Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Sherri Shepherd on Black Motherhood and Finding a New Cohost for ‘The View’

Episode Date: August 10, 2021

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay discuss DaBaby deleting his apology to the LGBTQ+ community (16:12), the recent discussion about Alfonso Ribeiro on Twitter (21:30), and the latest inquiries into accounts of sexual harassment by Governor Andrew Cuomo (32:40). They talk about Jake Gyllenhaal being the latest white celebrity to discuss his bathing habits (42:06). Then, Sherri Shepherd joins the show to talk about being a Black mother and the search for a new 'The View' cohost (51:55). Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Guest: Sherri Shepherd Producers: Trudy Joseph and Richie Bozek Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? I don't learn it is on. It is I. And it's me, Rachel Lizzie. I'm sorry. Just in case people missed the episode, the last episode. Tell them why you're breathing so heavily into the microphone.

So, look, I've been having a stuffy nose. It's been allergy time around here. Some allergies getting stuffed up. Maybe I've been keeping it a little too. cold here in the house or whatever. So when we did the podcast, I came on and I knew that I wasn't really breathing out of my nose, but I didn't realize

it was as pronounced that I was mouth breathing as what it was. People are hitting me up like, yo, Van. I can't even listen to this Martin Luther King Jr. interview. It's so distracting. It's not like Darth Vader. It's like, what's wrong with Van, man? I had people hit me up tell me that they were praying

for me. I feel bad as your co-host because I didn't hear it. I mean, all of us are at fault. You know what I mean? Donnie didn't say anything either. I never, I never heard you. Donnie must have been laughing. He must have been like, I'm going to give van back for all the shit that he gives me on this podcast. I'm just going to go ahead and let this ride. That's what Donnie did. And he went off to get married. Congratulations to Donnie Beacham, Jr. Congratulations to Donnie Beach, Jr. But I'm you today because I have never lived in L.A. in the summer. And I am struggling. I mean, I was in the bed all day yesterday.

got up to do the premiere and went back to bed. I mean, I got the itchy ears, the sore throat, like the drainage, you know, like a little baby cough. I'm struggling. I'm being honest with you. And I have a theory about this. Everybody kind of has it. And I'm wondering, because we're all vaccinated.

Man, I'm not, I can't handle that. Wait, wait, I'm wondering if we got a little touch of a bit. I'm gonna stop you there. I'm just saying, I'm wondering if- if the Delta variant is doing it, I'm wondering if, because so many people I know it's like, God, just got a little scratch your throat. It's just enough to bother me.

Like even right now, my throat is just a little sore. Your throat just started hurting now. When I said my throat hurts, no, I promise you. No, like, that's not true. Last week I actually woke up one day and I had the little, you know, the little thing in your throat

to where when you're sick, you can feel it fumbling around. You know what I'm talking about that little thing? I know exactly what you're talking about. I had that last week and then it went away. So I'm wondering if it's a little, tut-t-t-t-t-tick-a-vid. Because I went, I went to had a rapid test.

I get tested every other day. I do too. And I don't have it, but I'm wondering if the vid can exist right below the-t-t-t-t-t-t-tut-a-t-t-tah. Because you know who else's allergies are flaring up and I had to take them to the doctor? Copper. Copper.

Okay? It's high allergy season for dogs too. Like he's got a hot spot, became infected. Yeah, take him to the vet. So it's just,

I guess it's just a season. But I'm struggling today. Like I'm very much so on, you know, Allegra D, Zertek, Aleve and Flonais. Just to be here

for the thought warriors today. You rolled the names off like, like, that was like, that was interesting. What are you on again? Say it again? Allegra D, Zertec, Flonais, and Aleve.

That sound like some of my cousins. Dude, all of those names, that sounds like somebody kids. That sound like Anemily kids. Who is that? That's Flonais. Allegra's going to be there, Zertek. Zertek going to be there. A leave.

Ableve going to be there. And don't forget Flonais. Flonais definitely coming. That's all like somebody kids, man. How was your weekend? I mean, it was, I worked a lot. Had to work in Saturday morning. But then I did something I have not done since I've been in L.A.

And maybe this is what triggered my sickness too. I went out on the water here. Went to Marina Del Rey, one of Brian's best friends from college, had a, got a boat, a few friends. And we went riding in the water. And it was so relaxing. I love being on the water. Just what I needed.

Good times, good friends. and yeah and then I came back I had to work the respect premiere on Sunday which is such a good movie I love the movie

I love a biopic though first of all like I'm already a sucker I don't know did you see the Cynthia or Revo one no okay well that's was not supported by the family

it's a deep dive a lot deeper than this movie goes this is two hours maybe a little bit over and it touches on certain things but it doesn't do a deep dive the family approved this one with Jennifer Hudson, but Jennifer Hudson is phenomenal in it.

And you know who else is? Marlon Wands. He's a great actor. Oh my gosh, he's so good. He should be nominated. He should 100% be nominated. Was somebody about to jump in one of the producers? I heard a voice.

Just make sure that if you're, here's the thing. Make sure that if you're not going to jump in that you have your shit muted the way it's supposed to be. Nobody said anything. We got somebody filling in today. I think it's Richie. Richie's filling in for Donnie B. him right there.

Richie's always trying to get in there and horn in on the podcast, Richie. Either Richie, you or Richie or Trudity, but out of the podcast. Don't introduce Richie to the people like that. Let me tell you that.

We love Richie over here. Richie Bosec. I'm Richie Bosec. You know, I'm Richie fucking Bosec, huh? Okay. Richie fucking Bozac. Hey, what's my name?

I'm fucking Richie. That's reminding me of something else. Bafangoo! I'm fucking Richie. Guess what we started? The Sopranos. Oh. Can I talk about that a little bit?

I've never wanted to hear you talk about anything more. One thing I will say is this, though, I won't see respect. I won't go see it. Wait, okay, well, let's finish up that conversation. Why? I don't support PG-13 biopics. Is it PG-13? Yep.

I don't support PG-13 biopics. Why? Nobody's life. Give me another example of a PG-13 biopic. Nobody's life is PG-13. You simply cannot do a biopic. to me that's accurate, hard-hitting, and enough about somebody's life and have it be PG-13. Nobody has a PG-13 biopi.

Even if you did, like Fred Rogers, if you did birth to death or whatever, if you did Mr. Rogers or something like that. They did do Mr. Rogers. They did, they kind of did it. They did it more so Mr. Rogers was a character in a movie that kind of was revolving around his life. This would be part. Go to war. all of that stuff.

To me, life is just not PG-13. I hate the idea of a PG-13 biopic. Hate it. It's not about you. Maybe they wanted to make it more acceptable for younger people to watch because there's lessons to be learned from a read-the-story.

That's fine. That's good for them. What's another PG-13 biopic? You don't even know. You just talk. Just talking. I'm not just talking. I just know that I don't like it.

I got to think of one. I know all the best biopics walk the line. Ray. All of them. Ray's so good. Right. Now, there was no way.

Ray was going to be PG-13. Aretha shouldn't be PG-13 either. Then you should watch the Cynthia Arriva one. I don't want to watch that either. I just don't want to. Because the family didn't want me to do it. But everybody goes to see respect. Everybody goes to see respect. It's so good, you guys. If you like the music,

if you want to learn about Aretha, I didn't know how close Aretha was to Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So you learn about her activism. They dated. They dated for a little while. They did not date. No, they didn't. Martin Luther King, Jr.

If he was close to you, he was probably going down. You're not going to respect the doctor, Martin Luther King, Jr. After we had his son on this podcast this last week. I'm not going to stand for it. I'm not going to do it. Sopranos, Sopranos, I felt pleased that I saw you tweet a picture the other day and something about I've never felt more sorry for anyone or something. And I knew who it was.

Why? Because I've started the Sopranos. Now, you want to talk about. respect, I got an issue with Spranos. I find it a little boring. I'm not going to find it a little slow and a little boring. Maybe if I had watched it back in the day, it would have hit me harder. But everybody talks about this being one of the greatest shows on television and James.

What is his name? Galfi. Gandalfini. He portray him as Tony Soprano is the best acting actor, acting role they've ever seen on television. But it's a joke. It's not really. But this is what people say. Okay?

So I'm expecting, and I'm not saying he's not good. I'm not saying the show's not good, but it's not, I'm thinking people are going to get knocked off every single episode. That every episode is going to have a cliffhanger, that every season's going to end a certain way. Each episode just kind of ends like, you know, like it'll span out with them just like playing cards at the table or something. And I'm like, what's happening here? I'm a little bored. I've fallen asleep on it multiple times. I mean, I just started season three.

And it's like, yeah, it's not a Walking Dead where people, you never know, this person might not make it through this episode. It's not Game of Thrones. I'm just waiting for it to hit. Here's the thing. Maybe it's not now. Every character you see on that show is going to die. Like so many people are going to, like so many of them are going to die. Nobody important has, has spoiler alert.

important has died yet except for pussy. Yeah, right, and right. And that was a big deal. And they're going to be more people. But you know it was coming. They're going to be more. You know he was going to die. I need a surprise death. But you, but see, that's not, you're, you know what? Don't finish it. Leave it to us.

