Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Tom Cruise’s Tone Crossed a Line. Plus: Glynn Turman on Working With Chadwick Boseman.

Episode Date: December 18, 2020

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay are joined by legendary actor Glynn Turman to discuss his six-decade career and working with Chadwick Boseman on his last film (13:00). Then they discuss Tom Cruise’s rant on the set of 'Mission: Impossible' (34:00), Tyler Perry’s thirst trap (47:30), and accusations against Ali Larter on the set of 'Heroes' (53:00) before answering mailbag questions (1:09:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? Tire Learning is I, Van Lathan. It's me, Rachel Lindsay. Rachel. Dan. How are you doing today? How are things?

I'm good. You know, we're getting closer to the holidays. I'm, you know, I'm already kind of, what, what, what? You want to talk to the people about this? No, I'm just, Van, I'm just, I'm just, you're excited about the holidays. You're excited about the holidays. Why are you so excited? I'm taking some time off.

I'm taking some time off. What are you doing? Looking forward to that. I'm going to be spending some time with family. I'm going to spend some time of family. Where, like, where would the family be? Like, you're going to... You know what?

I'm not even going to let you try to do this to me. I'm not trying. Oh, no, you are trying and it's okay. I'm fully embrace it. There's no shame. There's no shame for me. I'm taking all precautions that are necessary. I'm going to my sister's house for Christmas.

I'm going to Dallas. Brian is going to meet me there. Sounds like a super spreader event to me. You know, you can call. it whatever you want. I get tested every other day. I'm getting tested as soon as I get to my sisters. She has welcomed me into her house.

I've taken certain precautions to travel, to limit people, being around people to travel. Sure. So I'm blessed that I can do that in a certain way. So. Blessed up. Yeah. Yeah, I get it. You ever see Planet the Apes?

You ever see that movie? Which one? Which Planet of the Apes? The first planet of age. Oh, I don't like the originals. No, I'm not talking about the originals. I'm talking about the one with James Franco. Do you ever see it?

Yes, I did. Do you know how the simian flu, which is the disease from planet of the apes, it ends up destroying humanity. Do you know how Simeon was? This is one. This isn't the Simeon flu. Well, you just said it's the Simeon flu. And it happened to get. I do recall, but it wasn't on a plane.

Wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. You're 100% wrong. You're wrong. So at the planet age is what happens. They give Caesar all the stuff.

Cesar's become smart. The other aides get it. Ape fight. But what happens is a byproduct, there's a simian flu. You get sick. You get sick when you get it. If you don't remember at the end of the movie, because at that point, there was still society.

At the end of the movie, an airline pilot is showing the symptoms of the simian flu. And in the credit role, you see the plane go different places. And that is the way. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It started. You know what I was mixing this up with? Outbreak.

No, outbreak. No, no, but the start of outbreak with the animal coming over. Yes, yes, yes. But planes, very, very, it's just a thing. It's just saying, you know, I'm not going to let you punk me. I'm not poking you. And you know what?

You know what you're doing. Thought warriors are going to come in. I know what precautions I'm taking to be able to travel and mitigate. You're going to be fine. But you know what it is. You know what about traveling now? Where airline do you fly? You know what I'm American.

But I'm completely by myself. Oh, you are? I'm not sitting by anybody. I'm not sitting with me. In all seriousness, I know people that have had, I've had to travel, and they say that Delta and JetBlue.

That's because Delta doesn't sit people next to you. Like, they don't have people next to you. I'm not sitting by anybody. But I will say this, even though I'm traveling, I'm not going to be able to go to my parents home. All right?

It's a different situation. So I'm not even going to go there. I don't believe you. No, they won't let me come. It's not even, it's not even my situation. my decision. They're not going to let me come. But I'm going to be there long enough

to where I'm going to get two tests. So hopefully by the end of the time I'm there, I'll get to be around my parents. You'll be there with the parents. No. You guys are throwing caution to the wind. You might as well throw it all the way out. No, my parents might like my,

my dad is not playing. Listen, I personally, like I said before, I don't understand how you could even be considering not spending Christmas with Judge Lindsay. You jealous? The jokes. The jokes and the jovial nature.

I'm not spending Christmas with him, which is what's sad. Yeah, it's sad. Yeah, you're going to miss out. I'm just going to be with my sister and her family. Yeah. Like, what do y'all do you all do? What is the, because this is like a, what are you guys going to do? This is a new experience.

Yeah. So I, yeah, no, I've never done it at my sister's house with the kids. I've either been in my parents' house or I've been with Brian's family. That's just the way that we've done it. Brian's family had different customs. Is there a Colombian? They celebrate more Christmas Eve than Christmas Day. So it's like they do Christmas Eve and then Brian's sister married an American.

That's what they say. And so that we celebrate with them on Christmas Day. So being that his family is Colombian, have you ever like checked the presents that are in the house just to make sure that, you know, there's no, because you don't want to be an accessory? See, that's what we call a stereotype. What? No, I'm not. I'm asking.

Because like before, if I was at Brian's, if I was at Brian's house, when I would look at packages coming in, FedEx, coming in, that is what we call a stereotype. And I would be like, yo, if it has,

if it has Medellin on it, you know what I'm saying? You might want to say, they're not from Medellin. They're from Baranquia. Where's Baranquia? Bar. Can you roll your arms?

Bar. How do you do it? Okay. That is where from, That is where Shakira's from. That's where Sophia Vergara is from. Sophia Vagara is Colombia. I didn't know this. I didn't know.

I didn't know she was going. Barrenquia. Marantia. Next time you're around the family, you just want to check it out. Okay. Stereotypes. It's the same thing. You know what I love what you just did?

It's one for you for not traveling, one for me for not stereotyping Colombians. Let's keep going. That's the way it goes. Let's keep going. That's the way it goes. But seriously, though, all jokes aside, I knew how I was actually envious

that it was so important for you to be around your family this Christmas. I could really see that it was possible. But you're going to be around your family. Yes, Thought Warriors, I text Van, because he was so nice to open up his home to Brian and I for Christmas when we weren't going home. So, you know, I let him know. I'm not going to be there.

You got two extra spots now. You can give somebody else. I hope they're just fun. I wanted Brian to come because I need that connect. You know what? No, but seriously, no, you know what? I'm going to do it for Christmas I've decided. I'm going to do the Pizza Hut.

And this is not an ad, by the way. I'm going to do the Pizza Hut holiday treat meal deal thing. That's going to be, have you seen it? No. So you're not cooking? No, no. But you got family coming in. I thought your mom.

I thought your mom. Nobody's coming. Oh, they're not coming. Okay. I'm sorry. I love them. But I'm going to go to Baton Rouge, probably middle of January and stay for maybe like a month. Oh, you're going to get on a plane?

Yeah, not during the holiday time. Don't have an act like it's the same. I'm not flying Christmas Day. Okay, I'm flying days and days before. Fouchy flies, people fly. Days and days before. It's about flying during the holidays is the deal. You're staying for a month?

I'm saying for a month? That's going to be so good for your soul. Oh, you're going to get a different van on this podcast. Fish? You're going to be so different. crawfish. You know what I'm saying? You eat the crawfish, the whole not.

But no, I am actually, to be honest with you, I'll just aside, glad that you had any chance to go home and stay with your family. Because I could tell it was really bothering. Yeah. I was very conflicted. I don't like how you just, like, gave no shits about the Pizza Hut Triple Decker Meal dear thing. Well, I don't, you know, I don't eat Pizza Hut, Van.

Why not? It's good. I'm not a big cheese person. If I do eat pizza, I take all the cheese. off and then I put the toppings back on. But tell me, tell other people, for other people who do enjoy this kind of thing, what is this deal that you're so excited about? So we have a, it's called a triple treat box. Okay.

He's reading you guys. Just let you know. He's like, he's reading all, getting you all the information. I'll be honest with you. See, you guys think that I'm not fat anymore. And the reality is that that's not true. You know, my body is not fat anymore, not as fat, still kind of fat.

