Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - The Reiner Family Tragedy, Mass Shootings, and an Uncle Nearest Apology Rating

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

Van and Rachel react to a weekend filled with difficult news, from the killing of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, to the mass shootings at Brown University and a Hanukkah event in Australia. Then, the return of Philip Rivers resurrects discussions about Colin Kaepernick, the cofounder of Uncle Nearest apologizes, and Atlanta tops an OnlyFans list. (0:33) Reiner family tragedy (8:59) Trump’s response (22:16) Brown University shooting (42:49) Bondi Beach shooting (1:00:04) Philip Rivers, Colin Kaepernick, and the NFL (1:32:43) Fawn Weaver apologizes (1:46:32) Atlanta loves OnlyFans Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Jade Whaley Social Producer: Bernard Moore Video Supervision: Chris Thomas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, Thought Warriors, what is up? Higher Learning is on. It is I Van Lathan Jr. And it's me, Rachel and Lindsay. Right to the show. No pleasantries. This is, in my estimation, one of the worst news weekends that I can remember. So we're going to get right to talking about this stuff.

We're going to start with an in-memorium segment that is completely and totally unexpected. There is bigger, more important news, perhaps, that came out of this weekend. But none that is more shocking. This was gut-wrenching. Donnie? Yeah, director Rob Reiner and his wife, producer Michelle Singer-Riner, died yesterday, according to a spokesperson for the family. The LAPD said that it's investigating an apparent homicide after they were found dead in their home in Brentwood.

It was reported that the person who killed the couple was their son, Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old is currently being held on a bail of $4 million. So Nick had long struggled with drug addiction. Nick and his father had worked together on a movie in 2016 called Being Charlie. It was co-written by Nick and another gentleman and Rob. And, you know, both Nick and Rob have been pretty forthcoming about Nick struggles with addiction and how it affected their. family dynamic. Let's want to play for you a little bit before we kind of get into the news and some of the

reaction to it of some of the talk that was on the press tour between father and son when they were talking about the movie and talking about the genesis of the film and how it reflected their relationship. The movie dealt with a lot of these subjects that the family was trying to navigate. We didn't bond a lot as a kid. Like he really liked baseball. I like basketball and he could watch out with my brother, baseball. But I just, when I saw him do that, and it was something that I'm interested in, I was like, wow, like, he really knows a lot.

And, like, it made me feel closer to him and be like, yeah. You're like, wow, my dad's Rob Reiner. I never had thought about it. Yeah, it didn't cross your mind, right? Never. Never watched a few good men. Didn't see that one.

No. But it's interesting that Nick would talk about it in that way, because, yeah, we did share that experience. but you know even though I've had a lot of experience making movies you know and I said this to him many many times that he was the heart and soul of the film so when it came to making the film a deeper and better I would have to really defer to him I mean even though I have had all this experience in making films the core of this

film I really had to look to him I relied on him for giving it the honesty and the truth that it had. Nick Reiner, now who's being held, I think, on $4 million bond. Some people are saying now, neighbors, people, that this is not the first time that Nick has been violent. He has struggled with drug addiction, other things throughout his life. There were a couple of incidents in the past,

as according to reporting by the New York Post. There are neighbors that are being interviewed. They're saying that there were things that had happened before they weren't super shocked that this escalated to this point. I think everybody else who maybe didn't know what the family was going through is shocked, particularly at the death of Rob Reiner. Yeah, I mean, it's obviously devastating, shocking, and just that two people lost their lives.

And then you find out the details that it came from their child, a family member. I know in the interview that we just played from 2016, where they, talk about working together on this movie. One of the things that they talked about was how this movie brought them closer together because it gave them an understanding of one another. Rob talked about being able to understand what Nick was going through with addiction and some of his struggles. And the other writer on this was someone that Nick had met in rehab.

So it helped him understand his son's side. But in return, Nick also spoke about how it helped him understand the parent side of it and what a father goes through or a mom goes through when their child is struggling with addiction. And, you know, further research on this was, I guess it was a turning point for them where they thought that, you know, Nick was on a better path and it brought them closer together and a deeper understanding. So, you know, nine years later for, you know, this tragedy to happen and allegedly at the hands of Nick, it's just, and it's being reported that one of the daughters is who also discovered them. So it really is just an all-around tragedy. And that's the only way to describe it. And I know it's gotten a deep reaction from so many people who worked with him, who admired him, whose careers he inspired.

And then also just acknowledging the wife as well. I mean, that was someone he met on the set of when Harry met Sally. He changed the ending of the movie. You know, based on the love that they had together, she was a time. talented photographer as well. They worked hand in hand together. They also worked politically together on campaigns, on activism. So there was a real partnership there. So I don't want to not just talk about him, but also hers. She lost her life as well in this tragedy. Yeah, Rob Reiner is, for people who might not be familiar, is just simply one of the finest

directors of his generations, of his generation, shall I say, directors and writer. I mean, these movies that were staples in my childhood and into my adulthood and actually help shape my love for film and my love for comedy and actually expanded what I thought could be funny. Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, and then movies that are more serious like misery, a few good men, the American president, which is a film that I love. And for my mother's generation, he played Meathead on All in a Family, That's when they first got to know him. Carl Reiner was his father,

so there was a lineage there of Hollywood movie making and contribution to the arts. This is devastating. This is devastating. It's a shock. And, you know, it's not the first time that something like this has happened. You see tragedies like this all the time

that have to do with familial violence, Phil Hartman lost his life back in the day. There is no amount of achievement. Phil Hartman lost his life in something that was domestic. We've seen things like this happen before, but there's no amount of achievement, amount of prestige that disconnects you from the human experience, that disconnects you from dealing with family members

or other people that might be going through things. And, you know, this is a, headline that can come from my neighborhood in Baton Rouge or that can come from Brentwood in California. And at the very core of it, where people dealing with each other and trying to figure out how to navigate and negotiate each other's traumas. And particularly when it's somebody like a son that you're dealing with, in this case, like you said, allegedly, the perpetrator of this crime, you never know how to deal with

someone that might be going through something like this or might be dangerous to your family because cutting off proximity to that person hurts you so much. Even if that person is someone that is really struggling or has violent tendencies, you can't push them away because you love them. You want them to be close. You want them to be close and healthy. And you never know how that's going to turn out. You just, you hope for the best. It looks like, I don't know the ends and outs of their family dynamic, but it looks like that Rob and his wife were doing all that they could to try to help that their son for a long time. And it just didn't take.

And this is kind of where we ended up. Yeah. I mean, just two months ago, they were on the red carpet for his movie premiere, all as a family. Pictures on the carpet together. I'll to eat together to celebrate. And two months later, we're here. So I know we'll continue to get more as this is also recent as more information comes out. but just a really sad tragedy.

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And you guys, I know that I know that there are people out there that are shocked and hurt at this news. And what I'm about to re is so fucked up that I understand that I'm, it's going to be triggering and upsetting to some people, but you have to read it. This was President Trump on Rob Reiner's death.

He said a very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling but once a very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michelle, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind-crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people crazy by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness. And with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before, may Rob and Michelle rest in peace.

Rachel. I mean, fan, it's almost so, I mean, it is insane, but it's to the point. where when I saw this, I thought, is this even something that we talk about on the podcast? Because we shouldn't be shocked. Shouldn't be shocked. It seems like every day, every minute, Trump continues to get worse.

He becomes emboldened by the things that he said because it doesn't seem like anybody checks him. And if they do question it, like this statement here, which is something that you can't ignore, they excuse it by other things that he's done or say maybe this is a one-off when Trump has continued to show us this,

this is the person that he is. This is a statement that is void of any sympathy. I don't care if he says rest in peace. I don't care if he says a very sad thing happened. There is no empathy. There are two lives that are lost. This is a tragedy for an entire family, for an entire community. And somehow Trump has made these deaths about himself. Somehow he has inserted this to be all about him, that he is the reason that drove these murders to happen because this man was. was somehow tied to him or obsessed with him. It's, I don't even have the word for it. I don't even want to talk about it.

That's how I feel at this moment. This was Rob Reiner following the death of Charlie Kirk, which seems to be the bellwether on the right for whether or not you're a decent person or not, how you responded to the murder of Charlie Kirk. He said, absolute horror. And I unfortunately saw the video of it. It's beyond belief what happened to him.

That should never happen to anybody. I don't care what your political beliefs are. That's not acceptable. That's not a solution to solving problems. And I felt like what his wife, Erica, said at the service, and the memorial was exactly right. I'm Jewish, but I believe in the teachings of Jesus, and I believe in due unto others,

and I believe in forgiveness. And what she said to me was beautiful. She forgave his assassination, and I think that is admirable. So anyone that was wondering whether or not Rob Reiner passed your decency tests with the response to the death of Charlie Kirk. There you have it right there. So I'm not interested in President Trump's take on this at all.

I'm very, very, very, very uninterested in anything that President Trump says right now. He doesn't offer very much substance. What I am interested in, though, is the defense here. I'm interested in that. I'm interested in the defense that will come from the right. I'm interested in it. I'm very curious as to how this will be defended. And I'm talking about everyone.

I'm talking about the people that I do shows with at CNN, Scott Jennings, Phil, all of you guys. I'm interested in how you will defend this. All the people that are decent in the green room and demons on TV, I'm interested to know what you will say about this. It won't change political discourse in America. But I think more than anything, I'm interested. to see the lengths that people will go in order to continuously defend President Trump. Rather, whether it's, you know, what's happening in Venezuela, the economy, which is clearly imperiled right now, the result of direct policy, rhetorical stuff, building this palatial

grand ballroom in the White House where so many people are struggling. I'm interested in the levels that people will go to defend it. And this right here, the president is a piece of shit. Fuck you if you disagree. And that, like legitimately, fuck you if you disagree. Right here down the barrel of the camera. Your president is a piece of shit. Fuck you if you disagree.