I don't want you to finish it. Leave it alone. Don't, don't, like, I want to start. Does the rewatchables do TV shows? Because they need to have me on while I'm watching this. No, but this will be interested in for Bill because Bill wanted me to do me and Bill had talked about maybe doing a Sopranos rewatch show and it would be interesting to do that show with you

and have somebody who's watching it, who's seen it, literally I'm watching it right now. I can pull up my HBO Max and I rewatch the Sopranos all the time. I watch the Sopranos more than anything. To fall asleep at night? Sometimes. Because I've tried, it has to be. It has to be.

Sometimes it's to fall asleep. Sometimes it's to relive the greatest show that was ever created. So you believe that this is this I was going to say. So the wire is the greatest show ever created. The Sopranos is the most entertaining show that's ever been. Where? Does it pick up in season three? Stop.

Stop watching it. I mean, even spoiler alert, spoiler alert, spoiler alert, spoiler. Even when old boy got shot, the cousin or whatever he is, I thought, okay. Okay. If things are happening, he survived. It's not it's not the fast and the furious. Okay. It's a show about a family.

Two families. It's a show about a mafia family and a regular family. If you don't want to watch it, don't watch it. Just a regular family. Tony's family? They're not regular. Why aren't they regular? I mean, I guess I'm saying because he's tied to the mafia,

to me they're a mafia family, but I get what you're saying. You know what I want to do? I want to do. You know what I'm going to sell? I'm going to sell a show about a hard charging black judge and his well-to-do Texas family and the ups and downs

of life on the Ponderosa and Oak Cliff. The name of the show it's not even gonna, it's just gonna be called Oak Cliff and it's gonna be surrounding this is a great show. It's been done.

It's like Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Wrong. That's completely different. Number one, he was a piss-ass judge compared to your dad. He was some kind of superior court judge. We're not even mess with him.

Your dad got like, national conspiracies that he deals with and all times of big gangsters and needing, like the show is called Oak Cliff. It's about a black family. And then they have you guys growing up in the high school and you're being pulled to do this, pulled to do that.

You don't have any brothers, right? No brothers. We'd have to add probably just one boy and just, you know, to throw in there. And we would go back and forth. but maybe he'd be a lot younger like little Nicky. Like he's the little boy.

Like not a real character because we don't really, really need him like that. But, you know, but the name of the show is Oak Cliff. That's a great show. That's... On the Ponderosa. On the Ponderosa there in Dallas.

That's a great show. That's a show that I'm going to do. I'm actually going to do this. Who could play the dad? Who could play your dad? Who could play your dad? Who would play your dad? Who would play your dad on this show?

Oak Cliff. Oak Cliff, who would play the judge? You got to give the judge like a backstory. Who would pay you to play your dad? This is a tough one. Who would play your dad? Maybe like Von D. Curtis Hall. Do you know who that is?

James Earl Jones. Nick, James Earl Jones is fucking 90 years old. He's not that off. Yes, he is. James Earl Jones, he's at least got to be on the back side of 80. He's at least got to be on. on the backside of 80. He is the backside of 80.

Oh my gosh, he's 90. Yeah. You're right. I thought he was like 70. Oh, my gosh. James Jones is so old. He played the old-ass king in 1989. We'll come into America King.

Okay, I got it. I got it. Jeffrey Wright. Oh, that's good. That's a good one, right? Jeffrey Wright. I don't know if he's quite older now. But we would start younger.

We start younger. Yeah, this is where makeup comes in. No, no, no, no. Jeffrey Wright is perfect. We start younger. And that way, because we pick up, we pick the story up when you guys are like, you know, like in middle school to high school years. Oh, Jeffrey Wright is perfect.

He's 55. We run 10 years. He's 65. He comes away with a couple golden globes if we're still doing that. A couple of MMs. And the whole nine. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

This is Judge Lindsay. This is Judge Lindsay. this is Judge Lenton. Now watch this. You look like Joe Button in one of these. Yeah, he looks like Joe Button in one of these. Um, uh, I'm gonna get this showmate. I'll tell you dad, I want to interview him.

I'm gonna get this showmate. This is a good show. Black federal judge dealing with all kinds of conspiracies, trying to keep his family safe and raise him on a Ponorosa in Oak Cliff. Watch. Hey, you guys heard it here. I'm going to put a show Bible together. You better break us off with something while you over here because you're going to need some stories here.

Of course, I'm going to break you guys off. Executive producers. Yeah, you guys have to executive producers. Don't do me like that. Like, I would just make your life and then completely run away with it. How could I do it without you guys? I had yet to say, hear you say that we were included. You said, I'm going to do this.

So great. You're going to be the rebellious one breaking away from the judges, teachings. We're going to put all kinds. What's a good show? Oak Cliff coming to a free form. Oak Cliff, when the law just isn't enough. What is something like that?

All right. Let's take a break. 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 trumphia, proper training is required.

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Ask your doctor about Tramphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Tramphiatoradio.com. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Trimfaya 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 trumphia, 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 treat.

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 Tramphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Tramphiara radio.com. Something or nothing, we're going to play.

Something or nothing. We're going to start the top of the show, like we've been talking about every show, the ongoing saga of debate. Something or nothing. Is it something or nothing that DaBaby deleted his apology to the LGBTQ plus community. Oh my gosh. Say it again.

Say it again. You got it a D. LGBT. LGBTQ plus. Oh, thank God. Okay. Yes. Is it something or nothing that DeBaby deleted his apology off of his Instagram,

something or nothing? It's something. Why do you say? It's a lot of something. Because the last time we. had this conversation, and I apologize that we have to keep talking about the baby, but it is a big issue.

The last time we talked about the baby, it was that the LGBT-Q-plus community had reached out to him. They sent a letter. All these organizations had come together. We saw that Miley Cyrus had reached out. We said the ball is in his court. It's up to him to respond. And the next

response we get is him deleting the apology off of social media. What else are we supposed to take from that. Deductive reasoning says that he is, when you delete something, that means you no longer stand by what you put up there unless he replaced it with something. It'd be different if he deleted it and then said, you know what, I took that down, apology

down because I'm working with the community and I want to put up the right thing. We have heard nothing from him. And it's not like he's been inactive from social media. He posted just a day ago about his brother. It's his brother, his brother, rest in peace. It was his birthday. It was his birthday. and he posted about that.

So he is active on social media. And he made a conscious decision to delete that post and keep it moving. That is absolutely something. You can't turn a blind eye to that. Remember what I told you about the baby's apology,

perhaps putting him in a precarious situation with a different side of his fans, with a different group of his fans? It definitely could be something that maybe he didn't get the response from part of his fan base that he was expecting to get

that they thought, hey, the baby capitulated, hey, the baby punked out or whatever, whatever. But I'm not ready to say this is something yet. Then what is it? Give me another side of it.

I don't know. Another side could possibly be that he is attempting to distance himself from the scandal period. Like if you leave, a lot of times the reason why people

apologize on their stories is because it disappeared. meaning you can address it, but when you're looking through somebody's social media feed and you see, hey, I'm hanging out with this person, hey, my brother, the anniversary of my brother, hey, hey, hey, hey, that, whatever. In the middle of it, you're not reminded

of a time when this person was at their worst. That the apology is meant to go out so that everyone can see it, and it's supposed to be something that helps people to move on. So there could be a method of thinking, not making excuses, just throwing it out there, that he deleted it because he knows everyone saw it,

he knows that it was a news piece, maybe he's having the conversation, so he wants to move on to the backside of it and not keep reminding people of the jerk that he was a couple of weeks ago. So it doesn't necessarily have to be an FU to them. It could just be a, hey, we're moving past this now, thing. So DeBaby isn't stupid,

and he fully knows that posting something means something and deleting something means it as well. And I think it's a huge statement for him to delete it. If it was what you're saying, then he would have come out, I feel like, and said something else. I think he can distance himself from the situation and leave the apology up there. He doesn't have to let us know he's working with these organizations.

He could be doing it behind the scenes. And maybe he'll come out later with something. But the fact that he deleted it sends a message. And he knows people are going to talk about it. If any of these past, this past week has taught, him or two weeks maybe at this point has taught him anything. It's to use his own words, social media moves fast. You know anytime you do something, especially right now when all eyes are on you,

people are paying attention to what you're doing. He's fully aware that that was going to attract the attention of people and not in a good way. Well, look, remains to be seen. Here's the thing. The baby is going to have to do whatever he does in an earnest way to talk to the community, the gay and lesbian community. and that's not going to be able to sort of be encapsulated or summed up or put a period on or an exclamation point on on social media.

He's going to have to do that actually in real life. So the post might mean something. It might mean everything. What I want to know is my soldiers, my down-ass Gs over there at our thought warriors on Reddit. The most jump in this, pop in this, motherfucking G-ass-reddit that's ever fucking existed. Our Thought Warriors. I want a poll, put up on our thought warriors. The baby deleting his apology.

Something or nothing. Something or nothing. All right. We talked about the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I don't know if you saw this story. Oh, yes. Alfonso Ribeiro. Is it Ribeiro?

