Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Jess Hilarious, 'The Breakfast Club,' and Erasing Jackie Robinson

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

Van and Rachel recap Jess Hilarious's airing out of 'Breakfast Club' grievances online and on air (7:32), before reacting to the erasure of Jackie Robinson and other military heroes in the name of getting rid of DEI (27:41). Plus, Van has a Kanye West theory (1:11:14) and gives his top five Black cities (1:21:21). Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Ashleigh Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? Hilarian is on and is I Van Lathen, Jr. And it's me, Rachel and Lindsay. I tried to offer Rachel part of my sausage muffin, and she said now. Which I said, thank you. That's very nice that you offered. But you know me.

I'm super picky. I'm not. This coffee. I got coffee everywhere. I got to put the coffee in the LSU mug. We'll get, we'll wait. We'll wait. Oh, dad.

Why you finish your coffee and, you know, get ready for the podcast. I have a message to start the podcast off. This is a very important message. We are not going to get into some of the things that have been happening around the streets of L.A. in the last couple of days because it's layered. There are people involved that I know. But I will say this.

With 100% certain, certain teeth. I always mess that up. I'm letting you guys know this, and I'm saying this, so you can move in the future, at your own peril. Make calls. I've talked to people.

Known people for a very long time. When I was first getting into the journalism game over at TMZ, I made connects and contacts. A lot of those people that I've made those connects and contacts with are big dogs now in their respective law enforcement fields. I know other people just through other areas that are like AUSAs. you know, U.S. attorneys, people like that, different people in different, telling you guys for 100% certain, I want you guys to listen to this,

the police are listening to podcasts. I'm going to say it again, and I'm telling you right now, I'm not telling you what I think, I'm telling you what I know. The police are listening to podcasts. And it's not just your local boys. It's not just your state boys. It's your feds. It's the DEA.

It's the ATF. In some cases, if you're counterfeiting, which doesn't go on that much in some of the places that we're talking about, but it goes on to other places, the Secret Service is listening. The police, law enforcement,

they are listening to you guys on these podcasts. They are connecting dots. And they're going back and building cases. That's it. I'm not telling you what I think. I'm telling you what I know. If you go on a podcast and you say,

I did this at this point, don't matter if you don't name no names, don't matter if you say they are filing these things, they are starring them, and they are going back and reverse working these cases and building larger conspiracies out of them. Can I just say something? Why is that shocking?

It's not shocking at all, but I will say this. When I started to make some calls on it, I was not shocked but surprised at the structure behind it, surprised that there were people who this is what they did, who their thing was to build cases based upon information that they are gleaning from popular sources.

Yeah. Some cases that aren't closed, some cases that are closed or adjudicated to a degree but have more meat to them, or they can wrap other people up in them, or use those cases to then get more information out of other people, that legitimately the infotainment infrastructure of the Internet has become a fertile breeding ground for a new type of law enforcement.

Of course. I mean, especially if you're a public figure, and if we know from the building of some of these RICO cases that we've seen, that they're using rap lyrics and using other pieces of information to build their cases, why in the world would they not scour the internet to see other ways that you've been speaking out or writing or whatever it may be in a public way? I mean, this is like, I'm shocked that people don't think that when you say something publicly, first off, you know, whatever you, people say this with your social media. Whatever you put out there, it's out there forever.

That doesn't just exist in social media or in a song. That exists in any capacity of, or for, or medium that you're speaking or writing in. So I don't understand why people didn't think that this is something that could happen. Maybe we're not talking about it enough, but like if you say it and it's out there, of course, any person who's building a case on you is going to scour whatever sources of information they can

to help build that case. And, you know, I spoke about it before in other ways that I thought attorneys would do that and people didn't like it, but it is true. They will reach and in any kind of way possible to build their case. This isn't, this isn't, this isn't shocking. It's funny that you bring up the lyrics. Because I was legitimately told that the lyrics are small potatoes.

Maybe they are. The lyrics are small potatoes because the lyrics themselves and the songs are oftentimes, there are some very direct one-to-ones. The lyrics in the songs are oftentimes taken as art. Yeah. But when you are talking on a podcast, when you are giving an interview and you're recounting something and you're giving details, when you say, I ain't going to name no names, I ain't going to do that. None of that stuff is enough. Like literally somebody told me actually kind of, it's like it's easy.

So I'm just saying this. Yeah. I'm telling you guys, not what I think, what I know. They're listening to you guys. You're putting a wire on yourselves. They're listening to you guys. That's all I'm saying. Rachel, what do you?

It's cold in here. I'm sure I'll warm up as I get to moving and talking. It is not. It's just a comfy cause like a blanket coat. Like a blanket coat. Would you ever wear fur? I still care about animals, huh? I'm not going to lie.

I don't have a fur. I'm not going to spend the money for all of that. But if somebody gave me, me a fur, I probably would wear it. I just accuse you of not caring about animals after I just chowed down on a, on a, yeah, we prioritize things, don't we? What we consider the killing of animals to be okay and whatnot. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters.

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predict slash bonus dash offer dash terms. Let's get into a little bit of culture news. Donnie, get us into the breakfast club. Let's talk about it. Just hilarious went on Instagram live a couple days ago, a couple nights ago. And kind of aired her grievances

about her time on the show. And the crew reconvened yesterday to speak about exactly what went down. It seems like her issue largely revolved around Lauren LaRosa and her extended stay as a guest host because she stepped in for Jess during maternity leave. Did you guys listen?

What did you think, if you did? I did listen. I listened. What did you think about what's going on up at the Breakfast Club with the two lady hosts there, Lauren La Rosa? Jess. Well, I hate that it's a public fight between two women and we're all involved in ways to offer our own opinions.

I don't know that it is. You don't know that what is public. I don't think that it's a public fight between two women. Well, I'll get into that. But the subject matter is it's an issue between, it is an issue involving these two women. Yes, it's not just about them. It's about the whole breakfast club in general. but the subject matter is about these two hosts.

It is. Listen, I've been vocal about Jess hilarious on the podcast before. You know, I've come on and said that I didn't think that she was equipped at times to talk about certain topics that cover politics or current affairs on the podcast. But she is the third seat on that show. She was hired to be a host and to co-host. host on that show. She is under contract, as she has said in multiple videos. And what I think is getting lost in the back and forth as it's been made public and now it's being litigated in the court of a

public opinion and on social media and all of that is the underlying issue of what it means to be a woman in a workplace and fears that we have to go through when you want to be a working woman, but you also want to start a family or expand a family in just hilarious this case. What I believe I believe she's trying to articulate, which again, I keep feeling is getting lost, is understanding the struggle of trying to balance the fear of losing your job in the workplace and wanting to start a family. And I think that when Jess left, she talks about it. She, you know, they consults with her and she picked Lauren, Laroso, right?

Why are you smiling? I just want to make sure I got her name right. I know you were, she worked at TMZ. That's my young brother right there. I know that you guys know each other, but she picked Lauren Larosa. And, you know, she wanted her to come in and fill in and work. But I'm sure there was an understanding that when she comes back, she resumes her exact place on the show and the show resumes as it is. And it seems like when she came back, that was not the case.

