Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - The Diddy Saga, Trump’s Bible, and Black Representation in Media

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay discuss the Diddy situation including the raid on his house, the lawsuit, and the internet’s reaction to the many revelations of his lawsuit (07:27). Then, they chat ab...out Trump’s new “holy” product (47:58) and the backlash from the new Good Times reboot (1:01:03). Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producer: Ashleigh Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:01 Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, phone lawyers. What is up? I learned it's all in his eye, Van Lathen, Jr. And it's me, Rachel and Lindsay. Orisha, what kind of hat you got right now? I like it. I'm shitting on you right now. No, you're not.
Starting point is 00:00:20 Not even a little bit. I like your hat, but it's more like an outback hat. Oh, not even a little bit? Not even a little bit. You got like an outback hat. Like a, like a, it's not like a, it's like a, it's kind of. It's not like a. It's not a proper cowboy hat.
Starting point is 00:00:33 It kind of dips in the front, and I got the branding on it. You see that? What's that? Your R.L. Rachel Lindsay? R.L. With the Texas. With the Texas on it.
Starting point is 00:00:46 It's a Kimosabi hat. I finally did it. They broke me down. I got a Kimosabi hat. A Kimosabi hat. That sounds problematic. You know, I thought about that for a second. But they have these stores everywhere.
Starting point is 00:01:02 I mean, I think it's okay. What's your opinion of Tonto? Of who? Tonto. So he's a sidekick, right? Yeah, sidekick to the Long Ranger. So I never watched the show. Don't know anything about it.
Starting point is 00:01:26 But I'm assuming he was offensive. Because he was, what, Latino? No, he was a Native American. he was this so so I don't want to do this anymore I don't want to do it anymore in my defense I said I'd never watched it
Starting point is 00:01:46 right you didn't watch you never watch I shouldn't have even taken a guess I shouldn't have even taken a guess this is my fault the years between us there's some things that expire because it's only like six years but there are some things
Starting point is 00:02:02 that expire during that six years six years, I think. The Long Ranger is a really old show. I'm telling you, in the 80s, people was still, it was still kind of around. I promise you, it was still kind of around. It was like, there are certain things that don't get talked about anymore, but they culturally expired in the 80s. It was still kind of around in the 80s, the lone ranger was.
Starting point is 00:02:33 All right. But isn't it a black and white show? Yeah, it definitely was. Okay. It definitely was. Tonto is the one who used to say Kim Osabi. But he can't. He's Native American, right?
Starting point is 00:02:52 Yeah. Yo, it's the green machine. We're going to rock the town without being seen. Have you ever seen the turtle? Get down. What movie is that from? Down. You don't know any.
Starting point is 00:03:06 What movies is that from? Teenage Mutinyan Ninja Turtles Two, Secret of those Yeah, with Go Ninja, go, ninja, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, ninja, ninja See, these are things I was allowed to watch.
Starting point is 00:03:25 So you think I know that one. I got to give it up to you, man. I'm impressed. You guys, let me tell you what's happening right now. It's 9 o'clock on the East Coast. I'm in Orlando right now. Disneyland? Disney World?
Starting point is 00:03:44 No, got some business to take care of here in South Florida. Then I'm moving on to New York. Okay. And then I'm moving on to Philly for El WrestleMania. Won't be back in L.A. for a while. So. Actually, good to know that you won't be back for a while. For my own personal schedule.
Starting point is 00:04:05 Because that means I can move around. No, no, no. No, no. It just means. they're like, oh, if we're not in person, then I can maybe travel. Where are you going to go? Don't worry about it. Rachel and I had a very interesting conversation about how the playbook will manifest itself.
Starting point is 00:04:28 You call it interesting. This is being negotiated. This is being negotiated. This is being negotiated. I would love to actually welcome in the thought warriors because the thing is you want to do this for the thought warriors. And my issue is. Van calls it interesting. I call it slightly disturbing.
Starting point is 00:04:45 This is my life. This is my life, the playbook. And originally it was about, Rachel, I'm going to give you the tools you need to succeed in your next chapter. Now it has become for fun for you. And I would actually like to find somebody in the next chapter. And I don't want to get a reputation of, Rachel's just doing this for show on her podcast.
Starting point is 00:05:14 I really, when I'm ready, because I'm not ready now, I would like, you know, to take the playbook seriously. I don't want to be it. I don't want it to be a joke. Okay. This is what, this is what we'll ask the audience this as we dispense and pleasure trees and get on into the show, which has had a lot of depressing shit in it, but I'll say this.
Starting point is 00:05:37 It, to me, it seems like a slam dunk to have the playbook. be a part of the higher learning podcast. I envision a whole higher learning vertical. Higher learning presents the playbook, maybe a limited series where we delve into this and we really, really get into it. But Rachel has a point. And more than anything,
Starting point is 00:06:02 more than my love of content, I love Rach. But we do have to figure out how to get a little bit of playbook in here. Just a little bit. Because you're turning it into the fun book. The fun book. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:18 Like it's becoming something different. And a year from now, I don't want to be committed to the fun book and not the playbook. Yeah, but also, you know, I don't want to, don't think too far down the line, no. All right. Live in the now. You know, Rach, it's your time, Rach.
Starting point is 00:06:37 Everybody's talking about it. My mom, everyone's like, oh, my God, Rachel was glowing. like Rachel looks amazing. Everyone, everyone feels it. Rachel, fucking get it. It's your time. There's a lot of people out there right now and they're sitting around in their homes and they're like,
Starting point is 00:06:53 when it's going to be my time? When is it's going to be my time? That's your answer now. It's your time now, Rachel. Okay, okay, okay. All right, guys, it happened as we were getting off from the podcast on Monday and there's been literally nothing else
Starting point is 00:07:13 that people have been talking about the entire week. Right. So we will be talking about it on the other side of this break. The unfolding ongoing saga with one Sean Diddy Love Combs. On the other side of this break. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Trimfaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start.
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Starting point is 00:08:11 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 Tramphiatoradio.com. The playoffs are here and you can predict the action all the way to the finals with Fandul Predict. Predict the spread, total points, and even the game winner. Sign up and get a time. $25 bonus. Offered by Fandul prediction markets LLC, a registered futures commission merchant.
Starting point is 00:08:43 18 plus. Bonus is non-withdrawable and expires seven days after receipt. Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tool. Restrictions apply. See terms at fandual.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash terms. Okay. Literally one of the most annoying and aggravating things that can happen in a podcaster's career is you get off of your podcast. And look, if it was to happen like 20 minutes after you finish recording, fine. 10 minutes after you finish recording, go. But that
Starting point is 00:09:13 two to three hour thing sucks. Huge, huge, huge news breaks. The Department of Homeland Security raids. These are feds. So they raid properties in both Miami and Los Angeles
Starting point is 00:09:29 that are owned by Sean Combs. A dramatic scene unfolding in both places. Two of Puff's sons are handcuffed during this time. It's a raid. Unclear right now what the purpose of the rate was. It seems to be a raid that was to find evidence of some sort.
Starting point is 00:09:52 There was a search warrant that warrant was executed both places. Right away, the internet started going crazy. There was talk that Puff had hopped on a jet and got out of the country that turned out to not be true. Another one person connected to him, an ex-basketball player. from Syracuse was arrested. They're saying that this guy's Puff's alleged drug mule. All of this is on the hills, of course, of increased scrutiny that Puff is under because of not only a lawsuit that was filed and then settled by Cassie,
Starting point is 00:10:30 then another lawsuit, a separate lawsuit that was filed by ex-producer and business partner of his name Little Rod. that alleged all types of things. And we talked about it here. It is not the most, what I mean? Credible lawsuit that we've ever seen. There were mistakes in the lawsuit. There were things in the lawsuit that were disproven and all of that.