Ribeiro. Which one is it? I think it's Ribeiro. Libiero. Okay, first of all, I got to tell you guys something quick. about Alfonso Ribeiro, Ribeiro. Ribiero. Here's the thing.

By the time Alfonso Ribeiro was on the freshman. Ribeo. Ribe. Ribbe. Ribiro. Alfonso Ribeiro. Ribeiro sounds dope. Not not ribby, just Ribeer. Ribiero.

Ribeiro. Ribero. I wish that was my name. He has a good name. You have a great name. He has a great name. He has, his name is, Alfonso Libero.

That's sexy. Oh. Well, not after you tell this story. Keep going. No. Well, I'll say something about Alfonso. By the time he got on Fresh Prince to a lot of us older people, he was already a TV vet for us, right?

He had dance with Michael Jackson in the commercial, which might be the single greatest fucking commercial that's ever lived inside my life. Correct. I used to get so excited. He'd already dance with Michael Jackson in a commercial. Then he was on a show with Ricky Schroeder called Silver Spence. Well, Ricky Schroeder was like a super rich kid and whatever. He was the train drove through his house.

So I want to let people know that we've been with Alfonso Ribeiro for a long time, whether we could pronounce his name or not. We've been with him for a long time. As a matter of fact, when he came out as Carlton on the show, when he was on the show, We were just waiting for him to dance because we knew that he was an amazing dancer. He used to dance like Michael Jackson and stuff. So when I saw this, I actually felt bad. I felt sad for Alfonso Ribeiro.

Black Twitter responded to Alfonso Ribeiro because he says that he feels shunned by the black community. What he said was he said that he did an interview where he was talking about the fact that he doesn't really get invited to the BET Awards. And he feels like it's his portrayal of Carlton. It's a couple of things. But also, it's because he has a white wife. And he says that because he has a white wife that in some way, the community

doesn't reach their hands out to old Alfonso Ribeiro. They lit his motherfucking ass up. Who did he do the interview with? I can't remember. I didn't. Okay. But they lit.

him up. They posted this clip. This is Alfonso Ribeiro on stage right here. We're going to play this. Talking about his love for white women. Roll it.

Now, I gotta say, listen, I have been known to fuck some white girls in my life. Every time you see me in a club, guess who I walk out with? Who? A lovely blonde white shit.

Okay. So, first of all, let's say that that's true. That is true. Okay, it's true. Is that enough to get him kicked out of the black community because he says he loves white women? Should he be kicked out of the community? If you just listen to that statement, he doesn't just love white women, okay? He was emphatic.

He was screaming. He took to a stage and a microphone to profess his love for white women to what look like an all-white crowd. Okay, none of us were there. The fact, I think, is it enough to shun him from the community? He says he loves white women. Is that enough? Does that mean that he's not down

because he loves white women? I don't know anybody who's down who would do that. Okay? And what it sounds like is he's using the fact that he is in a relationship with a white woman as a scapego to maybe some other things, or as a scapegoat to some other behaviors that he's had like this video.

Maybe he doesn't remember it. Maybe you don't remember this video. I don't know how long ago this video was. But speaking as from someone who's in a, as someone who's in an interracial relationship, I don't feel shun by the black community because I married somebody outside my race. I don't feel that way.

I don't. So, Amari Hardwick is married to somebody outside of his race. Yeah, but he likes- And he's invited to everything. He's super down, though. Okay, so you're saying Carlton isn't down. Why? I'm sorry, that's not his real name.

Alfonso isn't down. Why? man nigger know why he's not down because on fresh prince you can't i mean when he played carlton he was dating black women i can't say that that man's down and not down i can say that it doesn't seem like he's down i felt sorry for him until i saw the video like i feel first of all i feel sorry for anybody who feels like they're not a part of the family that they are a part of fosos robero is black he is a black man he has lived his life here as a black man that's that's what he's he is. So anybody that doesn't feel

a part of what they are, of course I feel sorry for him. But the reality is that there's a, how can I put this? There's a, you know what I'm talking about. There's a, there's two parts of blackness to me. There's the part that you are, then the part that you willingly

opt into. And the part that you willingly opt into, most people don't make the conscious decision to opt into it. It's just, it's, it's what you are designated by who you were born to and the societal structures that create race. And then opt in two is normally the part that you willingly do,

but based upon what it was that you were given, based upon the cuisine, based upon your worldview, based upon how you accept and do family. And all of these things are cultural, right? See, the part about what you opt into and what you engage in, it doesn't matter if you do it. It only matters if you don't. so if whatever it means to be black

like whatever it means to be black and it's different for so many different people right but there is a sameness at least to the black American experience and there is a oneness and sometimes I think we beat around the bush by pretending that there isn't and we don't really know when you're doing it but we kind of know when you're not and for me I'm not necessarily saying that about him

because I didn't know that he felt this way. But I don't be seeing him around. And here would be my question. One, he mentions, like, he doesn't get an invite to the BET Awards. Well, how many award shows do you get invited to? Would be my number one question. And then two, do you... Can't say the darkest things awards?

And then my second thing is, do you really want to be? Because I'm sure if Alfonso Ribero wanted to get to the BET Awards, he could get there. You know what I mean? Like, they don't invite every... black person in the industry. Did you get invited? If you, no. BAT actually has not been like super down when I did the Baster

writer or anything like that. They actually even wrote a very negative article, but that's a story for another day. Whoa. Are you the Alfonso Rivera? No, I called them out on it because I actually, they, one of their writers wrote an article after I was on the show. Like they posted like first, oh, ABC, you know, Bachelor franchise has their first black lead.

They did all that. But after I chose Brian, they then wrote an article about one of my guys, the number three guys named Eric, he was black. They wrote an article about him and they did this whole photo shoot. And I thought it was fantastic for him that he got this featured article, you know, like they dressed him up, all this stuff. It was highlighting him until I read the article. And it was putting me down, but to lift him up. And so I tweeted about it. Like, how dare you?

This is a beautiful opportunity to showcase this black man. But instead, you use it as a, in these words, to put me down and talk about all the mistakes that you thought that I made and what I should have done rather than focusing on him and how great he is. Oh, I tweeted all about it right after the show. What's the guy's last name? Eric, what? Biggers. Oh! Oh!

That's my guy! You know, Eric? Hell yeah. We used to play in the same basketball league. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, Eric, that's my man. I didn't realize I got to watch your show, man. Shout out Eric Bigger.

Shout out Eric Bigger that nigger. Shout out Eric Bigger, man. Yeah, this is my guy. We played in the same basketball. We used to physically match up because Eric, big guy. Yeah, like we used to physically match. Eric is, that's my man. Eric is great.

Eric is great. How come you and pick Eric, man? Eric is cool as hell. Eric is cool as hell, man. Eric is great. He met the family. My dad liked him but said, I'm not sure.

Look at Eric. Go. Look at him go right here. He's dancing shirtless. Go for it, Eric. Yeah. That's my guy. Eric Bigger.

I didn't know that. I didn't know that. I knew that he was on the Bachelorette. I knew that he had gone in some way he was on Bachelor land, but I didn't know which season and stuff like that. Mm-hmm. It was my season.

Eric Bigger. My man, what a small world. Look at Eric Bigger right there. Eric's a great, positive guy. Great, positive dude. Like, he's a connector. Yeah, he's, um, he was, he was at my wedding. Just didn't do it for you like Bri guy did.

He was at my wedding. There was, there was some, there was some, there's reasons that I didn't pick Eric. Because Eric actually, Glenn. Eric actually what? No, like I actually met Eric before the show. And like, we don't talk about this that often, but I met him at the gym right before I was about to go on the show. And I remember he said to me,

Hi, Rachel, I'll see you soon. And I got nervous and I was like, I'm not going to tell anybody that she spoke to me. You told me about this, but you didn't tell me it was Eric. Yeah, because I thought he was really cute. And I was like, oh, I don't want him, I don't want to say anything because I don't want him to get kicked off the show. Right.

And then he ended up telling him producers anything. Yeah. Eric, shout out Eric, wherever you at, bro. Wherever you at Eric, over there, Hollywood, brough. We used to play Hollywood middle school over there at the league. Me, Eric, we're the champions. We won the league. Eric was on the same team with Shaky.

Shaky Smithson. Shout out to all of my jeans over there. What a good time. Eric is a great guy. Love Eric, man. Let's take a break. This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess.

You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach. or go camping, then you'd want a cargo liner, or a road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those weather tech seat protectors. 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. This episode is brought to you by Borishead. What if we told you the taste of deep fried turkey is now available at your local deli? Well, Boar's Head just did that. Bursting with flavor, perfectly seasoned with that indulgent taste that usually means

pointing your whole day around it. Presenting the Friars turkey breast only from Boar's Head. The backyard tradition now available behind the counter. Visit your local deli today. Discover the craftmanship behind every bite. Boershead committed to craft since 1905. All right. Cuomo.

Nuts. Cuomo. Cuomo is nuts. I won't let you guys know something right now. If you're a Democrat somewhere, Cuomo's disrespecting you right now by not resigning. Commo is... Democrats anywhere.

