Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Oprah’s Ozempic Special, the Oscars, and Draya’s Pregnancy

Episode Date: March 12, 2024

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay start the episode off with their reactions to the 96th Academy Awards (00:13) before giving their opinions on the reactions to Draya Mitchell and Jalen Green’s relationship (21:55). Then, they discuss the State of the Union address (45:34), Oprah’s special 'Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution' (01:19:36), and their take on Jerrod Carmichael’s reality show trailer (01:32:59). Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producers: Ashleigh Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No, you're going to thought, warriors. What is I? I learned is, oh, I, Van Lately Jr. And it's me and Rachel Lynn Lindsay. Court Jefferson. How you feeling? I don't even know Cort that well. Yeah.

I got excited. I screamed like he's my friend. Watch the Oscars with my parents. I'm in Dallas right now. And I go, oh, my God, Corden. They were like, you know him? And I was like, no, but Vanda. You do know him.

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Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Trimfaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit trimfire radio.com. The playoffs are here, and you can predict the action all the way to the finals with Fandul Predicts. Predicts 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 investments. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tool. Restrictions apply. See terms at fandul.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash terms. I briefly, but what a, that was incredible. Take me through it because I saw you were celebrating with him. Yeah.

Did you watch with him? No, no, no, no, no. I was at the house. Remember, I got back. Okay. Well, he was at the Oscars. Sure, sure, sure. Yeah.

So I got back from Austin early in the morning. It was a funny flight because it was the, we have to make it back to Austin. We have to make it back to L.A. So it was like a bunch of people in there. We're always looking at each other. Like, oh, my God, man, it's early. It's like 7 a.m. in the morning.

We got back. We left. And then I pretty much came home, snuggled up the family, little bull. Oh, he was a little baby puppy. I love him so much. And

slept. Slept. Okay. Slept. Slept. After the sleeping happens, the Academy Awards begin. Kimmel did a great job.

Fantastic job. He did. Fantastic show. I have to say I was actually entertained. I watched. It started earlier than I thought. I don't know if I was... Okay, thank you.

We missed it. So I missed like the first 30 minutes. But I watched the whole thing. I don't sit down and watch award shows. And so I felt, everyone felt, not just I felt that, especially the week of and the week before, that he was going to win. He won the BAFTA.

He won the Independent Spirit Award. It started to build up like when we, because we all saw each other at the East Array party, he, we all went to the party together. We all went out and had dinner. And I told him, I was like, I think it's a win. I think you're going to win. And a lot of people were saying that Nolan was going to win for Adaptive.

There would be a sweep. Barbie's shoe in for Adaptant fell apart early on in the process. And I'm still not understanding why. American Fiction is a, is a truer, is a better script than Barbie. but the narrative behind Barbie winning just fell apart during the campaign I'm still not quite sure what happened like why they didn't have stronger momentum

going into the awards. Hmm. I don't know. Do you think it fell apart when it got all, everyone got all up in arms about what they were not nominated for? Do you think that's when it started to fall apart?

Maybe, but I still thought that for people, number one, I thought it was a, it was a blow to American fiction that Barbie would be nominated and adapted because it was an original screenplay based on existing IP, but they still considered that to be adapted. So I was like, wow, that's going to be tough because everybody loved the movie so much

as the biggest movie of the year. But then the narrative kind of shifted to Nolan versus American fiction to... What does this narrative? Where does this narrative exist? You know, is it because you're like in the... The inner circle and, you're, like, okay, okay, because I'm like, where are these, because as a casual viewer, I am not aware of this at all, as I'm sure most of our listeners are as well. So I'm just wondering, am I out of the loop or is this just something that people in this industry know? It's like knowing a bunch of people that vote.

Got it. And then they'll say, hey, this is the way things are going. It's also just reading. and following, which just happens that you build because we went through a campaign, but it's like reading and following people who make predictions and just all that. It's like anything else. It's like the same narrative for who's going to win the NBA MVP this year.

Okay. Give me the top five guys that are in the running for the NBA MVP. I have no idea. I don't know. So they don't talk to me about where these narratives exist. They exist in the people who are following them, Rachel. No, no, no, no.

So you didn't have to go there. All you had to do is make the comparison to the MVP vote. And I'm like, got it. Totally makes sense. Great comparison. You took it a step too far. You took it a step too far. I apologize.

Okay, here's my last question. Then when you, when it was your year, were people, was the talk that you were going to win? Or were you ignoring that because you were so connected to it? We won no more than January. It wasn't much of the race. This is annoying. This is annoying.

This is annoying. I'll tell you why. Can I tell you why this is annoying? Like we, with us, it just, it wasn't much of a race. This is annoying. We had one of the most dominating Oscar campaigns a long time. It's just a fact. It's true.

I don't even know who you were up against. But. And no shade to them. This is, you know, you're talking from, you know, your experience being involved in it. But this is why this is annoying to me. Thought warriors, let's go back. Okay. Let's go back to 2021.

That's when it was, right? which is 22. 2021. Let's go back. I was obviously completely biased and was rooting for you guys and I was like constantly saying you're going to win, you're going to win, you're going to win, you're going to win. It's so obvious you're going to win, you're going to win. And I mean, mine's just rooted in, you know, my love for you

and that it was a fantastic, fantastic film. You knew and the whole time you'd be like, no, we're not going to win. No, we're not going to win. No, it's not going to happen. It's disrespect. I wouldn't say it wasn't going to happen. You wouldn't even say you wanted to win. You were like, you know, in the moment, it's disrespectful to everybody else who created and it disrespectful to the rest of the time. No, I didn't. That's looking back.

The reality is while you're in it, you want to make sure that it's a celebration of everybody's work. But we knew we were going to win. And a lot of people know, Robert Downey Jr. this whole time had to know that he's going to win. But during the campaign, when everybody else is talking about their movies and their experiences and making their movies and everything that they went through, you're not going to be like during the thing, like it's a shoe in, it's in the back. No, but you could at least be like, you weren't even like, I don't care if I don't win. And maybe you were that way because you knew you were going to win. No, it's not. It's number one, you want to be respectful to the process and to everybody else.

Also, you don't want to jinx it and look stupid. It's like crazy. I'm just being for real. Like, what are you supposed to do? All right. All right. All right. Look, I'm just glad you won.

I'm just glad you won. So with court, though, I'll say it was, the adapt is going to be a part of an Oppenheimer suite. And then he started to win. And it started to be coming. You start to talk to people who had voted. You started to talk to people who had talked to people. And I remember telling them, I'm like, yo, I think you're going to actually. win. I think you're going to

actually win the thing and everybody was like, yo, court's going to end. And then by the time it happened last night, insane. So you guys have no idea. Ford who is just an amazingly deserving creative, like a serious

filmmaker that's also like this great amazing guy, you know what I mean? Like he became like a film legend last night. His first film that he writes, he wins adaptive screenplay. One of only two

black writers to have everyone in that category. It's insane. Very, very, very ironically, the other is the screenwriter for Precious and that movie won

some years ago. The movie that court wrote, American fiction is based on erasure. And erasure is in part of criticism of the book Push that Precious was adapted from. Incessuous black Hollywood relationships

of creativity and stuff like that. Fun night, we all went out last night after. Everybody was together. We all celebrated, blah, blah, blah. Then I came back home and took my ass sleep and I'm still trying to catch up. I just don't travel well anymore.

The big daddy don't travel well no more. That's because the big daddy was in them streets. The Austin streets. I wasn't. In the Austin streets? Can I tell you something about Austin? Yes. Austin's a great city.

I don't know it anymore. I don't know that Austin. I don't know that Austin. It's different. I love Austin because of what it's, it means to me. me. You know, I spent four years of my life there. And then I feel like I had a resurgence because I dated somebody. I just keep it like that who lived in Austin. So I was back in Austin a lot again. So I got to re-know the city. But that was still of the 2011, 12, 13 era. This city is unrecognizable to me.

Oh. For you, so when I went to school, you could not build a building higher than the capital. Yeah. People were telling you that. That's a big deal. deal. It's like people were like, people were saying to me it used to be that you couldn't build a building higher than the capital. Right. Now that all kinds of buildings hide in the capital. Yeah. It's a beautiful, beautiful skyline. Like there's so much construction. So, but it's so expensive. You know, East Austin, when I hear people talk about East Austin, I'm like,

East Austin with us. Black. Black, black people have been pushed out. And I know this happens in, in a lot of big cities. But I'm just saying, It's just the character that keep Austin weird, the, nobody dressed up. You didn't wait in lines. It was just about the live music and the Austin culture and just having a good time. And there were no airs about anything. There's no Soho house. That's where I spent most of my time when I was there.

Soho. So you are. Well, I mean, I'm there. So what am I going to do? This is what I understand. My Austin doesn't exist anymore. Wait, so you're deriving. I'm not going to Dirty Six.