And that's not, I'm not mad. I'm just saying there it is right there in black and white. I'm interested to see how far you'll go to defend it. I don't think they'll defend this van. I think that, like, obviously this is a top, maybe, I don't even know what to rate, a top 10, wild, insane, disgusting, vile thing that Trump has said. But it's not the first and it's not a one-off. And what comes out of the playbook of those who continue to align themselves with Trump

or defend Trump is something else that they do. They ignore it. And so what I what I Without a doubt I Whether they do or don't It's it just speaks to the person That the type of people that they are

And they've already proven themselves to be If you if you defend Ignore or align yourself With this statement You are you are just as equally disgusting vile Problematic all those dangerous Dangerous as Trump is

But I I would imagine that You put this this tweet in the Group chat of Sage Still who recognizes that this is something that was disappointing, and she says it's unnecessary, but then she goes on to end that it's comments like these that take away the good that he's done. That's ignoring it. That's starting to flip. That's starting to change it. Very much so what the press secretary does every single time. I imagine that they will change the subject. They will ignore it. They will move on. They will blame somebody else. It's not Trump. It's somebody else's

fault. We've seen them do this time and time again. Yeah. Well, look, Look, Sage Steele came out and she said the tweet is so disappointing and unnecessary. It's comments like this that take away from the countless great things that Donald Trump does for America. That's a switch. That, it is, look, it's one of those things that, depending on your opinion of her, your opinion on the right, you take from it whatever you want. Is it noteworthy that she felt the need to come out and publicly chide the president? even in slap on the wrist fashion for this. Sure it is.

Is it also noteworthy that she felt the need to come out and at the end of the statement to pat him on his ass and rub his belly a little bit and powder his, but that's also noteworthy as well. So that's the kind of thing to where she's trying to have her cake and eat it too. What do you think? I think that that right there, that statement,

is exactly what represents. those people who continue to support Trump. And it goes back to the original statement. At this point, I am convinced that there is nothing that Trump can do to change the people who are in this cult. There is nothing. And when I say the original statement, I go back to the thing that Trump said.

He could shoot somebody in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue. And people would still align with him. There is absolutely at this point to me nothing Trump can do. to change those people who follow him. There's nothing. You know, I want to make one more point about this before we leave. Just so everyone knows that's listening to us right now. I never want to be that.

And it doesn't matter for who or for whom. I never want to be that. Sometimes I'm going to have opinions, thoughts, and perspectives on politics and politicians that are going to, run a file of you guys. You guys are going to hear me say things that you go, I can't believe that you're saying this at this time when we need to win this race,

when we need to have this piece of policy passed. And for me, it's just very important that I never find myself in the position where I'm trying to make sense of a statement like this. While I'm trying to sanewash something for you guys, in front of you guys, to maintain or court curry favor with power in this way. it is the problem, the number one issue in America right now.

That segment of higher learning has gone viral with me talking about dick riding. I'm actually writing my next book on that. So that one can flop too. It's the dick riding and the intellectual capture that has gone on that robs us of our objectivity and doesn't allow us to talk about what people want. what people need and allows us to be decent, this is a major problem in American society. When we did our show about empathy and sympathy

after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a lot of people got mad. A lot of people got mad. A lot of people were upset. A lot of people were upset that, I wasn't willing to say, you know, somebody got their neck blown up. Oh my God, that's a great thing.

I understand how everybody feels. I do. I get it. understand how everyone feels. I'm right there with you. We have to also we have to both condemn things that we think are horrific and horrible, but also hold people to account like we did when Ryan came on the show when they are saying washing or whitewashing somebody's legacy. And those two things sometimes feel like they're budding heads. They're not. They're easy to do. You say this was wrong. This was horrible. But this is who this person was and this is the truth about

them. And we have to be able to do that. Because if not, we end up either emotionally endorsing, and societally endorsing things like what happened to Charlie Kirk. And at the same time, we also end up on the backside, like someone like Sage Steele or someone else, not necessarily Sage Still. I actually do give her credit for this tweet, a little bit of credit. Other people that we're going to see that come out and defend this stuff, we get robbed of who we actually are and what we actually think and how we want to show up for people and live for people and what we want from ourselves. And you know what, man, I just be honest with you guys, these politicians don't deserve that. They don't deserve to rob you of who you are,

to take your morals and your values and your sense of empathy and sympathy and your objectivity and your intelligence and all of your energy. They don't deserve this from you. They don't deserve your your worship there's not one of them who has built a cult that would be worth being in they just don't deserve that from you and i hope i hope that there's nobody in our audience that is eager to give that to somebody none of them have have have earned that not one of them like everything that makes you you is just more important and and much more sacred than any of these people that are trying to manipulate you for power and i hope that you hear me when i say at. Yeah. Well, nobody should be a part of any kind of cult. Like nobody, there should never be a

cult mentality, period, because the danger in that is that you have a blind allegiance and you sacrifice a lot of your, you sacrifice all of yourself to join a cult, period. That's what it is. You sacrifice yourself for the greater good of the person leading the cult in every single thing that they believe. So the moment that you are a part of a cult, whether it is a politician, an artist, an athlete, any type of public figure or a civilian, whatever it may be, you have lost yourself, lost yourself. And I'm with you. I'm with you. I understand it. But I never want to be a part of something where I lose myself in it. And I start saying things like I understand or I agree with or I'm okay with something happening that completely contradicts my morals and values.

Well said. Okay, two mass shootings to get to guys. I know it's a lot. But this is what happened this weekend. I know it's a lot. Rest in peace to Rob Reiner. Prayers to that family. And to the rest in peace of Rob Reiner and Michelle. I thank you for that correction.

Prayers to that family. The rest of the family, the people that are reeling from this, also the greater Hollywood community at large that is just shocked right now. that is just shocked right now. So, Donnie, let's move on to more fucked up news. What you got?

Yeah, a gunman remains at large. A few days after opening fire inside a Brown University academic building, which killed two students and injured nine others. The shooting happened during a final exam review for an economics class. A teacher's assistant who was teaching that session said that he was wrapping it up when a man with a face mask and a rifle burst into the classroom, shout at something that he did not make out and open fire. As of yesterday, authorities said that they had a person of interest in custody,

but they could not find any evidence to charge that person in connection with the attack and that person was released. So the gunman is still at large. Yeah. What do you think? My silence is because it's one of those things that, with how do you come on here and you talk about this? We've been here before. 389 mass shootings since December 13th when this happened.

75 school shootings this year alone. More shootings than the days of the year. That's the country that we live in at this point. You have these stories coming out where there are kids, students at Brown University who are experiencing their second mass shooting. That's the world we live in. Like, what are we doing here? I mean, we are failing society. We are failing our children. We are failing just Americans in general. And I struggle with finding how to talk about this when it's just, I'm repeating, I'm sounding robotic in everything I say, because it's, It's not a matter of if we're going to talk about this again. It's when we will be back on this podcast talking about a mass, a senseless mass shooting.

And then we will follow it up about an administration who continues to do nothing about it. And I was really looking at this and I thought, okay, I could talk about this and I could talk about all the things that the Trump administration has banned that haven't dealt with assault weapons. All the things that are not problematic are not in. any way rooted in protecting the American citizen in lives and stopping senseless tragedies. I could go down a list of those, just things that they are doing that are deeply built in homophobia and racism and xenophobia and all of that, all these things that they're working to banning. But I just read these statistics. They're fully aware of them and they do nothing about it. And the crazy thing is, as I was thinking about how I was talking about going to talk about

this, I thought to myself, what has the Trump administration done? in regards to guns. Because we often talk about the fact that they haven't done anything to ban them, but they actually have done several things since Trump has taken this second term in relation to guns. They have closed the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. They have removed the Surgeon General's public health guidance on gun violence. They have continued to establish executive orders protecting the Second Amendment rights. They have canceled federal grants for violence intervention programs. They have ended ATF's zero tolerance policy.

They have loosened ATF regulations and have strengthened ATF regulations and have lessened the agency's role. Say it like that. They have eased the restriction on firearm exports. The list goes on and on and on. So it's not that they're not doing anything. Everything that they are doing is strengthening for. the ability of people to have guns and possess guns in this country,

only contributing to the gun violence that we continue to suffer with in this country. Yeah. Donnie, play something real quick for me, for me, from one of the greatest philosophers of modern times. and I want to play something from him and then I want to tell you how I read this entire thing Donnie, play it. You know what I noticed?

Nobody panics when things go according to plan. Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press that like a gangbanger will get shot or a truckload of soldiers will be blowing up nobody panics because it's all part of the plan. But when I see,

say that one little old mare will die. Well, then everyone loses their minds. Rachel, you know what that's from? I know that that's the Joker. Okay. And Dark Night. The Dark Night. The Dark Night. Rachel, you're two for two right there.

I love that trilogy. So we have to, we have to actually, before I get into this, we have to kind of pause and give you props. No, you don't. Rache. Rage. two for two in movie type shit. That's the Joker. Now, beyond the fact that

the Dark Knight itself is brilliant in its analyzing of culture from a lot of the different questions that it asked philosophically, I think it's important for us to kind of look at what the Joker is saying there.

What the Joker is saying in rest and peace to Heath Ledger is that our relationship to tragedy is based at least in part on our expectation. And we expect certain people in society to die or to be at risk. The soldier dies or must die because of American dominance, you know, in the region, if we're talking about the Iraq War, the soldier has to die for, you know, for us to install who we want, you know, in places like Iraq, you know, American hegemony. in regions like that.

The soldier has to die to harvest the oil of places like that. The soldier also has to die because the soldier dying means that companies like Raytheon and Blackwater at that time,

all the American defense industrial complex companies come up with better guns, better body armor, all kinds of stuff that they can sell to say that, hey, soldiers are dying, And so soldiers need to be more safe.