If you're a Democrat anywhere, I'm not a Democrat. If you're a Democrat anywhere, Cuomo is disrespecting you by not packing this shit and getting the hell out of Dodge. He's done too much. Cuomo's accuser, one of his accusers came out and said that she was groped,

not once, but twice. He's a serial groping. She gave an interview, CBS this morning. Cuomo gave her intimate hugs and kisses. He says he didn't do that. He says that he denies that. My thing with Cuomo is I don't understand how he would know at this point

who he intimately groped and touched whatever. There's so many accusations out there that I don't understand how he can deny any. This is what I'll say. When a powerful man falls like this, this. There are ripple effects. People get affected by this. And an example of that is another story that's tangential to what's going on with Cuomo. Roberta Kaplan had to resign her post because she helped advise Cuomo on his sexual assault allegations. She's a leader of

Times Up. She resigned Monday because it was, it came out that she was working with Andrew Cuomo. Now, she is also a lawyer. She cited her work, counseling the administration last winter and her more legal work representing Melissa DeRosa, a top aide to Cuomo who resigned. So she was in that same deal and because of that

people thought that she wasn't fit to be on the board of times up. So I say all that to say, I know that that was a mouthful, I'll say all that to say that when guys like this fall, they leave gigantic gaping

holes in all kinds of different ecosystems and structures. Cuomo is, he's a predator first and foremost that must, he's an alleged predator first and foremost, that must be dealt with and gotten out of people so he can't hurt them and make them feel small. But also, just the way that these people wreck systems and wreck all kinds of things around them when this happens, this woman, I'm sure, is a great woman,

is a, and she means what she says about being on the board of times up, because she was in any way involved with this man, now she's got to go. She talked about the fact when she was leaving, she resigned. Unlike him, by the way, she had the Cajonase or the intestinal fortitude,

more aptly bit. The intestinal foretouch, that was wrong. She had the intestinal fortitude to say, hey, this is inappropriate. I'm gone. It's interesting that a woman can own up to her mistakes like that, that way,

when she has done nothing as egregious as what Andrew Cuomo has done, the man who seems to always slide by power and powerful friends and things like that. Like this story to me is now getting a little sickening. It's time for Andrew Cuomo to go. No, it's disgusting. And I actually applaud the courageous young woman, the former aide who spoke out because she initially was, she's one of the 11, but her identity was anonymous.

And after he had that terrible press conference where he, you know, denied every single allegation against him and even put up that slideshow trying to provide evidence that he could not do anything like this, she said enough is enough. And she actually used one of his quotes, and I would quote it wrong, so I'm not going to say it, but to call him out on the behavior that he's doing. And she said, it's time for him to tell the truth. The facts are evident at this point. And so I commend her for having the courage because you got to put yourself in these women's shoes. Not only were they sexually harassed, assaulted, they are also putting their careers on the line, their careers in jeopardy. The public is now going to look at them and always associate them with Andrew Cuomo. And that takes a lot of courage to stand up and do that.

So I want to applaud them for standing up because it's not easy to go against power and they did it. And Andrew Cuomo is very powerful in New York. And there have always been rumors about him kind of bullying and having that mafia mentality when it came to politics. And these women stood up against the system. So kudos to them. I hope that not only does he resign, but they give the justice that is deserved. Mafia mentality? How dare you?

Sorry, it's the Sopranos talking. Nah, this is an Italian man that you're talking about. That you're going to use the disparaging term mafia. that means that my Cahone's comment is wiped off the board, baby. We are even. I thought I was going in. That's what people say. People have talked about Andrew Cuomo in the way he handles politics

and the way that he moves around. I thought that I was going in the problematic paper today, but you rescued me because you called an Italian man a mafia figure. How dare you? How dare you as you crunch it to the mic? I wonder if I'm still breathing hard. look Cuomo's got to go I can't help you out

Cuomo's got to go Cuomo's got to go and we're talking about right now this is a very serious situation and something else about Andrew Cuomo that I would have people remember is his father was governor as well right his father Mario Cuomo

was the governor so we're not just talking about a guy who is misbehaving and we're talking about entrenched power and privilege and how it affects people somebody that for whatever

reason thought at some point that being governor was his birthright that was able to make that happen. You know, he had been an aide to his father when he was younger. So he probably thought that that was his future. And sometimes in thinking that these things that you're entitled to things, where does that entitlement stop? And we obviously know now that with Mario Cuomo, his entitlement didn't stop with people's bodies. Like it continued even with people's bodies. So this is a very serious story. And it's one that deserves as much attention as any of the other stuff that we're talking about when we're talking about Me Too, Times Up or anything like that. And I hope that people are able to keep up the energy on what's happening up there in New York, despite all the other things are on our plate right now.

Don't let this just, yeah, go away and him continue to hold office. I have a question for you. What up. Do you think Chris Cuomo should be reporting this story? It's tough. It's tough. Uh, it's tough, man. I wouldn't want to do it about my brother or sister.

I wouldn't either. And I know that contractually he had it where he wouldn't report on his brother. Right. Yeah. I will want to do it. It's just the tough thing about it is that it comes on the heels of the whole brother, the brother playing it up on CNN when everybody loved Cuomo, right? So when everybody loved Cuomo, they bring Cuomo in.

it would be Chris Cuomo and Andrew Cuomo and they would do this whole back and forth thing. It was actually delightful when they did. I remember, you know, he got him on there. He interviewed him about what was going on with COVID in New York. And he goes, mom tells you to call her or something like that. And then Andrew Cuomo would roll his eyes and they would do this whole thing. And everybody was into it. It was a part of the charm of, I guess, the early pandemic version of Andrew Cuomo that we saw.

And he would come on there and we have these conversations with his brother, his popularity. was at an all-time high, which, by the way, must have been very difficult for those victims watching this man get the adulation that he was getting. It must have been very difficult.

So a part of you feels like, hey, if you can do it then and you are who you say you are, then you should be able to do it now. But at the same time, I in the situation like this, I make a little space for human beings. You don't want to talk about all the fucked up shit

that your big brother did, man. You just don't. You don't. But if there is a, clause in your contract to not report on your brother, then it's unfair that you get to report on the good. You know, like, let's just make it a whole thing. You don't get to report. You don't get to lift that clause when it's when it works for you and then implement it when it works against, when it's against you. That's not fair. Is Don Lemon covering it?

I don't know. I love Don Lemon, though. Shout out to Badd Rouge. Remember the time that Don Lemon wore the Louis Vuitton scarf to the protest in Ferguson. I did not see that. Don't fucking tell me you don't remember that. Shout out Don motherfucking Lemon. A Louisiana Baton Rouge legend.

Don Lemon wore the Louis Vuitton scarf to the protest in Ferguson. He said he could smell the stench of marijuana in the air. Don Lemon has come a long way. That's my guy though. That's my man. Shout out to Don Lemon. Represents Baton Rouge well. It's one of our best. You know what I mean? I'm trying to find it.

Represents Baton Rouge as well, man. Shout out Don Lemon. Shout out Don Lemon. I'm with it. I am actually with it. It happened again. Oh, I see it. What happened?

Another white Americans admitting to the fact that they don't obey. And a prominent one at that. A prominent one, not just prominent, one of my favorites. Oh, is this one of your favorites? Have I talked to you about my favorite white boys list? How many are on it? Is it the top five?

Well, I have a top five all white boy, and then I have a top five all white girl. White boys are just cool white boys, but white girls, obviously, it's a different rating system. Yeah, give me your top five of white men since this guy's apparently on it. Oh, these are the coolest white boys walking. Easy work.

Rest and peace, Paul Walker. He was on the list. Rest and peace. He's got a permanent spot. Number one. My point guard, my MVP, the coolest white man that has ever lived in the history of the earth. Ryan, motherfucking Gosselin. I don't give a fuck.

Ryan Gosselin is the man. Really? That's your number one? The coolest white boy ever. Okay. Why? The coolest because of one movie. Drive.

Have you ever seen Drive? I've never seen it. Oh, my God. Jesus, I've never wanted to be a character so much in my life. He doesn't say shit. He just gets shit done. He's brave. He's noble.

He's all of these things. And they got another one of my favorite. He's not quite white. But Oscar Isaacs is in that. I love Oscar Isaacs. But the movie made me fall in love with Carrie Mulligan. I was in there. Like she's up there on team white girl.

She's my little cute mousy team white girl. So like, so drive is excellent. Brian Cranston, Albert Brooks, just excellent, violent to the point, but also heroic, you know. I got to watch this. He's a real hero and a good man. I love that shit. So, so it's Gosling. It's Paul Walker.

It's Jake Gyllenhaal. I don't know why you're looking like that. Jake Gyllenhaal's on the list. He's always been. Only because of what's come to light. Okay, who are four and five? Christopher Reeve and Harrison Ford. Those are legacies.

Shout out Christopher Reeve, who's always been one of my favorite. Oh, my God. Christopher Reeve. After we talked about our love for legend of the falls, you don't even have Brad Pitt on there as an honorable mention? He could probably squeeze in there as like a six-man, but Christopher Reeve Superman, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones.