So you're deriding the fact that Austin has changed, but also participate. No, no, no, there's no choice but to participate. If I'm going to go and do something in Austin, that's just what the city is now. That's just what the city is. But you know what's crazy is you have changed along with Austin. You didn't used to be a school in Austin. Don't you do that to me. And rather than go to the play, you change with Austin.

It doesn't exist. Dirty six. That's not true. Nobody does dirty six anymore. Hey, so when I went to Austin and I found my inner cowboy, right? Went there, found my cowboy. I was talking to the people because I was connecting with the people when I was there. First of all, let me tell you something about the people.

It's all locals or the people who came in town? Locals. Locals. Okay. Where did you find them? You know what the crazy thing is? There was only one place to find it. Everywhere you went, the locals were the people that were working. So the guy who helped me with my hat and my boots at Cavenders, local.

The guy who was outside, yeah, the guy who was outside of the hotel driving people up, local. He told me his whole story about his family. The lady that came and cut my hair before it was time for the Black Twitter premiere and Q&A on Friday night, local. I listened to them. I talked to them. All of them had the exact same refrain. When I tell you, exact same refrain, basically like what you're saying right now,

the exact same refrain. My barber T, she was telling me about how she felt like she was being pushed out of Austin. The thing about building the story, a building, you can't build a building more than six stories high, higher than the Capitol,

I learned that from the gentleman who was outside and arranging the cars. He was telling me, look, used to be totally different, totally different. I heard from three different people, the same story, by the way, of a barbecue man in East Austin who's been offered $8 million for his barbecue restaurant.

He's waiting for $20. He heard that story from everybody because they're trying to pay people to get them out of the place. I went there and I'm like, yo, I walked around Lady Bird Lake. I saw the bats. Oh. You did that?

Okay, Van. You went and saw the bats. What kind of reaction did you think you were going to get for me? They're bats. They're diseased beasts. Do you care about like animals in nature? I do not care about bats. I am terrified of bats.

They're diseased beasts. And you're not going to make me feel guilty for saying anything but. It just comes across a way that Anytime we talk about our natural world and the ecosystem. Don't do that. You both complain about the fact that Austin is becoming this urbanized, L.A. But at the same time, you can't appreciate walking around the Lady Bird Lake and seeing the bat. I walked around the Lady Bird Lake.

And not only did I see the bats, I communed with turtles around the Lady Bird Lake. I talked to a lot of different pups and I was their friend. Like I learned about all the different ecology and the animals and the things around the Lady Bird Lake. I learned that the Lady Bird Lake named after Lady Bird Johnson, who was married to LBJ, who was a racist, but still did things that were politically viable. I learned that it was built as a reservoir to be a cooling reservoir for the brand new power plant there in Austin. Okay, I went around, I invested into Austin and I was the better forward. However, when I talk to people, they say exactly what you said. I know.

And they said to me, they were like, I'd ask them, I'd ask them like where to go and get barbecue. And they would be like, I'm going to tell you where to go, but you're not going to be able to get no goddamn barbecue. And it was like, why. So you go to Franklin's? It's like, go to Franklins, go to Blacks, go to Terry Blacks, go to all these different places to get barbecue.

But I can tell you right now. If you ain't got no three and a half, four hours to kill, you're not going to be able to get the barbecue. I go to these places, and the motherfucker tell me it's a two and a half hour away from the barbecue. Sold out before 11. Those people won't even get it. Yeah.

But that's also because of Southline. No, that's, but it's still, it's still bad. It's still bad. I love Austin. I'm so glad you had a good time. You look like you had fun. You look like, I got to say, I don't, I didn't really want to talk too much about your cowboy,

you know, era that you're stepping. into, but it is a good look for you. Yeah. I thought you were going to come in with the hat. It's a good look. I was going to do it, but I think I'm going to wait to wear a person because I don't want to like, I don't know how the hat's going to feel the frame right here. But I feel safe as a cowboy. Let's do it. I'll bring my boots out. I'll bring my boots out. I'll bring my belt. Yeah. I'm not asking you. You should keep this going.

No, I'm going to keep it going, but I'm not asking for your participation. There's only one cowboy on this Ponderosa right here. I've been doing this. I know you have. I already have it. But I would like to. to say shout out to Apprentice Penny, Carrie Twig, everyone from Culture House, everyone from Hulu, Honest Collective. They made things so amazing.

In Austin, it was great. We had a fun time. The Black Twitter documentary is coming out May 9th. We premiered it. I was both featured in the documentary, and I was able to do the Q&A for the premiere. Very important stuff. Very fun documentary.

Very important documentary. documentary polarizing on Twitter like it was always going to be like it is supposed to be it's supposed to be something that tests black Twitter on fire so I can't wait for people to see it so shout out to everyone had a fun time now it's time to come back to L.A. and not drink for a couple of weeks. Oh, it's like that. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't drink like, say I'm not I don't drink like you so my body is not like used to. You know what I mean? So I drink a couple of days and it's like I get all messed up. Van, van, van.

Just because I'm out, doesn't mean that I'm always drinking. This is Rachel. Everybody right now, this is Rachel. This is a pork sandwich. And this is some tequila. This is Rachel. Let's talk about it.

First off, this is unnecessary. This is a big pork chop sandwich. And this is Rachel washing it down with some tequila. This is defamatory. I don't know. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Stop. You look like Edgar from men and black. That's you. That's you. First off, that's the famatory. I rebuke that. And that's even more, it's even more hurtful knowing that we did not have a podcast on Thursday. And the reason being is because I was in the ER. And I've seen a lot of people have written me about their concern over my health. And it's not funny. I have dealt with GI issues. I feel like my entire life.

You know, make a face. Make a face, man. It's actually very serious. And I was so, I was sick Wednesday. I was downing Pepto. I got better in the middle of the night. It hit me three times as hard. I've had gallstone issues before.

I had to go in and make sure that that's not what it was. I was in an extreme amount of pain. And to be very honest with you, I know people have been like, man, Rachel's been sick a lot lately. I'm in a really stressful time. You're stressed out. So I come on this podcast

and I laugh and I joke and I'm taking up new hobbies and I'm traveling and I'm doing things and I'm doing this because life moves on and I'm trying to move on with it. But at the end of the day, I live in a very stressful situation and I'm just trying to get to the other side.

So I think what's happening to me too is just, a reaction of everything that maybe I'm internalizing and I need to get out maybe in a better way. I got to figure that out. But I think I compartmentalize things well. And on the back end, I am internalizing things that maybe I shouldn't. So I think I'm just dealing with a lot of stress. So you should feel bad. You should feel bad about talking about tequila. And because I can't drink right now also. And I haven't had any pork, which is I'm having withdrawals. I'm going to be honest with you. I'm a little bit porky.

You should tell people, like, when you came back from the hospital, I put in a group text that this was probably advanced port disease. You see what I'm saying, guys? See what I'm saying? I was admitted. Okay, we got to get into the show. Congratulations to court.

Everybody is down there. Go ahead. No, go ahead. I was just going to say, I need to shout out vote.org. I did a panel with them, moderated it. James Cadogan with the NBA, Social Justice Coalition. I hope I'm getting that title right. Andrea Haley, CEOavote.org, Annie Gonzalez,

actress, producer. We all did this panel talking about democracy, and it takes a village topics I feel like we've discussed here about is voting enough, different ways you can get involved. The narrative isn't necessarily matching the numbers. It actually is very positive of what's happening in 2024 and people being excited about it, the election. That's what the numbers reflects.

It was a really interesting conversation. Thank you for everybody who came out and was really happy to participate in that. And you can go to vote.org to learn really everything you need to know from top to bottom when it comes to this upcoming election and more. Very important stuff. Right there. Great stuff.

Other side is break. No really big deal of the day. There's some things for us to catch up on. But no real big deal of the day. But there is some big mess of the day. And that's Dray Michelle and Jalen Green and the baby that they have coming. Another side of this break. We're going to talk about a lot of serious things too, guys.

Stick with us, okay? Please. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks. followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tramphaya, proper training is required.

Tramphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tramfaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Tramphiara Radio.com. This episode is brought to by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need weather tech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner or road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those weather tech seat protection.

So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need weather tech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. Rachel, Drey Michelle, you're familiar. I'm familiar. You're familiar with Dreya. Famine with Dreya. Michelle is a model designer, reality TV star.

It's been around for a lot. It's 39 years old. She's been famous. Probably going on, what, 15 years, something like that. Basketball wife starts with. Yeah, I don't know where she did it. Yeah, yeah. At least 10 plus years.

Sure. 10 plus years. 10 plus years. Jalen Green is a young buck of the NBA. But they're doing this thing, building a career in Houston, one of the bright young stars of the league. He's 22 years old. And he,

has apparently impregnated Drea. There was rumors before that Drea was pregnant and she's been seeing Jalen Green

for a while now and people were speculating that the baby was for Jalen Green. Drea has confirmed her pregnancy via an IG post that celebrated

the International Women's Day there and she says she's 28 weeks pregnant so she's pretty far along in the process okay? 28 weeks

and everybody is asking whether or not this is an appropriate thing. There's a 17-year age gap here. Everybody's grown, but there's 17-year age difference. Andrea is, according to people, they say that she is praying on a young Jalen Green and now has her hooks in him because they're going to have a child together and he is probably going to be

making untold riches in the NBA for as long as his career persists. So people are calling into question whether or not this is an appropriate relationship. What say you, Rachel? I think my opinion may surprise you. I have absolutely no problems with this. Not a one.