But my mind ways to say. So it's Slay the Holidays. It's a triple treat box for Pizza Hut. And this is what it is. It's so I'm losing my mind right now watching it. This is a triple treat box. Two medium one topping pizzas. Okay.

So in this box, they have a pepperoni. and they have a sausage, five breadsticks, five breadsticks and ten, ten centa buns, mini rolls. So you get two pizzas, five breadsticks, and ten cinnamon buns mini rolls. Right there,

that's a three-course meal, baby. That's Christmas at the Lathen house. That's Christmas at the Abrams house. not going out of not leaving the house Pizza Hut Triple Tree Box Holiday Mealdy

Can I ask you a question How did you find this Because commercial I've never seen a Pizza Hut commercial In the longest I can't even tell you the longest It's not advertised to me on social media So I'm just wondering if it's targeted

To certain people That would enjoy this type of thing You think Are you saying that you think The TV can tell I didn't know I didn't know you This is I said

Who are supposed to be I was wondering. I was wondering. I didn't know you were going to say TV. I thought you were going to say social, maybe a pop-up bat on the computer. That is so crazy. That would be so crazy. Would you be surprised these days?

Not these days. It would be so crazy if you were getting commercials for like Peloton and that little mirror fitness system and all of my commercials were like Pop-Tark. You know, you're getting, you're getting Peloton. Mirror. You get all of that little things, you know, like this little be your best self and all that stuff.

And all of my commercials are like that Popeye's chicken sandwich commercial with that brother starts singing. Have you heard that? I hate that fucking commercial. Like, I got Popeyes. Y'all, I promise y'all. I promise you.

I'm going to be real. I promise you. I've been around a lot of black people and we love Popeyes. I ain't never. Never. Never in life. I've been around hundreds,

thousands of black people and eaten countless pieces of Popeye's chicken. I've never heard anybody break into song over some chicken. Did they after the commercial came out? I don't know. By the way, by the way, if you look at these commercials, it's a lot of singing black people in these commercials. Of course.

Singing and going crazy. That is what you would call a stereotype, man. They got us eating chicken and tap toe. Okay, I can't speak. Yeah. What is the phrase I can't speak what's wrong? Tiptoe it, soft shoeing. Tap dancing is what I was trying.

Wow. Tap dancing is the phrase. We couldn't conjure. We couldn't conjure tap dancing. What am I drinking? Yeah. Yeah. See?

Nothing's in here. All right. Tap dancing. They got a singing and tap dancing for fried chicken. Come on. Come on. All right. Ray, I'm glad you're getting a chance to go home.

We are going to take a break. We'll quick. we have a fantastic guest and you know, Scott that we've talked about here on the podcast before, it's the star

of J.D.'s Revenge. It's the star of Fargo. It's the star of a different world. It's the star of My Raney's Black Bottom coming to Netflix. Today, as you were listening to this, we have the legendary Glenn Terman on the show

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See terms at fanduel.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash herms. All right. You guys, this is actually, actually a real honor here. on higher learning. We have some Hollywood royalty on the show. I don't know if you notice, Glenn, but I do another podcast for The Ringer, which is called Way Down in the Hole.

It's a rewatch of every episode of The Wire. Yeah, right down in the hole. That's our dream song. Yeah, way down in the hole. So, like, to have Glenn Turnman on the show today, give it up, Higher Learning. Every part of my film and movie watching life, I have seen this very familiar face.

My brother, how are you today, man? I'm good, man. All things can sit in. I'm blessed to be here amongst us, you know? Of course. It's just 2020. You got to say that first. My first question for you is how in the world your career has gone on so long

you've had staying power over decades and decades. I'm serious. It's not like acting. A lot of people, you see people and then they turn around and they can't. You're so many different people to us. How have you managed to stay relevant and stay working for this long in this town? Man, I have no idea, brother. I just keep it moving.

I know it's hard to hit a moving target, so I just keep on going, you know. and every time I try to get out, they pull me back in, you know. We don't want to see you get out. And I mean, with what Van is saying, your career expands over six decades. So I would ask you, what advice would you have to someone

who's trying to navigate this business and especially as a black man? Well, the first thing I say is being it for the right reasons, being it mostly because you love it, you can't see yourself doing anything else, you know, that you're looking to do the work, to become the best at it that you can, you know. And because if you're going after just the fame or the fortune of it,

I think that you spend too much time disappointed, you know, broke, too much time broke and disappointed. For me, it's never been about the money, you know. It's been about the work and trying to get it done. So I've stayed a working actor, which means I work in television, I work in stage, I work in films, you know, wherever I can plan my trade. And, you know, that can be for a good bit of money, or sometimes that's for, you know, the fees you get from working in the black box

a 90-seat house, you know? Yeah. So to this generation, you're probably Dr. Senator from Fargo. All right. Okay. To, and then for me, it's two people. It's both Merrill Royce and then it's a different world. Yes, the Colonel.

Colonel. It's both, but then I also know you as somebody else. Yeah, we've talked about it on this. You were going to go there. We've talked about it. One of my favorite movies of all time. No. No, I love Cooney High.

It's not Coley High. We do love you as preach, though. It's J.D.'s revenge. Oh, JD. You're okay. Boy. He's been, JD's revenge. J.D.

He walked in a message. So what? I did your woman, sucker. Oh, you're such. Listen, we talked. We already talked about J.D.'s revenge on this podcast. I love the movie. I have a question.

A lot of the black exploitation-type films back in the day, they were looked upon during that time. No, actually tell me how they were looked upon. You as a very serious actor, it's a part of cinema, it's an era of cinema of black exploitation that is now sort of, we romanticized and we look back glowingly on it

because all of those movies, they're still there so entertaining to us. what's your take of that era? A lot of those movies are classics and some of the best films some of my favorite films to watch but sometimes out of the community they looked at with a certain lens

or a certain way. Well, because there was just a bombardment of one type of character or one type of viewpoint of black American life, you know, and that viewpoint was mostly negative

so that the characters were either stereotypical, mostly. The relationships were mostly stereotypical, you know, between man and woman. They were mostly stereotypical. And only because there was just a movie of one job, that's what made Cooley High such a breakout. Right. From the other movies that were being made. It was the characters weren't glorifying, you know,

gangster thuggish life you know pamps or hoars weren't being glorified you know actually the the gangsters in Cooley High

you know you knew their mother you knew the father they had a life you know the hero was coached Larry Jacobs who just left here

as a matter of that oh really we miss Cochise man and yeah to but then Stephen Williams played his brother, you know,

and Stephen Williams, of course, was a hustler player and, you know, he always had some scheme going, you know. Right. So they were in the same family, you know. So that's what made Cooley different, and that's what made all the other movies that didn't present that diversity. One made it one type of picture

that they called an exploitation film. You've got a new movie. It's already out in theaters, but it's coming to Netflix tomorrow. This Friday, this Friday, this Friday, Ma Rainey. What do you want audiences to take away from this movie and from the life and story of a blues legend? Well, a couple of things. It's the life and story of a blues legend told by a legend. And I want them to take away the knowledge of getting to know Maherini, of course.

but even more so I wanted to take away the knowledge of August Wilson and who he was and what he meant means to us having lost him just what 10 years ago maybe but him leaving a myriad of work that is just perfect you know right if they can walk out there saying to themselves with the audience walk out saying boy who was that August will What else did he write? What else did he do? I better go look that up.

I'd like to see something else. I'd like to know more about this man, August Wilson. That's what I want him to take away from this. It's interesting about August Wilson. I took a drama class in college, and it was then that I had known who he was before, but it was then that I really got into all this stuff that he had put out. Why do you feel like when we talk about,

when we talk about the Great American Playwrights, that a lot of names come up, but August Wilson's name doesn't come up as much as you hear about some of the others when he has maybe as impressive body of work as anyone who's written for the stage over the last century. Well, I don't know. I don't know why that is.

