do that. You do. Wait. No, I don't go out and party a lot. I do not go out and party a lot.

Rachel, see what I'm saying? This is what I don't like. I don't like. No, no, no. No, no. Do you know what is the definition of party? Do I go to events? Am I clubbing?

No. I don't even know clubs in L.A. What is the definition of party is what you just asked? Because I don't club. I don't club. I don't even know clubs in L.A. I can't even tell you the last time I've been to a club in L.A. I don't club.

Number one. You definitely have because I've actually, Sean Dickerson got you into Sadiq. That was a year ago. I know what I'm saying is. That was literally a year ago. You know Sadiq. Okay.

So number one. I don't even know if that party exists anymore. It does. Shout Sean Dickerson, who also came to this. Oh, does it really? Oh, I got to go back. Yeah, Sean, by the way, feels like you and Kalika tried to play him.

I didn't know that was him. So, so. So Kalika had a bone to pick with Sean. He's like, Sean didn't say hello. You guys were like, Sean didn't even say hi. And Sean is like, no, he was there. They both looked at me. That's what he said.

He's like, they both looked at me and didn't say any. I didn't. Right. They both looked at me and didn't say nothing. I looked him dead in the eye. Right. So. Yeah.

You played yourself. you play Sean. I will admit. But here's it. Hold on. He knew who we were. He had a cap on his head. I didn't see any of sunglasses on.

My bad, Sean. You were in Cardino at the premiere. He didn't bring it up. Kalika brought it up. It was like, Sean didn't even say hello. See, this is the thing. This is why I came out of the theater dancing and stuff. I got to get everybody connected because you guys were scared to say hello to one another.

Yeah. So look. But real talk, I don't party. Like, I'm not on the scene like that. Just one last question. Would you consider going to the Usher concert going out and party? Yeah. But how often do I go to Vegas for a concert?

I'm so happy you can point to what I did last week. What did I do the week before that? Or the week before that is for that. It's not about Vegas. It's not the same thing. People are going to listen to this podcast and they're going to be like, we don't understand why Rage is doing this. It's okay. You go out and party a lot.

What's wrong? But I, because I don't. I can't tell you the last time outside of Usher. I definitely go out, right? Like I go to dinners. I go to a screening. I go to events. But like a party is a different,

I got to turn up in a different way. Anyway, go ahead. Have I told you about the, before we get the chance, have I told you about the crazy person that tweets negative things about you at me all the time? This bot person. And you love it.

That I'm such a part. party person. Go ahead and play it to the narrative. I don't love it. But this one, this one was tweeted. Me and my womb. Me and my womb party every weekend. Me and my womb beginning. This is, this is, so this is from this person again.

I don't know who this person is. I'm going to block them. I'm going to block them right now after I read this tweet. It says, man, so this is obviously somebody listens to the podcast. So, Van, it's a shame you didn't invite Brian to your birthday party. You could have introduced him to your female friends. He may have been

a lot of them. They're not alone. They're not saying, they tweeted this? You guys are crazy. You live for these messages. I'm about the block this person. I'm seriously, because it's been too long that I haven't blocked it. I got to say this to Richard. It's been too long that I haven't blocked this. I'm about the block this person. I'm not even going to say your name. I got to block. Obviously, they're blocked. Okay. So. You said it to the group chat. That's that. I read that.

See, the thing about this person, whoever this is, is that they are kind of funny. Do I mean? It's like, it's like, I didn't even see this tweet. They are kind of funny. I'm like, this person is nuts. Like, who could this be? I want to find out who they are. Like, it's fucking nuts. Anyway, all right. So, Chance the rapper was at Carnival in Jamaica. And, you know, he's married to Kristen Corley.

They've been married for a long time. He ruined a whole album talking about his marriage. Very interesting. Which album? Did he ruin? This is not controversial, Rich. Chance dropped. No, Chance dropped coloring book.

Then he came back after color. coloring book. Oh, that album. The one I'm like, which album? The one I forget. I love chance. I'm a huge fan. I'm a huge fan.

That was not good. And it was like, he was in love and the love clouded the music a little bit. He was in love. He did coloring book, by the way. He did coloring book. He was in love. He talks about it. It's not anybody's fault. You know, people make albums that other people don't like.

We have podcasts that people don't like. We do things that people don't like. look at me, Van, I hate your movie. I'm like, thanks for watching. But, but,

but, all right, so Chance was at Carnival and he was carnivaling it up. Did you see the video? He was grinding and smacking some butt.

One tap. I mean, look, one tap. He's tapping. He's tapping and grinding. He's brookin it down. Brook down,

come on. You know what I mean? How you do it in Jamaica? You dagger? You dagger. You dagger somebody. Don't know. Brick down,

come on the big truck. I used to watch Caribbean rhythms back in the day and there was this guy because I used to watch it just for Rachel. I would watch Caribbean rhythms for two reasons. For Rachel and for New Patrick videos. I don't know if you guys remember Patrick.