And it actually, I'm not shocked that people have so much to say, which is why that I think Drea and Jalen have been very quiet about the nature of their relationship, what they are, what they have, all of that, because so many people are going to have opinions

about the age gap and just the fact of who he is and what his future is going to be in this league versus her, who she is a businesswoman, she is a mother, but she was on basketball lives. And now here she is dating this young star

in the league. And so people have put her into a certain box. It's really nobody's business. And I actually am happy for Drea. I think it's very strategic that she posts, and Jalen, I think it's strategic that she posted on social media on International Women's Day. One thing that Drea does know how to do is get people talking. And she did exactly that.

And I loved the way that she rolled out the announcement. I think that a lot of times it's easy to talk about maybe mess affiliated with someone or talk about them in a negative way and not necessarily talk about other things. Dre is 39 years old. She has a 21-year-old, maybe 22-year-old herself, which is why people are saying, okay, she's her, the father of her child is the same age of her as her son. But let's talk about the fact that Drea raised this 21-year-old young man who is in college. You know, like there's a positive right there. She talks about being a young mother, having to struggle, maybe that affecting her relationship with her son growing up.

But at the end of the day, she was able to take him to college. I'm assuming he's still in college and, you know, see him go on and start his life in a way that maybe she wasn't necessarily able to do that. That's a positive. She's also a mother to another young child. And so I think that rather than looking at, hey, Drea's 39 years old and he's 22, let's look at the fact that at which her post says, one of her superpowers is being a mom.

And she's been successful in that. And so here she's going to enter a chapter at 39. She's blessed to be pregnant and have another child, and everybody wants to focus on who it's by. I will also say, I am disgusted in the fact that people want to blame Dreya. and make her seem like the problem win and take any responsibility away from Jalen. Yeah, Jalen's 22,

but he's been in the league for playing professional ball for four years. League for three, professional for four. He's because he was in G League first. Yeah, so the G League isn't, okay, go ahead. It's a professional league. Okay, so, so, but okay, go ahead, go ahead. I'm not going to take, he didn't go to college.

He went to G League. Okay, whatever. I'm not going to argue with you over that. My point being is that he is an adult. He fully made this decision. He is fully capable of making decisions on his own. And the decision that he wanted was Drea. 17 years, his senior.

That is what he wanted. That is what he went after. Like, why is it Dreia's fault that he also, it takes to, that he reciprocated the attraction in this relationship? I just don't understand that. And maybe my opinion isn't that surprising because I'm also for Larsa and Marcus. So I don't know.

Van? What's going on? I'm examining you. Oh, because I might want a 22-year-old. I'm examining here. I'm examining you. I'm examining you. Drey and I are the same age.

Okay. So this is what I think. Number one, everybody grown, do whatever they want to do. That's the thing. I will say this, though. I do see why people have a problem with you. People who are a little bit more conservative enough, see why they have a problem.

Oftentimes with these athletes, their development is arrested. They make so many mistakes. I'm not saying that this relationship with Dreia is a mistake. I'm just saying they make so many mistakes. It's just, it's just for real. I'm telling you why I think people look at this in the way that they look at it.

They make so many mistakes, earlier on in their life or, let's say, they have the capability to make such grand mistakes earlier in their life because of the fact that they go from being

basically kids playing a sport to adults with all of this economic advantage and all it is spotlight on them pretty much in an instant. You go from, hey, I'm a big man on campus. Hey, I'm a big man here to

while I am in a league traveling all the time. I got to figure out money. I got to figure out this. I got to figure out that. So they made mistakes that are sometimes influenced by their surroundings and how overwhelming that can be, particularly if you don't have a good support system or good veterans on your team or whatever, right?

And so a lot of times they learn shit the hard way. They do. They learn shit the hard way. They learn all kinds of things the hard way. And this is for young people who are stars, period. Like, I think what people are asking is whether or not this young man was maybe targeted by her. Whether or not she went, okay. Right, whether or not this young man was targeted by her.

Now, unless she says something to imply that that was the case, there's no reason to assume that. but if that were the case, that obviously would be something that would be all kinds of fucked up, right? However, if we're being fair, the Leonardo DiCaprio's of the world, the all of different people of the world, these people are criticized.

These people are. Oh, I'm saying. These people are criticized, though, for their interest in younger people. They are. And we talk about, oh, my God, is this and this and that. So I think a lot of people,

when you look at this, like, for this to be a lasting lifelong decision between the two of them. For him to be a like, for her to be so much more experienced in the world than him and all of that stuff. And for them to be like raising his kid together and all of that. I think a lot of people are like, does he know what he's getting himself into? Okay. I disagree that the talk is, yes, people are talking about it. Yes, people criticize it when it comes to Leonardo DiCaprio and him not wanting to date anybody older than 27.

But it's not discussed in a disgusting way like it is with Drea and Jalen or Larsa and Marcus. And obviously there's a different dynamic when it comes to that because of Scotty and Michael. She's fucking the son. Yeah, there's a different dynamic. But it's also the age. And somebody that she met when they was a kid. No, she said she did. Anyways, we're not getting into all that.

We know where we stand. We know where we stand. But the point. My point being is that even with Leo, it's like, oh, that's just what Leo does. Like, yeah, he seems to be an ageist and only wants to date young women, but that's just Leo. And people make jokes about it. Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadith, there's a big age difference there. And people are romanticizing that.

With Dreia, people seem to be grossed out. And there are negative words used about her praying or targeting. She's on the scene. She has famous friends. she's going to be in a network of people that bring out the Jalen Greens. Also, she doesn't even have to be on the scene. She's a popular person.

She has almost 10 million followers. People, I'm sure, are all up in her DMs. So the reason I can't subscribe to the narrative of her targeting someone like him is because I am sure Jalen Green ain't the only one who was in her DMs or trying to holler at her. It was 22 years old or younger or somewhere in between. I am sure she could have her pick

at a lot of different men with success, with money, and so we have no idea what happened between the two of them or what the attraction is or what his level of maturity is or whatever it will be. This is what I'll say. She could have her pick of any of those guys for sure.

She's not pregnant by any of those guys. Well, she might not have pursued. She might not have reciprocated their interest, is what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying, I'm going just strictly targeting. And so, right, and the targeting, what I'm telling you is the argument for the targeting would be that as many other athletes, entertainers, or whatever, that she might have dated, the,

the one that she got pregnant by was one of the more younger, inexperienced guys that you could actually be pregnant by. You know what I mean? But that could have been a choice for her. She might, okay, go ahead. Sorry. Sorry. No, no, no. No, that's the way I cut you up to. But like it, it, but if that was a choice by her, the question would be why the 22-year-old got. And look, here's a deal. It, once again, everybody grown here.

This is two grown people having kids, right? But the conversation is more of a cultural conversation. Now, look, this is what I'm saying. To me, good for the goose, good for the gander. I will say that the narrative around Leonardo DiCaprio, who's older than Drea, about like 11 years, by the way, so it's even more egregious. The narrative around him has changed in the last five or ten years. When Leo was 45, it was like whatever, when Leo was 43, it was like whatever, Leo is kicking 50's ass right now. He's 49 years old.

So a lot of people are starting to look at that from the standpoint of it's different. like those four, five, six years make a lot of difference in terms of like the women that you're looking to date, be around, or whatever. And remember now, this is, there's no way to say that like, Drea's not more experienced,

more worldly, more prepared than Jalen Green. So they look at this as him sort of fighting an away game. And then a part of this is just straight up like the difference that the like the male female thing you know is that like you have it's another

you have a young uh like rich black man who's being preyed upon in so many different ways of society and you also have cynical women who are praying upon him as well and they look at Drea as one of those people you know look what I'm trying not to do here

is be overly judgmental in this situation because If she's happy, let it be happy. If they're happy, let it be happy. It's not their thing. But I'm not trying to say, I don't want to make it seem like there's not an obvious and legitimate social and cultural critique here because there is. Okay. So, like, if he's happy, he's happy. If she's happy, she's happy.

Beautiful baby coming to the world. Hope she's happy. And I would also caution people on stressing her out too much. while she's with child. You know what I mean? So get your little shit off and then let a pregnant lady be a pregnant lady.

But of course, there is an obvious and appropriate social and cultural critique here. There is. It comes from a lot of different places. It's not entirely fair, but I do think it's appropriate

for people to be like, ah. And remember, remember the roles that they're casting. The roles that they're cast in matter here. His role, is, and I've casted these roles here, even his role is

young, unassuming, not even fully developed person against veteran barracuda of the game who's been doing this for a long time and completely is going to run circles around him. So those are the roles that we're casting this in. And I think people looking at it

through that purview just have, they just go, they look at this with all the cynicism that celebrity brings. And they're not entirely, they're not, entirely right, but they're not entirely wrong either. Do you think it's also because it's Drea, right? Yeah.