The soldier's death has utility. That's why it's part of the plan because it's useful. The gangbanger in that situation really dies for the same reason. The gangbanger dies because the death of the gangbanger demonstrates societal dysfunction. It shows society who the bad people are, right? You don't want to be that, right? So then you have candidates that can run on law and order platforms. We have to have law and order.

We have to protect you guys, the good people from the bad people. But not just that, right? The gangbanger dies and then you need more jails and prisons. So you flood money with that. The gangbanger dies and you need more police. So the police budgets go crazy. That type of dysfunction is useful to society. And that's, it becomes part of the societal plan.

When I was watching the Sunday shows and they were addressing, this shooting, I didn't see anyone from either side say anything that would remotely sound like solving this problem. Of course. At all. What I saw were thoughts and prayers and condolences. Nobody went on the Sunday shows and said, hey, you know what? This is another opportunity for me to give you my 10 point plan on how we stop this. I didn't hear anybody say, that look, this was something that happened in other countries and this is the way they dealt with it. I didn't hear anyone say,

this is why I've been trying to do this and do that and combat this and combat that, which tells me something. Mass shootings in America have become a part of the plan. They've become a part of the plan. And everyone should be afraid of that. Okay? Because when a mass shooting like this happens,

the first thing that we do is we get the name of the shooter and the political motive of the shooter, the name and the identity, and then the political motive, right? And that's useful information. It's useful information for people to use that shooting to volleyball around and say that this is another person on the left,

there's another person on the right, this is somebody who on their social media was espousing this, this is somebody who in their past has done this. We take that and we use it as, you know, information as to why the other side is horrible and violent. But no one really addresses the fact that to your point, this is happening way, way too much. That there is a combination of American realities that are leading us to the point where people

feel like they need to go grab guns and run into places and kill everyone. And I want people to understand that this being a part of the plan in America, this being something that we've accepted means one thing. You see, the gangbanger and the soldier have something in common. To a degree, both of those people have made choices. Now, we can debate their choice matrix. We really can. The soldier might have decided to defend him, his country, with honor,

his or her country, with honor, and then got sent to a bullshit war. They didn't decide where they were going to go. The gangbanger's choice matrix, is one that we could volleyball around and have a lot of discussions about how much do you really make the decision to join the gang with you 12 or 13? What kind of choices do you have in front of you?

I get that and I understand that. But to a degree, both of them are willingly being involved in something that is dangerous, right? And I hold space for both outcomes in terms of even socioeconomically the types of people that become soldiers and how much choices they really have.

I understand all of those complexities. I'm trying to hold space for that. But we're not talking about that. We're talking about you going to the movies. We're talking about you going to an amusement park, going to a club, going to church, going to school. We're talking about you walking with your family, going someplace out in American society.

and now it is a part of the plan, part of the fabric of your country, that you are a political bull's eye wherever you go. Your children are, the children that you send to college are. It is part, an accepted part of American dysfunction that every time you leave your door, that somebody that is activated by something else has the access, and really the cultural green light and the political green light to blow your fucking head off and there's no way around it. The reality is it is not to me,

not in any way, a question that is being deeply, deeply and seriously investigated in American society right now. It has been accepted. So all of you, listening to the sound of my voice when you leave a house and you go to

the grocery store, when you go to Disneyland, when you go to any place like that, wherever you're going, just know that no one gives a fuck if somebody runs up in that place and kills everybody. And that's the reality. Yeah.

A terrifying reality and I completely agree with you. The only thing I will say is I completely agree that it's a plan in the that it's used to further somebody else's personal or political agenda. I 100% believe that. And then also, in some ways, I don't even think if it's that, what's the word?

I don't even think it is that, it's not that I'm trying to say smart, that it's almost giving some of them too much credit. because I think what's even sadder than the plan is that to you, the last thing you said, they don't care. And when you have a president who after this is the 389th tragedy this year says things will happen. That's exactly, that is the sentiment of we don't give a fuck what happens to you because they're just going to happen. You know, Charlie Kirk, who lost his life to gun violence, we said it before on this podcast, said that people will die. People will die in order to continue to promote this right. So it's, it is a part of a plan. It is used in a manipulative way,

absolutely. But the root of it is they don't care. They don't look. It's, it happened to you, not them. They don't care that you're in fear of going to the grocery store, going to the movies, going to a sporting event, going to a concert, traveling. They don't care about that. because it's not them. It doesn't impact them or affect them in any way. They don't care enough to make a change. Your life don't mean anything to them. I guess what I'm saying is that, so I'm not saying it there,

I can't rule it out. I'm not saying that there are people that are sitting around and planning the next mass shooting. No, I know that. Sorry, I don't mean to see. What I'm saying is now that the, no, no, I get it. What I'm saying is now that the mass shooting is being weaponized, not as a horrific one-off culture change.

event, but as the price of living in America. Yes. And, you know, I know guys that like we could talk about the rise in active shooter incidents since 2000. We could talk about, you know, the prevalence of them. But no one is to me. And I'm looking at the American political and social intelligence. as a whole because

gun violence prevention is only one part of this. Gun violence prevention is only one part of this. Another part of it is mental health services. Another part of it is, man, look, you know, I got into a whole

weird dark time where I was looking at the backstories and histories of a lot these shooters. There are so many red flags from the majority of these shooters that were missed. Some of them were missed by law enforcement. Some of them were missed by their parents.

Some of them were missed by, you know, people at large. We talked about the Virginia Tech shooter. The Virginia Tech shooter scared Nicky of Giovanni so much that she said that unless this kid is removed from my school, I won't teach them. Remove from my class. I won't teach a class. that's how afraid Nikki Giovanni was of this student

that was, she saw something, right? All types of things that we could have done to stop it. When I'm talking about right now, it goes beyond politics. Because I could also make an argument that resources being made for mental health work,

that resources being made on a direct community level, that some of that stuff would be addressing public safety as a whole. like what is the idea of public safety that we are putting out to the American public? Is the idea of public safety that we are giving to the American public

more police? Is it stricter consequence when things go bad? I've heard people say that Mike Pence, not people, Mike Pence said this, that one of his plans to deal with the mass shooter was

the automatic death penalty for anyone that gets involved in the active shooter. what the fuck are you talking about? Like, what are you talking about? Everybody's dead already, Mike. They're all dead. And the shooter doesn't value life.

So him dying in that way don't mean shit. Like, what are you talking about? Yeah. Like, what are you talking about? The conversation happens with deep scholarship on what is going on in our society that makes these shootings so prevalent. That begins with the common.

conversation around gun violence and access to guns. But it also, God bless you, has to do with the amount of money, time, and resources that we're putting into mental health work, the amount of money, time,

and resources that we're putting into specifically dealing with the problem of young, white, disaffected men who are a danger to American society in a very specific

way because you guys tell me so much about how scared you are of Duan and Jalen and Laderius, but you don't talk about the fact that Brian and Michael are polishing their fucking AKs and they're looking for a body and you never know where it's going to happen because they can go anywhere that they want because they walk into a place. and nobody says, are you supposed to be here? What's you wearing a mask for? Nobody does that. They can go anywhere that they want.

So they're begging for a body, and it happens all the time. It's happening more often. So because of the fact that that portion of society, a lot of times, is insulated from any type of consequence, insulated from even the thought

that it could be a problem that they need to be dealt with, that's a tougher conversation to have because if you're a politician doesn't matter if you're on the left and you're right you stand up and you say there's a danger from young white men in terms of this

I could give you stats on parasite which is somebody killing their parents which is something else that we talked about earlier in this park I could give you stats on criminal sex abuse and what happens is on the other side of those statistics there is a cohort that we don't want to view as being specifically troubled.

So we don't talk about it. Anyway, moving on. Another one. Yeah, the second one. At least 15 people are dead and multiple others are hospitalized after a mass shooting. This one outside of the country, this was in Australia. Authorities described the attack, which they said was carried out by a father and son as an act of terrorism. The two suspects have been identified as Sajid and Navid Akram, the older man dying of injuries after being shot and the other one sustained critical injuries.

Hundreds of people were gathered at Bondi for a Hanukkah event. The prime minister spoke about it and says that the attackers weren't part of a terror cell, but clearly they were motivated by extremist ideology. So first of all, this is a disgusting, tragic, horrific attack. And when this attack happened, I heard from a lot of my Jewish friends. And what they said to me was like, Van, this is what we're afraid of. We're afraid of the rise in anti-Semitic rhetoric, you know, ending up in what we saw in Australia. And there's been a rise in anti-Semitism in Australia since the October 7th attacks. There's been a rise.

And there's a woman named Jillian Siegel, and she has been put in charge of monitoring this and figuring out what to do about the fact that there's a rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic attacks in Australia and how to keep. the Jewish population of Australia's safe. And it seems like that, you know, people were saying that there was going to be attack, that things had reached a fever pitch, and that this, something like this, was inevitable with the amount of rhetoric and the ratcheting up that was happening. It's interesting to hear you say that there was someone who was put in charge of that and that anti-Semitism has been on the rise in Australian. Obviously, you're truthful in what you're saying.

I'm surprised that there was not more security knowing how on the rise anti-Semitism is there specifically since October 7th. I'm surprised by that. I mean, this was a gathering of Jewish people celebrating the first day of Hanukkah, and you would think that there would have been, I'm not saying that things would have been different. I would just think that knowing that this is the case and you have so many Jewish people gathering together, that knowing that there was someone who's put in charge, and this is something they've been watching, that there would have been more security there.