She has stated that production was misleading. She makes it seem as if the hosts were misleading as well and they weren't forthcoming about Lauren's place on the show. and where she stood. You know, there's the back and forth of her segment and Lauren taking over it and her saying, we'll just give it to Lauren and rename it. But I think the bigger issue is that she did not feel like they had her back. And I'll be honest with you, if I got pregnant and I left on this show and I, you know, we have people come in or I'm like, hey, I'd really love this person to come in and sit on my show or on the show,

show and I come back and you're like, here's your seat and now there's another mic. We're giving her a seat at the show as well, which is what seems to be happening over at the breakfast club. I too would feel hot. I would feel like y'all didn't have my back. It would be a little disheartening. I would lose confidence in my place on the show. That's not what I was hired to do. It'd be different. Like she says, if there was always the case that we were going to have a fourth seat and when you leave where we're hiring somebody or rotating people to fill that spot, but that's not it. It seems like she's being replaced. And I think a lot of women in the workplace who want families or are expanding their families feel that exact same way of the fear of being replaced. And it looks like

that's the case what's happening with Jess. And it doesn't appear that her coworkers on Mike and off Mike have her back when it comes to that. As people are cheering for her downfall or saying, you know, better, it doesn't, it seems like they're backing that up by giving her a microphone and a seat rather than standing up for Jess. Right. Okay. So there are a lot of things I could say right now. So I know the genesis of Lauren's appearances on the breakfast club during the time that they were looking for a third host, right? So, because I want people to remember something.

So full transparency, Lauren is like my young buck, like my, like my, my young or old dog. Like, Lauren came in to TMZ the same way I did. She came in on the tour. Lauren came in on the tour. Lauren started getting on the show.

Lauren moved to the desk. Lauren is like little sister, like, or just sister. Like, work sister. We've talked, giving advice. We've done the whole,

the whole deal. Like, Lauren is a friend of mine. Now, this is what I'll say. There are a couple of things that are being left out to me in that characterization of things. One is Lauren was one of the hosts that was up for the third seat when Jess got it. And let me tell you why that's important. That's important because Jess hilarious is a celebrity and Lauren LaRosa is not. Okay.

So when they were rotating hosts in to fill the seat on the beach, Breakfast Club, they were rotating in famous people. And a lot of people did great jobs. I thought Claudia Jordan did a great job. I thought, you know, maybe there were some other people out there that also did great jobs and feel like they should have gotten a better look at it. It's a very coveted seat. Just hilarious is famous and brings a ton of name recognition, talent, and social media

cachet to the show, right? but Lauren was there with none of that with having been a producer on TMZ with having been somebody who was a stalwart on TMZ but was unknown to even some of the people that are the big dogs of the breakfast club didn't really know her that well and I know this to be a fact for sure

they kept her anyway they kept her anyway and put her in a producer's position they kept her anyway because there was a realization that she, based upon the merit of what was happening there, was a fantastic talent. And she surprised them with how good she is at what she was able to do. So they found a way to keep her there at the Breakfast Club, Lauren, they found a way to keep her there. I personally don't think that if you put Jess in a situation,

if Jess Alair's, Jess Alarous is funny. She is like, her energy is infectious. Like, if you're around her, she is perfect for the third seat on the Breakfast Club in terms of it being Charlemagne, DJ Envy, and Jess Hallairs.

She's perfect for the third seat because, like DJ Envy said, she brings that type of, energy to the breakfast club. If you put her in a situation where she's reporting news and then you put her next to Lauren, Lauren is going to wash her. Because whatever we say

about how things were at TMZ, what we were told to do at TMZ was to get in, give concise, direct information to people based upon sources, experience, and context.

Sometimes I ramble on here because I'm not used to being able to talk so much And so I just say whatever is in my head But when you are on that show Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And she's better at that than I was. I would like to give a little sauce. So the reality is if it is a segment about doing that,

Lauren is going to go to extra mile. She's not just going to report a story. She's going to report a story. See how at the beginning of this show, show, I said that like I heard something, so I made calls. Like, I made calls to people. I made calls to talk to people. I made calls to get information from people to be able to say what I needed to say. Lauren's going to make calls.

She's going to say this. She's going to give background information. At TMZ, you had 180 words. Actually, it wasn't 180 words. It was 80 words to write a story. Conflict in your headline. Boom, boom, boom. Throw to the video.

And if not, if it was a lot. a longer story, you're putting information together, you're collating it, you're stitching stories to the old story, you're evolving the story, you're bringing, there's things that they teach you how to do. And so she's going to be able to do that in actual verbal form. And if that's what you're asking her to do next to Jess, there's not many people that don't have a journalism background that are going to be able to do that as well as the Lauren King. So that's not a position for Jess where Jess is going to shine. But there's something else I think that's going on up there too

that I think is true. Jess has been like, she's been insulted by people. Corey Holcomb and Jess have a long-standing beef. DJ academics and Jess have a long-standing beef that predates her time at the Breakfast Club. I think she's wanting the guys that shared a mic with her on the show

to say something to these people that are dissing her. She feels like they're coming at her and she wants somebody to talk about it. She wants somebody to bring it up. That's something that they have to resolve, like, off-air or whether or not that's a thing because, you know, you don't know who has relationships up there.

I know that Charlemagne and Ack have a relationship. I'm not sure how people react to Corey Holcomb or whatever or whatever is going on. It was like one of his show, 5150s, 50 show that something that he said on there that kind of got this whole thing kicked off. So I think there's two things. I think Lauren is actually has less to do with this than people think that she does, in my opinion. Because the Breakfast Club had already decided that they wanted to keep Lauren for whatever reason, right?

They'd already made the decision that Lauren was going to some way be in the room. So if Jess was gone, rather than to go get somebody else, you already got someone. It was going to be Lauren. two things is one the energy that Jess brings to the breakfast club Lauren couldn't bring it and what Lauren does just couldn't do it right so it's the same

so you got to figure that out that's a talent management thing and then on the other side of it if you sharing the stage with somebody and you're on a team and they feel like people are coming at them and they want the people that fuck with them to say something about

it then that's an emotional that's a connection. That goes beyond workplace stuff if she feels that way. Because she's looking around going, okay, not only is this happening and people aren't like coming to my defense,

at the same time, I'm also not executing or being put in the position to execute on air in the way that I should be. So I feel completely siding. lined now. And I had a baby. Yes. This is no dis, when I say the subject matter is about a new seat or sharing a microphone or whatever may be and it involves two women. This is in no way a knock to Lauren LaRosa. Nobody is saying she is not talented. Nobody is saying she doesn't report

better. Nobody is saying she isn't deserving of the seat. But the fact of the matter is, She didn't get it. She got to be a producer, just got the mic. And the way they're handling it. She didn't get it, but. It doesn't matter. Okay. The problem is the way the breakfast club is handling it.

At the end of the day, just got that seat. She became a producer because of all the things, as you said, super talented. They didn't want to lose her. Maybe they possibly thought, you know, if Jess gets pregnant or if just decides to leave, we don't have to do it all over again. We'll bring her in. But the point of the matter is, the setup of the show has been three people,

and they brought her in as a producer. Just because if they thought that she was that talented enough to sit in that seat, then they should have given it to her. But they didn't. They went with the celebrity. They went with Jess, knowing what Jess brings to the table,

knowing what Lauren brings to the table. It's just not fair. And it seems backhanded the way that they're like, well, we always, thought about a fourth seat. I'm taking Jess's words, this is the truth. We always thought about a fourth seat. We always thought this. Well, then you should have just done that or you

should have said to me, hey, when you come back, this is how it's going to be. And it doesn't seem the case. And again, it's no not to her. It's the way that they are handling the roll out of this. It's problematic. The last thing I say and once again, I think they'll figure everything out. I'm glad that we're being taken out of it. But it is

this just shows you how important the Breakfast Club is culturally to people because this really mattered. But I will tell you this, man. This is another thing. It's like the TMZ babies, all the people out there. Shout out to all my TMZ baby.

Shout out to Nina Parker. Shout out to Ryan Sadden. Shout out to Evan Rosen. Shout out to all of the people out there. Shout to Bernie. Bernie Zillow, Nikki Hendry, all of the people that came from TMZ and some of the people that's hitting me up now.