If another 40-year-old was dating, if he got another 40-year-old pregnant, that may have had a similar path as Drea, but doesn't have the fame that Drea has so they don't know that person in the same way, do you think people would still be reacting this way? Probably not. Probably not as strong. It's because she was probably not as strong, which I hope she comes back now.

Now she can come back. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, probably not. Yeah, she probably come back to basketball lives. So probably not, right? Like, it's, but look, it's the same reason why it would be.

She's also a critique of her personally. So I guess my point. People would critique her. We know a lot about Drea. Drea's lived her life in the public eye for a very, very long time. So I think people have opinions about her. And then they look at those opinions.

If she was pregnant by, I don't know, Carl Anthony Towns. It's 29 years old, 30 years old. I think people will look at it a lot different. That's a 10 or 11 year age difference right there. But I think people will look at it a lot different than a guy who's 22. But at the end of the day, it's the same thing. If you like it, I love it.

Everybody mind your own business. It's not like this. There's an epidemic of this happening. So at the end of the day, it's just. It might be a trend. It might be a trend. It could be. Hey, get your fucking bag, man.

You know, these little. makers, I will tell y'all this. It's like, I'll tell y'all something, okay? Nothing feels good, but there's a price. Okay, y'all doing a lot of nothing around here. I'm seeing it. It's nothing all over the place. Boom.

That's all, that's the only sound I'm here right now. Van, move on. Every time, every time I'm serious. Every, every time I look on somebody else is pregnant. Y'all, nothing a lot. And it might be time to think about. the amount of nutting that's going on. Save something for the back.

It's afraid, you know. Let's go. Let's go. No, no. You get carried away. You get carried away. I'm just saying. You don't have to hoo!

Every time. Save something for the back, man. All right, Nikki Hayley dropped out of the presidential race. So we got to do a little politics right real quick because we didn't get a chance because of your port-based illness. We talked about the state of the union. So let's do a quick recap right now. some political news.

Nikki Haley dropped out. There's one person left. It is now officially a Biden versus Trump, not officially, but basically officially called on to the purposes. Biden versus Trump. General election, Rachel, your thoughts on the drop out of Nikki Haley.

I mean, listen, no surprises here. We knew it was coming. I think Nikki Haley's, I commend her for saying as long as she did in the race, period. And you know, and you would hear a lot of people talk about how she's saying things that people need to hear about Trump. And I do think that,

Maybe she might have been. There are people who voted for her that may either not vote for Trump or, you know, not vote at all or vote for Biden. I think that she brought a lot of issues to the table that maybe an audience wouldn't want to hear that from a Democrat, but might be more likely to hear that from a Nikki Haley because they agree with her more. And if she's criticizing Trump and she sees issues, then maybe there really are some issues here. Maybe there's an audience that she could reach. So I do think that she could have been effective in that way. I think it'll be curious to see she's been very emphatic about the fact that she does not want to be Trump's VP, and I don't think he's going to ask her, or that she really wants to be involved in his administration. I think it'll be curious to see how she will move.

She hasn't, she isn't endorsed him. No, she did not endorse him. She wished them well. She didn't endorse it. Yeah. So I'm interested to see more how Nikki Haley is after she's dropped out. Will she go quiet? will she, you know, join in?

I don't know. So what Nikki Haley will do is the same thing that everybody else has done. She will fall in line exactly the way she's expected to fall in line. There's nothing that makes me believe that she won't fall in line. There's no way to be viable on the right right now

in a national way without falling in line with the MAGA movement. You have to. You have to. Maga has captured the right. It's a hostage situation. Maybe she is. She's still the governor of the state.

So she's going to have to find a way to still be popular in her state and hold on to power there. Okay. While being an anti-Trump Republican and it's just pretty impossible to do. Right. It's not, it's easy to lose Trump in a general election in any state. state or in America you can lose. The Trump candidates lost pretty resoundingly in the last election. However, in a primary amongst Republicans, it's difficult. It's tough. I mean, there are a couple examples of it, but not that many. If you were to prop up somebody to really

challenge her in South Carolina, it would be difficult for her to maintain. the reputation that she has there without at least cozy it up to MAGA a little bit. Remember, she's been a part of the MAGA movement before this. I assume that she will go back to it. Well, yeah, I mean, let's be honest. Her beliefs are still very much, she's a Republican. She's a

conservative. Conservative. I'm not going to say she's an extremist, but she's a conservative. She's been anti-Trump. But I think what will happen is, I like to think she'll just go away. Maybe she's just going to be done after she finishes her term here. as governor in South Carolina, but I think what she'll just do is not be critical of Trump.

And I think that that could save her as well. So she's not anti-Trump in the way that she was on the campaign trail, but she just doesn't say anything. And she just continues to push forward. Even that's going to be difficult because every single interview that she does, she's going to be asked.

She's going to be asked about Donald Trump. So now she's been cast in the role of nemesis and foiled to Donald Trump because of how deep she went to the primary process. so her silence on Donald Trump is going to be seen as an endorsement or as the fact that she's fucking scared of.

I mean, Mitch McConnell had to come out and then endorse. He's Sekwai for a long time. He had to come out. So you're right. You're right. You're right. I'm just curious to see how she's going to be after. Yeah, I mean, look, she,

it was a pretty, I want to say it was a political miscalculation by her. I do wonder, Because at one point her fundraising was pretty good. At one point it seemed like there was a significant portion of the Republican donor base, at least the big donors, that wanted to see her topple him. But they just realized that they don't have the juice. They don't have.

It doesn't matter. Trump has transcended the money game on the right and the power game on the right. his movement as insidious as it is, is on the backs of the people on the right. They support him. They make the rules, and they have decided that Donald Trump and the Maga Movement is what they want. So rallying the money, trying to cook it with the media, it's not going to work. You got to go, and he's the perfect American nemesis. and that you have to look at him

eye to eye, nose to nose, and just beat him. That's the only, you just have, we have to beat him. He's not the bully you can avoid. He's not the bully. You can jump. He's the bully that you have to say, yo, four o'clock, at school, me and you in front of everybody,

and you just got to put something on his ass. Because anything other than that is just not going to work. And so I'm interested to know what she thought her path to victory was because now she's so deep down the road she's put a lot of political, ideological pressure on herself. That's what she's going to say and do. Yeah. What did you think about the state of you?

I caught most of it. I didn't watch the whole thing. I thought obviously Biden's shine. Whoever wrote that speech. And he went off, you know, the script a little bit too. I thought it was really good. I thought it was playful. I thought it was, he said all the right things.

I thought he made fun of himself in the right ways. I like that he called certain people out. It was a good, solid speech. I mean, you know, I wasn't shocked by anything. I knew that he would do well, but I think it was definitely one of the best speeches that we saw. The response was more interesting than the state of the union. The response is crazy.

Alabama doing with Hey, too. The response was crazy. So that night was an unimpeachable, unimpeachable, flawless victory for Joe Biden. That's the biggest win

Joe Biden has had at a very long time. I'll tell you why. The speech was an enormous win. If Joe Biden gets up there he gives the speech and he sticks to the points that the speech rise have laid out, he sticks to the program in terms of what he's accomplished, what he's done. And he gets through the whole thing. You go, okay, at least he's capable of delivering a choreographed message.

But it was more than that. He not only delivered that choreographed message, which maybe you agree with everything inside the message, maybe you don't. This is more of a cosmetic interpretation and evaluation of what happened. Not necessarily about the substance of the speech, which in and of itself is a problem with American politics. But I digress. He was on his toes. The central question about Joe Biden is not whether or not he can be programmed.

It's whether or not he can be nimble. And he was nimble. He delivered this shit. Not perfectly. Not perfectly. Not like he wasn't up there. like he was MLK or Obama or Bill Clinton, right?

Malcolm X. It wasn't like one of those guys, but he had energy, the energy he can muster, vitality, the vitality he's capable of mustering. And when he was confronted with opposition, he was

able to hold his own with them. He was able to think on his feet. He was able to comport himself in a way that goes, hey, that's a guy that has what it takes to at least retort in the face of some opposition. And I think that's what a lot of people feel like they don't see from him. What a lot of people feel like they don't see from him is the ability to exeparaneously deliver thoughts and ideas.

Yeah, I loved the Joe that we saw at the State of the Union. I don't want to say it excited me but it was fun you like older guys oh yeah I do like older guys I do like older men Daddy Julie Julie daddy No daddy issues over here but I do like an older man

If you moved from If you moved from him You just went wider and older I think the whole fucking world That would be so crazy You and Joe Okay first off let's be respectful to his situation.

That is not even a thought. To his situation. His wife. To his situation. You mean the fact that he's married? The fact that you said situation. You don't want to try to look me up with him. Hold on.