I know it's also come out that Australian's domestic spy agency had looked into the sun involved in this for about six months, starting in 2019. They looked into him that he, I guess they determined that he was not a threat and they discontinued his investigation. And then six years later, here we are now. You know, I mean, like, I, I, Here I get, again, I'm like, what do you say? What do you say about this? I mean, the one thing I'll say is, I agree with everything that your Jewish friends are saying, of course, this is what they feared. Of course, this is what they're scared of. Of course, I saw countless videos of people saying, as we're in holiday season, of being, we're planned on going to a celebration to celebrate Hanukkah to gather together and are now in fear across the world. Jewish people are of gathering together for fear of something else happening.

like this. I mean, it's just, it's a tragedy. It's a tragedy. The number of people who were shot in this tragedy, the number keeps of killings keeps going up. The death toll keeps going up and up and up. And all people were doing was trying to celebrate and gather together. And it just feels like there's, at this point, we're in a world where you can't do anything without fear. Like the moment you do something, whether it's a celebration, whether it's a walk, a walk in the park, you're constantly thinking, am I under attack? Is somebody going to attack me for what I look like, who I am, how I worship, what, anything, my religion, all of it. Yeah, I mean, I mean, there's a couple of things that, you know, I think that you can say,

number one, is that the worldwide jewelry, when they talk about the fact that they're, you know, afraid of anti-Semitism. They aren't lying. Of course. Yeah. Well, no, let's talk about it. I think that there are some people that think that they are being dramatic. I honestly do. I think that there are some people that, because the elephant in the room is that there are cogent and obvious critiques to be made about Zionism and Israel. And those things get wrapped up into being anti-Semitic. and those things a lot of times are conflated with one another.

So there are people that think if you are against what is happening in Gaza or what to me is a bloodthirsty regime in Israel that you don't want Jews safe. And it's very difficult with a lot of people to talk about that in a holistic way that parses those things apart. right and when you talk to a lot of your friends they say hey you know we're afraid of something and that fear is real it's based in a real fear that exists right now and it's based in a historic fear that has always existed as it relates to to jews and jewish culture worldwide and i do think that there are people that go you know what These are just people that don't want us to talk about Benjamin Netanyahu. They don't want us to talk about Smotridge or Ben-Gavir or the thousands of people dead and Gaza.

They don't want us to discuss this. So they throw anti-Semitism out there as a shield from that. And a lot of times that certainly is true. A lot of times it is used as a shield for us not to actually criticize a government. and what that government would do. But the reality is there are people on the earth who want to kill Jews.

Yes. And it's just that that's a reality. There are people on the earth that want to kill Jews, that want to hurt Jews, that blame worldwide Jews for all types of terrible things that are happening across the world.

Mel Gibson was arrested. And Mel Gibson said, the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Every war ever. how profound of a statement is that when you think about it, when you think about making one group of people responsible for every single person that dies in a war anywhere.

Right. And so we have to be able to have a conversation about keeping communities safe, Jewish communities, Muslim communities, Arab communities, as we have talks about reforming and what we believe should be happening in this world that we're making. Can't be afraid of it.

We can't be afraid of it. And we have to be able to... So, at this point, 15 people have been killed. That is what we should be talking about. 15 people died. 15 people died because they were Jewish. It was an anti-Semitic attack. That is who we should be talking about.

We should be talking about the lives that were lost. Period. What this shouldn't be used as, which I am seeing on social media, is a point to talk about the Israeli government, a point to talk about on the other end, immigration laws, immigration policies. I'm seeing some of that as well, which is the irony is that an immigrant

is who is one of the heroes in all of this. It shouldn't be an opportunity to talk about the politics of it. Lives were lost and they were lost because of who people are. That's the first thing that should be talked about. What? But Rachel, why is that?

Why is that happening? I know. I know. Listen. We talk. Because the attack is useful. Sadly, each, as we have talked about our topics on higher learning today, these stories are bleeding into one another.

I'm not denying what you said. It's just that we should be talking about the lives that were lost. Anti-Semitism is on the rise. And these people were killed because they were Jewish. Then it shouldn't be an opportunity to your point of what you were saying to use it and politicize it. for your own personal or political agenda. We should be able to separate that.

You should be able to have a feeling about the Israeli government and also recognize the anti-Semitism is on the rise. They are not being dramatic. And I feel like people who make those type of statements would say that other oppressed groups are being dramatic about the violence that they suffer across the world as well. It's something that is within you that you just want to believe and you want to ignore everything else.

You can feel a certain way about something and also recognize a tragedy that happened and why it happened. Like, period. So the man's name who I just I mean, it's just remarkable video.

You know, you see this guy and he's when you see the man cycling the weapon, the shooter, it's obvious that there's some expertise there, right? Somebody who knows, what they're doing. There is one video and the video is somebody who put their life on the line, a man named Ahmed El Ahmed.

Ahmad El Amid. What's how you pronounce it? It's Ahmed, right? I thought it was Ahmed, but I haven't heard. Ahmed El Ahmed who put their life on the line to save lives and was shot by the other attacker. He takes down one of the shooters and then the other shooter gets a couple of shots off. and gets him. He has raised over $900,000 right now

and a go-fund me and is a hero. He's being lauded by the prime minister of Australia as a hero. One of the gunmen died. The other gunman is not dead, but... And Ahmed was shot multiple times. Ahmed was shot multiple times. A hero.

A hero for many reasons, if I'm being honest. A hero for the lives that he might have saved there in Bondi, Beach. But I would be remiss if I did not say that the fact that this man is a Muslim man, a Syrian man that looked at this and decided to jump into it, that, it shouldn't, it shouldn't matter. But it does. Yeah, it does. It does. It's going to matter. It shouldn't matter. But it does. The lives that were lost in this are across a wide spectrum. You have a 10-year-old girl all the way up to a Holocaust survivor that were there

to celebrate their religion and their culture. And the reality of it is the people that are walking around, Jews in the world, that are scared of stuff like this happening, they're not lying. They're not. have the bravery to confront the situation that they're living. Have a bravery to confront the situation that your Muslim friends are living in, your Arab friends are living in. The situation that all of this stuff is creating.

Just have the bravery to have the conversation. And have the bravery to stand up for your convictions and whatever it is that you believe about what's going on. But also, stand in your humanity also. Yes, how hard is that? And tell people that you want. It's very difficult. for people.

Because once again, the easy thing to do is be a faceless voice on social media that is reacting to rage and energized and activated and be not a person. And not a person whatsoever. That's the easier thing to do. And it's also the thing that rewards you with applause, the tough thing to do. do is to have a real talk with somebody that you love that you care about, whether you know them

or you don't know them, about the reality of a situation, how far you can go, what you can't go for, what you want and what they need. It's not easy. It's not easy to do for a lot of people because really it's thankless and it's dangerous. But if you look at this right now and And there's more reports about other things that are happening. If you look at this right now, there's a problem and we need to be able to address it. Straight like that. Like on our podcast, we've never, ever, ever had a problem talking about anti-Semitism, right? We've never had a problem talking about it.

But we have gotten entangled politically with how we view some of the people that we've talked to. Because I'll tell you what I mean by that. is there's sometimes you're talking to somebody about their protection and they're in lockstep with you. And then if you talk to them about somebody else's protection, somebody else's protection, they say, I don't give a fuck. That happens, right? There's sometimes you're talking to somebody

and even if it's about you, if it's about, and I don't care about that as much. And you go, wait a minute now. Like what are, like what are we really discussing? In this situation, it's clear. anti-Semitism is real. The anti-Semitism in Australia is real. It is a scourge like all other anti-human ideas are.

And it must be contended with. Okay. It is. It must be contended with. So, you know, Australia has announced, people in Australia, officials in Australia have announced responses to this. Australia hasn't had a mass shooting in a while. They had one and they tightened up gun laws and they went away.

They've had three and 30 years. This is the third. So they've talked about some things that, you know, might be done now to kind of deal with this. And there will be more security during this Hanukkah season where things are so ratcheted up. Man, it's scary out there. Wow. A government response, an actual response from the government in regards to a mass shooting. With, you talked about, you watched the Sunday shows and didn't see anybody with a 10-point plan on what can be done on how they could stop this.

And you see an Australian government who doesn't have mass shootings and is horrified by what happened and said, this is what we're going to do to have more straight gun laws. They're embarrassed. They're embarrassed that this happened in their country. Yep. They're embarrassed. Before we leave, I'll say this. to Rachel's point, I saw a lady that was interviewed say this. The people that are responsible for this are Sahid and Navid Akram.

That's it. It's not a group of people. It's not a cohort of people. It's not an immigrant group. It's not a religion. It's not a race. It's not a creed. It's two people that decided to do this.

Yep. That's who's responsible for it. There you have. it. Tough, tough, tough, tough. An hour. First hour. An hour. Ooh. Tough. Tough. Tough. Tough. Tough. Tough first hour.

Um, all right. Can we take a break? Tough first hour. Let's take a break. And then come back to the show. And we got some bullshit for you. We got some internet bullshit. We got some other stuff. We got Only fans. We're going to talk about that a little bit. You're going to talk about it. No, you'll talk about it as well. All right. On the other side of this break.

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So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. Donnie, let's get it popping. All right. Let's talk about some sports real quick. The Colts, they're having a good season, but their starting quarterback went down with an Achilles injury last week.

And because of that, they were super desperate, and they decided to turn to a 44-year-old Philip Rivers, who last played a game five years ago. For the same team, though. Yesterday he started after a few days of practice. He had a decent game, completed 18 of 27 for 120 yards, through a touchdown, through an interception, but ultimately they lost.