Starting point is 00:10:54 However, that plus some of the allegations that Cassie made and hers that was settled seems to have been more than enough. that plus other things that I'm hearing, like there may be an informant involved or something like that. There's got to be. Actually take that out. Oh, okay, you say that's got to be. Let me just say this.
Starting point is 00:11:18 What I don't think we know what evidence they used or what information I should say they used to go to a judge and get the judge to sign off on this. Whatever it was, it was beyond a reasonable suspicion. And it was enough for that judge to say, Hmm, based on the information that you're giving me, there was, I believe that if you search these locations, you can find evidence or fruits of a crime that has been committed or that is being committed.
Starting point is 00:11:47 That's what that says. And I don't think it has, I don't think it's the lawsuit. I don't think, because that's usually, that's not usually how it goes. There is, I would bet money that there is an informant. There is some type of witness that has convinced. these attorneys, this judge, that, hey, you need to go in here because this is what you could find. They've got to have something more than a suspicion. It's got to be probable cause.
Starting point is 00:12:15 So there absolutely is somebody cooperating. And it's very important to understand even the mechanism of this, you know, intense, intensified scrutiny on someone with things this serious, with somebody this high profile. What it does is it makes authorities afraid to ignore it. Right? So it makes authorities, particularly federal authorities, afraid to be the ones that then missed on something that could be this big, with someone this high profile or could be this far reaching. So where the lawsuits do come into this is the smoke that starts to billow around someone,
Starting point is 00:13:03 makes people believe that certain things are true. And then when you have people who come out and might have information about those things, law enforcement then goes, okay, this guy is a credible target. And because this guy is a credible target because of things that are being said and a reputation, we might actually be taking a really powerful offender
Starting point is 00:13:26 out of circulation if we take this super seriously. And that's important to know. it's important to know because if anybody is wondering what the results are or the effects from the New York Survivors Act, the Adult Survivors Act, or just a conversation around what we are accepting or not accepting in terms of sexual Congress, in terms of consent, in terms of coercion and all of those things, all allegations. But when we talk about these things, the conversation around them does matter. it does matter because a lot of times it incentivizes law enforcement to move on things. Remember with a lot of these guys it started off as allegations. Harvey Weinstein started off not as a criminal indictment as allegations and talk around this guy
Starting point is 00:14:21 that at least is something criminal. Bill Cosby starts off not as not of a criminal allegation but of talk around him then it becomes criminal. Of course his stuff was later overturned because of the way it was gathered. But my point is that there's going to be such scrutiny on Puff right now and honestly, such smoke around him that any, any spark will lead to a raging fire. Yeah, and I would also say that I think to add to that, I think there is more pressure that you want to have your ducks in a row because this is so high profile that you're not just,
Starting point is 00:15:00 That's why I say it's beyond what the public is privy to, which is why they're being so secretive about the confines of what's in that search warrant. You know, some people were saying, you know, you saw his sons detain. We don't know if there's an arrest warrant. And I think now it's come out that there wasn't, but at the time, people didn't know. You knew there was a search warrant. They were searching the property. We didn't know what they were searching for. We don't know specifically what the allegations are.
Starting point is 00:15:26 But, and I think there's a reason that they're being so private about it, because, they because they knew the attention that would come about this, they can't mess it up. They've got to get it right. And so that's why I think it's information that we aren't even privy to because I think they would not have acted on this if they didn't have a really good case in front of them. What they believe is a really good case. Very, very, very low chance at this point that Puff doesn't fall. I think he's already, I think it's.
Starting point is 00:16:00 it's there. Yeah. Very low chance that puff. What's the recovery of this? You know, it's... I'm not talking about fall. I'm not talking about fall in terms of his... Reputation.
Starting point is 00:16:12 Talking about his criminal. That's done. That's like that... So here's the thing about it. If you look at the career of Sean Holmes starts off selling your product, right? Sales you music. But that,
Starting point is 00:16:28 there's an attachment to that music. and the attachment is the lifestyle that goes along with it, right? It wasn't just rap. It was the way they did it, how they did it, what they wore, where they went. It was all white parties in the Hamptons with like the top of celebrity. Not like this wasn't, you know, sometimes we have the, the tendency to downgrade our own parties and say, oh, the party isn't here. It's not lit unless Leonardo DiCaprio or Robert DeNiro and Robert DeNiro and all. those guys are there, but these were the types of people that were at these parties, like the top of the top of the top.
Starting point is 00:17:04 He was not just the biggest mogul, but the biggest social mover as well, right? What happens is the music part of that fizzles out. So the product that he starts to sell isn't music anymore. It's completely lifestyle. It's all lifestyle. It's what he was able to, the lifestyle part of it, what he was able to curate and show to people, the lifestyle, part of it outlived the music, even the Sorok. The Sorok doesn't taste
Starting point is 00:17:34 that much different than any other thing that you were by, but the reality of it is the lifestyle that they and it's good, but the lifestyle that they were able to create around the Sorok is what was being sold. The litigation of that lifestyle now
Starting point is 00:17:49 and the investigation into it and what it entailed is part of why this story won't go away. And part of why people are so intrigued with it because it was so aspirational for so long. It was such a big part of the very foundation of the last 30 years of hip hop and American and partly of black culture, to be honest with you, that aspirational lifestyle.
Starting point is 00:18:21 Really, he was right there on the cusp of it, and then the guys that come after that, they're kind of chasing what it's like to be puffing away. And when you start to really investigate that and look at it and see maybe what was behind the veil there, it just makes you ask all kinds of questions about everything that you might have thought when you were in high school, when you're in college, when you're living right now, as an adult. I mean, do you have to think about the way he positioned himself? So, like, as you say, we look at him and are like, man, this is a guy who has stayed relevant, culturally relevant, who people still look up to and aspire to be. decade after decade after decade. Well, how is it that he's implemented himself in the culture to where that's continued to happen?
Starting point is 00:19:06 You would hear, you know, and I guess more so now that I'm connected more to the industry of like, oh, you know, he fostered this person's career, he really mentored them. And then you start to look at it and it's like, well, what is a puffy flavor camp? And then people are, like you're seeing this stuff
Starting point is 00:19:24 kind of fall out now, like an old interview from Usher Raymond in 2004 with Howard Stern, where he's saying, I saw things that I've never seen before. And he's describing some of them, but he's just like, the whole purpose of the camp was to introduce them to a lifestyle. And without being privy to what that specific lifestyle was that he got at that camp, you just think, oh, he's mentoring him to give him the steps that he needs to succeed for his career to span over decades. But in reality, it was introducing them to the bad boy lifestyle, the puffy lifestyle. as stuff is starting to unfold. And we still don't have the answers.
Starting point is 00:20:04 We may never know really what that all entailed, but you're realizing it wasn't quite what it was presented to be. It wasn't what you thought it was. And that's kind of scary when you start to look at the trajectories, oh, the trajectory of some of these people's careers and how they've had trouble. Did I get it? You got it. You understand.
Starting point is 00:20:27 And how they've had trouble. as they've, you know, progressed through Hollywood. And you wonder if it was because of how it started for them and how they were, dare I say, groomed into this industry. So here's the deal. It's important to point out a couple of things here. Number one, it's important to point out use the right nomenclature for things, right? So people have read Little Rod's lawsuit, which we talked about here,
Starting point is 00:20:58 which makes all types. of accusations and assertions and they have said that this is the indictment. There's no indictment. Right. There's been no indictment. That's not an indictment. It's a lawsuit.