Hold on. The use of the term situation, that is the verbiage of a mistress. That is totally is. Like that is the verb. Say it's situation other than, I know you got a situation. That is the verbiage.

You're right. You're right. I can't depend that. I totally accept that. But you put me a mistress role. So you put me in that role. No, people would freak out if it was an older white man. You got to give me somebody else.

Give me somebody else. You look like, you're all Olivia Pope, motherfucker. Remember them? Remember when a white man fucked a black woman on the side on television for years? And it was the best relationship. And everybody was like relationship goals. Remember that? think how far, a white dude,

fuck the black woman on the side for years to the point that it made people think they were fucking in real life. And people wanted it. That was the relationship of the... They fantasize about that. That's not me. But you enjoyed the state of the union. Yeah. How could you not?

Honestly, how could you not? It wasn't boring. It just, it just, it checked. all the boxes. Was there anything in the state of the union from a substance point?

So there are a lot of issues out there that people was, for example, I think it would be irresponsible to have any type of analysis on the state of the union and not discuss one of the

largest issues that is right now cudgel on the left. which is the ongoing massacre in Gaza. Right. And with people who believe that Israel is comporting itself in a way that is both brutal and intentional to remove the Palestinians from their homeland. And to eliminate them. Because remember, we can talk about the number dead.

Right. 30,000 plus people. But you also have to talk about intense famine that exists over there. Just recently, there was an incident where people rushing towards an A truck were killed. Right. Foods being dropped in. They can't get to the food. You're sending food and weapons.

It seems like the United States hasn't taken what some people believe would be a moral state. Or they haven't carved out what they believe to be a responsible position in the Middle East. And it's a, in Gaza, it's a difficult thing to talk about because the tensions run so high. But people aren't fucking dealing with how the United States is comporting itself over there. the world outside of some very influential sections of it seems to be in unison coming under the idea or coming under to the belief that what's happening over there is unacceptable, brutal, war crimes, whatever definition you want to use.

that has become one of the paramount issues in Joe Biden's realisting, a re-election, hopes with uncommitted votes being counted in primaries everywhere, and with people who don't believe that the president has the moral standing to lead the country and to speak to issues of freedom and justice and things like that. a lot of people that feel that way would probably have been disappointed with the state of the union in its substance because Joe Biden, in their opinion,

failed to rebuke, restrain, or in any way discuss Israel's actions in Gaza with any force. And they should be. They should be upset. As a viewer,

I wasn't expecting that from him. I did not expect A lot of times I feel like the State of the Union, even though it is, the purpose of it is to talk about important issues that our country is facing and maybe propose or offer some type of idea on how to solve it or maybe take some sort of stance on how they feel about, you know, a proposed policy or law that that definitely can be a part of it. I didn't expect that from him. I'm not saying that he should not have done it. I just didn't think he would use that stage if he, ever does to take a stance on what's happening farther than he already has, right, other than talking about it in the general sense. I feel like a lot of the times the State of the Union is a general report on what's happening in our country that they're required to do that once a year more than it is of getting into the substance of the issue. It's performative to me more than it is anything else. So I wasn't expecting Biden to dig deep or to give us something that he hasn't already given us other than the way he presented the speech.

I guess I was more looking at that because I didn't think that he would give us the other part of it. He should have. But I really didn't think that that would happen. And people should be bothered by that. They should be upset by that. If they're coming to the state of the union to get an answer, some type of resolve or an understanding. on a particular issue that they're passionate about, and they didn't, I understand that.

I just don't expect that from somebody giving the state of the union message. So President Trump has kind of, excuse me, ex-president Trump, that is still President Trump. He's kind of been mum on how he would do it because there are flimsy coalitions all over in place here. Like, there's really no,

this is one of those issues where the far left and the far right are actually kind of in lockstep, but for different reasons. It's an anti-war humanitarian citizenship of the world issue on the far left, and it's sort of an isolationist. We don't want foreign wars. We don't want America to be involved in wars. Political rhetoric that's coming from the far right, with the exception of some of the more ardent evangelicals that believe,

that the conflict over there will bring forth the return of Jesus. So even for Trump, he can't really be too pro-war because there are a lot of very, very prominent voices on the right that don't believe we should have anything to do with this. However, he is making it clear, more clear recently that his support for Israel is unwavering

no matter what they decide to do and that he would be willing to go farther than even what Joe Biden is willing to go in terms of rhetoric, in terms of banning Palestinian refugees, guys of refugees, all kinds of different situations.

So there'll be interesting to see in a general when Trump is pressed a little bit more, he's front and center a little bit more on his position on how things are shaken out over there, how that affects just his standing with the intelligentsia and large parts of the right and whether or not the uncommitted campaign

will recalibrate it all when they figure out exactly what it is that they're up against. But I don't know. I think for a lot of people, the damage is probably been done. It'll be interesting because now that We move, yes, you're right. Now that we move, and this is in regards to what you were saying about Trump and his stance on things in regards to Israel and Palestine, we haven't seen him debate. We haven't really seen him go up against anybody as he's taken this journey for 2024.

As it's now putting Biden and Trump, I am curious to see how he'll have to address this, how he'll debate it. I was just saying, I'll be curious to see moving forward if they'll do it the way that they've been doing it, like you said, the left sees this way, the right sees this way, or if he will take more of a stance when he has to actually debate it and face Biden or address these issues specifically as the frontrun, and not the frontrunner, as the person who will be running from the Republican ticket. Last AAA thing I want to talk about when we move on.

Yes, please. That's political thing. So cool white boys took a hit this past weekend, man. Plural? It's tough. Or just one? Like, plural. I would say plural.

Cool white boys took a hit. So it was UFC event. Where was the UFC event at? Miami. Miami. Every time there's a UFC event, Donald Trump comes out. He's the darling of the UFC crowd. He's a big-time prince with Dana White.

So he's not going to miss a UFC. event because the UFC events are a place where Donald Trump is going to get this raucous ovation. If Donald Trump shows up at the Laker game, it's not going to be the same. No. You know? I mean, he's going to have

some fans in there. Don't get me wrong. He's going to have some fans wherever he goes, but he's not going to get the same type of reception. Right. Right. But the UFC events, he always will. There's some people there, man. I got to admit I was deeply, deeply disappointed.

Cool Joe Burrow, man. Oh. Yeah. Louisiana. LSU. Go ahead. The whole thing. Look, let me tell you got something right now.

This is my fault. I blame myself. The idea of the cool white boy is just out. It's dead. You can't have it. There's not a one. Is that what you're saying? Are you saying it's not possible?

I'm saying you're only setting yourself up for disappointment. because eventually it'll happen? It's not eventually it'll happen. Okay. Right. But when it happens, you still feel like, you know,

what the fuck am I on? How I should have been, how could this, like, no, it's not that it's necessarily going to happen, but it happens a lot. Joe Burrow,

take a picture with Trump at the UFC event. A lot of you guys are going to be like, Van, this is an overreaction. allow me to give you the reason why

this is disappointing to me. Wilcompton as well from Bussing with the boys who's actually trolling people online with it. Wilcompton, who I find to be very funny. Like, I happen to laugh at a lot of the barstool stuff.

A lot of people get all up in arms with bar stools and stuff like that. I laugh at it. It's a specific group, a specific audience, and it should be funny to me sometimes. You laugh when what's their president saying when he says the N-word

yeah Dave you like that you laugh at that too I don't laugh at that but I didn't laugh at that but I did laugh at Cucycle so if anybody goes throughout the history of Barsoil if you don't there was a thing that happened with Dave Portnoy back in the day was called Cuck Cycle

where I think either his girlfriend started flucking a soul cycle instructor and he made a whole big deal about it it was hysterical. I'm sorry. That was funny.

I don't get my comedy all the way from places that are non-problematic. I don't. Okay. There's some of the shit is on there. It's funny.

I don't get all up and arms and upset about the existence of Barstle. White boys got their shit. White boys got me. I don't either. I don't like Dave, but I,

which we should mention, he was photographed in the picture. Wasn't just Will. Taylor, Juan was there too. Taylor Lawn was there as well. Okay. So look, here's the thing. And

I get it. By the way, you don't have to dislike Donald Trump. You don't have to think that Donald Trump is bride. You don't. Like, you can think it's just cool to be in the picture with Donald Trump. That's fine. By the way, you can like Donald Trump. All of

that's cool. This is America. There's room for all opinions and all different ways of looking at things, right? All different ways. But understand that to me, a lot of the stuff that I talk about is bullshit and we bullshit around and we just fucking around and we just joking.