Did you guys watch? What are your thoughts on his fan? No, I did not watch, Donnie. I am not interested in a Colts versus Seahawks game, not in the least bit. nothing about it intrigues me. As much as I like football, those two teams do not. Let me tell you what never crossed my mind. Philip Rivers returning after five years of play, he's 44 years old, going back to his old team, the Colts, never did it cross my mind

that maybe they could have gone a different way with the quarterback who they tried to. Maybe I thought, oh, maybe somebody else in the league. somebody else in the league, for sure. But never did it cross my mind of other options for people who haven't played in years that could have been chosen

to lead the Colts on Sunday. Van? Why don't you just say the name? Never... Say his name. He's not a boogeyman. Oh, I'm... You have to like these owners. I'm absolutely... Say his name. He ain't... He ain't... He ain't... He's absolutely not my boogeyman.

Never didn't cross my mind that we would go back to a quarterback who has not played in nine years. Say his name. Thank you. I clearly know I'm not afraid to. That we should go back and maybe Colin Kaepernick should get the starting position for the Indianapolis Colts. But you know whose mind it did cross? Vance. This guy.

It crossed this guy's mind. it crossed my mind because when I see shit like this I don't think about this situation at this time that's not what I think about I think about all the situations over time and I think if you

went to a 44 year old so if you went to a 44 year old quarterback that hadn't played in four years yeah right that's just a ridiculous move period a 44 year old quarterback that hadn't played in four years that almost every excuse that people have used as to why Colin Kaepernick hasn't gotten a shot other than the fact that Colin Kaepernick is a threat to the power structure of the NFL is bullshit.

Because the excuses, forget about the social excuses because that's not what people said. What people said was that Colin Kaepernick was too far removed from the game, that Colin Kaepernick hadn't played enough, that Colin Kaepernick might not be in shape, all of that. Philip Rivers came in 325 pounds, right? Stood under center after a week of practice, got a start primetime big game for the Colts. I heard every single reason why Cap couldn't do it.

And the real reason why Cap couldn't do it is that the NFL owners don't want to have a conversation around social issues in the NFL, and everybody, including black people, is okay with the fact that they dictate that. And if, and look, we could talk about Cam, Cam Newton, and what Cam Newton said. We could talk about other guys out there

that might have been, you know, up for some of these different. I get it. Everybody, when you're talking about the quarterback position, people that have played it at a high level or like, why don't I get that shot? I don't think what Cam said in any way is inappropriate. Cam basically said it's insulting to me. Cam Newton, who's 36 last played a couple of years ago,

says it's insulted to me that I don't get that call that Philip Rivers gets that call, right? It's insulting to me, right? Somebody goes down. But, and so I get what he's saying. But I just want people to understand what the Colin Kaepernick thing is. Now, I know Colin Kaepernick.

I know his wife. I know his mom. I know his baby. I know Colin Kaepernick. And let me tell you what I know. I don't know a social firebrand that wants to go and deconstruct everything that's around him and build a new society and pointing white people's face every day

and tell him about themselves, right? What I know is a father and a husband and an athlete. I know a person. So it is different. I know a dude who's doing his best to make sense of his world. And somebody who cares about the things around him. Not a perfect person that does things perfectly. None of that.

But a guy, a man, a dude, a part of a community, someone that cares about a community. And y'all killed that shit. Straight the fuck up. And I was part of it too. I was part of it when the when when the shit came back and we was in the pandemic, I started watching the games again, all of us. I'm not taking a moral stand here and establishing a high ground. I'm not doing that.

I'm no better than nobody else. I'm just asking people right now if they're okay with that. And I'm going to continue to ask because Colin Kaepernick is not the last Colin Kaepernick. He's not. He's not the last person that is going to put themselves. out there for you guys and is going to ask for your support and communal allegiance that will be failed if we don't pay serious attention to how this all went down. And when he gets back into the league, what I mean, Philip Rivers, it is a joke. You would almost think that the owners

would be like, oh, we shouldn't do that because that's going to make people think that we didn't give cap another shot because of something other than football. Because if we do that, it's clearly, it's like a test case that that wasn't the thing. We shouldn't do that. But they went fuck it because they know y'all don't give a fuck. They know it doesn't really matter. They know that people have largely turned the page. And if you are feeling away because of that, you should.

I feel away. You should feel away. You should feel a way that they took him off the street. After a week, put him in the game and the guy that legitimately said, I want police brutality addressed in this country. They took his career. And we are going to invent 17 different ways to not address the fact that that happened because we like football.

And that, my friends, is why we lose. I am a part of it. I'm not in any way going to say that I'm not. What are we doing? I'm not making a judgment about anyone, but I'm telling you, Philip Rivers starting this game is proof of concept that they all lie to you,

and now we've got to defend the lie. Okay. You being a part of it, it always makes me say, then what are we doing here? Okay, listen, Philip Rivers getting called up to play and start for the Colts

is an asinine decision by the Colts, period. Take Capernick out of it. Why in the world would you call up Philip Rivers? That's just terrible management all around. It is the most ridiculous thing. They nearly won. I almost feel like, this isn't even a knock against Philip Rivers as a player. It's just like, they nearly won the game.

I understand that. And he had a decent game for not playing in five years. But it's like such poor management. I am sure there were better options to choose from. Forget Kaepernick. As Cam said, there are better options, whether you're out of the league or in the league. There were better options than Philip Rivers. I almost feel like they did it for the headlines.

Okay? Now, back to Kaepernick. I might feel as strongly as you do. Nobody, I mean, I'm with you. I still watch football. You know, I stop for a second. I still watch. I also don't hold the position that you have.

What Kaepernick did in standing up in the way that he did was absolutely incredible and amazing. And most NFL athletes, most people, period, did not and would not. and would not have the courage to do that. He was colluded against. He sued and won. I think I would feel different for you if that didn't happen. I understand this is a man who still wants to play.

We've had this argument before on the podcast. They colluded. He proved it. He won. I have asked the question. I don't understand why he wants to play in a league where he's proven this has happened and has acknowledged that it was a form of slavery. We don't have to get back.

do that. I'm so bored with that, man. Well, I'm bored with we have. I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored. Wait, wait, wait, let me finish because I listen to you ran about something that I could care less about. I'm bored by that. And I still allowed you to feel the way that you did. I allowed you to express that. My thing with the Kaepernick is, Kaepernick is I acknowledge what he did. I believe in it. I support it. I support all the things that he does off the field in regards to fighting for social justice. I will always question why at this point he still wants to be a part of the league. Nine years he has not played. Yes, he had a workout that he canceled in 2019. Yes, he worked out for the, uh, had a workout with the Raiders in 2022. Last year, he was offered a coaching

position under Harbo that he declined. He didn't want to coach. At this point, I just feel like we should turn the page, fair or not fair. I'm not saying that. We should turn the page when it comes to the Kaepernick conversation and applaud the things that he is doing off the field in regards to social justice. It's not fair. I agree with you. It's not fair. But I can't keep going back to, well, this is what we should have done.

This is what should happen with CAP. This is what should happen. I'm sorry. I just don't. So let's let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's broaden this a little bit. Let's broaden this a little bit. All right. So the first question I'll ask you is a Kaepernick question, then I'll ask you a Rachel question.

right. Kaepernick then Rachel Cap and Rachel. So you think what the owners did to Colin Kaepernick wasn't injustice? Yes. Okay. So when do you turn the page on an injustice? Well, there's only what

you fight against an injustice, right? Which he did. He filed a lawsuit. He won a lawsuit. He got awarded money. I, and this is the question I always pose. Why do you want to be a part? It didn't change the owners, right? We talked about on this podcast, the NFL has still failed when it comes to social justice for black people and the black community, right?

They've done little things here and there, but really haven't done anything in an effective way like they promised that they would. I cannot understand why you want to still be a part of this system. So to answer your question, you're saying, well, what do you do? He fought against it. He won. And he's continued to carry the fight off. the field. I feel like he's doing the things. Okay, so I'm not

going to speak for him, partly because Capon Nessa, I think y'all should do your own talking, but I am going to give you my opinion of it. I don't think that the settlement was the total victory. I think the total victory

was, the settlement is a part of the total victory. The settlement was a step in the victory. Part of the victory was, yeah, Colin Kaepernick playing NFL football again. And we have to remember that it wasn't the settlement that ended this conversation. What ended this conversation for good was Rock Nation's deal with the NFL.

And I know that that is inconvenient for you guys, but that was the end of the conversation. What happens with issues like this a lot of times is the bigger nigger theory, the bigger nigger conundrum. If, in fact, there is somebody, there is doing something. Sometimes what corporations do is say, hey, fuck trying to deal with you. I'll go get the bigger nigger. And a bigger nigger who people will respond to and say, if this person's doing it, then it must be okay in this situation with Jay-Z. Imagine that I'm standing up for something or I'm trying to do something and I got people educated and engaged and then.

whoever I'm in traction with goes and gets Barack Obama. And Barack Obama says, you know what, I'm with this. This is the way we're going to figure it out. Well, I'm done. And so, like, that happens because of the way that, you know, black culture sometimes can get captured. We put a lot of power and faith into people. Nothing wrong with that.

But it doesn't always work out in ways that are absolutely nutritious to us. It happens. Now, you can think whatever you want about that. You can be okay turning the page and all of it. of that stuff. But I do think it's sort of a reductive lens to look at this entire thing through to say that he won a settlement so that that means that now the entire thing is pretty much over. And why would you want to continue to play in the league? That's what I have. Not over, but that I'll ask you is, you are out of batch nation. You're out of the bachelor. When did you realize

that the bachelor had a culture problem? When I was in it. Well, before I started, before I started. Then why did you be a part of it? Well, because I thought I could make a difference. And that's what I did it. We have opposite. Do you realize that that's a faulty thing? Because he was already in it. Then he was wronged.