He's been on Broadway more than any other playwright because he's got 10. plays that have been on Broadway. Yeah. So I don't, there's no other playwright, black playwright or white playwright, for that matter, that has more

of their products on Broadway. Um, but nonetheless, he is our, you know, our go-to playwright. He is the,

he is, he sets the standard, you know, and, uh, if you don't know about him, you should. Right.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. In this movie in Marani, you work with Chadwick Boseman, who we know that this was his last film. And I was just wondering if you could share with us one of your favorite memories of working with him. It's easy. My favorite memories of him was off stage, off the screen, meeting his wife to be, Simone, watching the two of them together, you know. being included in some of their playful moments, you know, teasing her, you know, teasing him, you know, about their budding love, you know, and them getting, you know, all, you know, she would hit him, you know, playfully, you know, and so on so forth. So it was having fun with them as a couple, you know, getting to know him through that prism, getting to know that he was a guy who was a jokester, you know, who,

had a great sense of humor, you know. And that is what I didn't necessarily expect to find out about him. I expected him to be the dedicated actor that he was. I expected him to have the respect for his craft that he proved to have. I expected him to have a fantastic work ethic because he couldn't have turned in the work that he had prior, had he not been a serious performer, you know? So those things I expected and was not disappointed.

But what I did not expect is that it was such a fun guy, a sweetheart or a cat to know, you know. So that's what I was, that's what I hold. Did it strike you in any way that he was so jovial, he was so fun, and it seems like you guys had a great time, given what we all didn't know that he was going through? Nobody knew. No, no one knew that.

We never knew. He never let on. He never, you know, he had an extraordinary team of people around him, who I thought at the time were probably just, you know, what do you call it? His entourage. Yeah. You know, I didn't think much more of that. I think the one of the guy, the big guy must have been his bodyguard,

secretly, you know, who was kind of low-key, you know. But I think he made me. He was the body guy. And, you know, the lady who did his makeup. And so I didn't think that these were people who were there to make sure that his health concerns were addressed, you know. So that never crossed my mind because he was so energetic. He was so, you know, do one more. Let's do one more take.

George, the director, when yelled, cut, all right, cut, let's move on. He said, no, no, no, one more. One more. Let's do one more. And sometimes those are very strenuous scenes. You sort of play, the movie. You know, some strenuous stuff. He's dancing.

He's tussling. He's chasing people around. You know, one more? Hell, I'm tired. Mr. Turman, I want to talk about something else that you're doing because you just don't stop. You join the cast of ABC's limited series, Women of the Movement.

So powerful. Can you tell us a little bit about that? I got it. I need to do a musical or a comedy next, you know. Yeah, you're going on. These serious pieces, they're taking it out of me. I'm telling you. And this is no different. This piece is wonderful. The reading of it is fantastic. You know, the story is legendary. You know, and it brings chills to you when you read it, you know, and that's why I'm glad that I've been attached to it, you know. But it's the story of Emmett Till, you know, and we probably pretty much know that the broad strokes of that story,

but this gets into the detail of this tragic incident that sparked really. the civil rights movement, you know, and was one of the key ingredients to getting that movement started. And it's told through the eyes of his mother, Mamie, you know. And it's, you know,

Gina Breithwaite is the director, you know, and for the pilot. And well, so we have Nisi Nash, you know. Oh, my girl. Yeah.

He's amazing. Yeah. And I play Uncle Mose. I played the man who encouraged him to come to the South, to Mississippi, to spend some of the summer down there with him and his sons, you know, and try to get him out of the city, which he felt was, he was not learning everything he needed to know about the essentials of like, you know, farming, fishing, hunting, you know. And so it's a piece packed with information that we didn't know that makes for drama that we will come to know.

Mm-hmm. You know. I want to ask you, so because you want to lighten up the career, I'm going to lighten up the mood right now. I'm going to lighten the mood a little bit. Because I learned something in researching you that I never, ever knew. Okay. Things, you could have had a completely different career.

Oh, yeah. And this is like a completely different career. So I read something that says you were up for a role in Star Wars. And I'm thinking to myself where we're being thought about as a for a role in Star Wars. And I'm thinking to myself, okay, maybe they were going to give Glenn Lando Calarizzi. you know, because it ended up going to Billy D. No. George Lucas had you in mind for Han Solo.

So take us through that. Like you were almost or thought about or Hans Solo was written for you? Yeah, but then you got to understand. I didn't, I wasn't aware of that. I wasn't aware that he, I was his choice. Right. I only became aware of that years and years later after he wrote the book, Skywalker,

George Lewis, who wrote the book, and a friend of mine called and said, I didn't know that you were his first choice for Hans Solo. I said, what are you talking about? And he said, read the book. So I read the book. I said, I was there every day.

I didn't know that. But he didn't want to because of the relationship between Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, which was to be a love affair. And... I mean, Leah and Han Solo. I mean, Han Solo.

Yeah. It was going to be a love affair between the two, and he didn't want to get into the apples and the oranges of that whole dynamic, you know. And so I saw him, I saw it ran into him years later, Lucas, not too long ago, at Sam Jackson's party in New York. And I said, ah, I made a B-line over there, man. I said, George Lucas, Glenn Turman. He said, how are you?

I said, fine. Can we put something to rest right now? Was I one of your top of the list for Hans Solo? He says, yeah. He said, but I didn't want to. I said, yeah. And he's sitting there, and his wife is black, you know. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. I said, what, man? He says, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I said, well, look, you come with me, man, so we can find, I want to find Harrison Ford, because I need you there when I ask him for my share of his money. Exactly. I was saying, George, don't you owe me $100 million? Yes. At least. Oh, my God. Because I was kidding, and, you know, it's just one of those fun trivia things, I guess, but, you know, you never know. It's a crazy business.

Is there another role that you, because all actors have a role? Is there another role that you may be up for that you missed that you would have really have liked to gotten? To have done. No, I don't have too many regrets, you know. I feel I've had a great career.

You know, I feel I've had some wonderful roles. I'm more than on it than it has not stopped. As a matter of fact, this has been one of the busiest years for me the last two years, you know, have been phenomenal with the roles I've had in, to play, you know, with Fargo, Dr. Senator, with, you know, with...

The way back, you and Ben Affleck and the way back? Way back, Miss, with, with, um, Toledo, the role of Toledo, and with the roles that, I've had to play. I'm trying to think of one in particular that it's not coming to my mind right now. But it's been a great

couple of years, you know. It's been a real, my manager calls it a glennaissance. Oh, it's a glenisance. Okay. We're in a glenisance movie. I look forward with this role coming up, of course, and that couldn't be better.

So, you know, and Mr. Washington has some plans for the future with some other August Wilson projects, you know. So I've quite naturally thrown my hat in the ring for some of those projects coming about, you know. And just it's about to work and keep going. And as long as I enjoy it and still enjoy it like I do,

I'll keep on going for it. Yeah, fantastic. Yeah. Amazing. All the Wire fans out there, we, the fans of the Wire, Royce, we love Claire's, Royce. Royce was the man. Royce was the man.

But the wire, the wire was just a great show, you know. The wire was one of those scripts, Rochelle, where you'd get the script. Now, you know, actors, we're vain, you know. So the first thing we want to know is, what's my part, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, there's my role, you know. But the wire, no matter whether I was in that episode or not, I would read, It was like reading a great book, you know. It was just fantastic reading and fantastic storyteller. So, you know, it was just one of those pieces. It was a piece that I'll go into a studio for an interview on another job. And while interviewing or talking with the producers or whatever,

that will get through the business that I'm there for. And then someone ultimately say, okay, so, tell me about the wife. Yeah, exactly. And to be honest with you, Glenn, you got a little wild in the wire. You got a little wild in the wire. I haven't had to fade the part of your time of what you're talking about. Mr. Mr. Man, I have no idea of what you're talking about. Neither do you, right, Rachel?