We can have race jokes back and forth. We can bring everything down and have a fun time about our differences. I can make fun of you. You can make fun of me. We can do all of those things and have all of that. Donald Trump is just not one of those things. To me, that's when

that's one of those things when the conversation starts to get serious. It starts to get serious because to me, what Donald Trump represents is not something you can just laugh off. It represents the solidifying and codifying of xenophobia, racism, um elitism and capitalism

into American power he's a flashpoint a direct and palpable mascot for the things that fuck over black people for the things that fuck over non-rich people for the things that fuck over

what I believe to be the people that America um is actually made up made up with even the people that support him that don't realize they're supporting something that's kind of productive to what it is that they really want and need in the country, right? So to me, I don't think that there's a way to be agnostic on that. I agree. I don't think that there's a way to be agnostic or it's just cool or it's just a photo or it's

just that. And that goes for anyone. That goes from Mike Tyson in the picture with him. I saw David and Jacu and some other people in the picture with him. There's not a way to just innocently take a picture with Donald Trump. That to me is a mainstreaming of who he is and what he represents. And to me, who he isn't what he represents is a very real and existential danger. Right.

Now, that doesn't mean that to me, that doesn't mean that you got to walk around living your life of like what do people think if I'm going to take a picture with Donald Trump. Like that doesn't mean that you have to go around feeling that way. I would never be photographed in a picture with Joe Biden, ever. Okay. I would never take a picture with Joe Biden, ever. It's done too much damage. Now, I can look at something that intellectually say at the point in life that we're in right now, that Joe Biden represents just the only option from a national,

from a national standpoint in terms of politics, you know, I wouldn't be in a pitch. I personally don't believe in being pictured with politicians. And the reason why I don't believe in being pictured with them is because to me that's an endorsement, right? And when you take a picture with someone and you endorse them, like it endorsed them, you then, that picture then stands in the test of time.

It's not pliable enough. You can't, it's not malleable enough. I'm not going to, when I take a picture of smile with somebody, that's kind of not my thing, period. But specifically with Donald Trump, specifically with Donald Trump, he has come to embrace something. He's come to embrace something

very purposefully that I think represents the most insidious parts of American life. I'll say this last thing I'll say. To anybody that's wondering. Part of this is about who Donald Trump has refused to separate himself from. Like if I has Will Compton or,

or Joe Burrow or Taylor LeWarn right now, whether or not they were jazzed up that David Duke listened to Bussing with the boys or whether or not David Duke was a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals. David Duke, a long time grand wizard of KKK, one of the most famous men in the history of American races. And I would expect those guys to go, you know what? I don't want that guy to be a fan of what it is that we do. I don't want that guy to be around because that guy right there represents the coup plus claim.

Donald Trump has been asked about these people over and over again and either begrudgingly or flout, begrudgeonly denounces them, right? Or flat out stands next to them. acting like he didn't know who David Duke was, which we know that's a lie. He just didn't want to alienate the people in his base. that he realizes our virally racist. So that means he stands with them to me. Donald Trump, I get it.

All the jokes is cool. All the jokes is fine. I get it all. Donald Trump is different. That's making a statement to me. And that's just how I feel. Yeah, this is all I'll say about it. Well said.

I agree with you. I will say, I watched the video I tried to pay attention to and we're forgetting to mention Nick Bosa so the video shows But that doesn't even matter though because Nick Bosa wasn't

Nick Bosa is on record Nick Bosa that's his thing And I think that goes towards it Which is even, that's my point It's Nick Bosa, Donald Trump and Joe Burrow talking Nick Bosa has a history of being affiliated with racist things

So I may call him a racist they're all together. They're talking. Admittingly, Joe looks uncomfortable. They take a picture. He looks uncomfortable. But he took the picture. And to your point, you should know better.

At this point, Donald Trump has done too much to where you know exactly what happens when not only do you talk to him, but you affiliate yourself with him, and then you cement it by taking a picture. I'm not going to go as far. as some people were in saying that Joe Burrow is a racist, because I just think that that's incorrect to jump to that.

I don't think he's a racist. No, I don't think he is either. But I saw a lot of that. A lot of people like, oh, my gosh, he stood next to Trump. He's a racist. I'm not going to say that. I don't think he has a problem of being next to racist, though. Well, clearly, that's the thing.

But not, you know better at this point. And I'm not saying it was better in 2016 or better in 2020, but at this point where we stand in 2024 and everything that Trump has done and to add to the list of the things that you name, he is homophobic, he is sexist, he is a misogynist. Like there are so many things that are hateful that that man stands for. And for you to stand next to him represents that. I disagree with you. I would take a picture with Joe Biden because I am endorsing Joe Biden.

And even though I don't agree with every single thing he's done politically because who agrees with every single person that they vote for, I do think, I don't think he is hateful in the way that Donald Trump is. And I am, don't mind saying that that is who I will be voting for in the upcoming election. And I would totally take a picture with him. I wouldn't run to take a picture with him. But if I get invited to the White House, I wouldn't say, no, I'm not going to go. I wouldn't necessarily say that. So I guess my point is, is there's a big difference between Donald Trump and who he is.

And even forgetting naming all what he represents, the fact that he's been indicted, the fact that what he has done to this country, there is no redeeming quality or characteristic for Donald Trump. And so I don't think, because at first I say, well, not everybody is me. Not everybody is van. Not everybody is an outspoken or maybe a confrontational person to where they would say, no, I'm not going to take a picture with you. Some people get uncomfortable in that situation. Even if that's Joe Burrow, he should have known better to say, no, I'm not really taking any pictures right now. And I think if people had seen him having the conversation

and then he didn't take the picture, people would be talking about this differently. But you stood there, he smiled, you took the picture. You were saying, yes, sir, you were engaging. It's bad. Joe Burrow can do whatever he wants. Of course you can do whatever they want. It's how it looks.

It's in public. It's a picture. You're going to discuss it. Here's a deal. you back to the Joe Biden thing. There are certain things that I believe about Joe Biden that are inconvenient things. They're inconvenient things to believe.

And they're inconvenient because this is a binary race and you have to choose between two people. But I do believe that Joe Biden has now, or maybe not has now, but has historically had a gigantic blind spot when it comes to race.

And that blind spot, hasn't been without damage done to the black community. Right? Now, I don't want to judge everything by a 2024 lens because you go back and look at some of the legislation that was surpassed and championed by Joe Biden. You're going to see a lot of black people in the CBC, like the champion in that same type of legislation.

But what I will say is that, When you see the damage the things that you've championed, you see the damage that they've caused, there is a way that you can respond to that. I'm talking about all of your legacy Democrats from years gone by, whatever their names might be. And the way that you respond to that is, at the very least, with verbal and emotional platitudes.

at the very least with oh I'm so sorry this is what we were thinking this is what we were trying to do this is how it went wrong and this is what we learned okay which they all were hesitant to do which they all had to be forced and pulled and drug across glass to do and even when they did it, it was tempered. Okay. Um, number two, and the best way, the best way to prove that you realize what you did was a mistake would be restorative justice. That would be the best way. The best way for you to do it would be to say, this is the damage that was done. It was a mistake. The language used was a mistake. The analysis used was a mistake. The Analysis was a mistake.

A mistake that was made together, but a mistake that leadership must be accountable for. This is what we're going to do to undo that mistake. This is what's going to happen now. We don't deserve that. Nobody does that for us. And I don't care if those people are Democrats or Republicans. The analysis remains the same.

Nobody does that force. Nobody cares about that. Nobody gives a fuck about that. What they give a fuck about is marching us out there and say, do the same thing and hope for a different result. And we're forced to hope for that different result because we don't have another choice. I have to be honest about that. I have to be honest about the fact that I feel unsatisfied with the response to some of the criticism of his past legislation that Joe Biden has offered up.

I have to be honest about that. I have to be honest about the fact that I feel unsatisfied with some of the results of things. I have to be, but I also have to be honest about the fact that what the other side represents is just untenable. Right. And I owe that to myself and to the people listen to that and it will be unpopular things. to say. So I don't feel comfortable. I was excited when Joe Biden won in 2020. I was excited, but I was excited about the defeat of Donald Trump. And there was a part of me that believed in some of the promises that were made on the campaign trail. Of course. I thought that this was an

opportunity to maybe change things, whatever, or to, you know, you get caught up in the so-called racial reckoning of late 2020 and all of these things. happening for a second, you're thinking, okay, we're on the road, we can get some things done. Hope, hope, hope. They sell it to us like it is the finest and purest Henness. And we get drunk on it and then the hangover is always back. You know one of my favorite quotes from

the gift from a Hunger Games. What is more powerful than fear? It's hope. You can control people. But there's nothing worse than a hope hangover, man. The hope hangover is worse. So look, so what I'm saying is, is that like, we can talk about it. It means something to get in the picture with Donald Trump. And it doesn't mean something to everybody, but it means something to me. I stand on it.

I stand by. I don't give a fuck, right? I'll say something else about this before we get off this. Look, Will Compton was on there trolling about this. He's a scamp. He's a scamp. Scampy. It's a funny guy.

Very, very talented, all of that stuff. Scamping, funny guy. He was trolling about this, right? He got in the picture. He doesn't give a fuck what we think about it. He's got a huge, huge platform. It's fine. It won't affect him.

He's trolling. He doesn't give a fuck about our emotions wrapping up and down. He doesn't give a fuck. All the will cop is black friends, you don't fucking have to defend him. He's fine. Are they defending him?