And then this happened. Right. So the moment I was wrong, I said, I don't want to be a part of what they're doing. I left that podcast. Not immediately. And let me tell you what I, and let me tell you why I can relate. Let me tell you why I can relate to this. I too worked at a place that I realized

had a culture problem. I'm at TMZ. Didn't know much about TMZ going into it other than the fact that they did Celebrity News. But while I was there, I was like, hey, you know what? Some of this shit is actually fucked up. And I had a conversation with somebody I was about to leave TMZ

and they're like, nah, you need to stick around. Because if you go, then like, what do we do and all that stuff like what happens then like who do I call all that and I'm not saying that I stayed at TMZ for any altruistic reasons but I will say and you can ask any of the people that I had these conversations with if I was going to tell you their names which I won't you can ask any of them and they'll tell you there were those times where I was like what am I doing here if I know that this place has a cultural problem sure I'm not saying that Colin Kaepernick was staying in the NFL because he was trying to make a political statement he likes and loves for

football. It's what he's been doing since he was nine or ten years old. And part of like an 11 football and playing it at the highest level when you took a team to the Super Bowl is playing NFL football. But I do think that his want to get back into the league is to overcome the people that tried to stop him from doing his life's work. What is so difficult to understand? Like I'm not necessarily pointing that at you because I hear this all the time. You were in batch for a long time. I was in TMZ for a long time. We are both in America, a place that we understand and know systemically is against us. We haven't picked up and moved to Ghana or to Nigeria or to any of those places. I realize that that is an absurd comparison, but go there with me.

I get that, guys. I'm not saying that we, when I'm America, I'm going to leave. I realize that that's an absurd comparison. What I'm saying is there are people working at jobs, all over this country. Black people that are working at jobs and are fighting a fight that's not just centered in career, a fight that's also centered in cultural forces within their workplace and their job that have it out for them.

It happens all the time. So for people to ask why he would want to do it, it's what he loves to do. And a lot of times when you're black in this country, doing what you love to do means that you work at a place that doesn't love you that much. Two things I want to say to this. The reason that your comparisons, I believe, fail in this moment is because we all work for corporations or we have worked in places that have done us wrong.

So before he joined the NFL, the NFL has not been the biggest proponent or whatever, it comes to social justice, particularly in the black community. He still went, joined it. Nobody's faulting him for that. They then colluded against him, right? So imagine, let's take TMZ, for example. Just as Kaepernick worked in the NFL and knew that there were ways in which he was wronged or treated as a black man within this corporation, you worked for TMZ and you felt a certain way. You question, should I be here? This is the culture, particularly when it comes to being black.

They, they colluded against him to no longer be able to work. there. If you were fired from TMZ, and they, all the higher ups said, we don't want him here because of this reason, you sue, you win. Would you keep trying to work at TMZ? Let me ask you a question. Is TMZ the only place where I can do what it is that I do? Okay. Let's just say that all media on TV. All media on TV. Okay, well, I'll ask you a question first and you gave me a question. So answer my question first. Let me ask you a question. The reason, the thing that makes it different is there's one place where he can do what he does.

Well, there's one, there's a perfect, there are other professional football teams. We know what we're talking about that. Okay, but there are other professional football teams. He was even offered to coach, to still be attached to the NFL and coach. Once again, once again, what I'm saying is like, I understand what you're saying, but I do think that when people, man, I know people that get fired. from AutoZone and shout out to my AutoZone people that say hey Van this wasn't fair this wasn't fair I want my job back I know people that get fired from restaurants I know women that get told that their hair is offensive to their workplace they want to be able to go back to that same job

with their hair that's the win the win is to tell the people they can't get rid of you because of your hair or because of what you think that's actually the win like now for Colin Kaepernick there is something different here. We are talking about something other than what he was talking about. What he was talking about was police brutality and all of those issues. What it became about after, though, and I understand the criticism of this. It became about a direct attack on him. And there are some people that are uncomfortable with that. There are some people that say, you know what, this was about police brutality, this was about issues that were bigger than him. Then it became about him. The reason why I have no problem marrying those two things, I have no problem marrying those

two things is because when you speak out about something, it will always become an attack on you. Always what it will be about at some point with the way these power systems are oriented is not about the actual thing. They will say you aren't good enough to talk about that. They will immiserate you. They'll take from your family. They'll make you beg. They'll make you bend the knee.

They'll take from you. And if you don't have community to get involved and say, hey, you can't do that to him. You're fucked. And that's just the reality. That's my second question. And that's the reason why we rally around people who are in these situations in their workplace because we want them to be able to exist as who they are in these spots. So my second question to you is, how do you rectify feeling so strongly about what happened to Kaepernick?

And yes, you make space and say, you're even at fault. There's no moral high ground because you watch the NFL. But how do you even have these conversations and rectify it when you watch football? Like I get you feeling so strongly, but then you still watch football. So it's like, how can you do both? Well, this is a great question. This is my philosophy.

Okay. My philosophy is brutality. Are you really down for Catholic if you still watch football? Even when it comes to me. I believe in God I believe there's only there was a moment

where I was like after my father had passed away and Ian and Gino will tell you about this this is like a moment that's in the movie we're doing a whole movie I don't know if I told you this so we're doing an entire movie starring me and all of my friends about that

when that happened right everybody's going to be in it next year you're in it as well I haven't even talked to you about it. The first time I'm breaking it to you. But there's a moment where I'm in the the, the, the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the fucking, the, the, the, mortuary, whatever it is, the place where dead people are.

And the guy in the mortuary deals with dead people every single day. Every day he deals with dead people. I'm not trying to diss them. But he deals with dead people. So another dead person is not that big of a deal. But my world has, and shattered. And I'm in there. The whole family is in there. Rest in peace, ain't Emily. She was in there. Uncle Craig is in there. Jason's in there. Everybody's in there.

And they're talking so caval. Ian is in there with me. Gino is in there with me. They're talking so cavalierly about all of this. They're like, hey, you know what? Somebody else from Terry's graduating class, they just died. Right? They just passed away like, yeah, man, you know, people getting on. And everybody's talking. And I'm in here and I forget the Southern. The southerness is this like proximity to death that is difficult for me to articulate to other people. I forget the southerness. So I actually get up and I leave and I walk outside. Ian and Gino come with me.

And when I'm outside, something happens, man, y'all can say what y'all want to say. When I'm outside, something happens. I'm looking at this blank part and I'm in Meringuine. I'm in a place where the air is familiar. I've been coming here for a long time. And God just went, it's going to be okay, Van. Mm-hmm. And there's Ian and there's Gino.

God just went, Van, it's all right. You're going to be okay. Get yourself together. Go back inside. It was your dad's time. Something just calmed me, steeled me. I know that God is there.

However, I don't respect God in any way, shape, or form. I don't respect God with the life that I live. I don't respect God with the way that I comport myself with some of my anger, some of my vindictiveness. I don't respect God, but I know that God is there. I say that to say, I live in the brutality of my contradiction, and that's part of my humanity.

That doesn't excuse it, and I know that I'll have to answer for it, but it doesn't make the thing less true. It just doesn't. It doesn't make the thing less true. If you're asking me whether or not I failed the entire movement of what was happening? Yeah, and I will tell you that I failed other things. But I think that the way to negotiate all of that stuff

is to actually live inside of it. I'm not afraid of the fact that I'm not, I wasn't that I put the fucking saints on. I'm not like that happened. I'm not afraid of any of the stuff that I did. But I'm also not going to make excuses for myself. I'm not going to make, I'm not going to pretend like the thing isn't the thing

just so I could feel safe. doing something that doesn't align with my values. And I think that there are some people who do that in this situation. And I'm not, y'all don't have to agree. And I get it that some people are annoyed with it and some people have all types of takes and it's different. We don't have to agree. But I'm telling you, in my opinion, in my opinion, this issue was an important one.

It was. It was an important one. When I see a sister, if we go back to the hair thing or whenever, if somebody right now gets let go from their job because they wore a Malcolm X t-shirt, yeah, I want them to get $100,000, $200,000, right? But I want that place to have to accept them and that shirt. I want that place to have to accept them in that shirt. I want that place to say that it's a place.

to say that it's owed, our freedoms and our rights are so meaningful. And our solidarity behind them is so meaningful that you can't do that to us. And I'll be honest with you, that didn't happen here. And you know what? It's probably not going to. I still want it to. I still believe in it, but it's probably not going to. But I'm not going to forget.

And when I see a 44-year-old quarterback pulled off the street to go start a game, 325 pounds, all of that stuff, whatever it is, I'm going to say, hey, that could have been my nigger. Straight line.

And I'm sorry, y'all gonna be annoyed. We're doing the Kaepernick thing again. Fuck it. All right, that's enough. We did go too long on it, Rachel.

I understand. By the way, I was with you against Batch. I've never watched Batch again. And I'm with you against TMZ. I've never watched Batch again for you. And I'm with you against TNZ.

I'm with you. Like sometimes, sometimes the golden bachelor comes up. Actually, I don't have a problem with people fuck with TMZ. I'm, you can't be honest with you with the TMZ thing. I don't have a problem with people fuck with The Bachelor, to be honest with you. I personally don't, but I've never been like, everybody has to boycott it and stop watching it. Like, I'm conflicted sometimes with the TMZ thing because we used to have fun at TMZ while we were up there fucking over people. We used to have fun.

Yes, you were there for so many years. Of course. Everything could have been bad. I have beautiful friendships and relationships from The Bachelor. Like I, I've never told anybody don't watch the show. Now, I don't really watch it anymore, but I didn't watch it before. What about the golden nigga? You fuck with the, is it golden nigga okay?

What's his name? Oh, he turned out to be a major fuck boy. The golden, what? They got divorced. Then he wrote a book and he shit all on her. It's super drama. Hold on. There's a lot of drama.

See? And now he's dying. What, what? Rachel, you just made that up. All of that stuff that you just said, all of that stuff cannot be true. So the nigger was a fuck boy. He did this and now he about to pass away. Yeah, like he's got an incurable cancer.