I just got something to say real quick. to all of the TMZ people that's, quote, unquote, getting ready to leave. That's asking me for advice. If you didn't fucking hit me up when I got fired to say bye, fuck you. I'm not doing, are you nuts? It's literally people, I should have named some names, it's literally people that I got fired from TMZ. and then hit me up to be like, yo, Van,

I'm sorry everything that happened. I know you got shit on and all of that stuff like that. But now, like, yo, Van, can you introduce me to Bill's? No. What? And it's not even that I don't want you to succeed. You got to get him careful for trying. It's not even that I don't want you to succeed.

But it's like, if you didn't hit me up, I got fired to check on me when I was wondering, like, how I was going to make it in the world, then you got some fucking nerve hit me up not that they did the same thing to you or that you're leaving or whatever

but I will say this going on Instagram to air out the show I would never you kind of did this to me I would never ever

ever ever ever ever ever in a million years it's just something and that would get you clipped like that at TMZ. Like, I would never in the minute. What in the, what in what way? Oh, we're not going to just move past that.

Did I do anything? The family meeting thing? Because you said it on air. The family meeting thing. You said, it was kind of the same thing. No, what I never would have done, you said it on there and I wasn't here. The only thing that I've, we had to address it.

The only thing that I've ever done in public with you, and the only thing that I ever will do is support you, but you did go on there and you went. hey, I got a check van on the next show. It's cool. That's how y'all doing it. Van talked about me when I wasn't here. So when I came back, we had, we had, to you, it was a joke.

But let's just count all the times that you and I are talking, not offended by it because it's not a, it's not an offensive thing, but all the times that we have pre-meeting or we're talking before and we get on the podcast, you're like, let me tell you what Rachel and I'm talking about. You can easily take it out. The difference with that is you can take it out. Because it doesn't bother me. Right. But you can take it out.

But like, I never, I would never do what Just did. But what I'm saying is, I would never do that. It is, Envy said that it was corny. And I would definitely, like, I've met Jess, I think a couple of times. I think Jess is a, I don't obviously don't agree with everything that Jess has said. She said some really wild, vile things to me. But I met Jess. Jess, Jess was lovely.

Jess was cool. Just was all of that. No issues with Jess. But going on. your Instagram to air out your coworkers and all of that stuff, that's no point. No, and she clearly was coming from an emotional place because as you said in your second point,

she feels like they're not having her back. And so she just reacted. But I will say, envy calling her corny for doing it, again shows the lack of understanding. That is corny. Wait, wait, I would never do that. But my bigger point in this whole thing pulling back is they don't understand what it is to be a woman and have to balance wanting the family or having the demand from, you know, the want from your partner to start a family and still, and the fear of losing your place and your job. It was realized with her.

And the lack of understanding for him to say what you did was corny. I get that he may not like it, but it still seems there's this lack of understanding from the. men that she works with of why it cuts so deep or what it is to be a woman, a working woman. I just feel like they just don't get it. What it is to be a working woman? Yeah, and one of family. I'm not saying she's, I think she's wrong for airing it out, but they just are kind of like, come on, Jess, like, you know we're cool, but you get over it.

And it's like, where's the understanding of how it makes somebody feel when they come back? Because I guarantee you, if I came back and there's a third microphone here, show. And third microphone here, I would be side-eyeing all of y'all. I might go to Instagram. That can't happen. This is your show. But there's a level of respect that you have for me where you would, yeah,

there's a level of respect that you have for me where even if you were like, hey, if it was a thought, you would come and talk to me. You would come and say like, I think this could be really beneficial for the show. Oh, I'm never, ever, ever, ever. You wouldn't replace me, but I'm saying it would always... You can't be replaced it's your

show. There's a level of... But my point There's a level of respect. There's a level of respect that I feel like is not being given to her in this moment. This episode is brought to 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.

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Politics, Donnie. All right. This is politics and sports, but it's mainly in the realm of politics. The Department of Defense, they've been erasing shit because of the DVI. There's an article that was honoring the legend Jackie Robinson that that joined the ranks of other disappearing tributes to figures who've shattered different barriers like race. and gender-based barriers. After public outrage, though, it was restored.

Yeah. What the fuck? Two things. Number one, obviously, erasing Jackie Robinson is a mistake. And I want to give a special shout out to Jeff Passon. Oh, yeah, yeah. Of ESPN, who was covering this story,

who I'm not sure that Jackie Robinson, would have been restored on the DoD website if it wasn't for his report. Yeah, I don't think we would have known in that way. Yeah. Because I think that he was talking about how absurd it is for them to remove Jackie Robinson from the DoD's website and putting pressure on them. And that kind of drummed people up or drummed up interest in the story. In the same way that like, I think it was the Guardian that did the story.

Francisco Yearman? No. Remember the protein paste? So USAID has this protein paste that is for kids in parts of the undeveloped world that is basically predigested. Okay. It's like a peanut butter protein paste, right? These kids are so malnourished that their bodies can't really digest very much. First of all, consider that horror.

Okay. And so the paste You send it over there They eat the paste It's full of protein and nutrition for them Something that they can eat There are two places that they had this This stuff One up north somewhere like New Hampshire or Maine or something like that

And then another place in Georgia And when Doge was going through Fucking Up USAID They This paste got The delivery of it got held up So it was essentially in two places going bad while children were starving. Like literally expiring going bad while children were starving.

And there were no plans to give it to American kids that were malnutritioned or something like nothing. I'm not saying that that would have been a better option. I'm just saying it wasn't getting two people. And the guardian, I think it was, I think it was the guardian reported on this. And after this reporting got back to the people at Doe. or whomever, they actually used it. They like started to send it off. They like wanted it to get to the places that was supposed to go.

So essentially, when we talk about the importance of journalism, kids got fed because of journalism. In this case, the legacy of Jackie Robinson because of this one enterprising reporter and others as well, was reinstated on the DoD website. this is a part of their, I guess, DEI purge. Yeah, it's definitely a part of the purge. I like that you say USAID.

That's what some people say. I say USAID. I was like working it out of my head. I was like, U.S. Oh, it is. It is USAID. It's also USAID. Some people say USAID.

I was like, what is he talking about? Oh, okay, okay, okay. I got you. I think I've been listening to too much of the reporting. Well, I first thought of what the conversation we had about them removing the Tuskegee Airmen and the women's unit when it came to the training in the Air Force. And I said to you that I didn't think I was kind of had like different stances on it because I was talking about how you liked, you thought that the outrage was beneficial because it got them to change it. And I was kind of like, yeah, I mean, it's great that we're doing that, but also they're doing it.

and it's happening again. And then the administration hides behind, oh, that was a mistake or, oh, we're looking on it. No, the reality is you're doing it all, right? And there's no rhyme, reason. There's no system behind it other than the only factor and standards that they're considering is white male. Otherwise, they're questioning your place, or it fits under DEI,

until there's some sort of outrage. So I'll take back what I said with Tuskegee Airmen. Well, what I was saying is I'm not going to give them a hand clap for it. But until there's some sort of outrage or public outcry enough to where it looks so bad than they hide behind it being mistake. But the issue is this is going to keep happening as it is. They're going to keep removing things that don't fit in the standard of being a white male under the guys that they don't deserve to be there because they didn't get there on their merits, which is so untrue with Jackie Robinson,

who was eventually honorably discharged. He served. He was a fantastic soldier. Yeah, he served his country and then went on to break so many barriers in what he did in ways that I don't know if anybody else could have done it in such an honorable way to eventually get making it into the major leagues. So obviously deserving. And this is how you know they have no rhyme or reason. Jackie Robinson was chosen as one of Trump's magical Negroes to be in that national garden that he had. As somebody he's saying, I'm saying that's how he's looking at it.