Starting point is 00:21:08 And in a lawsuit, you make a lot of claims. We did a story at TMZ one time about this guy who sued Johnny Mansell saying that that Johnny Mansell was at
Starting point is 00:21:24 was at Disneyland and that he jumped out of the It's a Small World Ride and pulled his penis out and started singing It's a Small, Small World. No. And it was running around. Okay. So look, what I'm saying is that it was this dude who used to file these joke lawsuits. And then we would just cover them because they would get thrown out or whatever, whatever.
Starting point is 00:21:55 My point by saying that is that you can. file a lawsuit, then put anything in a lawsuit. That's like, the standard of that is like this, it's like whatever. The lawsuit, the credibility of the lawsuit is in how deep the investigation in the lawsuit it is,
Starting point is 00:22:10 how deep the investigation in the lawsuit is, how strong it actually is. If you have all your facts and your ducks in a row, you might scare the other side into settling into doing something else. But, you know, a lot of times crazy lawsuits get dismissed and all that type of stuff. So there's no indictment.
Starting point is 00:22:25 Right now, formerly, Puff hasn't been accused of any crimes, actually. He hasn't. He hasn't been indicted. He hasn't even been accused on any crimes. These are allegations that are leading to a deeper criminal investigation. Now, when the feds come to you, that's never a good sign. So they have a real belief that something is happening.
Starting point is 00:22:52 But nobody knows what the actual investigation is about. And when I say what, even if it's a human trafficking investigation, how, what the, what the nuts and bolts of it are or anything like that. We have to, just so people know that, we have to tell you guys that and say that to you guys so that we protect ourselves here on microphones from anything that anybody else who might be hyper litigious would want to say. We have to make sure we protect ourselves. However, having said that, I think it's also important for people to really pay attention to the stuff that Rachel was just saying. A lot of this stuff from the past, there was an understanding that there was a little bit of weirdness or a little bit of kookiness or a little bit of fluid, sexual shit that will go on in some of these places. and we accepted it as the basic weirdness of Hollywood or of Manhattan or Miami or of places like that. Our expectation of what people should be doing and how they should be acting
Starting point is 00:24:07 and how they should be treating, especially people who aren't initiated in some of these lifestyles, it changed real quick. And it changed real quick and we're redoing this on the fly. So as we redo this and ask ourselves, not as we, as we, enforce things that we always felt like or knew that should be true? Like no one would ever think that a child
Starting point is 00:24:31 should be in a sexualized environment. But I'll tell you one thing, we ignored it for a long time. I'm just being honest. Intellectual, you know a child shouldn't be in a sexualized environment. A minor shouldn't be in a sexualized environment, but we ignored it. We did. Like, that interview comes out in the past. Nobody basenai.
Starting point is 00:24:52 Nobody goes, oh my God, what's going on? happening like why it is nobody nobody and if the people that were doing it they they was so quiet that it was like almost extinguished with ah it's kind of how things go um so now that we're doing this i won't i won't let people know something the questions won't end here they won't end with here they won't in with puff they won't because when you start looking back and asking questions about what was appropriate and what wasn't appropriate they're going to be a ton of people. They're going to get called down
Starting point is 00:25:27 to have questions asked of them and are going to have to answer some questions. It's going to go forward. It's going to go. It's going to affect your faith. It is. There's no way it doesn't. It's going to affect your faith. It will. The longer they've been around, the longer they've been doing everything, particularly
Starting point is 00:25:43 people that were around in the 20, the 2000s, and the 90s and the early parts of it. It's going to affect your faith. Now, I think that we should be responsible about that. Like a lot of people were throwing Jay Z's name into this going Jay Z is next, Jay Z is next, Jay Z is next, Jay Z is next. Yeah, they were.
Starting point is 00:26:05 And I mean, people were making jokes, but I don't know, man. You guys know that like I'm not the biggest, hugest fan of Jay Z and the way as far as a rapper and all of that stuff I am. But that was unfair on what they were doing. That's unfair, right? Is there any evidence to suggest that Jay Z had done anything? It's not even just unfair.
Starting point is 00:26:30 It's really irresponsible. And it just shows that people are like making a joke of, people are making a joke of very serious allegations. Like, although we don't know anything, it is being reported that this is related to sex trafficking. So to then start being irresponsible and flipping about just throwing other people's names out there
Starting point is 00:26:52 because they are high profile in the same industry or they've have a lot of pictures, they're connected with this person. I would be terrified to do that. Why are we in such a rush to find the next person? Why can't we just wait? And hopefully this is it, even though I think we both know it's not.
Starting point is 00:27:09 I think that's why it speaks volumes that so many people. You know, in addition to Puff being the mogul that he is, he was super connected to so many people. He seemed to be everybody's friend. Everybody's friend, right? Everybody love pub. No enemies out there. And not one person, except for Luke, has come out and said something that was in favor of
Starting point is 00:27:35 Ditty. Complete silence. And whether that be because you're scared of public perception of you taking up for them, whether you're scared that you might be implicated in some way, whatever it may be, The silence is deafening. And so I'm going a little bit off track, but back to your point about the Jay-Z. I just don't understand why we live in a society where people are so eager to then start being the one to be the first to say this or I said this or I think this. These are huge assumptions, guys.
Starting point is 00:28:10 This is serious. And we don't even know. We don't even know how deep this goes. No, you're right. You're right. And so, look, all the questions have to be had. All the questions have to be answered and they have to be asked. But they have to be asked and answered very seriously. They're going to be jokes. They're going to be nicknames. They're going to be memes. They're going to be all of that stuff. But what it's not funny to do, if there is reason, if there is allegation, if there is a victim saying, hey, this happened to me, we owe it to the victim and we owe it to ourselves to look into it. that with as much veracity as we can, right? Yeah. The veracity of the claim. Maybe veracity is not the right word.
Starting point is 00:28:58 Ferocity is probably a better word. Veracity is a little different. Maybe I got to go over my skee's there. Anyway. But just to say things, allegations of this type of exploitation are just insanely serious. It's insanely serious.
Starting point is 00:29:17 And I know we burnt out book Come on, y'all. Just as we move forward, like, let's try to know stuff as we know it. All right. Don't fucking spare nobody. Don't matter how much you like their music.
Starting point is 00:29:35 Don't matter how much you like their liquor. Don't matter how much you like whatever they're doing. If you feel like someone was taking advantage of young women, young men, whatever, have to go and get that person and hold them accountable. but if there's no reason to believe that about somebody you've got to be better than just jokes and jokes and jokes.
Starting point is 00:29:57 They had Jay Z's name trended for two days with absolutely nothing surrounding not that I know of, nothing that I've ever heard or seen no, I haven't seen the lawsems or anything like that and it's just come on man. Well, part of it is, let's be honest, part of it was spurred on by 50. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:15 Yeah, like, and he's in the mix. So, you know, people, whether he's joking or like, just like, whatever it is, people believe him. They believe him. Well, I mean, if for whatever reason, I'm not aware of any issues between, but between 50 and Jay. But if for whatever reason, you are on 50's bad side, you stay there. I don't even know if 50's on his, I don't know if Jay's on his bad side. It's just like nobody is spared. It's like nobody is spared.