I think it's maybe some type of blood cancer. I'm not sure if that's the type. But yeah. Yeah, but he wrote a book and he trashed her. And she's like come out and talked about how like he's not telling the truth in certain things. he's moved on to a new relationship. Not this current Golden Bachelor, the first one. I'll say something about The Bachelor

before we move on to this, this, I guess is the lady from Uncle Nears. Love Island destroyed Batch. Yeah. Culturally, I bet the Batch has more ratings. Love is blind really did it first. Love is blind destroyed the Bachelor. The whole conversation.

The concept of the show is completely opposite of what The Bachelor is, what The Bachelor glorifies. It is all about how you look. And that's the opposite of Love is Blind. That really destroyed it first. Well, what I will say is that The Bachelor to me is an example. Say it again. The Bachelor? What did I say?

The Bachelor. Bachelor. Bachelor. Bachelor. Bachelor. Bachelor. Bachelor. Bachelor.

Bachelor. Bachelor. Bachelor? Bachelor? Bachelor? The Bachelor? The Bachelor? The Bachelor? Batch. Y'all hear it, right? Yeah, I'm my bad. Donnie, say it. How do you say it? Donnie, how do you say? I say Bachelor. It's two syllables. Bachelor. It's Bachelor. It's Bachelor. No, you keep doing it. You're adding a syllable. So it's not Bachelor. Bachelor. Bachelor. Bachelor. So I watched the clips from Love is Blind. Not Love is Blind. Not Love is Blind. I love island. And I see how Bachelor, how Bachelor, how Bachelor fucked up.

How? Because Alondria got that ass. That's a dark chocolate ass lady. That's a dark chocolate, beautiful black woman would pump butt. And they didn't run from that. They had big black kin niggas. they had a problematic

Palestinian lady they had the bachelor was like hey you know we might give you a biracial every now and again and this is what we do we'll give you Rach who's a real nigga right we'll give you we'll give you that

but not too much they want to stay away from it and then Love Island went you know what we got a fine dark skin twirking black lady was she twirking

she twirked a little bit I watched one scene when Mait the Stallion was on there. It was great TV. Everybody twerked. Everybody twerk, right? So I'm like, they didn't realize that they were too conservative and not daring enough for the people that really wanted to get in that shit. And the bachelor people were to me, I'm sure that they still probably get more raw viewers, right? Because I'm, this one stream.

I don't think so. But they definitely know they're conservative. And they play. I've said it all the time. They continue to cultivate the Saudi. I feel like Love Island looked at what they was doing and was like, this is what we don't want to be. We want to have some ass and we hitting it. And the whole thing.

And then now you got Zeus. Have you seen Love Cabin? You know I don't, you know how I feel about Zeus. Love Cabin crazy. You subscribe? Nah, I only see the clips. Okay. But the shit that they're doing on Love Cabin is, I don't know.

It makes me feel like a conservative. I feel like fucking. Actually, I've never even heard of that show. It's Love Cabin. they got Love Cabin. Who hosted? Cabin. Ray J.

I think it's Ray J. Oh. Okay. I did know he hosts a show. I mean, he might host a couple on Zuz. I think is Ray J. I think it's Ray J.

I think is Ray J. But anyway. All right. Uncle Nears. I want to know what you think about this. This set off the Battle of the Sexes. Donnie? Yeah.

There's a video going around showing that's Fawn Weaver who co-founded Uncle Neers interacting with people and she, met this man and this is how that meeting went down. Hello, how are you? We're just in the same class of 6, 7th, 8th, so I'm supposed to remember you because

Okay, can I tell y'all that this man just said, Do you remember me? From 6 or 7th grade? He said we were in the same class in the 6th, 7th, and 8th 3. What? Me you, naeem, and serious. Okay.

He's being serious, though. Are you serious? I do not. I don't remember the sixth, the seventh, or the eighth grade. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yo. Okay. Fucking bully.

It's just so mean. She's playing to the crowd, and they're feeding into it. In five years. In five years, this is the thing that upset Dottie the most. What the fuck? Donnie. Don't take it away. I buy Uncle Nere's too.

I'm a big buyer of Uncle Nears. They make good wish. They do. They do. It doesn't feel good to watch this. And I like, I mean, he didn't like feed into it. He kept a straight face and was like, yep, six, seventh and eighth grade, reunited. I fuck with him.

I don't fuck with Fawn. That's messed up. Oh, shit. Oh my God. I don't even want to do. Like, this is all Donnie. Donnie, I just sit in the group chat, her apology. And I will reiterate it because you feel the.

most strongly about it. Before you play the apology, this is what I will say, because you said this set off a battle of the sexist. This was so disrespectful. I'm with Donnie on this one. I don't know if I would call her a bully, but I, this lady literally was like the town crier. She said, hear ye, hear ye gather around. Everybody gather around and let me tell you what this this fool just said to me. Literally, that's what she did. I think she was trying to be funny. But she fell tremendously. There wasn't an ounce of anything funny within this entire statement. She was laughing at him and she encouraged the crowd to laugh at him as well.

I do find it interesting that she's like, I don't remember anything about the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, but later on goes on to talk about her sixth and seventh and eighth grade experience. So there's that. She goes on her social media and she's like, this was taken out of context. Let me show you the full video. Guys, the full video just shows her. It shows you the exact same thing. There was nothing taken out of context.

The full video just shows her being nicer to other people before this man and then after this man. This was, I mean, this man handled it so well. And I don't know if her intention was to shame him, but that's what she did. She embarrassed this man. And this man showed up to your event to come and say hello. hello to you, to greet you, was happy that you guys had something in common that you have gone to school allegedly together for three years and you have friends in common and you laughed at this man while taking a picture with him and encouraged other people to do the same.

Also, while she said, she didn't have time. She was in a rush and she was and she was trying to move forward, but she was able to smile and take pictures with everybody, but took some extra minutes to shame this man in front of all these people. But she was in. she was in a rush. Now, and I do what, I'm sorry, I just want to say, I do want to make space. No, no, no, no, no, no. You got it. Van, I'm sure you've been in a crowd of people and you've been approached.

I have to. We've also been on the other side of interviewing people. And I understand that not everybody has a good day. And I understand you can catch people on off days and they might not be in the best mood. And I always want to consider that. But this moment here was very disrespectful to somebody who just was trying to connect with you in a way that differentiated what he thought

from other people in the audience and embarrassed him. Yeah, so it's rude, right? You know, it's very rude. And I watched it. I was like, why? Why? First of all, I remember the people

from the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, and it's two things stuck out. One, if somebody came up to me and went, Van, I knew you in the 7th grade, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, McKinley Middle Magnet. Well, 6th grade was actually York Elementary in Hawthorne, California.

Seventh and eighth grade were McKinley Middle Magnet and Baton Rouge. They came up to me, I would be actually happy to connect with them. Be like, yo, what class did we have together? What was it? We're in a hoopsers club together and all that stuff, whatever.

So it just, the response is interesting, number one. Number two, it was like, whose man's is this in that situation is just so unnecessary. It is. I do think, though, that she said something rude, she did something rude.

I think there's been this litigation of her entire personality. That's probably an OD. It's a personality. Van. What? It's just what you said you would do and how you would respond to someone. It doesn't matter if you were having a good or a bad day.

As a person who's a person who's, been in similar a situation, and I'm sure you have too, I would never respond that way. So I do think it is a character trait. I know that there are people who've had bad interactions with me or whatever. But I think that that, it's a, I'm not here to litigate her character, but I do think that that is a character trait of who she is. I really do. Interesting.

Okay. Let's hear the apology. Earlier this week, I broke the all-time record for the largest bottle signing in Georgia history. The bottle was by far our highest price point ever in a year when the spirit's market is trading down. Every location we released at, including DC and Maryland, sold out within an hour. That should have been the story. Instead, the head- Oh, fuck it. Cut it off. Cut it off. Character trait. That moment is mine. She does apologize.

I apologize immediately and there are parts of it I would handle differently today. Accountability doesn't require perfection. It requires ownership and I've taken it. So now let me walk you through through that moment. Okay, now we can cut it. I just, I wanted to at least give her her, she does say, take on her shit. Okay, now go. So, yo, this is just something.

And I'm, my respect for Fawn Weaver and what Uncle Nearest has become, you know, they've had some, some issues in the last year, year and a half. That ain't got nothing to do with none of this. I fuck with Uncle Neers. I drink Uncle Neers. I think that the story of the brand and the quality of the spirits is still top-notch.

I've decided that I'm going to drink a lot more in 2026. 2026 is the year of the boozy van late. You know what I'm saying? I just got a lot on my mind, a lot of my shoulders. I'm going to get into this motherfucking liquor. You know what I'm saying?

It's great. It's fucking fantastic. You know, leaving lost vanity. It's, but I just, it's for everybody out there. You don't tell people

what they should be focusing on. when you have done something. When you have done something, it's one thing to say, hey, we should be focusing on young black male literacy. This is a societal issue.

But when you do something wrong, it's not like this is what y'all should be focusing on. People respond to shit. And there's something about black people, man. We do not like to see people treated unfairly. We don't. We don't like to see people treat it unfairly, particularly if it looks like you trying to shine on somebody because you didn't come up. If somebody comes to you in humility, yo, I knew you from way back when it's actually kind of a masterclass and how to get some black people to be mad at you.

Hey, I knew you from back before as Uncle Nearest. They expect you to take that time and be like, yeah, I remember. remember that I love that but if you shine on people we don't really like that except from rappers rappers we let shine on other people I come in the club I swing my chain you little niggas ain't nothing man rappers have a way to shine on you it's like my watch is fucking fuck your Mavato watch you're like god damn I saved up for this and the rappers we let them get away with it but in this type of situation nah man you can't you can't come at it from this is what we should have been talking about because we had a good business week that that's not the way

that you come at it for. I'm still going to fuck with Uncle Neers. I don't make this about who she is in her entirety, but it's a bad, you had a bad day, you had a bad interaction, just be like, my bad, y'all.