But I will watch him for that. And I will watch like the videos that they would come out. Big truck, book truck. Come on. Come on. The big truck. And there was this guy who was going around on the big truck and the truck was there.

It was a carnival, whatever. I guess Chan saw that because he was all up with a girl. Your thoughts. As a married woman, if Brian was out there on the big truck winding behind some girls and doing the dagger, would you have been mad?

I'm sorry. If this was Brian in this video, I would have laughed. You wouldn't have been bad. I would not. If this was Brian in this very video at Carnival having himself a good old time, I honestly don't think I would have been upset.

I don't know. Maybe I think I can't say anything because just the last week I was like, oh, if Usher pulled me up on stage, I would let him dance on me. But I also said, if Janet Jackson pulled Brian up on stage, I would let her dance on him. I guess because it was carnival, if this had been like a private party, you know, you didn't think anybody was filming and like you were dancing like that, I would have been like, okay, what's going on? But you were out in public. You knew you were being filmed. I don't know. I feel like it was just caught.

up in the carnival spirit, I don't know if I would have been that upset. It depends if Brian had been like, oh, no. If Brian had come home and been like, yeah, I was just chilling, like, I don't know, we weren't doing anything. Maybe if he had lied to me about it, I don't know. Call me, maybe this is going to get old Natalie Hicks all worked up saying, I don't care about Brian.

I just don't know in this moment if I would have been that upset. So the big truck guy. video he dances, he dances and he moves on, right? He doesn't stay there. He doesn't keep going. It's like, I'm dancing with her and like he just kind of like jokes his friends and keeps, like, you can see he's walking

away. It just wasn't that big of a deal to me. Sorry. So I want to make sure I get this right. The big truck guys name is. Van's been looking at, Van, the whole time I was talking, Van was looking up the big truck video. I don't know what you said because I have some questions.

I have some questions. And this guy's Trinidadian, Trinidadian. He's not Jamaica, but it was the same big truck energy that I used to, I used to like watching on Caribbean rhythms. So you wouldn't be upset if Brian did it.

Let me ask you a question. A lot of things would have to be in place. If you were the girl that was in the video and Chance was dancing with you, do you think Brian would have been mad? Yes. Yes. Yes.

a 100% he would be mad he would be mad that I was wearing that costume he would be mad I was wearing that costume he would be mad that I was twerking that way he oh my God yes he would have been upset so isn't there something to be said

because doesn't it matter who's doing the fucking in that situation because it's like if Brian was getting it there's like a disconnect almost. It's like, hey, he's dancing or whatever. But to bend over and accept the dance

fuck, to Americans at least, because I want to make sure I point something out, this doesn't mean shit to them. This is the way they dance. And part of what we're doing right now is

built in black American xenophobia as we, project our morals and values onto a culture that knows how to have a good time. I've said that. I know a lot of guys

that if they saw a girl bending over and receiving the big fuck on the big truck would probably be upset. I know one thing I better not be having somebody bent over on the big truck. Nah, nigger.

I don't have it like that. I don't have a good enough track record to have somebody's bent over on the big truck. So that's that. And maybe that's part of it too. Maybe that's part of it too. Because like, with Brian, I do. I would be like, okay.

Yeah. You know what's going to happen now, right? For example, but wait, maybe he will. For example, there have been times where we've been out together, Brian and I, and I'm like, oh shit. And I'm like, get really am. up and I like jump on top of a table

and I start dancing. This is Brian. Look, look. Taping you? Yes. That's because he needs those precious memories. I'm dancing by myself. I'm not.

Wait, go ahead and finish that. That's because he needs those. Why does he need precious memories? For when you're not around. Brian, send that home by himself in night. Why should old video clip to me? Like crying. It's not a big deal.

I knew that people were making a big deal because it's something else to talk about. I mean, we don't know how his wife feels, but it's just being to who you. I feel like chance. Yeah. She has her own. She is, and she has a right to feel however she feels.

That's just me talking about my opinion. If she's upset, I support her. All right. So let me tell you what I do. I support Kristen and this. Yes. Let me tell you my. do. They got Hollywood Carnival.

Really? They have it. My man Rob, Rob from Dynasty. Shout out Rob. Shout out Rob. Shout out Franz. Shout out all my people out here to do, uh, that do Hollywood Carnival. Shout out Rob. Rob does Hollywood Carnival out here. They've been having it. I don't know if they're going to have it this year. If they have Hollywood Carnival, I'm going to get my big ass into one of them uniforms. I'm going to actually put it over my clothes, though. I can't do the carnival uniform right now.