I'm not calling him that. I'm saying that's how he's that he handpicked magical, what he would, what he calls magical Negroes. I'm not saying that. I'm not calling them that. They didn't choose to be in the garden, but he's looking at them as his magical Negroes

to put in this national garden that he's allegedly going to build. So if he is a hero, if Trump is deeming him to be a hero to put in this garden, then why is he also being removed? It just shows how chaotic it is and the only thing that they are doing is trying to erase anybody who is not white or male

from history. This is erasure and it's not DEI. It's getting rid of history. Jackie Robinson is a part of history. I got something to say about that. So other heroes that they tried to, the Defense Department said it would not highlight the history of, were the Navajo co-talkers, Tuskegee Airmen and Ira Hayes, one of the flag-raising Marines at Iwojima. that's the thing. Megger Evers as well, World War II veteran Megar Evers. Think about Megger Evers

who survived World War II. Then came back just to be murdered in front of his home on the soil of the country that he fought for. There are a bunch of other examples of people like that who have been erased from

websites and, you know, all the types of stuff. I want to say something about this real quick, though. Because this is an interesting, Jackie Robinson is a particularly interesting case study here. Jackie Robinson is a DEI hire. In baseball. Yes. Jackie Robinson is America's example of the lie of the rights corrupting of the term DEI.

Branch Ricky, who is the owner of the owner of the. the Brooklyn Dodgers was committed to ending racial segregation in baseball. Didn't want it. He had a Negro elite team called the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers. They were looking for a player to integrate Major League Baseball to further the evolution of the game of Major League Baseball. And this was important for philosophical reasons, for cultural reasons, for structural reasons, for structural reasons to integrate the game. Black Americans loved baseball. And they were playing in the Negro leagues.

And they were playing throughout the South. And they were playing in other places that they had migrated to. So getting them to be more involved in Major League Baseball was seen as a cultural good. It was seen as a financial good to the degree that they could participate. I'm not sure how segregation worked in terms of letting people into the fields, into the stadiums and all of that stuff. Maybe you could go. Maybe you couldn't go.

Maybe you had to sit in different places and all of that stuff. It was seen as something positive, the inclusion of black people in Major League Baseball, at least to this one owner and other like-minded owners, was seen as something possible. So they looked to, integrate the sport, and they chose Jackie Robinson. Branch Ricky chose Jackie Robinson. His military record, his makeup as a man, who he was and who he was going to be was very important. Jackie Robinson also became a six-time All-Star, a world champion, the rookie of the year, the batting champion, two-time stolen base leader, had his jersey,

he retired and he was the NL MVP in 1949. He earned all of his Hall of Fame accolades on the field. He was chosen because he was black and because it was important to have black representation in Major League Baseball.

If you are looking for an example of what the ethos of DEI is, there is no better example. than Jackie Robinson. Like no better example. Hey, this is something that's Lily White. It's Lily White, not because of any actual reason that has to do with competition or meritocracy. It's Lily White because of structural and systemic racism. It's Lily White because the owners own the team, because the people that are playing the game, people, excuse me, the people that are watching the games, they are racists. And because the

culture in America cannot accept at this point the most American of people, black people who broke their backs to advance in this country, participating in this most American game. We understand that culturally things are moving too slow. So what we're going to do at an ownership level is say, we're going to change this. We're going to, against three, threats against Jackie Robinson's life, racism, all of this stuff, we're going to change it.

We're going to change it because it's the right thing to do. It's the right thing to do to make people understand that it's time to move forward. And that's what they did. And Jackie Robinson wasn't any less competent than his white counterparts. As a matter of fact, he was voted in LNVP in 1949. He was better than them. He was the batting champion in 1949. He was better than them.

Right. He just wasn't given the opportunity. That's it. The term DEI hire has been corrupted by the right. It's been mutated by the right. But the reality is Jackie Robinson was hired into Major League Baseball for the purposes of inclusion. It didn't mean that he didn't belong there. Right.

It just meant that somebody had to care that he was there. Amazing what you just said. And it's exactly why they want him erased. It's exactly why. And it makes me think, it's making me think of it. 77% Hall of Fame ballot. Who the fuck didn't vote for Jackie Robinson in 62? The people who think the DAI means something different.

The people who think you never should have been there. It's a tough Hall of Fame to get into. Still, the people who want to erase the fact that he came in and did what he did. So given the opportunity, we're unstoppable in what it is that we can do. The problem is that we're being gate kept from being in. And it made me, and I get, yeah, gate kept, yeah. It made me think of something else because I was talking about how the way that they issue DEI, there's no rhyme or reason, there's no standard other than, you know, you're not a white male.

But when you talk about Jackie Robinson and his contribution and how he literally embodies what DEI is, well, then there is another standard that they're using. Anybody who is Jackie Robinson, anybody who proves the positive ways that DEI has been beneficial to an industry, this country in any way. They want that erased because it completely contradicts their point. When the Pentagon was approached

about the removal of Jackie Robinson as a sports hero and other people, that you listed and others that we didn't name. This is how the Pentagon described DEI. They describe it as discriminatory equity ideology. They said it divides D, erodes E, unit cohesion, and interferes with the service's core war fighting mission. That's the new history.

And what they're trying to do is erase actual history to replace it with this. And that's where we are. right now. I'm surprised at two specific groups here. And look, a lot of people hate these groups. It's very funny. I tell you something, man.

The reason why I don't come down on the FBA Aidos people, as a lot of people do, is because, God damn, if they can't get under a nigger skin, they get under a nigger skin, man. You want to say to recently? Not me. but they are, they get to it with the term tether and all of that stuff. It's funny, man. It's funny.

FBI seems like it's kind of taken over Aidos now. Aidos is like not as much and more. It seems like Tariq and the FBI people have kind of taken it over a little bit. But I understand people that say black people have a specific lineage in America. I was recently in Louisiana

and when I was there, I took video at Ventress West Oak Cemetery, which is where all of my ancestors are buried. And once again, I've talked about this before. You can start at the top of the cemetery and make your way all the way to the back of it. And by the time you get back there, it's slavery.

Those are my ancestors, right? I understand my origin is in Africa. I understand that I am an African. I understand that I come from the most, you know, nutrient rich, resource rich, shall I say, continent with beautiful people that were, that figure out a way to exist symbiotically with the land that they come from. I understand the riches and the ancestors that I have in Africa. I get it. I understand that.

my ancestors, the people who bled and made way for me here in America are buried right there. I know who they are. And so I can go right there and look at them. Right. And so my lineage is a black American. As someone who originates my history, my story originates in Louisiana, is very important to me. So I understand overall the ethos and the goal to the degree that I can of FBI, A, those groups like that to say, hey, there's, just like everyone else's just like it's special to be Jamaican,

it's special to be Trinidadian, it's special to be Nigerian, it's special to be Nigerian and then be Yoruba. It's special to be Nigerian and then be Igbo. It's special to be all of these. It's also special to be black American. And our culture has to be protected in the same way. I get that and I understand that.

Here's the point to where that starts to look like a sci-op because I have not heard them on Trump's ass like they should be about erasing FBI people like Jackie Robinson like Maker Evers. I got on there and I said that what Janet Jackson said

about Kamala Harris was wrongheaded. I got on and I said that. And a lot of the people in the FBA, Aidos, uh, orbit were like, Van, do not ever fix your mouth to criticize. Janet Jackson,

an FBI person, FBI queen, one of us, against Kamala Harris, who they say, it's not FBI. Kamala Harris is black in that her father is Jamaican, but they're talking about different gradations of black. right? So they're like, Van, don't side against FBI. The whole nine. Kamala Harris is this. Kamala Harris is that.

Here's Donald Trump and the DOD, his DOD, led by Peek headset, trying to erase Medgar Evers and Jackie Robbins, Medgar Evers, who died for, and I'm not hearing enough. I'm sorry I'm not hearing enough criticism of, what they're doing over there, the same criticism that people are getting for different opinions on Twitter. I'm not hearing enough of it. I would love to have somebody on so we could talk about it, but I'm not hearing enough of it. And so when people say that is fake or that it's a sci-op, I don't necessarily like, you know, subscribe to that.