These are the coolest white men that I've ever lived. Harrison Ford, Fly plane. Fly playing real life. Okay? I will say, though, that Brad Pitt is pretty awesome in real life as well. So Brad Pitt is strong consideration for Brad Pitt. I have to put Brad Pitt on the team. I'm not going to lie.

Brad Pitt is on the team. But those are the coolest white guys ever. Notice. No musicians. Okay. I don't have any musicians on there. I don't need the Beatles on there. I don't need the stones on there.

No Justin Timberlake. None of that. No, Stephen Tyler. He's close, but there's a family connection there. I'll tell you guys about what time. I don't want to get into it. I knew some people back in the 70s. I don't want to talk about it.

But Ryan Gosson is way up there. So when I read this about Jake Gyllenhaal, Jackie G, my homie, Donnie Darko, it hurt my heart, man. Jake Gyllenhaal admits he's not really into bathing unless it's necessary. One of the top five all-white guy team forever says this, more and more I find bathing to be less necessary at times. Before, Senator, I do believe, because Elvis Costello is wonderful,

that good manners and bad breath get you nowhere. So I do brush my teeth. Thank you, Jake. And what he said is that, he says, cutting down his bad time is all about to improve the health of his skin. I think that there's a whole world of not bathing. That is also really helpful for our skin maintenance. And we naturally clean ourselves.

Jesus. White people out there. I hope you guys know something. I hope you know that you're playing into a stereotype. And this is getting out of hand. This is something that people used to say. but we never really believed it. What I want is a revolution.

I want to start a hashtag on Twitter. Hashtag I'm white, I bade. I want everybody out there that's going against the besmirching of a whole race of people by celebrities who are saying that they don't bade, I want the admission that you're white and you bane. Here's what I think.

because we've now seen Ashton, Mila, and now Jake, come out and say that they don't bathe regularly, I feel like they feel comfortable admitting this so publicly because they know that there are a lot of other people who do the same. Like they probably are like, what's the big deal? Don't we all do that? That's how I feel. I don't feel like they're saying anything.

They don't think they're saying anything shocking. How many times would you say you bathe the day? I bathe one time every day And sometimes two If necessary I bathe at least three times a day I You and you and Dwayne Johnson

Yeah I bathe at least three times I think that if you're bigger You know taller I think that that makes sense I think that that makes sense There's more for There's more to get

You sweat more Yeah But like me you know I'm 5 4 I'm a little petite Once a day we'll do it But like, like Brian's, Brian bays two, definitely two, maybe three times a day. Does Brian, Brian, Brian looks like he bays at least once for every TikTok.

Like he gets like, you know, with the tic tickees go up. He does work up a sweat. He does. He works up a sweat. And he usually, yes, he'll go to the shop. No, he's two to three, definitely two, maybe three times a day. So see, I wake up, right? And then I go for a walk, come back and I bait.

You have to. I do this. this guy knows you know how much time daddy's been in your shower I then after that

I go shoot basketball after I come in here and work do a podcast whatever but I go shoot basketball or whatever

come back a bat then at night to wind down I go outside and I lay in the hammock now laying in the hammock

the hammock is kind of dirty. Ew. Well, here's the thing. You can't really wash the hammock. You can clean the hammock. But the hammock is like, it's outside. So there's going to be dirt on the hammock and stuff like that. So I put a sheet on there, but still, I don't feel comfortable getting off of laying outside in the hammock and then just going getting in the bed.

I'm not doing it. God damn it. And so what do I do? I bathe again. And who doesn't like it? Kalika. But the reality, it's too much. Three times today.

It's a lot of bathing. It's a lot of bathing. It's a lot of shower. But what I'm saying is that it's not even that I'm judging these people. I'm just wondering, they feel okay getting in their bed under the covers with itchy assholes. I'm judging. Necks and behind their ears. And you're little folds in your skin.

I can feel the dirt. What makes you think you're so pure where you're above? bathing. I just don't. Like, it is so easy to sweat. You know, like, it's just like the air out here, is it clean? It gets on you. I just don't understand how you can feel comfortable, especially getting on clean sheets with a dirty body. It just makes, or you sweat in the middle of the night. It just makes no sense to me. It's gross. Now, when I was in school at First Baptist, I do remember this girl saying one time to me, we went to both went to, the bathroom together. I went to wash my hands. She bounced. And I said, why did you not wash

your hands? And she said, look, they're clean. She held up her hands because she couldn't see any dirt. Along the lines of Ashton Amila, they don't see dirt, they don't bat. So, I mean, there is this school of thought within the white community of see no dirt, see no bath. Hey, I'm out, look, white people out there. Let's just have a dialogue. We know you don't all do it. I don't even want to hear that. They don't, I'm sure, I'm sure a lot, babe. But the ones who are out here speaking aren't making it look, making y'all look great.

Coming back on the other side of this break, we're going to have an interview with Sherry Shepard, former co-hosts of the View, actress, mom, amazing black lady, all of that stuff. So great interview coming up on the other side of this break. So stick around with us for that. Every outfit starts with a choice. What am I wearing underneath?

Something comfortable, and let's be honest. Something that keeps everything looking smooth. That's where Vanity Fair lingerie comes in. Their new smoothing wireless bra has four-way stretch fabric for all over smoothing, soft lightly lined cups for a natural shape, and no wire comfort that lasts all day. All over smooth, all-day comfort, vanity fair lingerie. Find yours at Target today. This episode is brought to you by Two Good and Company coffee creamers.

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roasted vanilla and lavender. So which one are you trying first? Find two good creamers at your local retailer in the creamer aisle. Very, very special guests, joining us today on higher learning. This just has been involved in so much like actress, host, all types of stuff,

all over the place. All around, beautiful, talented, accomplished lady. Sherry Shepard is joining us today on higher learning. Oh, hey, man. Hey, Miss Rachel Queen. So good to see you. So right away,

Sherry comes in and she forms a ball with Rachel, they did a panel together or something back in the day and I feel a little left out. Sherry, we've never met, right, or we've never done anything together. We don't have any history, which is odd for me in the industry. I know we don't.

Oh my gosh. You know, I have been a fan of yours band and for a minute and so I follow you on social media and I follow your podcast and I said, wow, how do they get together? But it's so interesting. Rachel's

opinion and your opinion. And so I feel like I know you in my head. Sherry, Van was fishing for compliments and you just gave him one. Because it's a running joke on this show that he's always name-dropping who he knows and he can't stand the fact that you and I were connecting

and he was left out. But you know, Rachel and I also connect on the melanin queen, feminine goddess. Melan and queen, feminine goddess tip. Okay. Where do the brothers fit in that? They don't. I'm available for dinner.

There. So let me ask you something. Mellin and Queen, feminine goddess. Nick Cannon today was on the breakfast club. I don't know if you saw that. No, not yet. So this is what Nick Cannon said in the breakfast club. He said, I just want to know what you think about this.

Nick Cannon said that he doesn't subscribe to the Eurocentric version of a family. He thinks that one man, one family, nuclear family, we got that from the Europeans. That's a Western look at it, which is not completely historically and accurate before people jump in down Nick's throat. But Nick says having a family where it's him and basically all the Instagram models of Los Angeles

is more of the way that he sees a family. He says marriage is overrated. I'll ask you, Sherry Shepherd. Do you agree with any part of what Nick Cannon is saying? Do you think that in civilization today, we have run out of use for the institution of marriage? And grown women speak, get out of your bullshit. Yes. You know, Nick, you do what you want.

I think you're very fortunate that you have the funds to take care of your children. But here is as a single mother where I stand. It's very hard to divide, unless all those women are like sister wives and they're all living in houses next to each other with the open backyard and the kids are together, it's very hard to space out your time with all of the children. So somebody loses out on time with their father being together. I'm a single mom. I can't be the mother and the father for my son. So if I got to share you with five other, six other kids and four other women, in the practical of it, that's a little hard. But, you know, Nick Cannon is a really nice guy and I love him.

He's a great father, so I'm wishing him well. But all of that, Eurocentric, I'm not subscribing to at all because I'm here trying to raise a child and get his daddy to come in and spend a lot of time with him. Because being little, it's cute, but once in boys and you notice, Van, once you get to that age where you're a teenager and you need your daddy in there and you're looking at your mama like, you don't know nothing, you need that daddy in there a lot. No, you don't. I don't know how much Nick Cannon is going to be able to be flying back and forth. Like I said, unless they got the sister wives thing going, maybe it doesn't work. That's interesting because it works now because they're babies. Because they're little.

Yes, but how will it work when they're teenagers? That's interesting. I never thought of it from that perspective. I think Rachel, people don't. Babies are cute when they little. I hear this, you know, and you don't think about that as they get older, that bigger picture. How much more, it's a, and girl, when you have your child, you and Brian, and when y'all get your thing going, it's a different, but Van knows this. It's different raising your son when he's younger versus when he gets to preteen versus teenager versus older. It's a different kind of need that they have. And so, you know, I'm wishing that I'm hoping that if Nick Cannon thinks he going die tomorrow, then you got all these kids. They need their daddy. So before you start throwing sperm everywhere, think about that. Throwing sperm everywhere.