Starting point is 00:30:51 That's what it seems like. He's just like anybody could get it. He would have to be on this bad side. I don't know. The thing between 50 and Puff goes a little bit deeper. And, you know, I'm, you know, I think anybody that's reading into that can kind of read what that's all about. But I still think that's pretty much just a tip, pretty much just the tip of the iceberg, even with that. But the reality of it is that.
Starting point is 00:31:18 When you are, if you think that antagonizing or needling or trying to fuck with 50 cent is a good idea, you better play your cars close to the vest. Now 50 is into it with his baby's mom, Daphne Joy, who was in the comfort of Puff for a while, was named in a lawsuit. And now there are allegations being thrown back and forth between her and 50. she's alleging different types of abuse against 50. 50 is saying he's taking her back to family court because her lifestyle wasn't healthy for their son. So the tentacles from this are not even close to stopping grabbing around the industry. They're going everywhere.
Starting point is 00:32:06 The tentacles are going everywhere. And for as much as we know, there's still a lot more to be now. And can we just talk about like how deeply disappointing and frustrating this is? I mean, I'm not saying that Diddy is somebody that, you know, I particularly aspired to be, but he is somebody that I looked at and was proud of what they had accomplished. It's somebody that I was like, there's not one area that doesn't go untouch. whether it's fashion, whether it's TV, scripted, unscripted, movies, producing, business. Like, people wanted to work for him.
Starting point is 00:32:54 You had a whole show about that. An entertainer, a dancer, political activism, voter die, community service. They're just a father. He really, you know, put himself out there's a father. There just seemed to be so many things that he had his hand in in such a positive way. And when you see that whether you knew that there was speculation, whether you didn't, just to see that so much was happening behind the scenes for decades to allegedly, to couple that with other greats, like or other icons and legends. You've got Russell Simmons. You've got Michael Jackson.
Starting point is 00:33:35 You've got R. Kelly. It's just so frustrating. And this is what we know. Right? It's just frustrating to see people that have meant so much to the culture who have such ties to the culture just be somebody completely different. And I think it would be remiss of us to not have this entire conversation and then just talk about how disappointing this all is. And I don't say that to take away from the victims that are involved. I don't take that. I'm not taking away from that at all. Just speaking in general about what these people mean to the black community, it's disappointing. No?
Starting point is 00:34:17 Okay. It is. I'm numb to it. You work to TMZ. You work the TMZ. Guys, most people, you never realize most people don't have what you have. I know, I know. I'm numb to it.
Starting point is 00:34:34 Y'all, let me tell you the way I look at these people. you get to a certain level of fame and you're no longer a human being. You are an economy. And just like the economy of any other country, your ability to feed people and generate for people becomes paramount over almost anything else. Your ability to
Starting point is 00:35:07 just think about what you're going to, just think about happens when somebody falls. When somebody falls, it hits the manager, it hits the label, it hits the studio, it hits the chef, it hits the trainer, it hits the driver, it hits the people living off them, it hits the people, it hits the barber, not just the barber, but it hits the barber's family, right? Yeah. The girl that's getting paid from the guy, it's. It's, it, hits the other guy she's fucking with. So imagine you're paying a girl,
Starting point is 00:35:47 right? 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, 30,000 a month. You can't see her that often. You pay her that money. There's another guy that she's seen that she probably actually loves. He gets some of that.
Starting point is 00:36:05 He doesn't want the other guy to fall. And I'm telling you a situation that happened like that. that I know, right? What it was like, this was her actual man, and she didn't want the actual guy who was paying her, who was paying her to fall. So many people have to fall.
Starting point is 00:36:28 And when that happens, secrets become incredibly valuable. Super duper valuable. Super valuable to keep. Super valuable to tell. and it dehumanizes people. And the more that you build, the further that it goes. And then your appetites. People stop telling you no.
Starting point is 00:36:53 So you stop accepting no. Like I think it actually fucks with your brain. People stop saying no, so you stop hearing no. Yeah. So then no doesn't just become something that is a reaction from someone. It becomes something that enrages you. Who are you to, tell me, right?
Starting point is 00:37:14 You know what I mean? And so over time seeing this, over time there, of seeing the length that people will go to protect a completely artificial image and seeing the link that people will go to destroy someone,
Starting point is 00:37:30 seeing it both, it disappoints me, but in a lot of cases, it's not if, it's when. That's why it's important to make real friends, to foster real relationships, to have real people that will remind you that you're an actual human being, and to set boundaries for yourself before you morph into something
Starting point is 00:37:53 that's grotesque. And that's not giving it out to any of these people. It's not making it about anything other than their crimes, the wholeness of their victims, and the need to excise them out of the culture. But what I am saying is there's a part of a lifestyle that you have to say no to because it is almost entirely corrosive. Entirely corrosive. You don't even got to
Starting point is 00:38:23 be on the level of a puff. I've seen motherfuckers on reality shows right? And just watching their friends around them I might have told this story on here before. It's playing basketball with somebody. Right? Play basketball with them.
Starting point is 00:38:39 playing basketball with this with this guy him and his homeboy would come in and hoop with us his home boy was in the league he would only come in the summers he would play around he wouldn't play hard blah blah blah he was a basketball player was in and out of the league
Starting point is 00:38:51 but he had been in the league more than he had been out of it they were tight like I knew these guys as being tight like their friends I had seen him out before I've seen his man catch fades for him I'd seen them they were tight
Starting point is 00:39:06 they were like this a couple years to me being on the sports desk, a story comes through about that guy, and I call his man, because I'm like, yo, I'll let you know your man is about to be in some trouble. He's putting the story out. Oh, wow. And you would have thought that they fell out. They hadn't. A day before that shit came across and I had spoke to him, he had posted a picture with him talking about day day one from where they was back from. I'm like, God damn, this is, they still call. They Because the guy doesn't know.
Starting point is 00:39:45 Nah, you don't know. Because the story didn't end up going or nothing like that. I'm not going to get in the middle of any shit. It's like whatever. But like to me, like when I started seeing stuff like that, when the dam starts to crumble,
Starting point is 00:39:59 everybody runs. But man, when you're in the inner circle of somebody, they're just all trying to protect themselves and the economy that is driving whatever life. style they've come to got you to get used to. I have two questions for you. One, did you hear
Starting point is 00:40:21 stuff about Diddy when you're at TMZ? No, not really. Okay. I mean, the stuff the stuff that I heard about him was more just like it wasn't about anything that had to do with anything like this. People would just speculate about his sexuality, but it didn't
Starting point is 00:40:40 have anything to do with there was certainly to talk about. concrete. Yeah. And I mean, you know, and we did the story where he had had, obviously you know about the Steve Stout thing and that he had had, the thing was that Diddy was a little tougher than people gave him credit for it. You know, if you fucked over him, something like that would happen.
Starting point is 00:41:00 But I hadn't heard anything about any abuse of anyone or any sex trafficking or anything like that. No. And then I guess my second question is you're very jaded, rightfully so, for, you know, being connected and seeing things like this for so many years. Does anybody get it right? Does anybody like, are there good stories? Are there good guys who really just are not powerful,
Starting point is 00:41:30 maybe necessarily on Ditty's level, but just have a big platform, have an economy, as you put it, and really don't get in the fuckery? Tons of them. Okay, I just want a little positivity. Like when I say, I'm not going to start naming people
Starting point is 00:41:45 because all it's going to do is but tons of them. Some of them that y'all act like y'all don't like. But they actually are really good family, men, and women. But tons of them. Tons of people that just stay out of the way. Tons of people that go, hey, man, work with that person. But when it get to be about 11 o'clock, get your ass out of that. Tons of them.