And then I would have come back with the guy. The way to do this, you come back with the guy, you put them in the video, and then y'all go back and y'all visit the school or you talk about, just something cheesy, just to make fun of it and move on.

But she kind of, she tentoes down a little bit on that motherfucker. Yeah, she goes on to talk about how she responds to every single comment, every single DM, she's known for that. This is the type of person she is, and all of that. I don't think that this defines who she is totally as a person, but I do think it is a character trait that she was capable of doing this.

I do think that. Donnie, what would you rate her apology? Oh, I got to go really low. See, it's not easy. Yeah, it's not. I'm going to give it a one. because she apologized and she took ownership of it

but I mean if you're listening to it that's a very politician the way it comes across it feels like this is coming from a politician which means it feels trustworthy I didn't like the way it felt listening to it

yeah I can see that because politicians do do this is what you should be concentrating on it was void of emotion while we should be concentrating on our rebound from fucking the beef prices now I have to come in here and talk about the fact that I got my assistant pregnant and made her have an abortion.

Oh, you didn't hear the whole thing. She goes on to say that when she clicked on the profiles to all the people coming at her, they were bots. And then she goes on a full explanation of bots and how problematic they are. Hey, but is there something to be said from the fact that this is the type of person that it takes to achieve like that?

Because like when we talk about these, people we get into their lives. It always seems like, because, you know, people say stuff to me and then I take it to heart. And maybe that's holding me back. Oh, well, then. You got to think about that? I actually think about that all the time. Like, I'm very sensitive and I think to, well, we've talked about this when it comes to

billionaires. You have to fuck people over to reach that status. There's just no way that you, unless maybe you inherited it, there's just, you're just no way that that's possible. Yeah, there's a certain, there's certain character traits and personality traits that you have to have to, I think, be CEOs, to run companies and to become billionaire. I'm not saying they're all the same. I just think that there are absolutely certain traits that you have to possess. A one is crazy. Donnie, it's not easy, is it? It's not easy. It's tough. It is tough. Rachel got a tough job rating these apologies. She does, but I guess we're going to talk

deeper about the apology rating in 26, I like it. But you guys with the apology ratings, it's kind of like Charles on the Midnight Boys with the movies. We all go to a movie and it's out of 10 and they'll be like, what'd you think, Jomi,

8. What'd you think, Van, 9. What'd you think Steve? 7. What'd you think Charles, 2? And after a certain point, it's just... Chuck is the man. One of the best podcasts. in the world, but, you know, after a certain point

is like, should we even do it? Oh, you're not taking this away. And Donnie just proved my point of why it's so difficult. It's so difficult. Something happened with Tray Songs. We are going to cover it Thursday when we have more,

when we have more information on it. When everything comes out, we'll cover it Thursday. Plus, we've already had too much motherfucking. bummer-ass news in the show, you know. But I will say it's a point that you're 41 years old,

you want to see yourself not having these types of fucking headlines no more. Yeah. It's a fucking reality. Yeah. What the fuck happened. Yeah. It's a point that you want to, brothers, we owe it to ourselves to deal with our shit, myself included, everybody included.

There's a common denominator here. Yes. We're going to talk more about that Thursday as we deal with this. You know what I'm saying? This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need Weather Tech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner or a road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips.

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Yeah, okay. According to OnlyFans wrapped their 2025 report, Atlanta ranks number one globally in per capita spending on OnlyFans. Okay. Beating every city in the U.S. and abroad. Now, this is per capita. The analysis found that Atlanta residents spend $525,476 per 10,000 people.

And that metric puts the metro area well ahead of Orlando, Milan, and Miami, who come in at number two, number three, and number four. Oh, Milan. Milan. Overall, Atlanta users spent $26.2 million on the platform, 2025, nearly 2% increase from last year. The top only fan cities per 10,000 residents, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, D.C., Minneapolis. What's going on?

Is there anything that you can attribute this to? What do you think? No, Van. What? I'm asking. I don't know why that there's so many people in Atlanta that spend on OnlyFans. I have no idea. I have a thought.

Atlanta got the strip clubs on lock. OnlyFans Digital Strip Club. Let's say you don't want to make it. to Onyx. You know, you don't want to go out there. Plus, the girl at Onyx might have a only fan. You see her at Onyx. You know what I mean?

She got the only fans, whatever. Maybe you just go, this is the strip club in your house. You could order your own wings and have them brought out to your crib. You can eat the wings in your crib, have the only fans on the TV. Because look, Miami is right there as well. Another strip club city. Atlanta, number one, Miami, number three. to strip club cities,

cities where it's flowing a little bit, the booties is bouncing, the BBLs is BBLing, maybe there's a whole ecosystem of ladies and stuff like that that makes it happen. Orlando, I can't explain. So does that take away from your entire theory?

Because Orlando's number two. Orlando, I can't explain. D.C., easy. It's a lot of politicians. And so they're there, they're in session, they're on the OnlyFans. Do you know what I think? Porn Hub is banned in three of these places. Oh.

So maybe the people who used to use Pornhub have drifted over to OnlyFans. And I'm not saying that all OnlyFans is porn, but there are people who, you know, are in the adult industry. And it makes sense to be your own. boss, be your own producer, have your own business, and move it to OnlyFans. Makes total sense to do that. If I was in the adult film industry, I absolutely would be on OnlyFans. And if you're a consumer of this and your favorite person, you can't watch it anymore on Porn Hub for free or whatever. I don't know who else is, what other websites have been banned. And it makes sense that maybe that, you know, you move to OnlyFans because that's not banned.

Why would Pornhub be banned in a place where only fans can still be accessed? I don't think they just haven't gotten there yet. Maybe because you pay? Well, you pay for Pornhub as well. You don't have to pay for Pornhub.

If you want the stuff without the ads. Okay, but you also don't have to pay for Pornhub. You don't want the ads. And you don't have to enter necessarily the information that you do, like put your license in or whatever that they require, Actually, no, it's banned. It's banned.

They didn't want to do that, so they banned it in those places. They wanted to do that, so they banned it. Yeah, yeah. But I guess my question is like, if, yeah, that probably makes a lot of sense. Your theory is probably the right theory. But then why would they leave OnlyFans up there? It's almost like people are working on behalf of OnlyFans by taking out the competition. Is there something that we need to investigate here?

You take out Pornhub, your Onlyfans goes through the roof. So if you're porn hub, you go, what do you mean? Like, what are you doing? like you took us out, you left them. Know what that's like? That's like Forrest Gump. Do you know how Bubba and Forrest became the shrimp boat leaders of the world? How?

Well, there was a hurricane. Hurricane destroyed all the other shrimp in boats. All the other boats got destroyed. There was one boat left, and that was Forrest and Bubba. Other people apparently couldn't get no boats to come to Biolabotri. They couldn't get anything else going. So during that time, Bubba Gump's shrimp was born. it's like OnlyFans

is the only shrimp boat left in Jersey. But what I will say is part of the reason they probably can't do that is because not only fans isn't only porn. It's whatever

it can be feet picks, it can be swimsuit, can be lingerie. Not everybody who has an only fans is you know doing adult film stuff. That should be...

There's a lot of different stuff that's on there. Yeah. But I will say if I was making an argument for PornHub and I'm not, I would say that there's also a wide variety of different types of content on Pornhub, you know, feet, all of that different types of stuff. Like there's a lot of different stuff that goes on there. I would say that the argument that OnlyFans has this wide swath of services and content

available is probably not going to pass the smell test. Okay. You go on OnlyFans for one reason. It's interesting though. I always find, I know that people, but you don't find that to be interesting. Like, it's for sure. It's interesting.

What's the city that did the most OnlyFans? This is an interesting thing. It's Atlanta. Yeah, it doesn't, but a Southern city doesn't surprise me because didn't we do something where it was like the states that watched the most porn or the state, States that, or no, it's the type of porn that the states watch and the freaky stuff was in the South.

Yeah, because it's the repressed stuff, man. They repressed. You know what I mean? They go out there. What's interesting is that Georgia, this is an interesting thing to me. The last thing I'll say. Atlanta is in the South. Georgia's a southern state.

Atlanta's in the South. If you compare the strip club culture to in Atlanta to the strip club culture here in L.A. L.A. is puritanical. Yeah. L.A. is, they're a land of Puritans. You can't drink and get nude.

All of that stuff. Atlanta doesn't get, so in the, like most of the most sort of raunchy, vibrant strip club cultures exist in those southern places. Just little spots where they go, fuck it, girl. Make it.

All right, there you guys go. Look, we're, well, there's more stuff. What are we doing about next week? Have we decided Christmas time? We're off next week, I think. We're off. We're off. Are we off the whole week?

We're off. We're definitely off Christmas Day, New Year's Day. Are we off the whole week? I don't know. I don't know what's going on. Christmas Day, New Year's day. We don't know. We may or may not be here Monday, but if we're not, we have something for you.

We may not, may not be here. After today. I got a treat for you guys. Throughout the rest of the season, I'll be wearing a Santa hat. Oh, man. That's cute. It's a real treat.

It's very festive for all you guys because, you know, we talk about a lot of things. I was going to wear the Santa hat today. This was going to be the debut of the Santa Hat. Oh, yeah. Couldn't really get into some of the things that we got into. Thank you for meeting the room. With the motherfucking Santa Hat on. All right.

That's enough podcast for you guys today. Take your thing caps off. Do not stop learning. Van Lathen Jr. I'm Rachel Lynn Lindsay. Bye guys. Be safe. Take care of yourselves. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings. There's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com. Ryan Reynolds here from MintMobil, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please for the love of everything good in this world, stop.

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