Right, right? We don't know. We don't know. We don't know. We're not going to talk about that. What goes on in the mayor's office stays in the mayor's office. All right, Glenn, we appreciate you joining us, man. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, bro. Appreciate you. This episode is brought to you by Sweet Green. The day doesn't ask for permission. Lunch window? Gone before you saw it coming. You deserve a break that actually satisfies. Sweet Green's new wraps have got you.

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I think it was yesterday, maybe the day before. And it was of Tom Cruise losing his mind. Tom Cruise was on the set of Mission Impossible 157. and apparently there were some people there that weren't following COVID protocols and Tom Cruise lost his mind and launched into this tirade.

You're back here in Hollywood making movies right now because of us because they believe in us and what we're doing. I'm on the phone with every studio at night. Insurance companies, producers.

And they're looking at us and using us. us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs, you my fucking. Okay, so, you're, before I even getting to, before I even unpack this,

your thoughts about that. I mean, I don't understand why it's that big of a deal. I think it's a big deal because it's Tom Cruise. And anything Tom Cruise does, people like to nitpick, because people don't really care for Tom Cruise these days outside off the movie screen, off the movie screen.

They love them in Mission Impossible. That's why there's so many of them, as you stated. Yes. I mean, is he not everybody who's expressing their frustration over people who are not following COVID protocols? And the reason we are in the worst state that we've ever been since we first found out about COVID-19? I mean, he's frustrated. I get it. The delivery maybe wasn't appropriate.

Who knows if this was the first time that he had. had witnessed that there were people not following COVID protocols, but obviously he wants people to do it. People are dying. People are sick. Hospitals are overcrowded. He's trying to get a movie to make, put a movie out, to make people feel better, to escape their current reality.

And then you have people who are being disrespectful and disregarding a simple protocol. And I was about to say he's simply asking you to stop. He didn't simply ask, but he's frustrated and he's telling you to stop. Yeah. I get it. There's no goddamn way I will let Tom Hanks talk Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise. No way I would let him talk to me.

Neither one. Neither one. I guess that. There's no way I will let him talk to me like that. But it's not that. It's not about him talking to you like that. It's why he was that way when he was talking. Like is that, don't you feel frustrated when you see people?

We've talked about it, being jealous of the people who feel like they can live their life as if nothing is happening. and he's upset. Look, I get him that he's being upset. He has a right to be upset. But I gotta tell you something. The way he acted, that's some white boy shit. Oh, of course.

I gotta be real with you. And I'm sorry for whoever feels, however, I never in life, the only time on job sites that I've ever, ever been halfway stunted on like that, is by white dudes. White dudes get super mad, yell on you and shit like that.

I remember at TMZ actually having to have a talk with my direct superior where I was talking to him and I was like, do you know when you start yelling at me like that? Do you know what my brain says? My brain says,

hey, attack you. That's what my brain says. My brain says, attack this person. You're in danger. When you start raising your voice at me like that, There's never any reason for that. If I'm not coaching me hard, tell me my work sucks, tell me I need to do better, all of that. Don't get outside your body on me, though.

Because just don't, I don't get that. Like, don't, and look, don't get outside your body. Look, Tom, it's just set. Be as stern as you want. But see, once you get to carry it on and stuff like that, amen. I feel unsafe now what has to happen. Like now I'm in, I'm jittery. I got an anxiety condition.

Nah, man. And I'm telling you, that's a, that's a thing right there that I, I've experienced that a couple of times. And both times I experienced it. Here's the thing was, I never forget. There was a white dude named. And there was, I worked at a place called Capricorn programs. And there was a disagreement in the office.

And I'm standing, I'm standing in this guy's office. He's a producer there. I'm standing in his office. Any place you go, my co-workers are always going to tell you that they love me. But I'm standing in this guy's office and he's sitting down. I mean and him are going back and forth about something. We're going back and forth about something. And he stands up and comes from around his office.

And when he does that, I come towards him. And the moment I come towards him, like, he drained. he like got super scared what you don't want to do I'm like you'll you walked up on me what do you mean what did I do

confronting danger like you walked up on me I have never ever ever ever experienced that any other place then with some white dude is trying to flex his authority on you

I think I would feel I agree with everything that you're saying and you're right it was definitely something that white men do white people do. And don't think twice about doing it, right?

They just do it. I was at a Dodger game one time where I saw one dude or like I saw a guy turn around and ask another guy to take his hat off during the national anthem. Doesn't surprise me. I'm like, yo, man, what the fuck is going? Like, why?

That's privilege. You feel you are above and you can say anything and everything to everybody. the reason that I'm giving a little bit of deference to, to almost at Tom Hanks this time, Tom Cruise is because it's COVID. It's because it's COVID. And it's the subject matter of why he was ranting,

that's why I'm like, I get you. I understand where you're coming from because we all are frustrated. There are people that I pass that I want to go off on. that I'm not going to. You may want to go off on me for getting on a flight. But I'd be just, I would never do it.

And I think that's where the privilege comes. You feel like you can do that. You're entitled to do that. You have the right to do that where you and I would absolutely never do that to anyone. But because it's COVID, I'm gonna give it a pass.

Tell you a story real quick, real quick TMZ story. I love the TMZ story. I give you a quick TMZ story. So, um, I, a couple of years ago,

I raised money for Colin Kaepernick, right? Colin Kaepernick was a EA sports, had kick Colin Kaepernick off of Madden, like you couldn't even, they bleeped his name. Yeah, I remember that. Right, okay. So what I decided was rather to get all upset about that and boycott Madden and have all that stuff like that,

I was like, forget about it. You don't like Mad and cool. Donate the, donate the cost of a Madden gang to the Know Your Rights charity. Forget about outrage. Forget about being madden. Matt, do something. Outreach. So I think the game was

$54.99. So I had a bunch of people donate money. Donate that amount. And some people would donate $5.99 or $5.49. Because it's not a ball. But donate that number to the charity. So I made this video. I made the video walking around the parking lot of TMZ, like walking around the

parking lot. And then TMZ made me take the video down. Now, the reason why they made me take the video down is because there is a there is a policy there, a real policy where you can't shoot on company property. You can't, if you work at teams and you can't shoot any videos on company property property. Right? Okay. So because they don't want people to think,

I think I told you guys this before, they don't want people to be shot thinking that if somebody comes to Microsoft or if somebody comes to one of the other companies around there, they don't want them to think that paparazzi are going to jump out there and shoot them. Sure. So you can't shoot anything on the results. her. So they told me take it down. I'm like, it's a fundraising video. They told me to take it down. And so I was pissed, but I took it down. I was like, yo, you guys, the drive is still going

on. I put this on Instagram. I said, the last, TMZ made me take the last video down because of issues with shooting on the property. But the thing is still going on. The link is still in the bio, still go to it. Okay, cool. They got, they flipped out about that. They were like, why are you putting it on us? I'm like, putting it on you guys. Like, you guys asked me to take the the video down. It's agnostic. It's nothing. And like, and Harvey looks at me, this is front of everybody in the office. And he's, yeah, he says, come in, van, come in my office.

I was like, no. He was like, van, come and get in my office right now. I was like, no. No, I'm not going anywhere. But I'm not about to be marched off to your office. If there's anything that you have to say to me, you can say to me right now. And he was like, all right, go home. And I went home. This is my thing. My thing with that is this.

everybody knows how my tenure at TMZ came to an end. Everybody knows. When someone is speaking to you the way Tom Cruise was speaking to those crew members, it doesn't matter what they're talking about. Because if it wasn't that, it would be something else. And you simply, whoever you are, cannot allow yourself to be talked to like that, no matter what it costs. Because once you're in that, like, if it's not that, if he's not laughing,

Because remember, we've seen outbursts like that before. David O. Russell lost his mind on set. We've seen Christian Bell lost his mind on set. It wasn't about no pandemics then. It was about a boom mic being in a shot and about a relationship with Lily Tom. If you allow yourself to be spoken to that way, you are setting a standard that no matter what it is,

you're going to allow somebody to talk to you like that. And you just cannot do that. I agree with you. Does Tom Cruise have a history of speaking of people like that? I don't know. I don't either. He certainly spoke to Matt Lauer like that when he was on a Today Show. He certainly, but like- And if he does, then I totally agree with you.