It is throwing sperm. You rob-dogging it with everybody. Oh, my God. Sherry, recently you posted on Instagram that you were checking out for a minute. And as Van just talked about at the top of this interview, he said that you do it all. And you do from acting to hosting to comedian to podcasting, every single thing. And I've been a fan for a long time. And I think when I saw you in person and I saw the way you hosted this panel, not only did you work the room, you worked the panel.

It was so flawless. I've never seen anything like it. But because you do it all, I thought it was. interesting that you just were like, you know what, I got to check out for a minute. Can you talk a little bit about why that's necessary for you, not just to do it, but then also let everybody else know that you were doing it as well? Right. I know people say, if you got to check out, don't tell us. But it's my page, and I'm going to let you know because people come onto your page for different things, you know, and a lot of people come onto my page because they want to be inspired, they want

to laugh. And I just felt like I needed to give myself some self-care. I think there's a good, good, a bad about social media. And sometimes you give, you give, you give. And you need to just sit back and give to yourself. So it has been quite wonderful being on social media and not posting because now I've, well, I found that the God sounds like Barry White, haven't heard his voice in. In a minute and I've been able to sit and go, okay, what, what Lord am I supposed to be doing with doing it all?

It's a lot of spinning plates and I got a 16-year-old. who's bucking up now. And I'm like, you know, it's just to take care of myself for a minute so that I can pour out and inspire other people. It's interesting. Do you feel like being consumed with social media might stop us from being able to hear the voice of God

when he's talking to us? I do sometimes, Van, I think, because social media is a lot, it's a lot of noise. It's a lot of inspirational noise. It's a lot of gossipy noise. It's a lot of, ooh, he looked good noise. It's a lot of twerking noise. It's a lot of, you know, it's just, it's so much noise and it's so much.

Because I found myself getting up in the morning. And before I even said, Lord, thank you for this day, Father God. I was like, ooh, what's been going on with debate? Ooh, I'm taking my phone to the bathroom. I've got it outside the shower. And then I haven't gone to church. So I'm getting my little inspirational courts from people, you know, telling me about God, I don't even know who they are.

So I'm like, yeah. So I think sometimes it does drown out. That's because God has a very soft, silent voice. And, you know, sometimes that gets drowned out, that little voice that sometimes we don't want to hear because it's keeping us accountable. So, yeah. Well, speaking of self-care and health, you have taken us along your health journey. And you recently just did the cover of People Health.

Looking fabulous. Congratulations. I know it would be a lot for you to talk about all of it. But if you can just talk about what made you start on that journey and how you're feeling out because you look fantastic. Thank you so much. This is the best I've ever felt. I have to say I'm a type 2 diabetic and I have diabetes.

Well, as black people like to call it, the sugar. The sugar. Ain't nothing sweet about diabetes. I'm going to tell you that right now. But, you know, it runs in my family and I had a lot of deaths in my family. My mom passed away when I was in my 20s. She passed, what, 41 from complications of diabetes? And I got a son that I'm raising by myself and he's got unique challenges.

And when he said, Mommy, if you die, who's going to be my bodyguard? Rachel, that hit me so hard because I'm right to die for that boy, even though, like I said, he don't too much, he's not feeling his mama right now. But it just changed my perspective about what am I letting in this body of mine and how is it affecting my day-to-day living and my lifestyle? and I realized I had to make a change. With that change of my lifestyle came the weight loss. That's the perk of it. But for me, it was just being healthy. I want to keep working in this industry.

I don't want to be one of those people where you say, whatever happened to Sherry? She was there, and she not. You know, so I wanted to continue working. I wanted to be able to run around with my son. I wanted to be able to let his girlfriend, his wife know. He likes his colors, washwood, his drawls. He fold up towels.

I wanted to be able to do all that and be healthy and smiling and, you know, and it just required me to change my lifestyle. So I'm really happy about that. Yeah, I'm happy for you as well. You seem it there you seem so when you're talking about everything, even when you keep bringing something up that's going on with your son, he's getting into teenage years. You know, my dad used to call that recipe pops.

My dad used to say he's like, just let me know when you start smelling yourself. Oh. My dad would say, just let me know when you start smelling yourself. You're not quite there yet. He looked at me at me. I was 13.

He's like, you're about to start. But just let me know when you start smelling yourself. I'll explain to you what the smell really is. And I was like, oh, my God. That seems like a fucking terrible conversation. That's not a good conversation. And your father did it. Not only is he smelling himself,

I can smell his room from here. I'm walking in a man, please. tell me how your room could smell like dead bodies and booty. It's just, I don't know. And I think my son, he's reaching his age. He loves me, but he don't like me, you know. And it's that, it's that thing, you know, because he's trying to be independent. And I am trying to let him, but I have that black mother fear because he's my boy.

And so I'm not letting him be as independent as he would like. and I think he just, he's bucking up against it. And I'm trying to figure out in this season of this, how do I be the mother that he needs me to be? You know, that's my king. So, woo. It's interesting, it's interesting,

because, like, what you're talking about right now is very, there are a lot of sisters that are going through that, you know, all different walks of life. Some that aren't as blessed as you to be doing as fabulous as you're doing in life. So they have also a financial component on top of dealing with the, hey, how do I relate to this growing black man that's in my house? For you, not having his dad there every single day of everything. I'm not saying that it's adding around.

I don't know the situation. But what do you feel like is missed the most? For me, and I bow down to the sisters out there who are trying to hold it down, like you said, financially, with other children. No man in the house, got to go to work. It's stressful. And then, you know, you got and then you got a son who wants to just get out there and do everything and knowing that society will not allow him to fall the way their other counterparts of other colors are allowed to fall and grow. So for me, what's missing in my son's life is I think the male stuff. So I try to surround him with mentors, with male mentors to guide him. You know, he's just at the age. He don't think I know anything.

He don't even want, he don't even want me to call him by his name. He wants to be called JT because so many people know his name. They go, oh, you Sherry, son. That's the wrong thing to say. Right. You Sherry, son. Oh, my gosh. He said to me the other day, he said, I'm going to be more famous.

than you. I'm going to have more money than you. And I said, well, go ahead. Can you just let me teach you how to do that? Yeah. It might be, I'm already here. It might be dope if you let me teach you how to fish because I can give you an advantage to get that stuff. You know it's 16. You can't hear that. You can't hear. We've all been there. Yes, very true. Right.

Y'all keep going. I got it. I got it. No, you don't have it. You don't have it. So, you know, that thing, I think, you know, male presence, I think, and I, and I, Even when I'm on stage doing stand-up, I asked me and I said, if you know a single mother, please help a single mom out. I don't want your man, ladies. Just step in and help me with some basic things. How do I teach my son how to shave? Just, you know, things I have no idea what's going on down there.

Right. I don't know. I don't have the same part. In addition to everything you're just talking about, about raising a son, And with everything that we've gone through, I mean, as black parents, black, being black, raised in a black family, we've been having these conversations. But with everything, with the world now coming, I guess, to an understanding of or trying to understand what we go through, what were the conversations like that you've had with your son

over the last year? Oh, Rachel, it has been rough. I mean, you know, George Floyd, when we got the verdict for George Floyd, Jeffrey came and hugged me. He's tall and in me. You know, it has been a lot of stress, and I talk about this with a lot of black mamas. We have faith, but it's another level of

faith having a child who's black and having a son, knowing when my son wants to Starbucks, I can't breathe until he comes back until I see him walking around the corner, you know? Because he looks, if you were to look at my son, you could tell.

This boy is a, ain't but a little teenager, but to police officers of other people, he looks like he's about 18. He's big, he's got a deep voice. You know, but he's so innocent. So it is, it's hard to breathe,

you know, and it's a different prayer. A black mother has a different prayer than everybody else for her child. So the thing is, it's been hard explaining to my son that people will not give him a chance because of his color, that people will

not like him because of his color. Van, I'm having to explain to my son, baby, when you walk in a room, you don't get to be in a mood when you don't say hi. You have to walk in a room with a smile. Man, this is so crazy. Like,

it is rough. My mother, my mother used to pray for me. My mother used to ask for two things. She used to say, Lord, put Van in your armor. Yeah. Like, put Van in your armor

so, like, nothing can get through there. Put them in the armor so nothing can physically. And then she would pray for backbone. She would say, pray that Van has the backbone to be able to withstand things. And she would tell me she would be like, now look, because by the time I got to eighth grade, I was about six feet tall.

At the end of eighth grade, I was around 200 pounds, right? So I was a, that's a man. Even though I had a full baby face, flat top, the whole nine, I'm a child. I was a man. My mother would be like, you know, I'm never going to tell you to shrink yourself or I'm never going to tell you to not be who you are.

But she's like, when you do come into a room, when you do walk into a room, she's like, the reality is there might be some fear or trepidation for people around you. And you can't control that, but what you can control is how it mirrors back to you. She was like, either way. She's like, you can make them a more afraid and they'll do whatever you want. That's what your daddy does. Or you can go in there and find a way to connect with them. And she's like, I'm telling you the second way works better. And she And she would tell me that it's so crazy that you just basically said the same thing. She's like, I'm telling you the second way works better.