Starting point is 00:42:08 Tons of people you can call. Tons of people you can talk to. Tons of people that you go over to their house and fucking play scrabble. and like play on the fucking put the big thing tons of them a bunch of them a bunch of them a bunch of them but there are those ones though there are those people
Starting point is 00:42:25 that and by the way it's not a new phenomenon just go look up your favorite star of yesteryear like it there was more tolerance for things that were super fucked up back then and we're trying to change things and we're doing it all at once and we're coming face and face with some pretty
Starting point is 00:42:45 ugly things. And it's not going to stop. It's not going to stop. But look, to me, this entire situation, with getting to the federal level of things, he is in their crossings. Unless something comes out
Starting point is 00:43:02 that they were looking for somebody else. They were looking for someone else. They were looking for something. Let me ask you this. Well, it's not a person. It's about it's about what they feel like at the house. Yeah. So even that though, even though they're looking for evidence to prove something, correct?
Starting point is 00:43:23 Then a crime happens. So it could not be Diddy. You don't know if Diddy is the target. You just know that they're saying something happened here. And we believe that there is evidence there. It happened at that location. Is it illegal to fly somebody across state lines for the purposes of sex? No. Unless like, unless...
Starting point is 00:43:51 No, no, no, no, no, no. What, wait, wait, wait, wait, no, no. This is what I mean. Okay, of course... Like, if it's a child, obviously, no. If you're doing it, if it's like a prostitution thing, no. The prostitution, wait, the prostitution is illegal, depending on where you are, right? You can't pay for sex, right? That's what I'm saying. The process. I'm saying no, if it's forced, if it's like a, if it's forced, like if you're not paying the, well, paying it's prostitution, but I mean like if it's forced labor, that's illegal. I'm asking you right now, though, if you, if you are in New York and there is a girl in Miami who is an escort and you fly her from Miami to New York as an escort for the purposes of sex.
Starting point is 00:44:43 You pay her and you fly her. Did you human traffic that girl? Because if the answer is yes, because if the answer is yes, if the answer is yes, there are scores of human traffic. I'm just saying. I think this is where consent comes in.
Starting point is 00:45:09 Okay. Right? Like, it's if you fly them and you force them to do it. If it's forced, that's where it's a crime. But like, if I'm like, hey, you're going to fly me out to Miami and we do the thing? Wait a second, though. Remember what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:45:26 I'm not talking about flying somebody to you for a romantic interlude. I'm talking about Ashley, get on this for a second. But just for sex. You put romance on it. No, no. Not, not. I'm not talking about for the, for sex and payment, I'm saying this is what I'm saying. So, and by the way, I know that the prostitution part of this is illegal.
Starting point is 00:45:49 I know that that part of is illegal, right? But are you guilty of, are you breaking a federal law by flying somebody across state lines to pay them for sex or to pay them to have sex with somebody else? Or to pay them for sex, period. Is that a federal crime? This is what the law says. It prohibits sex trafficking, trafficking, which is described as a commercial sex Act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or recruitment, harboring, transportation, or obtaining someone
Starting point is 00:46:25 for labor or services, or corrosion, I cannot read coercion for the purpose of subjecting them to involuntary servitude, bondage, or slavery. So it has to be involuntary then. Forced or coerced. force or chorus. Well, by the way, this is not in, and this is, this is just me asking the question because
Starting point is 00:46:51 while I was working at TMT, there was a whole gaggle of, you kids, they would fly around and they would bring them in and all of that, all that stuff like that. And, uh,
Starting point is 00:47:05 I thought they were accusing him of that. But I think sex trafficking, there has to be some coercion or you have to be like, basically pimping. Yeah. It's, I mean,
Starting point is 00:47:20 every, every definition that I'm looking at keeps saying forcible. Yeah, but also, forcible could just be,
Starting point is 00:47:26 I'm a big star. I'm asking you to do this. Right. Power. Do this. Yeah. That's the coercion, coercion,
Starting point is 00:47:34 the word I can't say. Coercion. Coercion. Coercion. Look, sorry, not going anywhere. Not going anywhere.
Starting point is 00:47:43 Mm. Once again, you guys take it seriously it's very very very very seriously if you're asking me to make a determination right now
Starting point is 00:47:55 they're after him and I think they'll probably get them yeah they want them to get them either way you look at what this means
Starting point is 00:48:15 I think we should sit in the moment and what you said before is very true in terms of black culture in the way that this is. It should also make us think about what it is that we're aspiring to what the tradeoff is. Nothing wrong with shining.
Starting point is 00:48:41 Nothing wrong with people having fun having sex. Nothing wrong with all of that stuff and jet setting and nothing wrong with any of that stuff. But I think that at the end of the day, things have to be things that make people feel good. And experimentation is fine and all these different stuff is fine. But if people are leaving with their lives destroyed,
Starting point is 00:49:13 thinking about things forever, there's a price to be paid. Right. Anyway, let's like 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 Trimfaya, proper training is required.
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Starting point is 00:50:47 you're inevitably going to step into the sun. You don't need weather tech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. Donald Trump selling Bibles. Former President Donald Trump is bringing together church and state. Gilded package is selling a $60 Bible. God bless the USA. Complete with copies of the nation's founding documents.
Starting point is 00:51:15 Rachel, when are you getting your Bible from Donald Trump, your Trump Bible? Are they sold out? It wouldn't be surprised. I don't know. I don't know. You know, all the other stuff sells out.
Starting point is 00:51:28 60 other Bible, I will not. Because as Trump stated, I have many of them. I don't have this kind of Bible because, you know, it compiles the Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance, Bill of Rights, Old and New Testament. Not sure which version, but all the things. Did you laugh when you saw this? I did. I always laugh. You know what's funny, man?
Starting point is 00:52:01 What? Is that like, this is the funny part of this. This is so American to me. Is this American to you? Yeah, definitely American to me, right? This is like, Trump is the most American president that we've ever had. He's the most American political figure that's ever existed. He's not the storybook version of America.
Starting point is 00:52:38 right the storybook version of America go for it you want to stop me go ahead no no go ahead go ahead the story book version of America is so the storybook version of America is actually like Barack Obama right that's the storybook version
Starting point is 00:52:53 the American dream yeah the story book version is humble beginnings you write and talk your way into the highest office of the land and you just have to be like ridiculously exceptional in every step
Starting point is 00:53:14 that's the storybook version that's the actual storybook version of America but that's not the real America though the real America is very simple the real America is how do we sell it how do we sell it
Starting point is 00:53:32 right like we killed 20 million people people to get the land that we're on. But how do we sell it though? We sell it that these brave cowboys were facing off against these unbelievable savages that didn't have any God, that didn't have any culture, that didn't have any reason to live other than us trying to civilize them. That's how we sold it. We sell it to you in that way. You eat it up. and then it takes you 150 years to realize that it's bullshit because we sold it in the right way.
Starting point is 00:54:13 We sell that we have the most inventive, the most forward-thinking, the most ironclad system of governance, right? But then we leave out the fact that we got an economic advantage from hundreds of years of free labor. like we actually ran the trail of tears to kick the Indians out of Oklahoma and surrounded excuse me to kick the Native Americans out of Oklahoma and surrounding areas so that we would have more space
Starting point is 00:54:49 to bring the black people into work so they had to walk so that we could toil right but we sell it as Jefferson and Washington, all of these guys were geniuses who at the same time did a couple of bad things, like raping people and separating them for their children. It's like what we can sell, is what we can sell, it's what we can sell.