I totally agree with you. I agree with everything that you're saying. I just, I guess I understand people's frustration with this particular issue. And I can see how a person and I am not trying to take up for him, but I can just see how a person who's never had that type of outburst could just lose it because they're frustrated that they haven't seen their family in a long time. They're frustrated that they can't spend time with their friends. They're frustrated that they can't socialize.

They're frustrated that they're suffering from, you know, maybe mental health issues because of what's going on. They've lost their job. They don't know where their next paycheck is coming. They've lost their insurance. I can see, that's not Tom Cruise, but I can see how somebody else could just snap. That's what I'm saying. I know, I get it.

But that's also not him. He's none of those things. Maybe he could be mental health. I don't want to take that away from him. But it's definitely not. suffering for a paycheck. Yeah. Look, he, and another thing, I want you guys to listen to the rank.

We have the whole future of the industry riding on this. Tom, hey, Tom Cruise is right. Tom Cruise is right about needing to adhere to stuff. But listen to how important Tom Cruise thinks he is in that situation. That I will give you. And I got to be real with you. It's just, I don't know, there's a part of me that never wants to humiliate. someone and belittle them

and just dress them down like that in front of a dog I'm sorry you're right you can't talk to me like that you're right you can't talk to me like that I'm still going to see that movie though shout out to Jay Ellis Tom no I don't think actually by the way I was wrong I don't think it's mission impossible is it top gun maverick that they're shooting or is it mission impossible top gun's already done it's mission impossible all right so shout to Jay Ellis anyway

shout to J Ellis anyway okay yeah shout out to Jay Ellis because my boy Jay Ellis is the top gun Maverick. But yeah, Mission Impossible, I'll go see that too. Look, I'm not mad at Tom. I'm just saying, wouldn't be me, young dog. By the way, no, I'm not going to, like,

threaten Tom or nothing like that. I'm just going to be like, hey, fam, Tom. You know what I'm saying? I put my mask on, bro. Come on, Tom. Like, calm down. Honestly, I'll tell you right now, though, I wouldn't tolerate being spoken to like that.

I never have and I never will. Okay. They talk to you like that. I'm learning about you, Bachelor. They talked to me like that? I heard about it. I heard about it. I talked about you like that little bachelor. Did you see?

That's why I keep talking and nobody says anything to me. Yeah, all you do is create problems. Right. Let them tell it and I do. Did you see this brand new snack that they have, that just hit the market? You know I didn't. They got a brand new snack that's, that's,

what do you mean a brand new snack? Is it a chip? Is it a cookie? So it's not brand new. No, no, no, no. It's a director. His name is Tom. Tyler Perry. It's a brand new snack. I'm so mad. I just fell for that. I'm so mad. I want to go home. I want to go home. It's a brand. It's a brand new snack. All right. It's about six foot five chocolatey and full of morsels, baby. Woo! Might get some. My eyes a nougat in there. A big snack. Did you see this picture of Tyler Perry? I did see. I did see the picture.

of Tyler Perry. I did. He's single and he ready. Tyler Perry been in the gym. That's what people do when they get single. You know, they're back out here on the market, want to let people know.

Most people still thought he was in a relationship with the mother of his child. And this was his way of letting the world know, you know, thirst trap Tyler. Thurstrap Tyler. Now, question. This is the question.

Why are you shaking your head? This is the question. I don't want to. Wait, this is the question. The question is, if you were out there looking, would this thirst trap have trapped you? This is what I will say. Okay. I will always acknowledge Tyler Perry for his story, what he's overcome, the opportunities he has provided to so many people of color, the inspiration that he is, and the trailblazer that he will continue to be.

But I'm sorry. I just don't see Tyler Perry in that way. I will always see Medea. He played her for too long and too well. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And this picture is a good picture. He looks great.

He looks fit. He looks healthy. This is just a personal preference. If I was single and I was on the market, it wouldn't be my snack of choice. It wouldn't be your snack of choice. Almond joy But not my own

It's not because he's almond joy It's not it It's just it's just a That's gonna sound bad I'm not gonna say it Say it Nope Say it

Nope It's just Say that's what I'm saying If you can't be yourself On your own podcast You ain't gonna pump me into saying You ain't gonna punk me into trying to say something I'm just saying it

Oh It would come across the wrong way And I don't want to say it That's fine It's just not It's just not for me I think the nigger look good I didn't take that away from him.

Swole as hell. A lot of people try to play Tyler Perry. Like he, Tyler Perry will whoop somebody ass. Maybe he would. That's a big ass dude. Like Tyler Perry, he looked, he looked big, man. And good for him.

He said he's going through a midlife crisis. He's single. He's showing off now. He's showing it off. Stop giving him that much credit. He's going through a midlife crisis. This is a, he wants everybody to know he's single and ready to mingle.

This has nothing to do about a midlife. No, it's not a so what. It's like it's a midlife crisis. Tyler, you just want everybody to know you look good right now. You're fit and you're fine. That's what you want everybody to know. That's it. Forget the midlife crisis thing.

Do you have an older guy that you think is like super hot around Tyler Perry's age, like 51? Like, give me somebody. How old is Idris? How old is Denzel? Densel is older. Densel is older. Well, he, Glenn Terman. You want to start a name.

I've always had a, I've had a crush on Preach since I've seen Cooley High. And I know you're shocked. I know you're shocked that you, that I know that movie. I'm not shocked at the movies that you do know. I'm shocked at the movies that you don't know. Tyler, in the picture you guys see it, his pecks are completely gone.

They're flat. They're strong. that means he's got a good muscle there. Arms look big. Tyler looked like he can really play linebacker for somebody, man. Good for him. Good for him. You should feel good about yourself.

He should. It's too long and too well. Too long and too well. Too much Medea? Like even when he was in, why did I get married? And he, I believe he directed it, but he played in it as well.

And there was no Medea. I couldn't take his character seriously because I've seen too much of Medea. I got you. Makes sense. Makes sense. In other culture news this week, an actor named Leonard Roberts. Did you see this story?

I did. Leonard Roberts is a guy that's been on a lot of stuff for you. He's a very familiar face. Most notably, he was on Heroes, Heroes, which is one of the most interesting shows in the history of television. Do you watch it? I did. But here's the thing that's Black Calica got super into it. And then here's the thing that happened with Heroes.

Heroes came out, I think it was like, like 2006, 2007 or something like that. I don't care of remember. But it was one of the shows that was killed by the Rider Strike back in the day. If you ask me, because the show had a fantastic first season. And then the WGA stuff kind of gets sort of mixed up in there around season two or season three.

And then the show kind of falls off a little bit after that, right? You know, writer's strike, things happen, whatever. Now, Lina Roberts was, he was on this show. He's a guy he's also been in that he was in, he's got game, a couple other movies. He is accusing Ali Larder and actresses that played his wife on that show. Everybody had powers. She played his wife of mistreating him. He says that his tenure on the show was cut short and that he was written out.

his character was marginalized on the show because he couldn't get along with her and he hints in a letter that he wrote in the interview that he gave, shall I say, that race might have been at the backbone of it. He says that he had to do a love scene with her and during this love scene. She had to take a bra strap down or something like that.

She was very, very uncomfortable with it. However, she did see similar scenes with other characters on the show, characters that were white, and that she never really had problems doing even more aggressive love scenes or things with them. Right. And that eventually the creator called him up

and said, listen, because of the whole Ali Lara thing, we're going to write your character off the show and that happened in between seasons one and seasons two. Did you read any of this? I did. What do you think? I mean, before I say something, can I play devil's advocate for a second?