I don't at all because I think that there's actually a lot of intellectual good things. faith in saying, hey, there's a diaspora of black people. There's a diaspora of people that we all share a commonality with that are black, but also as black Americans. There are specific needs and a specific cultural ingenuity that has to be respected and addressed. I get that. And I can have that conversation with my Nigerian brothers. Can I have that conversation with Kaz and Waile and all of these other people, right? I can have that conversation with Joni. Right. I can have that conversation with I can have that conversation with them and realize that we're still black, that we're still together, that we're all black, right? But there are things that we need and things that have to be addressed.

However, if the scrutiny isn't equally applied to people that are trying to erase and undo achievements by people who would be considered ADOS or would be considered FBI, I don't understand what we're doing. that's what erodes people's faith in the intellectual purity of any of those movements and that's just the way I just I didn't see as much of it maybe I'm looking around I didn't see it well I'm sure if it's out there and you didn't

they'll let you know let's talk about Stephen A. Smith you're just the SAS Rachel's mentor he was on first take this morning speaking about this and I wish we could play the audio but I'll just read a little bit of what he said

I'm gonna be honest with you man this is not playing the audio thing is for the bird man What happens if we just play it? What happens if we just play it? What's gonna happen? I think I'll get in trouble Oh, we can't have that.

They'll be like, yeah, it's something that I'll have to deal with. So let's not. Nobody, I'm Stephen A. Smith right now. So just use your imagination thought words. Do the voice. Do the voice. Okay, okay.

Nobody's calling out President Donald Trump. I will. I'm going to call him names and all that stuff. Like, I'm not going to call them names and all this stuff. Like, stupid folks on the left. Engaging an incendiary rhetoric is unnecessary. It's immature. It's uncalled for.

He's the president of the United States. Treat him with respect that he deserves. But in the same breath, call him to the carpet for stuff that he's doing. When you look at actions, of this administration, and you're talking about DEI, and you're equating you with black people, and you use the words like unqualified, Pete Hexas is the head of the Defense Department,

and he served our country with honor. And I'm not trying to knock him or denigrate him in any way. How was he not DEI? He was a soldier. And then he was host on Fox News on the weekends. And he goes from being that to the head of the Defense Department that oversees more than 3.5 million people. camera.

He should have made you turn on the camera. He's sweating. It's hot to be Stephen A. Smith. Okay. That was, first of all, that's a good Stephen A. Don. It was great, Donnie. This is Wack. Why is it Wack? Why is it Wack? He's criticizing Trump. I'm being

sarcastic, but why is it whack? I have listened to Stephen A talk about black men as athletes that are trying to produce and provide for their families, for years. I've listened to Stephen A. Defend the fact that he's able to talk about Kwame Brown, the way he talked about him, talk about other players in the way that he talks about them, right?

And say that that's the part of the game. There was a whole era on first take where Skip Bayliss, who was just directly disrespectful to athletes, not just black athletes, and Stephen A is not just disrespectful, who hasn't been in the past, different now, disrespectful to black athletes and stuff like that. But it,

there was a whole thing when Jalen Rose, we talked about this before, Jalen Rose called out Stephen A and they were talking about it and all was going back and forth. And they were talking about like why they can say that, like why they can do that, why they can be less than respectful, right?

But we're talking about a president who has zero respect for anyone. Correct. Like who literally has, who, literally calls Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas who like goes through

who denigrates and debases everyone and it just seems like in this it doesn't and I would like people on the left to stop doing this and we can even talk about this in terms of Tesla like stop doing the little thing

where you find it necessary to give a little ground when you're calling yourself out. Oh, he's the president. We got to respect him. He doesn't respect you. I agree with that. Like, he'll talk all kinds of shit about you. He'll talk all kinds of shit about DEI and MAGA will talk about taking black history out of schools.

He'll disrespect your history fundamentally who you are. Even what they're doing right now with Jackie Robinson. This is Pete Hexeth, the leader of the DOD, erasing black history. history, but let's make sure we respect his service. Like, what the fuck do we owe? Like, this is why, particularly in a situation where I've seen Stephen A. Smith defend his right to insult

black men. Now, I'm not saying that he was wrong for that because I understand what they do on their show. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying that he was wrong. I disagree. But if you're going to get a little spicy and talking about people and all of that, whatever, whatever, I thought it was a good conversation in the time that it was had between Jalen Rose and between Stephen A. Smith and all of that. I thought it was a good

convo. Like, I don't believe in necessarily disrespecting somebody just because of how they operate on their job if their job doesn't affect people's lives, right? If you're like, if you're a terrible politician, then that's one thing. If you're a terrible basketball player, I can fuck with it, you know, get your game up. Um, but watching him go for that and then watching them kind of, even inside of a criticism of Donald Trump, make sure that he tells people that it's important to have some sort of respect or reverence for Donald Trump that Donald Trump has never had for political colleagues or for people in general. He called different African countries, shithole countries.

Right, right. Like, he's, he is literally one of the most outwardly disrespectful American political figures, probably the most, that we've ever had. Well, this is what I don't, it's a simple, fixed to me, which is I don't understand why you don't get this. If you want to have respect for the office, fine. But it doesn't mean that you have to have respect for the person in the office when that person is disrespecting other people and the office in itself. If you want to say I respect what it means to be the president, fine. But why would you respect what it means to be president?

But I mean, I'm just saying if you want to hold, like if you revere, if you revere the office, right? Like the office of the executive branch was just like, being the president. I can understand that. Rachel. What I can't get down with is... Not to jump in. I apologize.

I don't... I don't give a fuck about what it means to be the president. I get that. I don't give a fuck. Like, if you went out and you and you was dodging bullets in Fallujah, I get it. If you went out and you picked up a motherfucking bayonet or I don't know if they even have those anymore or you're out there serving people or you're out there, like, whatever. If you did that, if you did that, being a fucking politician and getting to the top level of being a fucking politician,

the fuck? I don't give a fuck about that. I get that. That's you. I'm saying I can understand how you can revere the office of the president. But I'm with you on the person within it. You need to be able to separate the two if that's something that you want to respect. If you've always respected being a president or the Department of Defense,

or the Pentagon, but when you put somebody in there, because then he backdoors it with when he talks about Hexeth, then there's a difference, I think. Now, I'm more on your side than I am with this, but you know what got me with this? It's not even any of that. Even though you're right. I agree with you.

I don't want to listen to Stephen A. Smith go on a tangent about DEI and about what Donald Trump is doing with his administration when it comes to DEI and how it's affecting non-white, men. I don't want to hear about what you think about DEI and Pete Heggseth because this is the same man who sat there and said he regrets for Kamala Harris. Well, what does that mean? This is the same person. So I take that to mean maybe you wouldn't have voted at all, which is still a vote. It means something. I took it to mean you regret Kamala Harris because you're more in line with Trump. That's how I'm taking it. And if I'm wrong, you know, if he's listening to this, then come out and say you wouldn't

have voted for Trump. But I looked at it as regret. So if I'm looking at it with those lens, you regret voting for Kamala Harris, meaning you would have used your vote to an opposition to her. Then you are for the thing, then you, then everything that Trump is doing, I'm sorry, you're a part of. I am sick of people acting like it is shocking what Donald Trump is doing. Donald Trump literally has been on a DEI tangent prior to stepping into office. He has said he was going to do certain things and he is doing them. He said he didn't align with Project 2025. We knew that was a lie.