And I've been doing that since I was a kid. A black woman gave that to me. That is because we love you so much and we know what's out there. And then now put even on there a child with special needs who has a little bit of a difficult understanding of that. My son flaps his arms when he gets excited, which is like you're a big boy. You got to bring that down. You have to.

And I always ask the Lord, keep him on a short leash. when you got to pull him back, he comes. But I'm going to pray that backbone as well. How to explain, you know what's so hard is like, there's so many caring situations. I don't know where to start. When I looked at that man that was in the young man's face who was walking around the neighborhood,

my son knows when authority talks to you, you'd be respectful. So what do I tell my son if somebody's in your face screaming at you? Where do you live? You know, how do I equip him for that? Because all the time he can't call mama, because I swear to good gosh, when I see some of these situations,

I go, you don't want me around. Because I'm, you know, I'm shocked. Right. But, you know, he told me one time some woman in the park told him to get off the swing. And I was, we drove all the way up there. Where's she at?

What does she look like? People was going, hi, Miss Sherry, and not today. No people. Hey, where that woman at? But, you know, teaching, like, it's so many, instances, how do I equip

Jeffrey to be able to handle these situations that we didn't have to necessarily deal with? And, you know, again, that's what I said. I got to sit and be still and focus on how, and not put the fear of God in him that he can't go anywhere.

You know, when you're still walking in a room, go mama, I like white girls. What? If if he was into white girls, Is that an issue? No. My son, I want somebody I pray who loves him and loves the Lord.

So whatever color she is. But what we're dealing with now is it's a black mother. I go, people turn on you sometimes. It's just, it's the fear of a black mother. I go, you know, I know Jamaica who works in Bank of America. If you meet Jamaica, I understand Jamaica because I got a cousin like her. you know, these carers that be coming out. That's a new model.

We don't really, you don't understand that. It's a different model. You got their daddy, how did daddy feel about you? Walking in here with this brown boy. Look, it's real what a black mother goes through. So it has nothing to do with, oh, I don't want you to date white girls. It's just that I just want you to be safe and I want you to be nurtured. And I want somebody who can look at your heart and love you.

And you want him to understand what comes with that. Yes. What comes with dating, yes. What comes with being in an interracial relationship. And, you know, whoever loves my son, I'm happy. I just want them to let me come live with them. So whoever that is. Why are you making the face, fan?

Why are you making the face? You see him looking at me? You're looking at me this whole time. Oh, interracial relationships. Okay. I was just about to say, if your son ever has any questions, you guys can call Rachel and Brian And they'll let you know.

Uncle Brian. They can't call me. Yes, they can. Or you can call me. Yeah, how do you deal with the looks? How do you? You know, you just want to keep your child safe. So when he said that, I just, I was like, this is just a new model.

I don't know. And I have to adjust and I have to deal with it. But I have to teach Jeffrey more of, you know, you may walk into a home with her family and they may not feel the same way about you. That, you know, a family, you walk in. to a black family. They might just embrace you and go, boy, get over here,

help me change the tire. Help me, you know, you may not get that. So what do you do? Yeah, it's tough. Yeah. Like, have I ever told the nigger toes story on this show?

I told it. Yes, you have. Yes. Like, a friend of mine, you might not heard of share it, a friend of mine had a grandpa, literally was the nicest guy I've ever met. Like, when I say the nicest guy

I've ever met, nice, helpful, would always want to talk to me. Is that van up there? Van, come on down and talk to me. He was in the basement most of the time. I go down and talk to him. I still went to his funeral and stuff

because he was a great guy, right? For the most part. One day there is a bowl of Brazil that's sitting on the seal on the like the little window seal right there. And he says, Van, when you come down to come visit with me, why don't you grab that bowl of nigger toes

and bring him with you? I'm like, I looked at my home. And I looked and I looked at his mom and his mom put her face in her hands. shit went van he's 81. Please. And I was like, I'll see y'all later. And I just broke out. But like, but, but, but, but things like that. Not that there's, look, I have a bunch of white friends that their grandfather never called the N-word. So I'm not saying it happens everywhere.

I'm just saying sometimes it would be nice to know you tell the kid that that shit might happen and like what, what comes with that? I'm telling you, right. I have had a white friend and I went over her house and was told I was the prettiest little color girl. I was like, I was at high school. I didn't know what, I was like, what is that mean? You know, we got through it and, you know, and I know he's going to go through something

that somebody might say, give me those niggatoes, Jeffrey. So your old show The View is looking for a new co-host or their, now they have Am I wrong about that? Have they hired a new co-hosts? Is it just rumors? They haven't had to. No.

There is some chatter online that the view, in order to replace Megan, should go for a black conservative female voice on the show. That they should have someone in the vein of a Candace Owens or somebody,

not Candace herself. that would never work. That would be a beautiful disaster. But a Candace Owens or an Angela Stan or any of the other black ladies out there that are a rising voice in the conservative on the conservative model of thinking.

What do you think about that? Because it seems as if people are saying, hey, you know, they did Megan that way. They would talk to Megan that way. This is what the people are writing saying. Put a black conservative lady on there and let her get off and show that dichotony. What do you think about that?

I would love to see that. I absolutely would love to see a black conservative on the show. I would love to see, you know, somebody on that where you could speak, get your point across and not have to argue everybody down to prove that you're this person. So I love it. I hope that they're searching for that. Do you think the show needs a conservative? Absolutely.

Because you know what? Here's the thing. When I was on there and I remember when Elizabeth Hasselberg, whenever she would go on maternity leave, our ratings would go down. Because we were all liberal in our own ways. I'm kind of a conservative liberal. And so, but we basically were saying the same thing. All of us sitting at the table and you didn't have that dissenting voice of Elizabeth

Hasselback. So we didn't want to watch a show what everybody's saying kind of the same thing. Even though we say it in different ways, we all agree about the same thing. So I think having a conservative voice on there, you're giving the other side, you know, play as well. And that's what I want to hear. But that's what the view started out is, is like different opinions from women of different ages. So I love, I want to hear what a conservative has to say because sometimes I sit there and go, what in the world are y'all talking about? So if somebody could explain it to me intelligently and, you know, respect.

I want to hear it. Yeah, no, that's true. See, I don't have an issue at all with conservative thought, like, at all. You know, we have a guy coming on the podcast this week. One of my friends, Camille Foster. Oh, he's friend now. Okay. Yeah, he's my friend.

I can't, can you, can you be friends with a conservative? Absolutely. I just decided no he was your friend. Yeah, he's my friend. Rachel, ooh, Rachel loves a good fight, sure. She loves a good fight. That's our fighter right there.

You know, you know, there's somebody right now that knows how much Rachel loves a good fight. And his name is Chris Harrison. He's somewhere right now. Somewhere in the ethos. He's somewhere out there going, I picked with the wrong, I fucked with the wrong one on that one. And I got a bad down to you, sister. I would put you all away. Of course.

Thank you, Sherry. All right. Last question for me. You are from Chicago. I am. You are from Chicago. What part of Chicago are you from? Southside of Chicago, 83rd, and Damon.

Southside Chicago, 83rd, Damon. Yep. You say Chicago now, and depending on who's talking, you get sort of a different view of the city. We had a guy on this show named Michael Rappaport. Are you familiar with Michael Rappaport? You know who he is? Yeah, I know what Michael Rappaport is, yes.

Yes. So I told Michael Rappaport. I was very upset with him, And I told him. I saw the episode. Right. And my basic thing was deaths in Chicago, deaths in New York,

deaths in Richmond, Virginia, Gary, Indiana, New Orleans, wherever, you post them up on your social media and you're putting up these negative images of black people out there and it does us no favors. But you know what I realized?

I realized that I am not from Chicago. So just like other people shouldn't be speaking on what's going on there, some of the violence. that people are talking about happens there. Maybe I shouldn't be speaking on it either. As a resident of the city or someone who's come from there, how do you feel when people shine a lens on some of the goings on in the city

that aren't so pretty to look at? Is it something that you feel like needs to be talked about more? Or is it something that you wish people would take care of internally and not demonize the city as being on fire 24-7? You know, I think our city, Chicago is a beautiful city. It really is. I hate the people think that that's a place that they can't go, that they can't move to. I hate all of the violence that is going on in Chicago, but I don't think taking care of it internally is working. I think the light does need to be shine, was shown shown on the violence that's happening in Chicago because something has got to be done. It's too many kids dying. It's too, it's just too much. much. So I'm not, what I don't like Van is people just putting it up there for our entertainment pleasure. That I don't think anything's getting done. I don't want anybody laughing at it. And I can't sand videos with, you know, I'm seeing people fighting and doing all of that because

it's not productive. That's all of the noise that I'm talking about. We got to do something about it. So for me and being from Chicago, a city that I absolutely love and my family's still there. You know, Chicago for me is family reunions, going to White Castle and Giordano's and going to the park in ever black plaza, looking at their boys. That's what I remember, you know, and just a wonderful time. And so I think the light does need to be shown on all of that going on. So people can be spurred to do something.