I can't. I'm going to put it over my clothes. I'm going to wear. You're on your way. I'm on my way. I'm going to wear a Nike tech suit. And then over the Nike tech suit, I'm going to put the carnival stuff.

That's the best I'm going to get. But I'm going to take Brian out there because they got the big truck out there. And they got the ladies out there. You know what? Guess what? I'm going to put you to the test. This is happening. Me and Brian are going to Hollywood Carnival.

we're going to drink. We're going to get in the big truck. You know what I mean? And I'm going to see if you really don't care. I'm going to say they're going to love him too. Think about Brian in one of those uniforms looking like a goddamn Colombian god. They will love him. God.

Looking like a Colombian god, a South American prince. Can't wait. I'm probably not going to that shit. I'm not going to lie. All right. Mailback. Let's go. Mailback time.

Time to read your letters and then we'll reply to them. Oh, it's mailback time. Write us with your queries and we'll chime in. All right. First question comes from Black Chill. Today, the recording day is April 20th. In honor of 420, what are your favorite weed songs? Oh, man, that's a great question.

The weed don't get no better, no better, babe. the weed song Bum Thugs and Rony You like that? My mom used to sing Bone Thugs in harmony She used to my mom I love bone thugs

I do too Me and Ms. Crystal Three for I slaughter I think I'm like He didn't miss that Miss that

Um They played that last night Run with us Run with us Run with us Run with us Run with us Was that time?

Yeah What was that time You heard that song? And that's like my Um That's one of my favorite. It's really an amazing, an amazing song. Kid Cuddy is so crazy to me.

It's Kid Cuddy, I think Chip the Ripper, King Chip, as he's known now, fantastic rapper. Tell you something. There's a whole era of rap that nobody remembers niggas just running. It was King Chip, Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa, currency. We don't remember this? That whole, I feel like niggas acted like it did. That whole balcony rap era was. just crazy. That's all I was listening to, man.

Oh, 9, 010, 011, oh, 11, oh 10. So it would be that one. All right. Next one. Next one is from Tony L. Tigre. Who is Van and Rach's favorite family member and why? Not doing it. Oh, what are talking about? My grandmother. Yeah. My grandmother in Houston. Glender, I love you so much. She is by far my favorite.

I don't even go to Dallas anymore. I go to Houston to see her. So my grandmother, my Mamma Mo doesn't count because my Mamma is like, so here's the thing about this question. Is there's really nobody outside. Like the core of my family,

Ebony, my Mom, my dad, my cousin Jasmine, my uncles, and there's a core. And outside that core, it's like, do you know who I really loved? I loved my uncle Charles and my aunt Teresa.

I love my uncle Craig, but he's in the core. My dad didn't, when I look back at it, my dad didn't really let us get too close to family like that. He kept us with the family. He curated our family situation. The core. Yeah, he was keeping it in the core. Like my uncle Craig and my uncle Ray, like those two brothers of his, they were all always there, but like third cousin Lani

and all of those people like that, they weren't really around like that. And if they came around, he would quickly say bad things about them. So I guess it would be my Uncle Charles or my Aunt Teresa were two people that were like super duper amazing to me

as I was a kid. Right, Donnie, you got one more? Yeah, one more. Sad particular asks where they say, I've recently seen this trend on socials of asking would you slap blank for a billion dollars? It's a stupid fucking question. My question is, who wouldn't you slap for a billion dollars?

Who wouldn't I slap for a billion dollars? I would slap anybody for a billion dollars. I'd slap anybody for a mill. Are you kidding me? You know what the crazy thing is? I couldn't imagine my mother and my grandmother would make me do it

but I can't imagine just slapping the shit out of my mom. Oh my God. I'd slap my dad so I slapped the judge so quick for a bill.

Let me ask you this. This is the question. Would you want me to slap the judge for a billion dollars? Sure. I'd expect If we get in a billion, everybody.

Okay, let's set the scenario, because I got therapy in a second to talk about how we about to get fucking ringed after this podcast goes out. But let me, let's set the same. Let's say this is the scenario. The billion dollars Gambit has been laid down.

However, the judge can't know. So we can't want. the judge. I don't care. That he's getting slapped for the billion. You would still help me slap your dad for a billion dollars. You asked for forgiveness later. He would say, I understand.

I said it. This one's for you, Judge. Boom. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? I know the judge got that. heat on him. That's a real chance that you take. Oh, that's for sure. So you know what I think what happened if I tried to slap the judge? I think that I would try to slap him and he would

catch my hand. That happened to me one time. I didn't try to slap him. See what I'm saying? He tried to, well, I did it in reverse. I was getting a spanking and I grabbed the belt. I snatched the belt when I was a kid. I never seen my daddy look at me like. that before. It's her first. He turned. He's like that. Joule coming out.

We got to go. We got to go. We got to go. They kept us off, but do not stop learning. I am barely to junior. I'm Rachel Lennett.