He's a liar. He's doing things that totally align with it. When I listen to Stephen A. Smith say this and I listen to him say he regrets the decisions that he made, meaning, in my opinion, he would do the opposite, then I can't listen to you talk about this because I'm not understanding how to separate the two. That's what was disappointing to me to hear about this. You're right and what you're saying too about black men, but you regret voting for someone who was in opposition of this.

To do for that, you're for this. You can't stand on a high horse now and be like, oh my gosh, what is Donald Trump doing? It's impacting minorities or marginalized groups when he has always represented himself as this person. I'm sick of that. I'm so sick of people now wanting to be like, what are you doing?

No, you were for this. So, look, I get it. What I don't understand is, and the real reason why I have a problem with this, is that the left is falling for the same trick back. But is he the left? He is the left. I'm going to take him at his word.

That he's, when I say left, I don't mean... You mean left of them. I mean, I don't mean the left that I like, man. I don't think he's left. I don't, I don't, I don't mean the left that I like. I like the Emma Viglans. You know, I like it.

I'm getting, I'm getting lefty. Okay. Like, I'm going, he's on the left. He's left of, say, Bob Dole or, or he's, kind of,

he's a, you know, but I'm, I'm, I'm getting, how do you get older and get, like, more.

That happens. No, I'm talking about me. Like, I'm so in a leftist bubble right now. It's not, you know, still I got a way to go. I'm looking at things a little different. I can't tell you something? This is going to be weird. The more of my leftist bubble that I get, I'm starting to decentralize race a little bit.

As in what? So, I'm getting in my leftist bubble. a minute. And like you don't see color? Nah, nigga. Okay, I need you to explain. What I'm saying is

race doesn't matter. It's not that. It's a social construct. It's not that. All of that stuff matters to me. My connection to being black is just very central to my life. Very central to my life.

But I am getting to a point where a lot of the things that I think will fix society just don't have very much to do with specifically being. And the things that I want for black people are specific to blackness. But more than that, what I want from America

is a reckoning. And I feel like America's unwillingness to do that says more than anything. The fact that America doesn't want to have a reckoning for the terrorism and the environmental terrorism

and the cultural terrorism that black people have been subjected to tells me that none of the other policies that I think will work that are possible. Because in order for those policies to work, in order for, to say single payer health care,

in order for single payer health care to work, for it to happen here in America, there has to be an understanding that everyone is deserving of the same standard of life. Right? Everyone should have, the ability to go to the doctor and have their health maintained and prioritized. You can't get there from a policy perspective if you essentially, and at your core, believe that there are some people who are less important than other people.

There are some people who are not as smart or capable or ready to be contributors to America as other people. And so the fact that America refuses to have a racial reckoning to me is an indicator that they're not really ready for some of the policies that would benefit all Americans. That would benefit Americans no matter what their race is. That would benefit people in McDowell County, West Virginia, in the Appalachians, poor white people like in the Pacific Northwest,

I walked through the streets of Seattle and saw people like doing crack on the streets and shooting up heroin on the streets. They were all white, all white when I was walking when I was in Seattle, right? And so for policy to really get to those people in a broad way, there has to be a sense of American equality

in what those people, standards of life should be. And you can't get there if you don't reconcile to me how certain people are being treated. That's true. So policy-wise, the stuff is starting to become less race-based for me. However, I understand that the entry into that policy has a lot to do with whether or not you think people deserve the same stuff. And if you can't do one, then you can't do the other. Correct.

So last thing I'll say about the Stephen A. Smith thing is this kind of goes hand in hand with some of the stuff that we're talking about. The left, I do think that he's on the left, they still feel like they have to moralize with, you don't have to moralize. Like it's like. With the weight, the titles. So even like the Tesla thing, right? We're talking about the Tesla thing. you know, people are coming out and they're talking about what's happening with Tesla and what's going on with Tesla stock.

I saw Roe Kana, who we're trying to get on this podcast, by the way. We're negotiating with the people. I was disappointed in Ro Kna and what he said on ESPN. Now, you know, I'm not a person that believes. I'm not even going to say that. What I'm saying is this. He said on ESPN, he said, that, America shouldn't take something along the lines of Americans shouldn't take gleeful

but the fact that Tesla is floundering, right? Because that's a bunch of American workers and all of that stuff, right? Why do we still feel the need to say stuff like that? Going back to the TV, they said, why do we feel the need to say stuff like that? Every single American that I know that is captured by capitalism, part of what they're doing, the uppers, they're responsible for their lives. They're responsible for whether or not the people

are using shodding materials. Like the person, when the house collapsed because the contractor did a bad job, the people that work in the construction place, like it affects them. When a tariff war comes, right? And the materials go up. Americans lose their jobs.

like Tesla is a part of American capitalism. And if the person who runs Tesla like unshrouds themselves as Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars, then yes, Americans are going to be affected. But I tell you who doesn't care about the fact that his businesses and the Americans that are working for him are going to be affected by the shit that he does. Elon Musk doesn't care.

Elon Musk doesn't care. So who are you trying to appeal to? Who are you trying to appeal to by saying we have to have a heart for the thousands and thousands of thousands? I know people that work at Tesla and I know what they say about Elon Musk. How do people at Tesla,

the people that you talk to, feel about the fact that the stock is dropping? They've been complaining about him for years. Not him, but, Because we know that there have been lawsuits and we know he sent out these memos and we've covered that kind of stuff in the podcast. But I guess I just mean so for him to be like all the, this is affecting all these workers, you know, we should we shouldn't take glee in it. Well, what are the workers saying? I know people that want to get so bad that they force a change.

And I know other people who are very insecure and trepidations about what's going to happen. But the reality of the situation is like, how long can you play nice with somebody who's kicking your? you and your balls over and over and over. Well, that's what I don't understand. It's one thing if you're talking about like burning, you know, going to vandalism or whatever, right? It's one thing if you're talking about a crime. But to go out of your way to say like the whole stock thing and all of that,

I'm with you. I'm with you. I don't understand. I don't know how to move past that because it's simple. Nobody's asking you to, like, it's not that you have to trash them in a sense, but just don't say that. Don't say anything. I don't know how they get past that mentality.

Maybe we will ask Rochana when he comes on. Maybe we'll ask Rochana when we get him on here. I fuck with Rochana. But, you know, take off. It's okay to be Superman, man. Clark Kent, it's like, take off you fucking... Well, there's a way to do both. You don't have to...

It's almost fixated in their minds that they feel like if they don't do that, then they are them. There's something in between. They think that they're the other side if they don't go out of their way to say the nice thing. You know what this is?

This is what it is. Your significant other goes through your phone. And they found videos of you just in there drilling somebody or getting drilled. And the evidence of them fucking you is right there. It's right there. There are two types of people in that situation. One is the type of person that's,

says, look, there are issues in our relationship and I stepped out and this is what I've done. And hopefully, even if we can't repair this, we can come to some understanding of like how I hurt you, what I've done, all of this, and I can be better. Right. There's a person that meets you in the issue and deals with the issue. And then there's another person that goes, how could you go through my phone? And the person that goes, how could you go through my phone? I'm not saying that they don't have a point.

I'm saying that their point doesn't fucking matter. You have lost the ability, the ability right there to appeal to the decency of someone. You've lost the ability. It's out the window. Appealing to the decency of like trying to say what you did is as bad as what I did is a farce. And all it's doing is distracting you. It's distracting you from the actual issue, which is that there's a fundamental breach of trust in the relationship that you need to deal with to either become on a better footing with the person or to break the relationship off completely.

and the Democrats keep falling for, the left keeps falling for, how could you go through my phone? Like, they keep falling for it. They keep trying to prove that I'm sorry for, like they keep trying to prove that what they're doing is as bad as what the other side is doing. They keep trying to prove that they're,

that they are morally better and morally superior to the right. Stop doing that and just tell the American people why the ideas that you have are superior to the ideas on the right. Start telling the American people what their lives are going to be like under your leadership, get back to something like stop playing these dumbass games. Stop saying you have to, I want to have respect for the president as the president is taking Jackie Robinson erasing his life. It's a waste of time.