Starting point is 00:55:16 It's not who we are. It's what we can sell to you, what we can change and what we can sell. And that's who Trump is. It's not who Donald Trump is. Donald Trump is selling a Bible. When he was writing for president, he was asked very flatly, Ashley, dropping in. right here. What his favorite passages for the Bible were. And what did he say? So when we get into the Bible, I think many, so many. Exactly. He said, I like them all.
Starting point is 00:55:42 He said, I like them all. It's not that he is anything in terms of what you think that America is. It's what he can sell. He is a huckster. This country has been conning people into believing that their oppression in their situation isn't real for a long time so they could sell you religion, so they could sell you bread, so they could sell you a car, so they could sell you a house, so they could sell it, sell it, sell it, sell it,
Starting point is 00:56:11 built on the back of gangster capitalism, and it continues the reason why we can't get rid of Donald Trump is because Donald Trump is who we are. We can't get rid of Donald Trump because he's ingrained into our DNA. He's a grotesque representation of the real America. He lost fair and square democracy, right?
Starting point is 00:56:32 No, what did he say? He said, I'll take it. That's what we do. Win or lose, we say we'll take it. We'll take it. So when he was selling this Bible, this like Frankenstein book mixed with a little bit of American
Starting point is 00:56:47 propaganda in it and a little bit of this and he's selling the people for $60, that is the most American thing in the world. That's the most American thing in the world. I can't disagree. with you. I also, I think, I don't know if I looked at it, and I agree with you after hearing you say it. I don't know if I looked at it as like Trump is the most American thing, but I do think that it speaks volumes of who we are as a society and how, I don't know if the word is stupid, but just maybe it's selfish, how more than anything as a group of people, we are motivated by our own self-ish interests and we actually stand on nothing. particularly you got to talk about Christianity in this sense because we talked about religion on a podcast and it's moments like this that make me question everything and make me want to have
Starting point is 00:57:38 and which is why I have my absolute own journey and relationship and not just taking what I've been given over the years. It's moments like this because when I see how evangelists and Christians react to a Trump when he did what you just said. about all the books of the Bible was favorite or whatever, when he said, he has never asked God for forgiveness and called communion, his little cracker and his little wine. When they asked him his favorite Bible verse, he called it, he refused to name what his favorite verse was and just kept saying, it's very personal to me. And when instead of singing Second Corinthians at Liberty University, he said, two Corinthians. And the crowd mocked and laughed at him.
Starting point is 00:58:27 It is very evident, as we've seen him holding a Bible upside down, that this man doesn't represent anything in regards to Christian values or what Christianity is supposed to stand for. Yet, as Christians and evangelists, you still continue to vote for him for your own selfish reasons, whether it's a one-party issue, whether it's because he says things to you and you're like sheep, that Christianity is under attack and your beliefs and values you're under attack, and you believe that, and you buy into that like sheep, but don't realize that this person is literally the antithesis of Christianity. He's a charlatan. He's the Antichrist. If anything, those stories you used to hear about the antichrist growing up and how he would come and he would
Starting point is 00:59:14 dupe all these people and they would fall for him, that's literally, to me, what Trump does. Everything he stands for and represents is against what Christians supposedly believe, yet you continue to support him and uplift him all because he tells you that the liberals are coming after you, all because he helped overturn Roe v. Wade. I just look at it and I get so frustrated because something that I have connected myself to when you connect, when they connect themselves to Trump, it's a joke. It's all a joke to me. Modern Christianity is about who you, hate more than it is about who you love. I don't think that's modern.
Starting point is 00:59:57 I think it's modern. I don't think it's modern. I think it's been there. I think right now there's a cultural, religious push-pull that is so afraid of seeding the country to someone, that being Christ-like, okay, let's think about this for a second. Throw out whether or not you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. God and that believing in him will lead you to an eternal kingdom.
Starting point is 01:00:37 Forget about that. Throw that out of the window for a second. Forget the way of Christ. Consider patience, acceptance, giving people bounty, being selfless, second chances, third chances,
Starting point is 01:01:03 sacrifice, passivism. Consider those things. just consider them for a second. Think about them. Forget about, you know, as we're taping this Easter's this weekend.
Starting point is 01:01:21 So just, you know, don't even consider. Don't even consider that part of it. Yeah. Don't consider that. Just consider the philosophy of it. Yeah. Consider the philosophy of it.
Starting point is 01:01:34 And then think about the people who live by that philosophy. Think about the people. the most judgmental people that you know. Think about the most self-centered people that you know. Think about the people that are sure that it must be their way. Think about the people that are antagonizing you the most.
Starting point is 01:02:01 Think about the people that are the most demanding from you. That have the least wiggle room that do the most and give the least. And then tell me who those people are. even the ones out there that's on the righteous path, I see through you, that all you talk is righteousness, I see through you. I do.
Starting point is 01:02:27 I'm in no position to judge you, but it's about you. I know it is. It's about you. It's not about anything other than that. It's, it's, uh, I'm sorry.
Starting point is 01:02:46 I know people don't like when I get off on this, but you guys are full of shit. And, and, and, This, I mean, this particular guy, he fits right in. I'm just, I'm just being for real. He fits, he fits right in with all of y'all and y'all horseshit bullshit. Y'all, fake ass, like, it's not going to be a place hot enough for you. He fits right in with the rest of you.
Starting point is 01:03:21 So I'm not surprised at all. Go buy the Bible. It'll probably become the new Bible for a lot of y'all. And even the ones of you guys who think, Think about it right now. Just think about it. If you think about the story of itself, if you think about the story,
Starting point is 01:03:37 forget about whether or not you believe the spirituality. Think about the goddamn example of it. The commercial with the We Love Jesus people, and Jesus watches everybody's feet, great commercials. Oh, yeah. Then go look at who those people are donating to and what they're propping up in society.
Starting point is 01:03:57 Go look at them. Horshit. Horshit bullshit. This episode is brought to you by Sweet Green. The day doesn't ask for permission. Lunch window? Gone before you saw it coming. You deserve a break that actually satisfies.
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Starting point is 01:04:25 40 grams of protein. Made to keep up with whatever comes next. new sweetgreen wraps hit different. Order now at order. Dot sweetgreen.com. 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.
Starting point is 01:04:43 They keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus 24-7 US-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum business. So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more, restrictions apply, services not available in all areas. God damn it, we need something. Now we have to bag on the Good Time show. I like, I'll go home.
Starting point is 01:05:09 Yeah, you know, I don't want to bag on the Good Time show. The Good Times clip came out that it didn't piss some people off. I don't want to bag on the show. Wait, wait, wait, can I ask, what were people expecting? And I just, just to be very honest, don't back. Don't, don't talk about the show. But when you think of good times the show, it was always about the struggle.
Starting point is 01:05:36 And they never made it out. Even right when they were about to, always came right back. And maybe, you know, I'm not saying I'm going to agree with every little thing I saw in the trailer, but it seems to be this show is about the modern day struggle. So what were people excited? Were they expecting? I guess they called it a reboot and this is more of a reimagination. What were they expected? The next generation of the Evans family. Can we just do one thing?
Starting point is 01:06:08 I just have one thing we can do. Can we just watch the show? Just watch it. Yeah, like, the trailer came out and when I looked at the trailer, I was like, ooh, you know what I mean? But can we just look at the show? Just watch the show. I did until I read about it. I was like, oh. And then I read it and I'm like, okay, I understand what you're, trying to do versus the good times, the original one, it made more sense to me. So I plan on watching it. It comes out, I believe, April 12th, all the episodes are going to come out at once. It just everybody jumped out the window.