There are these accusations out against Allie Larder. And the first thing I thought about when I heard it was because I didn't watch Heroes. I know that Heroes this season, the first season, it started in 2006. And the first thing I thought was, didn't she play and obsessed

with Beyonce and Idris Elba? Where she was, if you haven't seen the movie, she plays a secretary. She's a temp for Idris Elba. and she becomes obsessed, spoiler alert, obsessed with him and wanting to be with him and she continues to throw herself at him and even at some point ripping her clothes off

and being in lingerie with Idris Elba. So, and I looked it up and that movie came out in 2009. So Heroes was in 2006. Playing devil's advocate, did you think about that when you saw this story come to light? And did it make you, think any kind of way.

For me, it did not. That thing about the movie obsessed? Yeah, her playing this role in obsessed. It did not change my opinion, but... I will never think about the movie obsessed. You know what? Why, man? Nothing can make me fucking think about the movie obsessed.

No. Okay, her role, excuse me, would like for me to reword the question? Her role in the movie obsessed, where she is a white woman, throwing herself and becomes obsessed with the black man in it. No, actually you're the first I didn't even think about the movie But I mean, you're I remember seeing it

I guess I'm remembering it like a traumatic memory Where you only remember it in parts But she did scenes Where she was all up on Idris in the movie, right? She like, yeah, she's there's one scene She's hiding in his car and she takes She's like just in lingerie And like she's constantly throwing herself at him

She's obsessed she wants to really I think they do have a scene together And he's like, no, this shouldn't happen. Right. Now, Beyonce's his wife goes back to her. Now, are you asserting that there's maybe a difference between Leonard Roberts and Isis Elba? Okay. Actually, I wasn't even thinking that.

You thought that. No, that's what I'm asking. You're kind of saying. No, I'm more so saying it because I believe, I believe Leonard. But my first thought that came to mind was the whole, what's at issue is that she was very uncomfortable having this romantic scene and being married to him in this movie. To his character. And they were in interracial relationship.

And this is 2006. We see it a lot more on television, the television screen now. And my thing is, is playing devil's advocate, she did have a relationship with a black man in a movie three years later. So it kind of is like, well, why did she have an issue with him? Why did she have an issue with him? Was race an issue? because three years later, we saw her obsessed name of the movie over a black man. Right.

So a couple of things. Number one, that's not the only thing that he alleged. He said that, you know, his character was an ex-convict and that there were other problems. He thought he was going to debut in the first episode, first episode. Then he thought it was going to be episode two. And then by the time he knew it, he was debuting in, like, episode five or six or something like that. Right, right. He was having a rocky situation going on with the production beyond his relationship with

Ali Larder. I'm not sure how much he attributes him being written off the show specifically to her, but he did say he did seem to intimate that there was a choice made between him and her, that she had come up to him because they had all did Entertainment Weekly covers, and she had come up to him and said, our cover is the least selling cover, as if to say that it was somehow his fault, that their cover was the least selling cover. This is my thing.

And it's difficult. You don't want to ever discount any accusation of racism. Sure. But you also don't ever want to just believe it straight on his face, right? And it really, to be honest, maybe it's not for us to believe or not believe.

He is telling his story from his point of view. And it doesn't matter whether or not you believe it or whether or not you don't believe it. It must suck to wake up 14 years after something like this and read a headline about this like this about yourself. That must not be amazing, especially something that was so long ago. But I can't say it hasn't happened,

that it wasn't true, but at the same time, and I can also say that there are similar situations like this that black actors and actresses go through in Hollywood all the time. But it's just kind of like one of those things to where I don't know how, like, I don't know what we're supposed to make of this. When I read it, I didn't really actually even know how I was supposed to feel was, is it a situation to

where Tim Kring, who was the creative heroes, and Allie Lauder and all of these people, they have to apologize for it. Now when she's come out and apologized and said, she's sorry, she made him feel this way, or is he just kind of reflecting on some things that went different, he says he thought heroes was going to be his big break? I don't know, like, what I'm supposed to, how I'm supposed to feel. Well, I feel like a lot of people are reflecting on things in light of what's happened in 2020

and feel empowered and emboldened to speak out in a way that they couldn't 14 years ago. And so I feel like this is Leonard's opportunity where he feels like he has a safe place to write this piece in variety. We don't know the truth. You know, it is, you name the director. I can't remember his name or the creator of the show. He didn't deny what Leonard had to. to say. What I do find interesting, though, about Allie is when Variety was going to run this piece, they reached out to her. And she didn't want to comment. She didn't want to have anything

to say. And then almost as if, like, it wouldn't get attention, almost as if it wouldn't, it wasn't that big of a deal. And then when Variety came out with this piece, it blew up. And Black Twitter especially had a lot to say. And it was, there were a number of articles written about it. And it was then after that, that she had this heartfelt response. So my, I'm questioning that saying, yeah, yeah, where was this energy when Variety asked you if you had a comment? If you had, if you feel so sad and disappointed by these accusations, you knew about them before they were even going to be published. Yet you chose not to do anything because just like he was dismissed in 2006 from the set, you probably thought that's what happened, what would happen with this

story. But we're in 2020 and it's a new day and our voices are amplified and we have the attention of people in a way we never did, which is why Leonard probably came out with this article. And so I, I, you know, again, we'll never know, but I have to say the way this sequence of events played out specifically with Ali Larder, I don't believe your apology when you had the chance to do so when no one was looking. Now when everybody's looking, you got something to say. So this is my message for everyone that might be listening to this is work these angles. Work these angles. So this is what happens.

So during the Me Too movement, you know, you might have had, I'm sure there were guys that got calls from former assistants and former, you know, PAs and stuff like that. Just asking questions. Like, hey, when we were making jokes, you know, and stuff like that, you never felt in any specific way, right? you never felt like this and never felt like that, you never felt that way, you know, just making sure, checking up on themselves. I'm sure there were people that did that. I'm telling you,

if you get one of those calls, keep the person on the phone, you know? And it's probably going to be a lot of calls after this made from co-stars and Hollywood execs, back to all the black people in the 90s and the 2000s that have access to computers and can write their stories. Hey, man, when we were making all, all of those jokes back in the day,

blackface stuff, and we were just joshing around, bro. You know that, right? You know that you're one of our guys, right? And, you know, you don't have to fall on your, you don't have to crawl up and across, just keep them on the phone.

Keep them on the phone. Hashtack, keep them on the phone. Well, you know, I mean, you know, it wasn't always the easiest place to work. You know, I wouldn't say that I'm to op ed status, but, yeah, it's almost as if I need, like, another job to kind of wash away

kind of some of the feelings of the old job. So, like, question is, like, what are you working on now? You know what I mean? Like, maybe if you want to, you know, you got something now that you, you know, take me through the holidays, you know, the kids here, you drop my cash app, whatever. Hey, keep them on the phone. They earned it. Keep them on the phone.

I'm not saying, lie. Don't lie. Just keep them on the phone. Don't be so quick to be like, nah, man, it's all good, bro. How are you? How are the kids? How's Blab? How's Babs and Marnie?

No. No, not a... Seize the day. Basically, seize the day. Hey, and Ollie Larder didn't know that was going to be her time. She got it the...

She got it the dumb way. Variety. Linder Roberts came out. That's a very black active name, too. Leonard Roberts. See, that's why. I don't know if I...

You don't know what? I don't know. That's just the name, Leonard Roberts. What do you mean the name? What's you trying to say? Yes, I guess. She didn't do that with Idris, though.

She didn't. Hey, Linda Roberts, good actor. I like, there's something like. It is a good actor. I can't believe you to think of obsessed. I listen, I'm not a big fan of the movie either, but. Because we have to be honest about something. When we were talking about.

Obsessed? Just movies that, like, Beyonce, man. God gave her a lot of talents, but... I will agree. You say it. You say it. Up on that silver screen. I will tell you one thing, though. Cadillac Records? See? No. No. No. No. Not for me.