No, worry. All of his black homies? You don't fucking have to defend him. It's fine. Look, back to the cool white boy thing. Whiteness is a very intoxicating thing. And white people are going to do white things from time to time, the best of it. If you had grown up in a place that told you that nothing that you ever did was wrong

and it was dedicated to your safety and this, you shouldn't even expect this ethereal and perfect wholeness from the average white American. It's actually not all of this. We need allies shit. That's why I'm against it. You will always find yourself disappointed. But the one thing that we can all agree on is you don't have to take bullets for your white friends when they fuck up.

You don't have to step in there. You don't need to go out there and tell us how good of a non-racist this person is. Yep. When they do what they do. Let them do. what they do. You look like somebody's nigger. I'm going to tell you straight up.

Like when you do that, when you do that, you look like somebody's nigger. Why don't we have to do that? And so what I'm saying is, look, I'm not saying that I'm not playing a whole here than now.

I work to some pretty fucked up places, right? But when you jump out, you are looking like a white man's nigger. Let them deal with it. They're big, fucking adult people. They can handle their own shit.

I know this person. He's not a racist. A bunch of people. I know this person. He's not a racist. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We talk about this. We talk about that. Nigel, what's wrong with you? Like, what? What's your deal, dog? What the fuck is up? What you want? Relax.

We all got friends that fuck up sometimes. You know what I'm saying? But, like, Let them handle it. They got all the motherfucking ammo to handle it, man. 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,

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Don't match you. Oprah, it has been announced, Van, I don't know if you saw this, that she is going to host an ABC special. Have you seen this? I saw it when you put it in the chat. I didn't see it at first. Really? You didn't see this before?

Okay, I feel like I was seeing this everywhere. All right. So Oprah announced that she's doing this new special on ABC, and she's calling it an Oprah special, Shame, Blame, and the Weight Loss Revolution. It's going to be on ABC. prime time. She's going to sit down with medical experts, patients, all these people who use prescription weight loss drugs like Ozympic, Manjaro, Govi. There's so many of them. She's going to do it

at front of a live audience. Now, this is coming off the hills of her having to step down from the board of Weight Watchers. She was on the board of directors. And she stepped down after she admitted a couple of months before, that she herself has used some type of weight loss drug. And so I'm assuming that you can't do both. They asked her to step down. She stepped down. Here we are. Now she's hosting a special. I saw this. And for some reason, this bothered me. This got under my skin because it just feels extremely self-serving. And maybe some would say that this is what Oprah does and this is what she, you know, this is what she represents. But I just feel like we have been talking about weight loss drugs for a very long time. It has been, the craze of Ozimic has been here

for a while. We've talked about celebrities using it. We've talked about people can't get access to the drug who need it for diabetic reasons or who are using it for weight loss purposes. And for Oprah to sit down after now she is tied to these weight loss. drugs, now it's time to sit down and to talk about it because some may say that there's been a negative reaction to her using it. Some say that some people may say it's positive. Whatever it may be, the narrative isn't fully positive. And I feel like when it comes to Oprah, she needs all the talk around her to be in a more positive and uplifting way. So the fact that she's sitting down as if it's this novel idea when we've been discussing it, because now her name is tied to it,

just seems to bother me for some reason. It just seems inauthentic. It seems a little opportunistic. And I feel like nobody asked for this. Oh, shit. That's just me. I, again, we've been talking about this for a long time. Have we not?

And I am not a person who has a problem with anybody using weight loss drugs. I do have a problem when we were hearing about people, passing out the Ozympic shot on trays and who don't necessarily, maybe are... They were doing what? Yes. Allegedly there was one celebrity who had a party.

This was a couple of years ago where she was having those Zimpic parties and she was passing out, and I've heard this from several people. Somebody was there. Passing out the, because you know, like it comes in, so shot, it's like, poke yourself shot.

Passing them out of, You don't think I know? Yours asked, I didn't say you didn't. You just asked me to talk about it. And they were hosting these parties. I don't have a people, like I said, for the people to drug, the, these who are struggling with their weight and obesity and their health issues or a diabetic, absolutely. For the people who just want to shed five to ten more pounds or, you know, who just don't

like the way that they look and are just taking it, you know, for fun, that I'm more so like, this is where I can see that there's a problem with it. I'm not saying that Oprah is one way or the other. My point is, is the only reason that she is talking about this is because now her name is attached to it. So to me, rather than saying, hey, this is a trend.

Some people can't get this drug. So many people, there seems to be so much misinformation about it. I want to sit down and have a town hall about it. No, you're doing it because you're in the middle of it now. Right. So you don't feel like her her motives are pure. She doesn't really have an interest in the health issue that is OZPIC. She's more interested in either clearing her name or making herself look better.

If that's how it feels. It's negative publicity right now for her. With the Weight Watchers, sorry, go ahead. Do you think that OZIPIC and these weight loss drugs are, do you think it's necessary that we have people conversations about it? Well, I do, because I think it adds to body dysmorphia. I think it adds to an unrealistic view of, an unhealthy view of how, and particularly,

I'm not saying men don't take this for cosmetic reasons as well. And I'm speaking to the people who are taking it not for a health-related reason. I think it adds to these unhealthy expectations we're supposed to have when it comes to how we look. You know, for the young girl sitting at home who's like, wow, you know, like she looks amazing. She lost all this weight. You know, she's doing it in a way, not the health railing. I want to be very clear. She's doing it in a way where it just, I don't want to compare it to plastic surgery because that's not what it is.

just seems to contribute to unhealthy beauty standards is how I feel. And that part of it I have a problem with. And I do think that there should be a deeper conversation about it. I don't believe in shaming. I don't believe in shaming people because that's not necessary. But I do feel like, for example, I watch a lot of housewives. We know that. There's been a lot of talk about several housewives using Ozepic.

And it's very obvious that, because, you know, nobody, everybody just didn't discover the gym all at once. Everybody just didn't start eating, eat healthy a certain way, a certain diet. And all of a sudden they are like, rail skinny. They are getting some type of assistance. And a lot of people are lying about it. So I feel like that contributes to unhealthy beauty standards. They're not being truthful about the way that they are able to achieve these beauty standards. not saying that they necessarily have to,

but I do feel like there is some responsibility as a public figure to do that. I don't like how it's contributing to everybody has to look a certain way. Skinny. Unhealthy skin. Okay. So just so everybody knows,

at one point I got up to 325. I'm about 275 now, and I'm on Monjaro. Okay? So I've been on Monjaro for a while. take the Majoro Shottie Shottie in the belly And at first

It's pretty fucked What it does to be about it. I got about 25 pounds to lose Right Work out all the time Basketball boxing Lifting the whole nine But I'm fighting Genetics I'm fighting a lot of other stuff

Right And so I use the Marjaro and the Majarles work. It's not cheap. It's a commitment. But yeah, I do. So this is what I'll say about this. If you think somebody is on Ozambic, they are.

Or an Ozempic-like drug, right? Or a smeglitude, whatever. Like, if you... Is it, smeglitude? Well, how does it say smegla? Now, wait, now I'm going to mess up. Smegler. Wait, Somogatite?

It's somewhere in between. Ashley, how do you say? Samugla type? I don't know how you say. It's a smegletude? How do you say? What do you say? It's smegla.

Smegla. Samugletide. Smugletide. Smegla. Great. Somaglete. Somaglete. Somaglete.

Overnight. Somaglete. No. No. That's not it. I don't know. Take all this out. No, leave it.

Leave it. Leave it. So if you're on the semagalotide or whatever, you're on it. But like, it's fine. Whatever it is, it's thing. But if you think somebody's on it, they probably are. Particularly if they're out here, everybody is going to. Sima glute tide. That's what it is.

Similar glue tide. Similar glue tide. Similar glue tie. Okay, cool. So everybody out here is. like at parties looking at each other saying, hey, you look great.

That's what the thing is, right? Yeah. And, and, and, and look, also to be honest with you, there are some, I mean, there are drawbacks in terms of my energy and how much I'm, like, able to work out. Like, I work out a lot, but when I wake up and I have my morning workout,

I'll lift and then I'll go do cardio. When I come back, I have to go to sleep. Like, I have to take a midday nap after the gym every day, which I never had to do before. If I box, if I go in there and box and I get six to eight rounds

and sparring in, that might take me out. I only do that on Saturday now because that might take me out for a whole day. Like, I might be done after something like that or if I play some ball.

Anyhow, I say that to say that, I do think that there needs to be a deeper conversation that's had on it, because I think the conversation around it, I think it could be a little bit more nuanced in terms of people who find themselves in situations

where they need to take it and what it means for them. I think there needs to be a deeper conversation and an investigation into what it's doing to people who are diabetic and what the realities are about the availability of the drug, of the different drugs, and how many different drugs are coming on to the market, and what they mean for people and all of that. So I do think a deep analysis of it is definitely needed.