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Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit trimfireradio.com. All right. We could talk about Kanye West, but I feel like we don't have to. I'm going to address Kanye West right here. I think Van wants to say something. I'm going to.

So sadly, we don't want to, Donnie, but it seems like we have to. I'm going to address Kanye West right now. Let's do it. I'm going to say something here that I've thought about. So Kanye West obviously can't. came out diss me. But I have to be honest with you.

Like, I always said some things about Kanye West. So he was responsible. You know, I don't have that much of a problem with it, right? I have a problem with what he said because what he said was vile, right? But him saying, hey, Van said something about me. I have to come back and say something. That doesn't bother me. It's like, that's the name of the game.

The name of the game, way they goes. One of my very dearest gay friends called me up and he said something and I agree. Hmm. He said me, he told me that Kanye needs some dick. Kanye needs a boyfriend. I'm just going to let you keep going. I think that Kanye West, his obvious repression, is starting to bubble over. Kanye is dealing with the weirdest midlife crisis I've ever seen before.

Is that what we're calling you? So look, this is. the defining artists of his time that doesn't feel like his art is well enough, has been accepted enough. This is one of the most successful businessman of his time that doesn't feel like his businesses are doing well enough. This is a father and a husband. There's all of these things that he's accomplished.

It's had sex with all of these ladies, some of which I know about that you guys don't know about. TMZ knowledge. Yet he is not able to find any sort of solace. He can't even achieve a semblance of peace in his life.

He can't. He can't achieve any of it. There's got to be a part of Kanye that he is not fully accessing. And when he starts to call people the F word and calls me the F word and he's always doing this, he's always so fragilely hypermasculent and all of these things that he's doing. He's always projecting. He's always attempting to be the big man in the room.

Even when he's going back and forth, he's raising his voice, all of this stuff. All of this stuff that's happening. He's, it's the fragility of the mutated version of masculinity that's someone who is completely insecure with what themselves would be. Kanye West needs a boyfriend. I don't know about that. He does. It's time for Kanye to finally be the person that he actually is. Kanye West needs a boyfriend.

and I think I'm going to go further. That boyfriend should be Elon Musk. Kanye and Elon Musk need each other sexually. Now, I'm talking about, like, they don't need each other from the standpoint of just a business relationship. They need to fuck. Elon Musk, once again, running around, world's richest man, tremendously insecure.

Can't have enough babies? can't get enough adulation. So what does he do? He decides to break the world, to break American society. That's what he does. When people are sexually repressed, we've seen this,

is just a guy up there? Like when people are sexually repressed, when they can't be who they really are, it's a bigger deal than anything else. Right. Kanye West, Elon Musk, Don't fuck us.

Fuck each other. Go on a vacation. Pick any setting from the seasons of White Lotus that we've seen. Loeb up. Pleasure chest. Right over here on Santa Monica. Get it all together. Nipple clamps.

Electricity. Like all the videos that you want. All the stuff. You guys are rich. Go to the Maldives. And just fucking let it happen. Just fucking go for it, bros. Like, don't take all of this stuff out on us.

Like, go for it. I don't know if that's what it is with Kanye, but there is something... Go for it. I do agree with the lack of peace. But what I also think, and I said it before on this podcast, it's just

there are you I run out of fingers of all the excuses they won't run out of fingers that of all the excuses they'll use all of these fingers on each other of all the excuses that people have made for Kanye West like just there's just so many reasons

as to why he's acting the way he is and I don't I just think well first you said you said that you also said midlife crisis and to me it's like just accept He's having a dick life crisis. That this is Kanye. I think Dick life crisis is offensive.

But. Why is that offensive? Like, it's offensive to like a community of people, like to make it seem like it's a crisis that he's, like he's having a crisis because he wants. Hold on. Understand what I'm saying. By the way, this is not. So I had this conversation with people. My gays are the ones that told me this.

That they think that. So I'll just be honest with you. And he might be. I don't know. My, my, I'm getting this. My gays are the ones that told me this that Kanye West is acting out because there's something about himself

that he's never been able to access and be real about. My gays are the ones that told me this. It was the term dick life crisis. Dick life people have, you know what? Men life crisis is, it's a phase. It's like a thing. It's like you grow out of it. You move past it.

Let me say something. If you are someone who because of homophobia and the way that things are going for you, then takes out all of your angst for everyone forever, you're having a dick life crisis. Okay. This is what I was going to say. I think that-

homophobic. When you explain it more so, because you really believe that he is gay and he's not living the life that he wants to. Then I understand your terminology. But when you just said it, it was like the way I understand midlife crisis, it just didn't sound right.

But my point is, and I'll keep it short on this, because I really don't like talking about Kanye West because it's just the jig is up. It's like we've reached the point of no return. I just feel like we make excuses over and over again of why he's acting the way he is. And at the end of the day, I think we just have to accept, this is Kanye.

He himself, in one of his tweets, he is not a good person. He's not a good person. And he's offensive. He's racist. He's sexist. He's all these different things that are so vile that we just at this point have to accept that is Kanye. Yeah.

It won't stop. It'll continue. Whether he's doing it because he has repressed feelings, whether it's because he wants attention, whether it's he's a narcissist, whether it's who he really is. It's going to continue. And what I can guarantee you he loves about all of it is that we continue to discuss it. Now, in this situation, he came at you. directly. As we said, it's the name of the game. You said something about him. He says

about you. You're going to respond back. I get that. But in the grand scheme of things, this one thing I do believe is that he wants this, where he's constantly on our minds when he tweets, when he says the most disgusting things. And we still talk about it and we litigate it. And the thing is, we don't really know. But what I do know is he is not a good person. And I hate talking about Got a call from someone and they go, then, you know what the issue is. I'm like, you know what? The reality is Kanye West has decided that he'd rather be a Nazi than who he really. And that's sad.

By the way, I don't let you guys know something. There's nothing cool about being a Nazi. I'm seeing Nazi. Nazi is back. Nazi is up right now. There's nothing cool about being a Nazi. There's nothing. All right.

Kanye and Elon, I hope that they can find each other. Well, they have before. I mean, they've been around each other. No, there's that interview. There's that interview where he starts singing in the middle of it. Like, they've been around each other. You don't think, you don't ship them? You don't think they would be a good couple?

I can't even let my mind go there. Why? Because I'm so detached from Kanye West. Yeah. there will be a power couple. Okay, before we go, we're going to do a quick list. A van lay 10, but it's only 5, because there's really not 10 out there.

Black people are looking, there's not 10 out there. Black people are looking for all kinds of places to settle. We have all kinds of different ideas on where we should build hubs of power and how we should build them. And we've decided. here, or I've decided in my top five, this is my list, that I'm going to rank here the top five black cities. The top five cities. Best place for blacks. For black people. Top five black cities.

It's the top five black cities, but it's also top five cities for black people. But you get extra points if you are a city that's predominantly black. Okay. Top five black cities, top five city for black people. Number five, Charlotte, North Carolina. I like this. It's only 34% black. That's more than I thought. That's more than I thought as well. It's only 34% black. But it is by far the city where black people in America are doing the best.

It's not even close. The average black family in Charlotte, North Carolina has $300,000 of wealth. $300,000 of wealth. That's a lot. A lot of people from California are moving to the Carolina. Charlotte is number five. Okay. Woo!

La Mello Ball. Number four, Houston. I don't know about that. Houston's number four. Think it should be higher or lower? Out of there. Out of there. Houston can't be in the top five?

Talk to Houston people. These people are not thrilled at what's happening. A lot of these cities are on the decline. I've got to be honest with you. Houston gets credit for, number one, having the best-looking women on Earth. Bar none. Best-looking women on Earth.