Cadillac records? Cadillac records? Good performance. I thought she got somewhere in Cadillac Records. But most of the times you see Beyonce act, it's crazy. The crazy thing about that is that, like, it's one thing not to be able to act. But then there's another thing not to be able to voice act. Because when you are on a Lion King joint, it was... Simba. It was crazy.

Look, here's the thing. Beyonce is one of the most five most talented people I've ever seen up there. But, like, that don't mean she could play soccer. That doesn't mean, we can't do everything. We can't do everything. You know, we just can't. By the way, that's now. Who's to say that in a month or a year?

or two years that Beyonce won't be Merrill Street. I will like to remind you that Obsessed came out in 2009 and before that there was what's the movie she had with Cuba Gooding Jr? I didn't see it. Where she was singing in the choir.

Fighting temptations. Fighting temptations. Okay. So we go back almost 20 years here. But no, but in there is a good performance to me. Like a legitimately good. I thought Beyonce was legitimately good. In Cadillac Records?

In Cadillac Records. Is it because most of her lines were singing? No, it's not because of that. It's because I thought she tapped into an emotional course. She let go of herself a little bit. See, with people like Beyonce, sometimes it's hard to let go of yourself. You're such a big figure. Like, Beyonce has such a strong presence.

Sometimes it's hard to, like, weave yourself into that. But I really felt like in that role, she let go of herself and she did a really good job. I said it even then. I wrote a review then. I said she was one of the bright spots of it, not just Beyonce, but Columbus short as well. who fucking went crazy, but like Columbus Shore as well. I thought that was a well-acting movie. So she could do it again.

She just has it. Symbol. Simple. Simple. Symbol. Simple. Simple. Simple.

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millions of business owners already trust Spectrum business. So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. All right. I think now it is time for mailbag, daddy.

Are you not doing a Batch Recap? No, no Batch Recap. No Batch Recap. Okay. I know that's going to upset Jackson. Jackson, you can come on and voice your disapproval of no batch recap. We're getting to the end here.

I don't care that there's no badge recap. You're full of lies. Because whenever, whenever you always remember, you're like, man, the bash recap, batch recap, batch recap, batch recap, got to be honest with you. He quit. He quit.

He quit. Look, don't get mad at me because you don't want to do the part of the show that we've agreed to do every week. It's so long. Y'all remember the it or tea he had at the beginning? at the energy when he was like, I'm going to watch the Bachelorette. I'm so into this.

Y'all, remember that. Go back and listen to those episodes. Now he's quit on us when we have one week left. It is over next week. We're going to catch up next week. I promise. I promise. Bash recaps.

Because I know, you know, batch recaps, catching up next week. But it's a... I don't think we'll catch up next week. Yeah, don't start something. You can't finish now. We might as well. We'll just put it out here now.

We're not going to do Matt James' season. You can't handle it. No, we have to. We have to. You can't handle it. You can't handle it. We have to do Matt James' season. We have to do it.

We have to. We've cast our lot. I'm going to do... Will it make you feel better that next week I'm on the show? Yes, it does. So this is what I'll do. I'll do a quick, quick hitter on Monday. Bing, Bing!

That's recap. And then I'll come back on Thursday and do another quick hitter. So we'll be all wrapped up for the finale. So just to let you know, you got to do this week. Actually, yeah, do this. week and then next week there's two episodes and it's over. We got another Monday and Tuesday.

All right. Okay, cool. All right. So I'm gonna do all of them. They're gonna take the billboard down. Damn. Oh, shout out to us. Oh, by the way, guys.

We got a, we got a billboard. They put us on a billboard out at LAX. We got to thank the Thought Warriors, y'all. Thank the Thought Warriors, man. You guys made it, like Spotify put us on a Billboard, shout out to Spotify. All right, Jackson, let's go with the, let's go with the Melback. Let's do it.

Okay. from Carrie Polinska, Christmas lights. Fun or tacky? Love them. Love them. Love them. I don't know. You know, I'm new to L.A.

Is there a spot that you like to go look at Christmas lights here? Candy Cain Lane, baby. Where's that? That is out in the valley. There's a whole neighborhood of people. They actually charge you admission to get in there sometimes. That's okay. Candy cane lane.

Where in the valley? Like which part of the line? I got to look. Every time we do it, I got a wazzy. But it's Candy Cain Lane, baby, out there in the valley. It's great. I love Christmas lights. Nothing makes me feel better. I love it. I will say I hate blue Christmas lights.

I have a real issue. Like a, it runs deep. Like the royal blue Christmas lights, that's it. I don't like them. You know what I'm talking about? Well, sometimes those are Hanukkah lights. Do you have any specific? My neighbors were not, no.

Do you have any specific prejudices that you would like to do this? We're not going to start in the show with this. We're not going to start in the show. I'm asking you talk about. Absolutely. Absolutely not. My neighbors were not Jewish growing up. And they ruined the circle.

They ruined the cul-de-sac every year because they had royal blue Christmas lights. They weren't Jewish. Are you sure? I know for a fact, the Watson's were not Jewish. They were what, how do you know? Because I know. You don't know what the people are doing in there. Shout out.

I don't want to say full government names, but you know who you are. Hanukkah lights. They weren't. They weren't Jewish. So shout out to all our Jewish. Have you seen Hanukkah lights? I'm half Jewish. You know that?

Yeah. So, and what color are Hanukkah lights? They blue and white or blue and gold. Yeah. These were just royal blue. I believe, rage. I'm just saying. They were only white if some of the lights were broken.

Only white if it's broken. You know, because you know the lights was broken. You know what I'm talking about. A lot about America. It's only white if it's broken. Wow, Rach. Jesus Christ. That's good.

Yeah. All right. You guys ready? Another mailback. All right. From Amina, what's your favorite movie to watch around Christmas time? It doesn't actually have to be a Christmas movie if that's not one of yours, but your favorite movie to watch around Christmas time.

Scrooched with Bill Murray. Okay. Never seen it. It's fantastic. For me, I have three. The Home Alone's and by that I mean, one and two. We don't recognize three. Preacher's why.

wife and else. Oh. You like elf. Elf is good. Elf is funny. Elf is funny. Elf is funny. I enjoy Scrooged.

I enjoy for some reason. I know people, it's very controversial, but I like to watch Die Hard. Okay, I just heard somebody talking about this. Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. It depends on who you are. Like, I don't necessarily think it is either,

but it kind of is. But you know what else I'd like to watch on Christmas? And USA made me feel this way. USA. Every Christmas USA would run all the Star Wars movies, the whole trilogy. And, okay. You know, like you've grown, like when someone brings Star Wars as if like a billion people are wrong about like Star Wars. No, I didn't say that.

I just can't relate. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, why don't you try opening up your imagination and stop being discriminatory? Star Wars did make me a billion dollars, you know? Discretory. I got Glenn Terman, you know, energy over here. To your neighbors who have different religious beliefs. Oh, please.

But no, Star Wars will start. They would run them all day long on Christmas Day. So now on Christmas Day I watch Star Wars along. So, yeah, it's amazing. All right. Ready? All right. From Delia, are your therapists, people of color?

And if so, what was your journey in finding that therapist? So my therapist is not. a person of color. My therapist, Coley, is not. My psychiatrist, Dr. Bowman, is. And when Coley was recommending

a psychiatrist, she asked would you want a person of color? And I was like, yeah, why not? Because, you know, certain things, you know, and so I talked to Dr. Bowman, and he, my psychiatrist, is a person of color. Black man.

By demand. Yeah. My therapist in Miami, because we do virtual now, she is a Latino woman. Yeah. There you go. See, look, there you go. So I have a whole team of people and some of them are black. Some of them aren't.

So yes. Shout out to Dr. Maria. Shout out to Dr. Bowman. Shout out to Colie Williams. Shout out to everybody at one-to-one. That's keeping me going in these times. But yes, the journey of finding it was. specifically asking for therapists of color,

especially in a situation like that, you know, when you have somebody that's going to prescribe new drugs and I want to connect with a brother. I want it kind of like a fatherly thing. You feel what I'm saying? I get that. In Dallas,

I went by referral. In Miami, I actually just went to a website and I read through maybe 50 different bios. And we were actually looking for couples counseling at first. and then we went to her in addition to the pastor from my hometown who actually married us. But I really liked what she had to say. And then I personally, after we got married, started going to her individually.