Starting point is 01:06:46 They just watched the show, man. Ashley says she ain't watching it. I'm going to watch it. What I'm saying, before we even make our situation, make our determination about it, can we just look at the show? Can we just not be hyper-reactive? I'm going to check it out. Now I'm going to check it out just to make sure that people didn't
Starting point is 01:07:15 completely overreact to the trailer. The trailer is not the most flattering trailer ever, right? You know, some might say it looks like some bullshit. it. But I can tell you what, there were a lot of black writers and people that had worked on the show that were on there defending their work and saying that it is satire and that perhaps we should
Starting point is 01:07:35 watch it before we make a Well, Seth McFarland is an EP on it. It was, it gave me, you didn't know that? I did know that. What did that? I immediately looked at it as a satire. And it reminded me that was a mistake.
Starting point is 01:07:55 It reminded me when as soon as I saw it, like at first I was thinking Boondocks and I saw his name and I go, oh, it is giving family guy in a lot of ways. So once I saw his name, I was like, oh, this totally makes sense why this trailer is like this. But here's the thing, though. So seeing his name right there and then seeing the content, it's a mistake.
Starting point is 01:08:20 even if he was an EP on it, they should have got the three blackest motherfuckers that they could get to put it on there. They might have softened it a little bit. Do you know who the other EP is? Steph Curry. Yeah, Steph Curry. Like, Steph wouldn't do anything that was exploitive.
Starting point is 01:08:41 I know that much. But so what I'm saying is maybe the show is everything that we think it is, just watch a little bit. of it before like you go off. And I guess there's another question. Another question is does
Starting point is 01:08:58 everything involving black people have to be tasteful? No. Does everything have to be, can we get can we like what
Starting point is 01:09:14 if it's the theme in this show is the more things change the more they stay the same. So to me So when I read it, that after I watched it, then I went back and I watched it through that lens. So does everything have to be tasteful? No. But if there's a bigger message that you're trying to push behind it, then I can get behind that more.
Starting point is 01:09:44 Obviously, I have to say that because I hate Zeus Network. You hate Zeus Network, yeah. And it's not tasteful. I believe it does not show us in the best way. So I'd be a hypocrite to say like, no, everything doesn't have to be tasteful. And I've gotten on here and disparage that network multiple times and certain shows on there. So I say if there's maybe a bigger purpose behind it, then sure. I'm still looking to have the Zeus Network conversation with Mule, Plummer, Natalie Nunn,
Starting point is 01:10:15 come on higher learning so we can have this conversation about Zeus' network. Let me ask you a question. I don't want to talk about Zeus. Okay. Is the real housewives of Atlanta showing us in the best light? It's not showing you like Zeus. What's the best light? No, I don't think it shows this.
Starting point is 01:10:37 I don't think it's bad. I don't think it shows this bad, right? You don't think the real housewives of Atlanta. Do you watch it? I've seen the real housewives. But I watch it. I've seen every single episode. When I look at Zeus and I look at that, it's light years.
Starting point is 01:10:55 It's like the Jefferson and the Evans. But here's a thing, though. The Jefferson's, though, if you watch, this is my point. I know, but if you watch the Jeffersons, I don't think George Jefferson is any better than James Evans. I didn't say better. I said, that's the point. I didn't say better.
Starting point is 01:11:15 I'm not talking about these people as individuals. I'm talking about the situations that they're in. I don't think Zeus, the show and the situation environment it creates, shows us in the best light. I'm not talking, I'm not speaking to anybody's individual character. I've never done that when it comes to Zeus, maybe the creators of it, but I've not done that when it comes to Zeus specifically. I'm comparing to the Jefferson's, then, George Jefferson never changed who he was. He just lived in a high rise. He was still the same person. So I'm not talking about people individually. I'm talking about situations that they're in.
Starting point is 01:11:45 Yeah, he never changed. I watch these shows. He never changed. And I'm telling you, that's what I'm saying about real housewives. So to me To me Number one I don't think we have to be shown In the best life I think if the person exists
Starting point is 01:12:01 Not if the person is a caricature And if it's not real Then that's one thing But if the person exists I don't feel embarrassed when you show them I don't feel embarrassed When you show somebody That like the people that act like
Starting point is 01:12:13 Because there's people like that I just watch this this TikTok With this girl And when the camera came on She started shaking her ass And the guy asked it The guy was like, yo, you think you're going to get a husband shaking ass in a camera like that? And she was like, what?
Starting point is 01:12:29 Don't give a fuck about no motherfucking husband. And then it was like, but do you care about a ring? She said, I got a lot of rings, nigger. And she said, don't you want to be a wife? And then her friend was like, I'm a lot of niggas wives. I was like, oh, my God, they lit. Like they think they go. See?
Starting point is 01:12:49 So if they have their own. reality show, I don't have a problem with it. But I also know that like, a lot of y'all be caring a lot about how y'all look in front of white people so y'all don't want them to think that y'all not the best. So, y'all get mad on the different stuff for the Zeus Network. Look, I will say that Zeus Network does.
Starting point is 01:13:06 Oh, you talking to me? You talking to me? You're talking to me? You look me dead in the eye. Oh. I didn't. Excuse me. No, I didn't. Shut up. No. Never. Never. No. No. But I think that's an interesting.
Starting point is 01:13:21 conversation I have, but if you watch Zeus, which I've watched it, it is a lot, man. I don't know why. I'll be right with you. Because, you know what? Do you know why I do? Because I am so, I am so anti-respectability that sometimes I'm on the other, other side of it. But I'm not saying you got to be full out. I do think they're caricatures of what they think that they're supposed to be in that.
Starting point is 01:13:49 I don't think they're fully like that. I think I just, and I've had conversations with somebody who was on there before and like right after they had a situation, and they were talking to me about it, and I was like, damn. And I was so upset about the situation that they were put in. And they were so like,
Starting point is 01:14:06 that's not what I thought it was going to be. And so this is coming from the people of Zeus who were supposed to be protecting them or giving them, you know, they get more, whatever Natalie was saying about that. Bring them on. Bring them on. Bring them on. Yeah, we got to have Natalie on.
Starting point is 01:14:18 We have Natalie on. But I just, you know, a lot of times I just get real like, you know what? Just everybody loosening up, man. You know, let's say show that thing. But they, you know, they fight and people get cut. This is one. We're watching Jocelyn's Cabaret one time.
Starting point is 01:14:37 Jocelyn is powerful. Have you seen her? I watched her all through love and hip-hop. I don't watch her own zoos. But I watched the whole whole progression of, Jocelyn. It's different now, man. Jocelyn,
Starting point is 01:14:53 you ever see like the difference between Captain America before he took the Super Soldier serum and then after he took it? You ever see that before? Oh, yes. Because I've seen the first one. Yes.
Starting point is 01:15:05 Right. So if you watch Captain America the first Avenger, you know, he's regular and he like, whatever, whatever, and he hasn't taken the serum at all. But then they give him the serum and this motherfucker comes out like diesel.