I think that's something that's probably overdue. I think Oprah is probably the right person to do that with the weight that her name carries and with her ability as a journalist. So I think she's probably the right person to do it to mainstream the conversation. in terms of the cynicism of it and what you're saying,

I don't feel like that could really be argued. But, I mean, I'll just be honest with you. I don't think that could really be argued. But that's kind of how it is, right? It's like, hey, people are connecting me to this one thing. I know people will watch, so let me explain myself. I use this podcast to explain myself or to posit different things that

come specifically from my purview all the time. It's cynical, but it's kind of how it goes. So when I saw this, it's kind of the one thing I would expect her to do, right? Which, sure, I'm not saying that it's not personal to her. I'm not saying that she doesn't have a connection to it, so it makes sense that she could lead this type of conversation. I'm just saying that had she not necessarily been removed from the, board and there have been this other discussion around what how she has lost her weight because

people are talking a lot about it and she's lost a lot of weight. I just don't think that we would be here. And I guess also she's not the first person to sit down and have this discussion. Today Show has done it. Good Morning America has done it. There have been so many conversations surrounding O-ZMPIC and weight loss and the side of and how it's a Hollywood become a Hollywood drug.

They've been talking about this for years now. It really has been a hot topic. But now Oprah's doing it because her name is tied to it. I guess that's where that's the, it would be different

if this was at the when it was at its height. It's a fact to me. I get it. I feel you. Shout out to LSU Women's basketball team putting in work.

Right? Tough loss to South Carolina. but we don't get pushed around. We don't get pushed around. Things happen. It's supposed to happen. Whatever. Shout out to them.

Before we get out of here, I do want to acknowledge one thing. Did you see Gerard Car Michael and the trailer for his for his reality show that's coming up on HBO? I did. I did see him. What did you think?

What did you think? I'm intrigued. It's interesting. I'm intrigued as well. I guess I wouldn't have. pinned him to do a reality show. At first, I thought, is this a documentary? Surely this isn't a reality show, but it is. And not only is it a reality show, it's a reality show about his personal life, including his family. So that intrigues me and just the subject matter of it all because,

you know, he recently came out in the special and now he's taking us even more into his personal life, but also issues that plague him as a black gay man that I think a lot of people, it'll open people's eyes to a lot of it coming from his certain background and having to navigate the world from his upbringing to who he is now. It's interesting. All right, a couple of things I noticed about it. Two things. The first is just an observation, and the second one is actually kind of a call to action. Okay. The first one is, I think the black, gay man, white dude alliance is so interesting. I knew this.

That's so interesting to me. Y'all don't ever, that's a, that, I want to talk to somebody about that. The black gay man, white dude thing, I'm not, I don't even know enough about it to make an intelligent statement on it. but that seems to be kind of prominent and I'm wondering if there are reasons why. Okay. The reason he's saying this is because in the trailer, he introduces his boyfriend who is not black.

Now, my question to you is, where are you, where are you getting, where are you getting your information from? Where are you getting your statistics from? Totally. I'll be honest. with you. Totally anecdotally. It's just like, I see it.

I see it. I don't even know if it's a thing. I would be interested in having a gay black man on here to talk about whether as much of a thing as it seems like. Justin Sylvester, come on the podcast. Chicken, chicken, chicken, nigga. Justin Sylvester, this is a call out. Come on a podcast. I would like to talk about, because it's not, it's really not an issue there, but it is just an interesting observation that I see and I wonder if there's something deeper to it, right?

Or if it's, or if I'm just tripping. But like when I saw him and I saw his, his boyfriend, I was like, oh, well, I see that a lot. It's, especially in the prevalence, it's almost like sometimes the black gay guys, it seems like sometimes that it follows the same track as what the common trope about the prominent black man that goes against a white woman, it seems like, it seems like sometimes

it follows the same thing. I don't know about it either. But when I see, I see a lot of people and I'm like, oh, that's his, it's a white dude. I just wonder if there's a thing there.

Like that's your thought of me. I'm thinking, I'm thinking of my friends, and I would probably say it's 50-50. That's a lot. 50-50 is a lot. But I'm just thinking of my friends and I mean, I have

black gay friends who emphatically do not date outside of their race. I have black gay friends who only date outside of their race and then I know people who do both. But is there like just off the top of my mind? Is there a comp,

is the conversation here because maybe there are black men who are not living open lives and they're not out in the closet. Maybe it's easier. Maybe is there a conversation that you had there about the cultural ramifications

of what identifying as a black gay man is and how that affluences your dating? I think that that's fascinating. I'm not making any conclusions or drawing any conclusions about it. I'm just saying it's something that I see and I go, oh, huh. You know, and even... In Hollywood? In Hollywood and just in successful black gay man that I know.

I'd be joking with him about it. I joke with him about I'm not going to bring up nobody's names because I don't want to but I joke with them about it all the time I was like

yo man you're out here you're doing your whole thing you know blah blah blah blah blah it's the same thing they normally laugh it's fun all right second thing I see

the I saw this trailer posted everywhere I saw this trailer posted everywhere I saw this trailer on all the big blog sites that I follow and there's a specific point in the trailer

just a debilitating debilitating scene in the trailer where Gerard Carmichael's mother, I think it is, praise for him. It is. And praise for his deliverance from being gay. That he would not be attracted to him.

This is on camera. That's breathtaking. Okay? But her statement after goes with it, which shows the complication around him. After she finishes, she says,

I love you. She does love him. I think that goes, as part of the conversation, as my point. Yeah. And so there was obviously conversation between

people in the comments in various different places about this. And what I'm not going to do is paint black people with a broad brush, because that's unfair. It's unfair when they do it to us. It's unfair when we do it to us. But I will say this.

To the segment, not to the entire black, community. But to the segment of Black America, of the Black community that's holding on to entrenched homophobia, we're tired of waiting on you guys. I'm not talking to the entire black community. I'm talking to the segment of the black community that is still holding on. to entrenched homophobia. We're sick of waiting on you guys. We're sick of it.

The ugliness, the lack of humanity, empathy, and the hypocrisy that I see from you regarding people in your community is more than disappointing. It's more than disappointing. It's debilitating. and spiritually disintegrating to watch you guys act like that.

So callously, with a lack of sensitivity and empathy and any intentionality for the lives, for the happiness of the lives, for the full and free lives of people that you share your community with. Sick of waiting on you guys.

Sick of talking with you. I'm sick of trying to make it make sense. I'm sick of waiting on you guys. I'm getting angry with you guys now because we're having a real conversation in ourselves to death. It's getting to a point to where it's like, grow the fuck up.

And this is me on as high a horse as you'll ever see me. So when I fall off this high horse, I'm going to break my fucking pelvis. as high of a horse as you've ever seen me. Grow all the way to fuck up. Grow up. Grow up.

You think it's okay that that man has to watch his mother. And this is not to dis his mom. I'm sure he loves his mom. I'm not talking about Geron Carl Michael's mom. I'm sure she's a great mom. I'm sure she loves her son.

But do you think that it's fair, right or appropriate that he would have to watch his mother try to pray a fundamental part of him away not a vice, not an addiction.

Right. But a part of him that's central to his identity, what would that be like? Like what you can't, you can't for one second put yourself in this position? What would that be like? Like what would it be like for the person

that you come from? whose body that you of, that you are of, like have an issue with such a fundamental part of you. Like what the, of a part that breeds you so much beauty and so much feeling. Like what the fuck is going? Like what is this? Y'all, y'all have got to do better.

It's not a request, it's a demand. You have got to do better. We have got to do better. Either that or maybe these conversations aren't fucking worth it. Because the older I get, the less fucking space I have for ugliness

and dumb-ass shit and stuff like that. I'm losing patience with the deep and long conversations about the evolution of a certain part of us. Y'all niggas might just need to get... Go ahead.

It's not a feeling. This is what I need people to understand who have the same mindset as his mom, which not only was it hard for, I'm sure, for him to explain.

experience it, but to watch again and not have people critique. But I think that's the beauty and what he's doing and being so vulnerable and letting people in because he knows it's bigger than him and it will help somebody. It will reach someone. It's not a feeling. It is who they are. And the moment that they can realize that and accept that, so if you can't accept that, you can't accept who they are. It's not something that's just a moment. It's not a trend. It's not, it's them. It's who they are as a person. It's how they were born. It is how they were made.

And you have to accept that. And if you can't see it that way, then they're never going to get it. They think it's passing. It's not. It's not. Yeah. Well, I will watch it. I will tune.

I will tune in and I will see. I'm sure I'll disagree with some things. I'm sure I'll see some things that are. What about the clue? where he's explained to his dad the different types did you see that? I'm sure

I'm not I'm not I'm not the number one example of being a great ally I don't believe myself to be allies

to anyone but I'm not the the fucking picture boy poster child I guess I'm trying to say of but you're trying

involved male I'm doing as best as I can But what I'm saying is the outward, ugly, go die, change your life. I'm not, I'm getting sick of y'all news. How about that? Um, all right.

Take 10 caps off. Do not stop learning. I'm Van Lee for Jim. I'm Rachel Lentzy. Thanks.