That's amazing. It's amazing. Okay. Okay. Do you or does your family have any Christmas traditions? And if so, what are your favorites? Rach. Now, go ahead.

No, you got a apparently a good one. one. No, I have nothing. So here's the Debbie Downer. My mother, my father, my sister, and me have not all been in the same room at any time together for 18 years. So my parents' divorce completely destroyed the holidays. But before then, but you said, it's not funny. I'm not comfortable with this laugh.

I'm not comfortable with this laugh. It's not funny. But, okay, prior to then, did you have like something that you or maybe something that you and Kalika do now? No, no. I mean, it's, you know, Christmas comes. I like, I like to,

I like to get deep into a, like a real, I like to get deep into a video game on holidays. Holidays, the days feel different. They do. It's like a perfect video game day. Oh, my God. to play like Assassin's Creed and try to get all the way through it or something like that. But just to be real with you, I am very, very anxious to have my own family so that I can start my own

traditions. That's beautiful. That is beautiful. I mean, honestly, we would rotate every year. Like sometimes we were down in Beaville, in the farm, at the farm at my grandmother's house, or we were in Houston, or we would be in Dallas and we would host it or another family member would. So it varies. I mean, I guess for me, it's just more of like cooking together, playing Christmas songs,

soulful Christmas songs, you know, that type of playlist. And then watching a Christmas movie. That's why I say Preacher's Wife because, like, my mom really likes Preacher's wife and Whitney's. And so, and sometimes we watch a non-Christmas movie, you know, something that's because we're all together and we haven't been together in a while. And so we just watch a good movie. A non-Christmas movie? Yeah.

Like, I know for a fact, this Christmas. Like you, like, like your own. Anonymous message boards. Like not a Christmas movie. Not a Christmas. Like this Christmas, I know where you were going with that. You guys have a chewing on Christmas. Wonder Woman, 1984 comes out.

I've seen it, but the rest of them have it. And then soul comes out. Is that good? It's so good. It's so good. I thought it was about soulful music, but apparently that's not. It's about life and death. And it's a very nuanced way to talk about it.

It's very, very interesting. It's about a jazz music teacher who gets this dream opportunity and then things don't happen the way that once he gets the opportunity, things happen. Like, his life takes a completely different turn without giving it away.

So it's all about the meaning of life, the purpose of life. I ain't watching it. It's really good. Yeah. What? You got Jamie Fox, Angela Bassett. Tina Faye. Why do you got to give us the death movie, man?

No, it's not like that. It's a, it's a very hopeful movie, actually. Like, the way it ends, it's extremely hopeful and you should watch it. Don't be a downer. It's actually, you're really really... I'm not saying other people getting a movie. I said life and death in a nuanced way. It's, I've never seen...

It's very hopeful. It's a hopeful movie. Even with Up, the beginning of Up was... No, hell no. It's nothing like that. The beginning of Up was so sad. I'm like, yo, man, why I'm looking at this? That's not what this is.

I mean, like, you think that's going to happen? And then you're like, oh, wait. It's actually really good. You should watch. All right. I'll check it out. I'll check it out. Now I got to call my mom of Jesus. Now I'm depressed. So it's time for unexpected ally of the week. Do you have an unexpected ally of the week? I do. Now this was from maybe last week when we didn't do it. So can our unexpected ally of the week, do they have to be white?

I mean, I don't know if sometimes it's expected. Okay, well, mine's Cuban. Mine's Cuban. All right. Okay, okay, okay. Okay. So I am giving it to the newly elected Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon. Is that how you say it? Because when he was elected, he announced plans, I think this was last week or the week before, to enact sweeping reforms, including ending cash bell and the death penalty. I got to give him props for that. Yeah. That's a big deal. Go ahead.

I'm about to see him in a second. He's coming to the screening of my short tonight. It's a virtual screening. Let me check my phone to see if I... I did send it. To see if I got a virtual screening. Slick invite. I did send it.

Was that an invite? Yeah, I did send it. So don't even play yourself. Go ahead. Is that what he sent us, Jackson? Go ahead and play it. Don't even play yourself. I don't know when you sent this.

You played yourself. You're about to play yourself. Can't find. No, no idea. Jackson, did you? I just got a Vimeo link. I didn't get no invitation with that. Was that what the, was it in that?

Yeah. Plag yourself. But Jackson didn't see it. Did you watch? Did you watch the list? I haven't yet. It's all my Christmas to do list. Jackson, it's so good.

It's all my Christmas to do list. You want to come to the screening tonight? virtual screen at 6 o'clock. Can you make it? Yes, I can. Yes, I actually can. And no, I didn't play myself. Anyways, fine.

Didn't know about this. I'm going to figure this out. We weren't invited. Just in case y'all didn't know on high learning, we are a fraud. Our friendship is not real. No, I invite you for Christmas, but you decide to scrape the plane.

I'm going to go home and or go cry after this podcast is over with. No, but anyways, unexpected out of the week. goes to him. I think that is great. The cash bail system is really a detriment to as the first legal job that I had

was doing bail hearings. And it is a depressing in Milwaukee County. And it is a depressing thing because most people can't afford to. And you're arguing on their behalf and it actually falls on deaf ears because they're just going to go to jail. That's a

fantastic thing. That's a fantastic I expect out of the week because that's someone that's actually instituting real systemic change. So that's a great one. Mine is easy as McKinsey Basos. She gave like millions and millions of dollars to HBCUs and stuff like that. I don't know what McKinsey Basos is trying to do. I think McKinsey Basos is trying to, like, look, we got to kind of look at this.

McKinsey Basos might be trying to buy a spot blackness. She'd been giving away a lot of money. And we got to have a conversation if we got one for sale. You know what I mean? if like if it's like how much what how much would mackenzie basos have to spend for us to go ahead and make her you know give a slider how many hasn't she given away billions didn't they say billions during the pandemic yeah maybe not all to hbcUs but i'm just saying

she's giving away billions not just to hbcus though i know but i'm saying it's like i don't you like our culture is something that can't be bought i don't think she's doing that it can't be bought i definitely can't be bought but she might be able to rent it for a couple of days, you know, in February, we might give McKenzie Bezos a day February 24th or something like that.

If she, you know, if she looks, look, if she's the reason why Southern's band can march, if she's the reason why black kids can go to school, I might have to extend an olive branch out there or a kale branch because she white to

McKinsey Bezos, you know what I love what she's doing. I love what she's doing. I love what she's doing. In July, donated $1.7 billion, and the most recent one was 4.2 billion. So it's up to 5.9 billion total. All to HBCUs? I think to various organizations

that are not all specifically HBCUs, but they're like black-supported groups. We would know if she had donated all the money to HBCU because the school presidents would be out here shining. Okay. The school presidents would be out here whipping the spinning the bin.

Okay. So it looks like the first donation was mostly to like organizations that help low-income students, whereas this most reason one was like directly to the colleges. Yeah, McKinsey Bezos is trying to get it. See, and another reason why she's trying to get it, another reason why she's having it is because we pretty much know by this point that Jeff Bezos is probably

evil. Like he's probably you can't have that much money or not. Like he's like $180 billion. He's like Lex Luther. So she's probably trying to she's not just trying to buy her way into the culture. She's probably trying to buy her way into heaven. Hey Jesus. Look what I'm doing. We'll take all. Give me all your money.

Take it all. Give me all your money. Great work. I would just like to point out that There is no invite. Just want to keep saying that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we know Jackson.

We know where we stand. You're, uh, okay. Well, you didn't even watch the movie. Uh, oh, look.

Uh, you guys. Take your thinking caps off, but do not stop learning. We love you guys. I am Van Lathan. I'm Rachel Lindsay. We are.