Starting point is 01:15:18 He, like, starts running down the street barefoot no one can fucking stop this nigga he'll even know he's just jumping jumping crazy jumping swimming crazy the difference between jocelyn now and jocelyn
Starting point is 01:15:33 and jocelyn on loving hip hop is that she then took the super nigger serum and it and it didn't it's like Captain America it then permeated throughout all of her fucking she is fucking powerful
Starting point is 01:15:46 she is she like jocelyn now is a fucking force to be wrecking with. I'm afraid of her. Like when you see her on the show, she'd be getting people right and she didn't have a look at her eyes like, get the choreography right, bitch, bitch. And you like, if it goes left,
Starting point is 01:16:03 Jocelyn will kill everybody in this fucking room. Then they fight. This one girl, pretty girl, got a big ass cut. She had to go to a hospital. So it's a lot. There's a lot on Zuzum saying, but I'm just anti-respectability to the point to where I think it's a, it's a
Starting point is 01:16:19 blonde spot probably. It's a blind spot. You know it. You ready for mailback? Let's do it. Mailback time. Time to read your letters and then we'll reply to them. Oh, it's mailback time. Write us with your queries and we'll chime in. All right. Mailbag. Pull it up real quick.
Starting point is 01:16:51 Okay. How fuck is that? I got excited. Okay. Anyways, this one comes from underground hippie eight. Who's the most influential mentor you've had in your life? And what important lessons did you learn from them? I always say my parents.
Starting point is 01:17:14 Yeah. I was my parents, but I still call on my dad for advice. Like, in different ways they've mentored me. I think we've kind of had this question before, but definitely my parents for different reasons. Yeah, I tried to call my dad for some reason he doesn't pick up. Tavent. You're laughing.
Starting point is 01:17:40 Have you seen that guy on social media with stuff like that happens? And then Jesus comes up on his shoulder. I'm just letting you know. Because see, people don't like the dark humor the way people cope with their shit. You're laughing. It was funny. It was funny.
Starting point is 01:17:56 It was funny. But the reason I hesitated is because, like, as soon as I said it, I thought about you and then you made the joke. And I was like, okay, he's making it easier. To me, rather than let you sit in that moment, just bail her out. I know, I felt that. Just bail her out. You laugh.
Starting point is 01:18:20 It's funny. Like, I'll do that. Like, sometimes I'll do that with mom. Well, I'll do that with mom and mom will just, mom and Ebony, they're not there yet. That's the way I am. But mom and Ebony, they're not there yet.
Starting point is 01:18:31 They can't, they're not there yet. I get it. But yeah, my mom, the most important, the single most important, uh,
Starting point is 01:18:38 I guess influence in my life for better or worse. Uh, was my father, but my mother as well. Like not, and I don't even mean to say as well. Like, my mom and her compassion and who she is and how she deals with people and how open hearter she is
Starting point is 01:18:53 and how passionate she is and all of that stuff, very, very important to me and who I am and how I am. So it's definitely my parents. All right, what else? The next one is from Bobopetick 33. Time to make a national holiday. What new day are you putting on a calendar for America to celebrate? I got one. Okay.
Starting point is 01:19:17 You go, Rachel. Well, my first thought, but this means they would actually have to happen for us, would be like a reparations day. But that means we would actually have to have, get reparations to celebrate us. So it's a two-for. It means we're getting reparations and it's the day we actually celebrate our payout, our rightful pay, I should say. My holiday is national. Leave me to fuck alone day. Isn't that every day for you?
Starting point is 01:19:46 What everybody just gets to be by their self. Okay? Every holiday is about 15 niggas like all crammed together eating and breathing on each other. Farts, burps,
Starting point is 01:20:04 people going to take a shit and they're clearing out space so they can come and eat again. All of that stuff like that, weird smells. And I like it. It's family. But just one day just leave people alone day discounts if you go to dinner by yourself
Starting point is 01:20:24 discounts if you go to the movies by yourself discounts on solo stays a whole to I just want to be by myself day leave me alone Vision Pro has a whole thing just a day of the day of solitude national we by ourselves day everybody could take it.
Starting point is 01:20:48 I mean, somebody, you know, is somebody going to have to babysit, but just national week by ourselves, we alone day. That would be my. Okay, last one. All right. This one's from Mother of Teddy.
Starting point is 01:21:02 And they said, if you're running for president in 2024, what would your slogan be? Who would be your running mate? And who would perform at your inauguration? Okay. So my slogan will be, it's almost over,
Starting point is 01:21:15 guys. What's almost over? Everything. My slogan would be, it's almost over. My slogan would be, it's almost over, guys. Van Lakey 2024.
Starting point is 01:21:35 You don't have to do this for too much longer. Like you. It's almost over. It's almost over. I come out with every, every fucking press conference I would come out. Hey, guys, hey, it's me, President Lathin. Just let you know the water's getting warmer.
Starting point is 01:21:53 It's not a fucking thing anybody's going to do with it. All right? Water's getting warmer. Polar ice caps fucking melting. But me and Vice President Mark Lamont Hill over here, we're going to try to get something done. Not going to happen. So what you guys should do is tick-tock it
Starting point is 01:22:12 till you can't stop it because you know what? Mark would never agree to this. It's almost over. I like that you pick Mark because he's going to balance you out. Mark would be there. Mark would be trying to convince me. Vice President Lamont Hill
Starting point is 01:22:28 wants to do something. Nah, it makes no sense. You guys aren't going to do it. Makes no sense. Fuck you guys. It's almost over. Fuck it. You know what?
Starting point is 01:22:37 Right now, I release $10 trillion dollars into the economy, free money. Everybody go, it's almost over. And the song would probably be it's over.
Starting point is 01:22:50 It's over. You don't get to make it. Move over. It's my turn now. Move over. It's your turn now. Sorry. Remember that joint?
Starting point is 01:23:00 That would be the song. Go ahead. Well, that doesn't make me feel hopeful for the future. You're painting a very bleak future if that's what we're. What? It's almost over?
Starting point is 01:23:16 Like we ain't got, y'all, got nothing to look forward to. This is it. No. My slogan would be like, we all we got. That's what I would be. Oh, oh.
Starting point is 01:23:27 Oh, okay. So yours works. We all got. It's about us. It was a few. Well, that's what I would be trying to create. That's the thing. Like, we got to depend on each other.
Starting point is 01:23:38 And I would make you, this would be a higher learning presidency. I make you my renaming. One, I would love to be able to tell you what to do. That would be great. Hey, vice president, get over there and do that. And who's performing? What?
Starting point is 01:23:52 You marginalized me like they do to Kamala is what probably what you do. I'll probably be in the back. You know what I mean? Well, see, me, I would subvert your presidency if I wasn't getting my Masha. See, you know what? But I don't want you anymore. Just like a man. Just like a man.
Starting point is 01:24:13 Oh, you would be my running mate. And the performance would be by sexy red. That's what I'm talking about. Get it sexy. Get it sexy. Go sexy. Get sexy. Get sexy.
Starting point is 01:24:33 By the way, you guys, we'll talk about it on Monday. Beyonce's dropping the night. Rachel's excited. I mean, when it comes, I'm going to listen. You know, I don't get all up in arms. about the anticipation of it. Let me know when it's here, and I'll take a listen. Taylor Adelaos on the album. Shout out to Taylor. Tanner.
Starting point is 01:25:03 Tanner Adelaos on the album. Shout to Tanner. Shout to all the black country artists. I shout out to all of them that have been doing that thing. I'm naming all of them. Shout to all the black country artists right there. She's on the album, Buckle Bunny, all of that stuff. I'm happy for everybody that's about to get their shine and, you know, we take country back guitar. Sorry, we got to go.
Starting point is 01:25:23 Take the caps off. We do not stop learning. I am Van Lathan Jr. I'm Rachel and Lindsay. Bye, guys.

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