Right, right. Okay. I mean, that makes a lot. That's very fair. That makes a lot of sense. So, you know, hopefully. I think, and I'm sorry to interrupt you. We come from this, you know, I've always come from this thing of don't let people know our family business. You know, you keep that inside. And that dynamic, it never worked in my family of, you know, family business is family business. It just never worked.

That's why I'm in therapy right now. So I feel the same way about the city of Chicago. You try to keep it in the family. It's not working. Right. My last question for you, a lot of times in this industry, we see such a competitive nature, you know, people trying to get over on someone else. But I was reading how you, well, first of all, follow.

you know, you got your podcast with Kim, you're showing off your different friendships that you have on social media or see you attending birthday parties. But I was reading that the same people that you were auditioning with years ago, y'all still have remained close, whether it was a Garcell or like a Kim or a Nisi Nash. And I just think that's so beautiful to see black women uplifting each other when it can be so competitive in this industry. And I just wanted you to talk about the importance of that. I think as women, especially especially as black women. I think you come up again so much. And we need our other sisters to lift us up. It's just like what you came under fire with this whole Chris Harrison thing and you

stood your ground. Like you want to know that there's some other women lifting you up and supporting you. It's really, really important. You can't do this thing alone. This industry will eat you up alive. It really will. Life will eat you up alive. And unless you have women sitting there going, I got you. Then it's hard to keep moving. So it really concerns me when I hear women say, you know, I don't get along with women because they are always doing this and they always do. And I'm like, then you got to find some other friends because there are women out there who will always support you. So I'm so thankful I am where I am with all that I've gone through and all of the scandal. I've gone through with marriages and things because I have friends like Nisi Nash or Kim Whitley or Garcice-Bouvet who called and say, hey, Queen, I'm on my way.

if you need to crown my shoulder, if you need some money, if you need anything, I'm here. When I moved out here in Chicago and I was just worried because Jeffrey didn't know anybody, Garcell was like, I got two boys. We always got Jeffrey's back. We don't care what's going on, you know. So we need that. And I think we need to do it as mentoring. I do it with the young girls in this industry, the movie that I'm doing in Perfect High. A little girl named Nia Sue plays my daughter.

She was a little black girl. like her own dance moms and she was out there. She didn't know anybody out here. And I said, oh, let me do this. I'm about to have a party and introduce her to these divas that I know that I've grown up with so that she feels like she asked somebody that she can call because Nia was out there. We were filming this movie in Vancouver, Canada. And that baby was by herself.

Even though she was 18 and she goes to UCLA, this is her first acting role. And I was like, where's your mama? I'm by myself, Miss Sherry. Oh, well, guess who's going to be your mama? Because, you know, there's stuff in this industry she don't know about. And I let all of the crew members know everybody. This little girl is with me. So, fool with her, you're going to fool with me.

And she didn't know that because when you're young, you just, your eyes is so big, Rachel. You don't want anybody not to, you go through that thing. You don't want nobody not to like you. You don't want to make anybody mad. And you need somebody to kind of just show you the ropes. That's really important in this business. Otherwise, like I said, it will eat you. up. And I hate what I see and I hear girls say, I just didn't, I didn't know who to go to and I was

scared to say something. So I'm always, when we have to lip up our younger sisters and hold them tight so that they're not in situations where they feel like nobody's going to believe me, when I'm scared to say something, that somebody did something that made me uncomfortable. And that's what I let me know. If anybody, do something, you better come get me. See, it did say, y'all don't smile. Sherry Shepherd. Thank you so much for joining us on higher learning today. Thank you. Can I say watch my movie in Perfect High and Lifetime September 18?

And I play Nia Sue's mother and she descends into a world of prescription drugs in high school because that's such a big epidemic with these young kids prescription drugs. And my podcast, Two Funny Mamas, is on YouTube every Thursday with one of my best friends, Ken Whitley. And Dish Nation. And by the way, love Dish Nation. please tell Kim Whitley that I adore her. Oh, don't be calling you. I've loved Kim Whitley for years and I love me some Kim Whitley.

Please tell Kim Whitley just how much I love her. I will. And I'm co-hosting of you on October. Oh, we're coming back. Okay. Would you ever go back? No, I'm having too much fun. It's like, I want to sleep with an old boyfriend, Rachel, why?

Because you wake up and you go, why? This is why we broke up? up. You could have a J-Lo moment. You could be, y'all could be, it could be J-Lo and Ben. No, I don't, I'm, God bless them. I'm praying for the best. A lot of times you go backwards, you know, I want you to turn into a pillar of salt. Right.

Exactly. I love it. We're good. Lots of wife. All right. Bye-bye, Sherry. Thank you so much. See you.

Later. One, both of you. All right. Vansberry serious question of the week. You ready? Let's go. You have to be. So I'm taking two people off the,

off the off the board. Obama and Rihanna. Okay. You have to be, you have to switch and become a man. You have to be any living man right now. Live your life as this man.

What man would you want to be if you have to be a man? Okay, why is Rihanna off the table? Because that's what you would choose? Because if I was a layout, yeah, I would choose, you know, it would be the best. So who would you be if you had to be a man? What guy?

Wow. something I've never thought about. Never thought about it. Man, Obama, you really did take him off. Why would you do that, though? Why couldn't that be? It's too easy. Well, not for you.

You would never say that if you were in my position because you think he hasn't done anything. I wouldn't want to do it, but it's different. People get COVID at a birthday party. It's not for me. Who would I want to be? Who do you want to be? Ooh, this is tough.

Maybe Samuel L. Jackson. Wow, that works so well for you. You have a Samuel L. Jackson spirit. That makes so much sense for you. Sammy L.J. Like the more I learn about him, I'm fascinated by his life pre, you know, becoming famous. And then, you know, he's worked in so many movies. They've grossed billions and billions of dollars.

And he's just at the point where he's just living his life. He just doesn't give a fuck. Doesn't care. And I love it. Doesn't give a good goddamn. All right. For me, my first mind was Serena Williams. Okay.

That would be pretty dope to be Serena Williams. Yeah, I would. Is that too easy? I don't want to be Serena Williams. Kind of not keeping it all the way real. So, so, so, so, just a joke. I've figured out, the woman that I would be.

And it's a pretty easy choice when you think about it. Jada Pinkett Smith. Hell. You know, Will Smith crossed my mind and I said absolutely. Jada Pinkett Smith. Jada Pinkett Smith sat down with Will and they had an open conversation about the young man that was existing in their house.

It's Jada Pinkett Smith. Jada Pinkett. Smith is one of the, think about it. Jada Pickett and Smith has her own amazing career, which is a bar-in-a-nodun 24-carat-go actress acting career no matter which way you slice it, right? Jayda Pinkett Smith has her own career. She was hanging out with Tupac that whole time. She's a Tupac, death row days, the whole night. Jada has lived a life. You will, Smith, got the Red Table Talk, you know, got the great amazing, it would be Jada Pinkett Smith. It would be Jada

Pinkett Smith. That's on par for you because you get on my nerves and so does she. Jada Pinkett Smith gets on your nerves? I think she just does too much. I'm not taken away from her acting from her successful Red Table Talk series, but like personally I just feel like she's always doing

the most. I don't like people who seem like they're always craving for attention. She's a, to me, she like, so maybe that's you as well. She just loves the attention that comes her way. I don't know. And it's obvious.

Like, there's nothing subtle about it to me. Well? Like, I think she wants to be Willow. You think she wants to be Willow? Like her young daughter, like just, I don't know. There's just something about her that rubs me the wrong way. But the Tupac thing, yeah, that would get me to. All right.

That's going to do it for us. What would you have done if I had said I wanted to be like Brad Pitt? What would you have done? if I said I wanted to be a white man. Hey, that's your thing. I'm not taking away from it. No, it's Samuel L. Jackson all the way. Samuel Jackson all the way.

I always just sent you like a couple of bars or so. Just to make sure that things are going down the way they're supposed to be going down. Look, a little tweak, tweak in the schedule, I think, because we're recording Wednesday. So we might be dropping the patio pod on Thursday instead of on Friday. Okay, guys, because Rach here is got a, she's a jet seta.

Where are you going? It's a surprise. Oh, okay. Well, it's a surprise. It's a surprise. That means that Rachel probably, so right there, drum it up, is Rachel hosting Bachelor in Paradise? Bachelor style or whatever the names of their shows are. By the way, before we go, there's still Bachelor shows going on right now, right?

Yeah, I think the Bachelorette's about to end. It ends this week. And then they're currently filming the other Bachelorette season. There's another Bachelorette season on now? Yeah, it's been on this whole time. They just fucking did a Bachelorette season. Did they not?

Mm-mm. It started in May and it just now ended. Wait, Tasha? The same one. Tasha, was it? Last summer. Damn, time is just jumping by. Last summer.

But they have two Bacheloretts this summer. So, there's another Bachelor of season filming now. All right, well, make sure, I'll make sure to not have to watch them.

All right, we are out of here. Take your thing caps off, but do not stop learning. Thank you to Sherry Shepherd for joining us today. My name is Van Lathen Jr. And I'm Rachel Lynn Lansing.

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