Best-looking sisters on Earth are in Houston. I don't know what it is. I think it is the combination of the Creole from Louisiana, kind of they get there and then they merge with kind of the Western situation. And then boom. Houston right there, best-looking women in Houston, all right? And then, you know, Texas is a little racist. So it probably makes them stick together more.

And maybe they, you know, they boom, boom. It's Houston. If you go to the rodeo, you'll feel like you're in. Heaven. All right. But that's basically it. Nothing can save Houston from being higher on the list, not even twerking at brunch.

It's not, Houston is, to me, on the decline as far as being a place that you can really hang out and have a great time. Correct. And so, you know, when the turkey leg hut that embodies what's going on with Houston.

Got a lot of implants moving into Houston, changing the culture of Houston. Talk to Houston folks. BBLs? Okay. New Orleans is number three. Just making sure. Yeah, you really, you looked at me hard on that one.

I wanted to put New Orleans higher because obviously it's in Louisiana, New Orleans, like, riding high right now. New Orleans is riding high. They've had the Super Bowl. They've had, what else is just there? Marty Grau's been just there. The city's riding high. I was just there. The city's riding high.

New Orleans is back, right? But can't put New Orleans any higher. for one reason. The worst strip club scene in America. New Orleans is perhaps, of all the black cities, New Orleans is the worst strip club city out of all of them. So that's on the criteria. It's just something, if you're a black city,

you should then also be a good strip club city. And New Orleans is a terrible, terrible strip club city. People would say that that's because there's too much other stuff to go see and do and all of that stuff. But it doesn't make any sense that it's a terrible strip club city. I don't know. It's terrible.

So it's at three. Number two, now we're in the top two. Do you have a guess on what number two is? D.C. Atlanta. That would have been, I was between D.C. and Atlanta. Atlanta's number two.

Now look, Atlanta has been submitted as the number one black city for a long time. Okay. But we got to be honest. Atlanta's falling off a little bit. I'm surprised you we haven't it too.

Because I have Atlanta at two the same way I had, I would say, Kobe as an all-defensive player in like 2013. A lot of its reputation. Okay. But we got to be honest, man.

Atlanta's falling off a little bit. They got too high on their own supply. I blame Killer Mike. I blame Isaac Hayes. Trying to get everything and everybody to Atlanta. Right? When I started looking at the numbers, a lot of the Atlanta stuff was smoking mirrors.

Okay. I told you that the average black family has $300,000 of wealth in Charlotte. How much do you think they have in Atlanta? 80. 5,000 bucks. The average? $5,000. $5,000.

So, and when you compare that to the white people at Atlanta, it's crazy. It's crazy. Now, we talk a lot about income inequality as it is in regards to black people and white people. We don't talk a lot about intra-community wealth inequality, and that is a big deal in Atlanta. There's a lot of rich people in Atlanta, black people, but there's a lot of poor ones too. Last time I was there, a dude got carjacked outside of the hotel.

My hotel that I was staying at. You know what hotel I was saying that? The Ritz? The four seasons. Wow. Okay. I mean, that can happen out here, but yes. It's not going to happen at this four seasons.

Not this four seasons. Okay. All right, Atlanta is going down a little bit. Atlanta, you're too high on your own supply. That's funny. You got to keep moving. up, Atlanta. You got to stay vigilant there. Atlanta. Music scene is kind of down right now. They are. Like, Atlanta is in between. Food scene. At least food service. The food service

Rachel got, see what I'm saying? I experienced it the last time I was there. The National Championship, I was like, I was at a black restaurant. A whole city that is competing to serve you the best wings. I love, look, all I'm saying is Atlanta needs a rebrand right now. Atlanta needs a rebrand. Okay. Who's number one? Tough love.

D.C., easy. Easy D.C. Now, you get fucked over in D.C. as well. But, you know, I've experienced a lot of D.C. I've experienced the D.C. that makes D.C. go. I've experienced the outlying areas of D.C. D.C. is by far my favorite Black City. just dressed up black people everywhere

doing stuff. They're strutting the guy important stuff to do. You know, you go there, you visit the African-American museum there that's in D.C. You haven't been? I know. Because I don't know.

I really want to take my time and go through it. I need to time. Every time I'm in D.C., I'm in and out. You know. But D.C. to me is, in many ways, the new Atlanta. I prefer D.C. As far as the black cities that I visit,

and I visit a lot of these cities, right? So I'm going with D.C. at number one. Now, I have to say something here. We said that Charlotte is where black family has $300,000 worth of wealth. Houston is 44,000. New Orleans is actually 44,000, which is, like, very surprising to me. Atlanta is five, and D.C.,

it's $3,500 of wealth. So you're by far, if you are a black person, doing the best in Charlotte. It's not even close. It's a lot of implants, too. It's not even close. Charlotte's a rich city, which is not even close.

But I got to say right now, for the stalwarts, like Houston and ATL, it's time to look in the mirror. It's time to look in the mirror and ask people, ask yourselves if in fact you're resting on reputation

or if you're still the best black city out there. I love Atlanta. Shout out to Onyx. I haven't been there in years, but shout out to y'all. Rest and peace. I'll tell you when Atlanta went down. And they got rid of what? Follies.

The closing of follies to me. Never been. The closing of Follies was the death of the Atlanta that we used to know. The closing of Follies, Follies was a wondrous, fantastical, amazing place of dreams and nightmares. Similar to the way that the Trump administration is randomly eliminating things under the guise of DEI. That's how your list feels.

It feels quite random. There's no rhyme or reason because technically Charlotte should be number one. It can't be because it's not a black city. 34% and 300,000. I wonder what percentage of Atlanta is black. Hold on. Let me make sure what percentage.

This is really just how I feel. What percentage? Beautiful women. Strip clubs. Give me another city. What did you expect? So Atlanta, hold on, Atlanta is 46.9% black.

So that's, it's a majority of black city. So the white population is 39.9%. So that the fact that your city is black, actually population-wise, that has to matter in the list. 5,000 is a wild. What are you, like, that's crazy. What are the white? What's the white? Hold on.

Income, wealth inequality and Atlanta. Let's see. I looked this up already. I didn't put it in there. Wealth inequality in Atlanta. Okay, in Atlanta, the inequality is white households have a median net worth of $238,355. Black households have a median net worth in Atlanta of $5,300. So not quite well.

condom. All right. Should not be number two, is the point. They're like, what do you mean? That's sad. So what,

okay, what would your top five be? I mean, off your list, Charlotte number one. Charlotte number one? Yeah. 34% of black.

But you need to be promoting it and making it blacker because 300,000, 34% actually Charlotte is one of the most becoming one of easily one of the most expensive cities too because so many people are moving out there. What happened in Nashville and Austin is now happening to Charlotte.

But you should be promoting it. it should be number one. What else? What else? What's number two then? What's your list? D.C., just because I feel like there's, I hate the, the, the, what you said about the average household for black people, but I feel like there's, you know, you see a lot of black people doing things there. Okay.

Then what's, what's the other one? Three, Houston. What was, what was your, what, you had Atlanta and then you had, oh, New Orleans. I guess New Orleans based on your statistics. So three, four, Houston, five, Atlanta. Donnie, I want to do something real quick. Include Detroit in Chicago? No, I'm not including Detroit.

Although Detroit is right on the outside. Why? Detroit is... Donnie, it didn't make the list. Detroit is right on the outside. So it's almost there. Detroit is on its way back up, okay? This is classic Detroit erasure.

That's okay, because that's a very Detroit thing to be overlooked. So there's no surprise there. That's cool. Take a thing cap's off, but do not stop learning. I am Van Lathen, Jr. I'm Rachel and Lindsay. Bye, guys.